Orange Business Services highlights strategic focus on Middle East region at conference in Oman

On 03.29.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Orange Business Services, the B2B arm of France Telecom-Orange and one of the largest ICT employers in the Middle East, has identified the Middle East as a strategic region for the next five years. The company is focusing on the opportunities presented by smart cities, cloud computing and the development of the enterprise services market.

This strategy was presented during the annual Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) regional meeting held in Muscat. Customers and partners joined more than 200 senior Orange Business Services staff representing 80 countries.

Philippe Koebel, Senior Vice President and Head of Emerging Markets for Orange Business Services, said: Orange Business Services has all of the necessary needed assets in the region to contribute to our strong business ambition in the emerging markets of generating 1 billion euros in revenue by 2015. We offer a full range of solutions from various local network access options through Business VPN up to telepresence, unified communications and fully connected smart cities. With 2,000 regional staff, five regional offices, a major service center, and two Orange labs, Orange Business Services is well equipped to meet the needs of our customers whether simple or complex.”

Orange Business Services is a smart city pioneer, delivering telecommunications infrastructure solutions to cities that provide ubiquitous IP-based infrastructure and connectivity, backed by innovative related ICT services, including voice solutions, business and on-demand connectivity, public Wi-Fi and state-of-the-art security.

2010 proved to be a successful year for Orange Business Services in the region with 10 major new clients added and a range of high profile smart city project wins. Orange Business Services supports more than 500 multinational customers in EEMEA, including: BHP Billiton, Ecobank, Lafarge, MAF Carrefour, Omantel, South African Breweries, and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC).

To address the cloud computing demand, Orange Business Services appointed its first Middle East & Africa Regional Cloud Director in August 2010 and, along with Cisco, EMC and VMware, announced Flexible 4 Business to offer end-to-end cloud computing services for enterprises.


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Chunghwa Telecom establishes subsidiary in Shanghai (China)

On 03.28.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) has announced that it has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Chunghwa Telecom (China), in Shanghai. The company opened the subsidiary to promote CHT’s intelligent energy-saving solutions iEN, information and communication technology (ICT) integrated solutions for business use, smart and green building solutions as well as value-added services based on mobile networks and the internet.

CHT indicated that iEN will be initially promoted in Fujian Province, southeastern China, through cooperation with the provincial branch of China Mobile .

It pointed out that target customers for ICT integrated solutions will be initially Taiwan-based enterprises or business units in China which are using CHT services, and then foreign enterprises operating in China.

 

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SKT, Seogwipo City plan to offer wireless internet on buses (S Korea)

On 03.23.11, In Mobile, By Editor

SK Telecom (SKT) in partnership with Seogwipo City is planning to offer free internet access on buses from next month.

According to an ICT official with Seogwipo City, it is also planning to build wireless internet zones on forty buses, at six bus stops, and at two bus terminals.

 

 

 

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Rwanda completes $95m fibre network

On 03.18.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Rwanda has reportedly completed construction of a 2,300 kilometre fibre optic network that links the country to undersea cables running along the east African coast.

The project which was commenced in October 2009 at a cost of $95 million, was set up to increase access to broadband services and attracts foreign investment through business process outsourcing.

According to Ignace Gatare, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, the fibre optic project will initially be operated by an independently-managed government entity on an open access model to accommodate infrastructure sharing with the private ICT services providers. The ultimate goal is to progressively transfer the business to a private business.

Rwanda is a land-locked country with Internet penetration of only 12%. However, Minister Gatare states that the ICT sector in the country generated revenues of US$143 million in 2009, rising by 12% in 2010.

The fibre network connects to undersea cable system at Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salam in Tanzania.

The Minister added that initiatives to activate the links have been launched and discussions between Rwanda telecommunication operators that include MTN Rwanda, Tigo Rwanda and Rwandatel and regional cable operators are ongoing.

At a Senate meeting, the minister was asked to increase the awareness to the population on the importance of the use of ICT and made several recommendations, including to extend ICT infrastructure, especially in rural areas; to put more effort in the use of ICT in all sectors and services; to sensitize the population on cyber security of individual data; and to emphasize the quality of education in ICT.

