Hutchison Whampoa’s $2.6 billion bid for Eircom rejected (Hong Kong, Ireland)
Telecommunications company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.’s bid of $2.6 billion for Eircom Group, the Irish phone company in supervised credit protection, has been rejected, according to a report by BN.
As per the report, the cash offer by Hutchison’s Three Ireland unit was rejected by the country’s court-appointed examiner because there were too many conditions attached, and that Three Ireland is working on a revised bid.
Further, it is said that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is advising Hutchison, while, Morgan Stanley is Eircom’s adviser.
China Mobile to launch 4G service on 25 April (Hong Kong)
Telecom operator China Mobile Ltd., is looking to roll out its 4G services in Hong Kong by the end of this month.
According to reports, Sean Lee, chief executive officer of China Mobile Hong Kong Co., said, a total of 10 4G phones will become available for customers this year. Moile operator Telstra (CSL) is already offering the advanced fourth- generation services since its launch in 2010.
China Mobile claims that the high-speed service, based on LTE technology, offers maximum download speeds of 100 megabits a second, or as much as 50 times quicker than 3G.
The 4G/LTE service lets users stream high defination videos and download games at much faster speeds, thereby catering to their needs of more mobile data and improving customer experience.
Hutchison Whampoa net profit crosses $7 billion (Hong Kong)
Telecom company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. reported a net profit of more than double from the past year, owing to significant contributions from the infrastructure and energy businesses. As per reports, the net profit was up $ 7.2 billion from $ 2.6 billion.
Li Ka-shing, Chairman, has said that the company would continue to grow its recurrent earnings and maintain a strong financial position and liquidity in 2012. He claimed that the rate of growth may be slow in the short term owing to measures for controlling inflation.
The company reported a 7 per cent rise in its 3G subscriber base reaching over 31 million.
SmarTone to discontinue unlimited data plans (Hong Kong)
Mobile operator SmarTone will be ending its unlimited data plans from 13 February 2012, and will be replacing them with ‘User pays’ plans. As per the telecommunications authority OFTA’s guidelines concerning the regulation of operators’ network control management and Fair Usage Policy (FUP), any unlimited usage plan shall not be subject to any limitation in the name of FUP.
Further, SmarTone considers traffic control management and FUP are indispensable to safeguard stable network operations and quality for all. Thus, in effect, unlimited usage plans can no longer be offered. According to company reports, the operator has said that cost will eventually increase with ever increasing usage.
The user pays principle is fair to all customers and charges a consumer based on their usage level. Data allowance for previously unlimited usage plans has been set at 2GB per month. However, customers can top up on an ‘Advise & Consent’ basis for occasional higher usage – ensuring customer control and no bill shock.
Hutchison partners with Vodafone for enhanced roaming and business services (Hong Kong)
Telecom operator Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong (HTHK) has entered into a strategic partnership with Vodafone in an attempt to increase its customer base as well as offer improved services to its business clients. According to company reports, under the agreement, HTHK will be able to sell to its multinational customers, a range of managed communications services provided by Vodafone Global Enterprise, the business within Vodafone that manages the communications needs of multinational companies.
Amy Lung, COO (Mobile), HTHKH has said that their collaboration with Vodafone will provide them with a hefty boost in terms of broadening their customer base and growing their share of the corporate market, and will help further strengthen their leading position in the sector.
Further, the report also reveals that as per the partnership, several new destinations have been added to HTHK’s flat-rate data roaming daily pass offer. HTHK now covers 52 destinations and 65 networks. Both individual and corporate customers will benefit from attractive data roaming offers, as well as a better roaming experience across more countries.
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.
China Mobile launches new daily data roaming package (Asia)
China Mobile, the world’s leading mobile phone operator, has reportedly launched a new daily data roaming tariff package for its users. The company had earlier introduced a package offering reduced international roaming tariffs for voice, text messages and mobile data across 23 countries and regions.
According to reports, currently, the new tariff plan has been launched in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand, and is largely aimed at international travelers using their mobile handset to surf the internet. As per sources, customers subscribing to the daily data tariff package can access unlimited roaming data in specific operator networks for a daily fixed charge while roaming in any of the aforesaid places. Further, reports suggest that the per day charge for the service will be around $14 in Hong Kong as compared to $15.3 payable at the other places.
