Telefonica signs network sharing agreement with China Unicom (Spain, China)
Spanish telecom operator Telefonica has reportedly entered into a strategic partnership with China Unicom, wherein both operators will use each other’s networks to expand their coverage. According to reports, the deal will provide Telefonica access to China Unicom’s network in the regions of Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, France and Sweden.
In return, China Unicom can reportedly increase its presence through Telefonica’s network in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
Reports suggest that Telefonica believes this agreement will help both operators expand their capabilities to provide telecom services to various customers in different geographic areas.
Telefonica may sell assets to reduce debt (Europe)
Europe’s largest telecom operator, Telefonica, may reportedly sell off its underperforming assets in an attempt to reduce its debt and regain investors confidence after the revenue loss in Spain. According to reports, the operator has no intention of selling its operations in Germany, Mexico and the Czech Republic, or its 9.7 percent stake in China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.
However, sources claim that the operator has been assessing its business to identify the underperforming assets which can be sold off to reduce their debt amount. As per reports, Cesar Alierta, CEO, Telefonica has been actively cutting down on the size of the workforce along with putting a stop to any merger or amalgamation activity to make up for the losses faced in the year. Further, it has been reported that the operator has been relying heavily on the Latin American economy which accounts for 47 percent of its sales.
Telefonica Czech Republic to offer O2 wallet mobile app (Europe)
As per sources, the O2 Wallet would enable customers to administer their bank account, transfer money, pay for services or goods and use city transport. Further, they would also receive discount offers, vouchers and coupons directly on their mobile phones.
Telefonica O2 Czech Republic, a.s. : 58% of Czechs surf 3G network from O2
Telefónica is strengthening its position in 3G networks. In the last month alone, Telefónica added more than 80 new locations to the map of mobile broadband access. As of now, residents of 854 towns and villages in the Czech Republic can now connect to O2′s 3G network, which is 58% of the population. The expanding coverage drives forward the popularity of smartphones, smartphone applications and small-screen internet.
An increasing number of people want the convenience of online access wherever they happen to be. Since the launch of the NOW I KNOW WHY campaign, small-screen internet activations went up 25%. Samsung smartphones are also riding the wave of success, with their sales doubling in volume. Samsung Galaxy S2 is beating the rest of the field to the finish line with a sales increase of 283%. Applications are also gaining in popularity.
“The above figures clearly demonstrate the success of our biggest campaign of this year, Now I Know Why, which we launched in June together with our partners Google and Samsung. Users were fast to discover the magic of smartphones and the simplicity and convenience of applications,” says Ji
Telefonica NFC trials on in the Czech Republic
In order to put NFC services through the paces, Telefónica Czech Republic in collaboration with a number of local banks and Visa, the former has launched a mobile payments trial in Globus hypermarkets.
The year of 2012 is being looked at, so as to offer a standard payment card application on a SIM.
As many as two hundred Telefónica and Citibank customers, in addition to two hundred Telefónica and Komercní banka customers are to take part in the trial. They have been empowered to put the new technology in use at the tills of select Globus hypermarkets. The Telefónica SIM cards imbibed payment application has been supplied by Visa Europe.
According to Richard Walitza, NFC and financial services manager of Telefónica Czech Republic, Telefónica sees NFC as a tool complementing the use of mobile handset by other services. As a result, they have also developed their O2 Wallet application that will allow customers to move the functionality from their plastic credit cards to mobile handsets. In addition to the VISA credit cards, the next generation multi-function PilsenCard used for transport and admission to cultural events by locals as well as visitors to Pilsen as an alternative to loyalty and entry cards is also being integrated in the O2 Wallet.
In order to perform the trial, Samsung Star 5230 NFC mobile handsets with preinstalled O2 Wallet application will be used. The O2 Wallet application has also in its radar to facilitate compatibility with handsets like Apple iPhone, BlackBerry, Samsung Galaxy II and other NFC enabled handsets, once commercial launch has been accomplished.
EU member states served notice to expedite implementation of new telecom regulations
25th May 2011 was the deadline set by the European Parliament and the EU’s Council of Ministers for the member states of the European Commission for full implementation of the new EU telecoms rules as part of their national law. Twenty of the EU member states have been sent information requests as to why they have not yet reverted with regard to the stipulated implementation of the telecoms rules.
Under the EU infringement procedures, the information requests are equivalent to letters of formal notice.
