CAT grants permission to DTAC for commercial 3G service (Thailand)

On 02.17.11, In Mobile, By Editor

CAT Telecom has given approval to DTAC to commercially launch 3G wireless broadband services in mid-March.

Telenor subsidiary DTAC, which offers services via a build-transfer-operate (BTO) concession with CAT, currently provides trial 3G W-CDMA/HSPA-based services in the 850MHz band.

Following two years of complaining that CAT had favored fellow BTO licensee True Move by permitting the latter to expand 3G trial coverage in December 2010 CAT’s board announced that DTAC could upgrade up to 1,220 base stations for pre-commercial 850MHz HSPA, up from an existing 36 sites.

Both this decision and the latest announcement are viewed from some quarters as an attempt to defuse criticism of CAT for January’s hastily arranged 14-year agreement with True Move to jointly market 3G HSPA-based services as part of True’s takeover of the ‘Hutch’ CDMA business (formed as a joint venture of CAT and Hong Kong’s Hutchison Telecom).

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True takeovers Hutch in Thailand

On 01.05.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Thailand’s True Corp has secured the buy out of Hutchison’s mobile operations in the nation for US$144.7 million.

The company had revealed in a filing late last week that it would acquire the assets to expand its own mobile services business.

As per the transaction True Corp subsidiary, Real Move will buy a 92.5% stake in Hutchison Wireless Multimedia Holdings. Sister unit Real Future will also purchase 100% of Hutchison affiliate BFKT.

BFKT currently owns a network covering 25 provinces, which it leases to the 74:26 JV Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia.

According to True Corp, it intended to migrate all of the CDMA JV’s customers onto HSPA within two years.

Following the acquisition, True will have a controlling stake in Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, Hutchison Multimedia Services Thailand and Hutchison Telecom Thailand.

BFKT will continue to lease the use of its network and provide maintenance services for CAT Telecom, while Real Move will resell service and capacity it rents from CAT.

Hutchison and True had been negotiating the deal for over a month True confirmed in November it was in talks over the acquisition.

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CAT denies renewed talks to acquire Hutch (Thailand)

On 12.20.10, In Mobile, By Editor

CAT Telecom has repeated that its attempt to take over the Hutch mobile phone business has collapsed and claims that it has no intention of resuming negotiations.

According to President Jirayuth Roongsrithong, the state telecom enterprise was now awaiting a conclusion from True Move about CAT’s involvement in business.

True Move, the country’s third ranked mobile operator, has stated that it is conducting due diligence following its talks with Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom to acquire the Hutch business.

Mr Jirayuth has also denied media reports saying CAT was re-launching a new conditional bid to purchase Hutch after the Hong Kong partner earlier rejected its offered price as too low. It is also impossible for CAT to propose a new bid to purchase Hutch now that the deal is already closed. CAT was waiting for True Move to complete its deal to clear legal issues and disputes between CAT and Hutch over excise tax, numbering fees and interconnection charges worth more than one billion baht in total.

The state enterprise also wants to know the future business plan for Hutch’s CDMA service if  True Move takes over, as CAT does not want to lose benefits.

Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, a 74:26 joint venture between Hutchison and CAT Telecom, markets the CDMA service under the Hutch brand. The company signed a 15-year marketing contract with CAT that ends in 2015.

Mr Jirayuth added that there was no need for CAT to get involved in a new business structure or takeover price, as that is now only between True Move and Hutch.

According to Supachai Chearavanont – the chief executive of True Corp,  his company was close to striking a takeover of Hutch this month after it finishes its due diligence. He declined to give further details.

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Hutch refuses govt offer on CAT (Thailand)

On 11.02.10, In Mobile, By Editor

If reports are to be believed, Hutchison is unlikely to exit Thailand anytime soon, after it baulked at the government’s offer for its CDMA 2000 network.

The Hong Kong Company is reluctant to sell the network to Joint Venture partner, state-owned CAT Telecom, for less than $220 million.

It considers the US$133.96 million figure proposed by ICT minister Juti Kririksh unfeasible, as it represents just a single year of projected earnings.

According to sources, the operator, which has no further Thai 3G plans, would rather let the network expire than sell at that price.

Hutchison currently owns a 74% stake, and CAT 26%, in Hutchison CAT Wireless Telemedia, the JV set up to market services over the network.

Kririksh’s valuation is based on the price CAT paid for its separate CDMA 2000 network, while Hutchison includes the cost burden for upgrading CAT’s network equipment to EV-DO.

CAT has been trying for years to buy the Hutch network, which covers 25 provinces, and merge it with its own CDMA 2000 assets for a single nationwide network. With regulator NTC currently unable to auction spectrum on the 2100MHz band, and the only operator with a license facing delays rolling out 3G infrastructure, a combined network would be a valuable asset in Thailand’s capacity-constrained mobile market today.

