Turk Telekom to buy Invitel wholesale business
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An exclusive negotiation has been started between Saudi Oger-controlled operator Turk Telekom and Invitel Holdings on the acquisition of the Invitel international wholesale business.
Invitel comprises of holding unit along with subsidiaries such as AT-Invitel, Invitel International Hungary and EuroWeb Romania. The talk to buy the Invitel business has been confirmed by Turk Telekom. However, the deal will have to wait for regulatory approval. Invitel has a presence in 16 countries and it is a provider of wholesale data and capacity services in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
Based in Hungary, Invitel was acquired late last year by Mid Europe Partners from Danish operator TDC.
KT Corp, SK Telecom expected to enter Polish mobile market
South Korean operators KT Corp and SK Telecom have shown interest in entering the Polish mobile market. According to Byung-Chul Won, a representative for Korean Eximbank, which provides financial support for Korean companies investing in Poland, the Korea Telecom is in talks with a potential Polish partner for developing new mobile services technology.
The duo is expected to be weighing up options including forming a joint venture (JV) with an existing network operator or talking an ownership stake in a local cellco, with possible targets P4 (Play) or Polkomtel (Plus).
SK Telecom is particularly interested in the mobile Internet market in the eastern European country.
Mobiltel Bulgaria & Real Networks brings out Mobile music
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobiltel Bulgaria’s music service has been transitioned by Real Networks to the Real platform on March 10. ‘all-you-can-eat’ function has also been added to continue its strong momentum across Europe. Subscribers are provided with flexibility and choice for downloading music to their mobile devices due to Mobitel’s migration to RealNetworks’ music platform.
Mobitel subscribers can download and sync music to their mobile phones from the PC by subscribing to the Music Unlimited package for 9.90 Bulgarian Lev (£4.64) per-month. Music can also be downloaded through WAP or web stores, or from native apps residing on their handsets.
According to Karakanovsky, Marketing Data Director for Mobiltel Bulgaria, RealNetworks is a global leader in mobile music and with its strong presence in Eastern Europe, is a perfect fit for MAG and Mobiltel and its subscribers will be more likely to utilize mobile music due to the increased simplicity and elegance of the interface, and dual download capability.
Vodafone contracted by DPDHL for MPLS network (Germany)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Deutsche Post DHL’s (DPDHL) five year contract to provide a fully managed MPLS network in 67 countries has been won by Vodafone. Vodafone will connect over 400 sites across Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Vodafone Global Enterprise will also provide an international Wide Area Network (WAN) across the three regions and a domestic WAN in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through this solution, DPDHL would be enabled to provide improved tracking capabilities. This capability in return will allow employees to quickly and easily access the vital bespoke applications, as well as provide critical connectivity to DPDHL’s data centres in Czech Republic and Malaysia.
Gateway Business Services and Vodacom Business South Africa, which are Vodafone’s country business, have combined with Vodafone Global Enterprise to provide complete connectivity and management between the international networks.
This will also provide comprehensive project management support throughout besides ensuring that all regions benefit from its global reach and expertise.
Telefonica was selected by DPDHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post World Net last January to manage its mobile and fixed-line services across 28 European countries, also for five years.
1,500 more staffs cut by Ericsson
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Further 1,500 jobs will be cut and more combined services will be offered in 2010 by Ericsson in a bid to shake off the effects of a tough 2009. Due to the slashing of investment in network infrastructure by the carriers because of global recession, the net income of Ericsson plummeted 65% year-on-year to 4.1 billion kronor in 2009. Revenues for the year also fell 1% to 206.5 billion kronor.
Maximum decline came in Western Europe, central and eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa, and Latin America during the second half.
According to Hans Vestberg, Ericsson’s newly appointed president and CEO, the market will remain tough in 2010, but that the firm would look to stay competitive by offering more packages that combine the firm’s infrastructure, customer management and multimedia services.
Sale in Turk telecom expected on 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: To sell the remaining 31.7% stake in incumbent fixed line operator Turk Telekom (TT), a second public offering this year could be held by Turkish government. 15% stake in TT was offloaded via an initial public offering (IPO) in May 2008, raising around TRY2.42 billion (USD1.9 billion) for state coffers.
Earlier, country’s privatisation administration denied that it had started preparations for a TT stake sale. The administration has a revenue target of TRY10.4 billion for 2010 and is overseeing sales of electricity and gas grids, roads and sugar factories.
According to Turkish Communications Minister Binali Yildirim, privatisation administration is working on public offering and the situation on the stock exchange and global financial markets will determine the timing which could be in 2010. Further investments will determine the size of the public offering.
iBasis’s Premium Voice service to be used by MTS Russia
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia’s largest mobile operator will use iBasis, a KPN affiliate Premium Voice service to complete international calls for its customers. Through this interconnection, MTS joins
more than 1,000 carrier customers from all segments of telecom that use iBasis for all or part of their international voice service.
The premium voice will provide MTS with very high quality worldwide voice termination through a single connection to the iBasis global network. The transfer of Caller Line Identifier (CLI) to mobile and fixed destinations is also guaranteed along with international roaming support worldwide.
Currently, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are rapidly growing region for mobile telecommunications services and with mobile service penetration exceeding 125% and annual growth rate of 14.5 percent, Russia is the fourth largest mobile telecommunications market in the world. The interconnection with iBasis will strengthen Russia’s position in the year to come.
At present, MTS is a leading provider of mobile communications in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus and has 96 million mobile customers and annual revenue of $10 billion.
