Network up gradation planned by AT&T
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to a top AT&T Inc executive, the company is required to improve the quality of its wireless services in areas such as New York City and San Francisco if it wants to throw competition to other operators.
Some improvements have been made by the telco in the year 2009 but more upgrades has to be planned this year to accommodate faster mobile data services. However, the deployment of 3.5 G HSPA 7.2 standards has been planned by the telco in 25 of the country’s 30 largest markets this year.
The company expects that upgrade will be in place across 90% of its 3G footprint by the end of 2011. Long Term Evolution (LTE) trials have also been planned by AT&T before commercially launching the 4G standard in 2011.
300,000 new customers added by Mobilkom Austria in 2009
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: By adding 300,000 new customers and reaching more than 4.8 million totals, Mobilkom Austria claimed it saw the largest customer growth in the Austrian mobile market during 2009.
Mobile broadband customers of the operator increased year-on-year by more than one third to 540,000. HSPA+ network was launched by Mobilkom Austria in March 2009 enabling users to reach download speeds of up to 21 Mbps.
Talks on Borusan’s takeover by Vodafone Turkey about to conclude
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Negotiations for the purchase of a controlling stake in Turkish alternative fixed line telco Borusan Telekom by Vodafone Turkey is on the verge of successful conclusion. Earlier, India’s Dhanus Technologies bought Borusan for USD30 million.
The two parties have three options- a partnership giving the UK-backed mobile operator management control of Borusan, 100% stock takeover or a majority stake purchase.
Vodafone Turkey’s acquisition of Borusan would help it to offer converged fixed, mobile and broadband services, and develop its corporate sector presence. Turkcell and Avea, rival telecom operators have already drafted the converged strategies. ISP unit, TTNet of PSTN operator Turk Telekom, which cross-markets mobile broadband and Wi-Fi packages owns Avea.
Turkcell, a fixed broadband operator Tellcom (Superonline), on the other hand, is aiming at extended high speed internet service coverage both with HSPA mobile and fibre-optic technologies.
ZTE chosen by KPN for HSPA roll-out in Belgium, Germany
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: ZTE, Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer has been selected by KPN for supplying HSPA enabled 3G equipment for expanding and technically upgrading its mobile networks in Germany and Belgium.
Both E-Plus Group and KPN Group Belgium will be supported by ZTE with data network expansion strategy and cutting edge future-proof technologies. This partnership with ZTA is expected to speed up the roll-out of KPN’s 3G network in Belgium and Germany at lesser prices.
It will also offer HSPA speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps to their customers target segments.
Malaga and Seville receive Vodafone HSPA+
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone Spain’s subscribers in Seville and Malaga can now experience the download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps and real speeds of around 10.8Mbps. Spanish mobile network operator has expanded its HSPA+ mobile broadband network to both the countries.
Higher speeds, up to 21.6Mbps theoretical (16.2Mbps real) in specific areas in the two capitals has also been enabled by Vodafone. These specific areas include El Palo and the industrial estates of San Luis and Guadalorce in Malaga, and the areas of Viapol, Nervion and Bami in Seville.
By end-March 2010, the target of the telco is to expand its HSPA+ to cover 75% of the population in Seville, and 20% of Malaga’s population.
Saudi Arabia mobile subscription reaches 41.1m
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile phone subscriptions in Saudi Arabia reached 41.1 million in the 3Q 2009, from 33.6 million a year earlier. The announcement was made by Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) which also said that the mobile penetration gas exceeded by 160%.
85% on the total subscription were to pre-paid deals. These deals allowed the consumers to own multiple SIMs and patronise whichever of the country’s three operators represents the best deal at any given time.
Meanwhile, the broadband recorded 1.98 million customers at the end of September 2009. 1.24 million of the total broadband customers were contracted to DSL-based services and the remainder were subscribed to WiMAX and HSPA networks.
With 4.1 million accesses in service and teledensity at 16.3%., fixed line subscription remained stable in the nine months ended 30 September 2009.
Mobitel carries out HSPA+ tests successfully
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Successful tests of HSPA+ technology with the capability to deliver downlink speeds of up to 28Mbps was completed by Sri Lankan mobile operator Mobitel, a subsidiary of wireline incumbent Sri Lanka
Telecom.
Installation of Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology which effectively uses multiple antennas in both the handset helped to achieve the speed. Besides, HSPA network is also used, that splits the radio signal into multiple streams, providing an ideal platform to offer faster mobile broadband access and enhanced data-based services.
Mobital carried out the tests of HSPA+ in partnership with China’s Huawei Technologies. Commercial 3.5G network services under the ‘M3′ banner was launched by Mobitel in December 2007 based on HSDPA/HSUPA technology, enabling maximum theoretical speeds of 14.4Mbps (downlink) and 2Mbps (uplink).
Hutchison 3G Austria modernizes its network for HSPA+ and LTE
Hutchison 3G Austria is modernizing its radio access network to be ready for HSPA+ and the next generation of mobile broadband, or LTE. At the same time this step will allow the operator to halve the energy consumption of its base stations. Nokia Siemens Networks will undertake this upgrade starting in autumn 2009.
The demand for increased mobile broadband capacity and throughput in Austria is reflected in the increasing usage of data cards and mobile services like Mobile TV, video download or video sharing,†said Berthold Thoma, CEO of Hutchison 3G Austria. Mobile broadband is also one of the most pragmatic solutions to bridging the digital gap between cities and rural areas. For rural areas, mobile broadband coverage is simply less expensive and faster to deploy than fiber to the home†solutions. We hope that with our nationwide coverage we will contribute significantly to this end.†(more…)
