APEK says Telekom soon to share fibre (Slovenia)
The majority state-owned telecoms incumbent, Telekom Slovenije, will soon be forced to allow other operators to lease its fibre-optic network in accordance with a forthcoming decision by the sector regulator, the Agency for Post and Telecommunications (APEK).
The information was disclosed by the acting director of APEK, Miha Kriselj.
Algerie Telecom to launch 228km of fibre in Tebessa
If reports are to be believed, Algerie Telecom (AT) has pledged to expand its burgeoning fibre-optic network, by adding around 228km of new cable to its existing infrastructure in the Wilaya (province) of Tebessa, which is located in the far North East of the country, 20km from the Tunisian border.
The fibre will be deployed as follows: 90km between Tebessa and Ouenza, 78km between Cheria and Bir El Ater, 30km between Cheria and Hammamet and 30km between Ouenza and El Aouinet.
It is expected that following the project’s completion, the total length of fibre in Tebessa will reach 446km. This would mean that around 50% of homes in Tebessa would have access to fibre.
Although the operator’s main focus is the replacement of its legacy infrastructure, AT pointed out that it hopes to significantly improve broadband connectivity in the region. Despite the proximity to Tunisia, no plans for cross-border connectivity have been mooted thus far.
Turk Telekom upgrades VDSL2 speed (Turkey)
Turkey’s largest broadband provider by subscribers, Turk Telekom has started offering speeds of 50Mbps and 100Mbps to subscribers using VDSL2 technology, while customers of Turk Telekom’s ADSL2+ services can now achieve speeds of up to 16Mbps.
Data volume quotas have also been increased. The operator confirmed that its fibre-optic network has now reached 128,000km, a 30% increase since 2006.
Swisscom collaborates with EWB to bring FTTH to Bern (Switzerland)
Swisscom, the dominant provider of fixed line telephony services in Switzerland, and local utilities provider Energie Wasser Bern (EWB) have inked a cooperation agreement to jointly finance and construct a fibre-optic network which will cover a third of all buildings in the city of Berne by the end of next year.
Four fibres will be laid per household with Swisscom and EWB taking one each for their sole use and leaving the rest open to lease as required. Deployment schedules expect that by 2017, 90% of all buildings will have a fibre-optic connection, and by 2020, the network will cover the entire city.
Overall construction costs for the project will be around US$226 million and Swisscom will provide 60% of the investment required while EWB will provide the remainder.
EWB will take on the fibre-optic network deployment for 70% of the city, while Swisscom will take responsibility for the remaining 30% of households and lay the necessary cables between neighborhood cabinets and telephone exchanges.
The two partners’ existing cable ducts will be used to keep the total cost of the investment to minimum. Both partners have granted each other long-term usage rights for the fibre-optic network.
MegaFon buys fibre-optic operator Metrocom (Russia)
Russian mobile operator MegaFon has agreed to acquire 100% stake of Metrocom, a St Petersburg-based regional operator in a deal worth US$67 million.
MegaFon will acquire 55% stake of Metrocom from the government and 45% stake from Russian company MCT, which is owned by the son of St Petersburg governor Sergei Matvienk.
The stake in Metrocom was auctioned by the Russian state property fund; competitor telcos Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Rostelecom ruled themselves out of the auction, citing that US$67 million is too expensive.
Metrocom owns a 1,500km fibre-optic network and is presently the sole operator in St Petersburg with metro cables in place. The company is employed in providing telephone services, Internet, data transmission, as well as rent a wide range of communication channels.
Turk Telecom takes control over 100% of Invitel International
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 100% of Invitel International has been bought by Turk Telekom in a EUR197 million (USD243 million) deal. Invitel International is a central and south European wholesale and data services provider.
The cash deal is hoped to help the operator to capitalize on its strategic position, sitting as it does at the gateway between Europe and Asia. As a result of the deal Hungarian altnet Invitel Holdings will offload its international wholesale business in order to focus on its domestic retail business in Hungary. Denmark’s TDC sold Invitel to the private equity firm Mid Europa Capital in 2009.
In other results of the deal, 27,000km fibre-optic network will be controlled by the Turk incumbent along with a network of operations in 16 countries, and Invitel International subsidiaries AT-Invitel (Germany), Invitel International Hungary and EuroWeb Romania. Currenlty, Invitel International is worth EUR221 million.
Portugal Telecom net profit falls by 40%
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The net profit of Portugal Telecom fell 40%, reason, revenue stagnated in its home market and the company earmarked more money to expand networks and pay television. The company’s net profit fell from EUR166.4 million a year earlier to EUR100.3 million (USD129.4 million)
11% rise in the revenue has also been reported which went to EUR1.77 billion while EBITDA increased 5.1% to EUR633.4 million.
Heavy investment was made by Portugal telecom in Q1 to beef up its pay-TV business in Portugal and third-generation mobile network in Portugal and Brazil. Both the places have company’s main strategic operations.
According to the operator, capital expenditure in the quarter rose 2% to EUR229 million compared with a year ago, mostly due to costs from expanding its fibre-optic networks.
Televisa, Telefonica and Megacable to bed for dark fibre spectrum together (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to bid for dark fibre spectrum in Mexico, Televisa, Telefonica and Megacable have entered in to a joint venture. The unused parts of state power company CFE’s fibre-optic network would be auctioned by the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT).
Hereby, the dark fibre network of CFE is opened and it will lease unused parts of its fibre-optic network to alternative operators.
Announcements of the tender winners will be made on June 9. Televisa, Telefonica and Megacable are expected to have equal stakes in the consortium.
Claro Argentina plans investment of USD800m in 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An investment of around USD800 million has been planned by Argentina’s leading mobile operator by subscribers, Claro. Claro’s total capital expenditure last year was around USD700 million.
Company’s third-generation and fibre-optic networks will receive roughly 70% of the CAPEX, in order to support increasing demand for advanced services.
According to Claro’s president, Carlos Zenteno, 3G subscribers comprise around 20% of Claro’s approximately 17 million wireless customers, while the 3G network reaches 450 cities, covering 80% of the population.
Algerie Telecom & Netgem launches IPTV service in Algerie
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Safir, an IPTV service in Algerie has been launched by Algerie Telecom along with French IPTV set-top box maker Netgem. FTTH fibre-optic network has been rolled out for Safir and Algeria Telecom broadband customers a mix of advanced digital TV services and a choice of 60 IP-delivered TV channels will be offered under the service.
NetgemTV software is used to create and Netgem’s set-top box is used to deliver the service. Safir was implemented in close cooperation with the integration partner Spec-Com Algerie.