Under the ambit of the new EU telecoms rules, phones, mobile services and internet are taken into account with regard to rights of the consumers and businesses. The highlights of these rights comprise of customers being empowered to switch telecoms operators in just one day without changing their phone number, more transparency regarding the services customers are offered, in addition to securing their personal data online.
So far only seven Member States namely Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the UK have confirmed the Commission of full implementation of the rules; a majority of the EU member states having notified the Commission of implementation to certain extents while the legislative processes are continuing.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain constitute the twenty other Member States that are yet to respond to the letters of formal notice within two months, failing which or even not being convincing, the Commission stands to issue the concerned Member States, a formal request to implement the legislation. The second request will be the form of a ‘reasoned opinion’ under EU infringement procedures. Eventually, the matter will be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Vodafone looks to improve customer experience while roaming with latest roaming offers (Malta)
Vodafone announces new call and internet usage rates while roaming. The new offerings lets consumers pay at local rates outside of the local zone.
At the cost of $1.39, customers will now be able to take advantage of a 10 minute call while roaming as well as use 30 MB of data per day for $4.17. Vodafone is looking to bring to customers an enhanced experience at competitive rates.
Vodafone’s latest offerings are applicable in Vodafone networks across Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and United Kingdom, in addition to roaming in Austria on Mobilkom, Belgium on Belgacom, France on SFR and Switzerland on Swisscom.
According to Daniel Grech, Business Marketing Manager at Vodafone Malta, Vodafone’s initiatives with regard to roaming are part of the bigger effort to provide customers the most competitive roaming rates as well as roaming service.
T-Mobile partners with Plenkyvpraci for flexible women’s work (Czech Republic)
T-Mobile Czech Republic has organized a workshop focusing on support of flexible employment options for women aged 20-40 in partnership with the civic society Plenkyvpraci (Nappies at Work).
The workshop will take place on 16 June. The average age of T-Mobile employees is 31 years and one half of employees are women.
To make a comeback to work after maternity leave, the company enables flexible working hours and teleworking.
T-Mobile CR sponsors ‘Rock for People’
T-Mobile Czech Republic is sponsoring the seventeenth year of the music festival Rock for People, which takes be held from 2 to 5 July in Hradec Kralove.
The company has prepared special gifts such as raincoats and blankets for the festival participants, ticket price discounts 1+1 and a SMS contest with prizes such as an iPhone 4, tariff Bav Se for one year free and an account at KB bank with starting credit of US$601.58.
Vodafone Czech Republic appoints Jan Klouda as new General counsel
Jan Klouda (35) became the new General Counsel at Vodafone Czech Republic. In the position of General Counsel, together with his legal team, he will be responsible for supporting the company’s activities, especially the continued growth in providing ICT solutions. Jan Klouda joined Vodafone in 2007 as Director of Legal Affairs.
“We expect Jan Klouda to support us in achieving our strategic objectives in a legally safe way,” says Colin Shea, Vice President for Strategy, Planning and Regulation.
Jan Klouda has over seven years’ experience in telecommunications. Prior to joining Vodafone, among other things, he worked as Deputy Executive Director for Legal Affairs at Eurotel Prague, and as Chief Legal Counsel of UPC Czech Republic. He studied law at the Law Faculty of Masaryk University in Brno.
Jan Klouda is taking over this position from Petr P?íhoda, who is leaving Vodafone Czech Republic after four years as Vice President for External Relations, Legal and Regulatory Issues and will continue to act as a consultant in this field.
About Vodafone Czech Republic
Mobile operator Vodafone Czech Republic has been part of one of the largest telecommunications groups in the world, Vodafone Group, since 2005. In the Czech Republic, it currently provides services to more than three million customers. Since 2007, the company provides comprehensive telecommunications services (voice and data services over fixed and mobile networks) for business customers from both the private and public sectors under the name Vodafone OneNet. The company is also active in corporate social responsibility. It established The Vodafone Czech Republic Foundation, which according to the volume of funds distributed, is the third-largest corporate foundation in the Czech Republic, having distributed more than CZK 85 million in the last 6 years to the nonprofit sector. Last year, Vodafone celebrated its tenth anniversary on the Czech market with an innovative campaign, ‘We have the same blood type’, which campaigned heavily for unpaid blood donations and, in early 2011, launched the first ‘Green Network’. Vodafone has repeatedly won competitions for the CSR Award and Top Philanthropist in the area of corporate social responsibility. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.cz
