VodafoneWind HellasWorld’s leading mobile communications company Vodafone has terminated plans of a potential business deal with Wind Hellas. According to reports, the decision was taken after the British firm faced opposition by the European Union regulators. Sources claim that the merger, if allowed to go through, would result in a market having only two operators, which was the prime reason for the opposition.

As per sources, Vodafone had reported a US$ 710 million loss in November 2011 for its unit in Greece owing to discounted tariff plans and declining cash flow. The merger between the two firms would have helped Vodafone to significantly cut costs and compete better with rival OTE.

Vodafone is yet to make an official statement regarding the reason for terminating the deal.

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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.

 

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Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE S.A.), the largest telecommunications provider in the Greek market, has reportedly said that the regulatory authority should approve the merger of Vodafone Greece with Wind Hellas, so as to avoid another bankrupt company.

According to reports, Tsamaz, CEO, OTE has said that he approves the merger as he would rather have a less fragmented market with stronger participants focused on long-term profitability. As reported earlier by Wireless Federation, in August, Vodafone Group PLC had spoken with Largos Ltd., which owns Wind Hellas, regarding a possible merger opportunity.

The deal, if successful, would provide Vodafone with an enlarged customer base, helping it to significantly increase its presence in the Greek mobile market.

 

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National Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT) in Greece has reportedly completed the auction of mobile operating frequencies in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands for US$ 521.5 million, higher than the government’s expectation of US$ 488.8 million.

According to reports, the 900 MHz spectrum had been pre-allocated to each operator for a combined value of US$ 246.7 million, after which the next set of blocks were auctioned for US$ 269.9 million.

As per sources, mobile operator Cosmote, obtained four 900MHz blocks and two 1800MHz blocks for US$ 163.3 million, Vodafone Greece received six 900MHz blocks and two 1800MHz blocks for US$ 228.7 million while Wind Hellas received four blocks of the 900 MHz spectrum for US$ 126.5 million.

 

In a bid to expand its market share in Greece, Vodafone Group PLC is in talks with Greece’s third largest telecom company – Wind Hellas, for a possible business opportunity in combination with its Greek unit. The move comes in an effort for Vodafone to increase its presence in Greece which is currently dominated by rival company Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications SA controlled by Deutsche Telekom AG currently owning almost 48% of the market share.

Reportedly, Vodafone claims that the talks are still at an early stage and an agreement may not be reached. However, if successful, the new move would provide Vodafone with an enlarged customer base comprising of more than 50% of the Greek mobile market. As of June 30, Vodafone had about 4 million customers in Greece compared to Cosmote’s 7.73 million wireless customer base.

 

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The Akamai internet platform carries between 15-30 percent of web traffic that traverses across the world at any given time. The noted average connection speed for mobile providers across the globe, in the first quarter 2011 stood at between somewhat above 6 Mbps to as low as 163 kbps, as per Akamai traffic analysis.

In addition, an unspecified service provider in Poland has been noted to deliver the greatest average mobile connection speed in the first quarter 2011. Previous quarter’s fastest provider hailed from Greece that has been tipped from the top spot to land at number two.

In terms of data consumption, seven percent of the surveyed mobile providers show 1GB data user consumption per month on an average, in the first quarter 2011 based on Akamai’s platform. On the other hand, 73 percent of surveyed providers show users consumed 100 MB of content from Akamai, on an average while users on the remainder providers consumed less than 100 MB.

In the wake of the partnership between Akamai and Ericsson, data collections were contributed by the latter as well. According to Ericsson, there was a 130 percent yearly growth in the first quarter, in terms of overall mobile data traffic, representing more than double the volume of voice traffic.

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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.

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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.

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If sources are to be believed, Greece is planning to sell 10% of its remaining share in OTE by activating an option with Deutsche Telekom.

According to reports, DT is obliged to acquire a 10% stake in OTE at a pre-agreed price under an agreement in 2008. The Greek state currently has a 16% stake in OTE. The price will be 15 percent higher than the average share price of the last 20 sessions on the Athens stock exchange.

According to Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann, if the Greek government exercises the option, the German operator will meet the terms of the contract.

 

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Vodafone Greece has decided to extend the availability of ‘Bonus all’ its rewards programme for Vodafone Kartokinitou prepaid users from 31 May to 30 June.

As per the terms of the promotion, prepaid users get various bonuses when they top-up their accounts.

 

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