Elsewhere, Google has extended its Gmail SMS chat functionality to add three more African countries to its growing coverage list. Mobile users in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi can now use Google’s email service via SMS texting.

Gmail users can send and receive SMS messages for free using the service. Non-Gmail users can reply via SMS for regular text charging rates. The networks supporting the service are MTN, Uganda Telecom and Orange (Uganda), Vodacom (Tanzania), and Airtel and TNM (Malawi).

 

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Thailand’s ICT minister to propose fresh bids

On 03.07.11, In Mobile, By Editor

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister has stated that he is prepared to submit his proposal to the cabinet to invite foreign telecom firms to take over the concessions of local mobile operators if they fail to pay compensation for past concession amendments.

According to Juti Krairiksh, the proposal would apply to all three mobile operators- Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC and True Move, if compensation negotiations fail.

The minister and executives of TOT Plc met in Spain last month with executives of eight international telecom companies to discuss the possibility of selling the concession of mobile leader AIS to them.

The eight are Telecom Italia of Italy, China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo of Japan, SK Telecom of South Korea, Axiata of Malaysia, and three US operators.

Mr Juti insisted the ministry would not intervene in continuing negotiations between an ICT Ministry committee, private operators and state enterprises on compensation figures.

However, he acknowledged that negotiations were unlikely to be settled amicably given the wide gap in the stances of TOT and CAT Telecom and the private operators.

TOT and CAT, despite having approved the concession amendments, some made as long as 15 years ago, are seeking tens of billions of baht to cover losses from deals that they say favored the operators.

Juti added that if concession negotiations cannot be settled, the matter reverts to the ICT ministry, so he will submit the proposal  to the cabinet for consideration. Then, he will announce the opportunity for prospective foreign operators to submit their proposals to take over the mobile concessions from operators that could not settle with the state.

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NTA prepares a 10-year plan for telecom services (Nepal)

On 03.07.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the regulatory body of telecom sector, has prepared a 10-year long-term plan to develop, expand and regulate telecom services effectively.

According to Bhesh Raj Kanel, Chairman at the authority, the ten-year plan has incorporated a wide range of issues including service quality, service availability, and spectrum management to introduce efficient, equitable and effective price system. NTA continues to take an active role in shaping the relationship between regulation and competition in the electronic communications sector in the days to come.

In its annual report for 200910, it has stated that the key regulatory issues such as inter-connection, universal access and licensing can be seen as making up a first wave of regulatory reform that has been vital to growing the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) sector in developing countries.

As per reports, there is a need for encouraging efficient deployment of Next Generation Network (NGN) to meet bandwidth-hungry customers’ needs while maintaining a pre-competitive environment that fosters the emergence of new, innovative players, pledging that it will develop these frameworks to help operators.

According to the authority, there was a significant development in telecommunications sector in 2009-10. The number of VDCs without telephone services was 380 in the beginning of the fiscal year whereas the services are available in all VDCs of the country.

Kanel added that the overall tele-density has increased from around 23% to around 31% at present. With the number of service providers increasing and the inherently-converged service capabilities that the technologies can potentially offer, policy making, legal framework and regulation will be significant challenges.

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Mobile Subscribers in the UAE to grow at 7% CAGR by 2012

On 11.23.10, In Mobile, By Editor

The number of mobile subscribers in the UAE is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during 2009-2012, says RNCOS in its research report.

Our research report Booming UAE Telecom Sector” shows that the UAE’s telecommunication market has shown tremendous growth during the past few years, mainly propelled by the government initiatives aimed at the deregulation of the market and introduction of competition. Our research reveals that penetration in the mobile market reached around 190% in 2008, leaving less room for operators to acquire further advantage of the market. But this doesn’t indicate the end of growth as the number of mobile subscribers is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during 2009-2012. Our report has discussed factors behind the growth of mobile market and telecommunication market in the UAE.