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Post Vodafone Tax Case, India scrutinising all major deals

On 10.29.10, In Mobile, By Editor

The Indian Finance Ministry has announced that it is looking into tax implications of all large cross-border mergers and acquisitions, against the backdrop of the Supreme Court decision in the Vodafone case.

According to Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra, the Department of Revenue is looking at all large financial transactions. The department is definitely looking at cross-border transactions which are a recent phenomenon. They have started these transactions since 2006, so there is need to have a look and study them thoroughly.

As per Mitra, Vodafone came in the middle of 2007. The department has been looking into a number of cases, acquisitions that have happened through overseas transactions.

The case is related to a deal in 2007 when Vodafone, through its group firm Vodafone International Holdings, bought Hutchison Telecommunications India’s (HTIL) 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar for over USD 11 billion.

As per the officials, the tax demand has been raised in pursuance to the direction of the Supreme Court of India dated September 27 to the Income Tax Assessing officer to determine and quantify the tax liability of Vodafone within four weeks.

Last month, the Supreme Court had refused to stay with the judgement of High Court, which ruled that Indian Income Tax Authorities have jurisdiction to tax Vodafone on its deal with Hutch.

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Hutch Australia reports rise in net profit

On 02.22.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A net profit of A$467.7 million ($421.3 million) has been posted by Hutchison Telecom Australia (HTAL), thanks to its merger with Vodafone Australia. A$587.3 million profit gain acted as a catalyst to bring the company from the red, as without HTAL would have posted a net loss of A$119.6 million.

According to VHA CEO Nigel Dews, VHA [Vodafone Hutchison Australia] is on-track to realize cost benefits outlined on announcement of the merger, which the company expects to equate to A$2 billion of net present value once fully realized.

The underlying net customer growth is 890,000 customers, while the total VHA revenue attributable to HTAL increased by 25.7% to A$2 billion.

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Next G price overhauled by Telstra

On 01.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a bid to keep its arch rivals, Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia at bay, the pricing structure of the Next G mobile broadband service of Telstra has been overhauled. The new pricing will be implemented on January 18.

The monthly data allowance of A$29.95 ($27.83) per month entry-level Next G plan to 400MB has been doubled by Australia’s largest mobile operator. A$20 a month off its A$59.95 a month plan offering 1GB of data as also been shaved by the company besides abolishing charges for excess data usage.

Even after the overhaul, the standalone packages of Next G’s will still not be as attractive as those of its rivals. For instance, 2GB of data for A$25 with a 12 month contract is offered by Optus.

According to Ovum’s Australian mobile analyst, Nathan Burley, Telstra has introduced bundled discounts where a customer gets A$10 off their mobile broadband service if they have one other service with Telstra. The discount increases to A$20 if the subscriber has two other services with Telstra.

Besides, the company also has coverage and speed compared with its two mobile broadband rivals.

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Dispute between H3G and other telcos opened for consultation by Ofcom

On 01.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A consultation on a draft determination has been published by UK’s telecoms regulator Ofcom to resolve disputes between the country’s smallest mobile network operator Hutchison 3G UK (H3G) and each of its four major rivals O2 UK, Vodafone UK, Orange UK and T-Mobile UK.

The mobile termination rates (MTRs) for calls to ported numbers is the reason behind the disputes between H3G and the other telcos. H3G applied to the regulator in March 2008, to examine the four spate cases to be resolved.

It has already been concluded by Ofcom that a switch to alternative charging arrangements could be appropriate. However, it has also noted that the other operators acted reasonably in rejecting previous proposals from H3G regarding changes to the existing arrangements. The calculation will close on February 12.

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SingTel plans to float Optus share as Australian IPO

On 01.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an aim to raise about A$4 billion, 25% stake of Australian unit Optus is planned to be sold by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd through an initial public offering in Australia. Southeast Asia’s largest telecommunications firm by revenue, Singtel, acquired Optus in 2001 through a bid valuing the Australian telecommunications firm at A$17 billion.

Though Optus is a cash cow for SingTel, 23.0% loss was incurred in the second fiscal quarter compared with 23.2% at the same time a year earlier. The company revenue was 27.8% in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year ended March 31.

The pressure will further intensify with the entry of Vodafone Hutchison in the Australian market. In order to deal with the rising competition, the operator is set to create a cash war-chest for acquisitions and expansion in markets outside Australia and Singapore.

According to Singtel, it is evaluating investment opportunities in China and is also interested in taking a stake in Vietnam’s MobiFone.

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Hutchison 3G Austria modernizes its network for HSPA+ and LTE

On 10.02.09, In Mobile, By Editor

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…)

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