In line with the increasing education and business in the region, the demand for Internet services has also increased during the past few years. Although dial-up subscriptions currently dominates the Internet market, we project broadband subscribers to account for more than half of the Internet subscribers in coming few years. Our study provides a deep analysis on all segments including mobile market, fixed-line market, Internet market, and broadband market with their current market and future outlook.

With robust economic growth and rise in disposable income, various industries in the UAE are performing well. These mainly include the retail industry, banking industry, insurance industry, etc. Growth in these industries is driving the demand for ICT products in the country, as there is a rising demand for Internet usage in these industries to stay connected with the rest of the world. Our study shows that including huge domestic demand, there are also many other drivers that are fuelling growth in the UAE telecom market.

There has been a mass migration of users from traditional voice-only mobiles to more sophisticated third-generation mobile technology. As a result, there has been an upsurge in the sales of 3G mobile phones in the UAE. The emerging 3G markets present tremendous growth potential for the content and application providers in the UAE, as 3G helps mobile users to access various WAP-enabled websites on mobiles. Besides, we have studied other emerging markets in the UAE telecom sector.

For FREE SAMPLE of this report visit: http://www.rncos.com/Report/IM164.htm

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Alcatel-Lucent to link Seychelles with global fibre networks

On 11.18.10, In Mobile, By Editor

Alcatel-Lucent has inked a deal worth more than US$30 million with Seychelles Cable System (SCS) to build the Seychelles East Africa System (SEAS) connecting Victoria in the Seychelles to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The new submarine cable will provide Seychelles with high-speed direct access to an international fibre-optic backbone for the first time. The SEAS will span over 1,900km offering international connectivity in support of affordable internet access and new broadband applications for commerce and government services.

According to Benjamin Choppy, Principal Secretary, Department of ICT, this new connection will provide faster internet and improved access to telecommunications, providing a cost-effective reliable solution that will give the country an alternative to satellite connections, on which they  completely dependent on now.

Cable & Wireless Seychelles, Airtel Seychelles will partner with Alcatel-Lucent in SEAS.

According to the CEO’s of both the telecom operators, Charles, the scalability of Alcatel-Lucent’s submarine solution and its extensive end-to-end expertise will help the company to meet the growing bandwidth needs as well as improve the quality of service that they offer to their customers on both fixed and mobile networks.

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UN official urges regulators to help increase broadband penetration worldwide

On 11.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

The head of the United Nations telecommunications agency urged regulators to build on massive recent growth in mobile cellular penetration worldwide and try to repeat that success with Internet and broadband.

Speaking at the opening of the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) in Dakar, Senegal, Hamadoun Tour© called on participants from around the world to embrace regulation that will help the world does for the Internet and broadband what we have now so successfully achieved with mobile.”

Mr. Tour©, the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), said that two things needed to change in order to repeat the ‘mobile miracle’ with broadband deployment.

Firstly, governments need to raise broadband to the top of the development agenda. Secondly, we need to ensure that Internet access – and especially broadband access – becomes very much more affordable.

This is where the GSR can play an important role,” he added. Affordability is dramatically improved when competitive forces are brought to bear, and when there are clear incentives to increase capacity.”

This year’s Symposium features a special focus on broadband, looking at the challenges faced by regulators in stimulating nationwide broadband deployment.

Mr. Tour© noted that this was the first time the GSR was held in Africa and praised the continent’s progress in information and communications technology (ICT) development. Mobile cellular penetration is now 44 per cent across the continent as a whole, up from just 15 per cent four years ago.

Also addressing the meeting, which continues until Friday, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade stressed that everyone should share in the so-called ‘digital dividend.’

The aim of regulators can be stated quite simply: A computer for all, digital for all.”

One of the main results of the GSR is a set of guidelines, based on contributions from participants, which are designed to assist regulators in promoting open access to ICT worldwide.

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Telecom NZ profit falls in Q3 (New Zealand)

On 11.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

Telecom New Zealand has reported its Quarter results. The company posted a nearly 50% fall in quarter profit, as revenue in key segments and government subsidies shrank. Net earnings fell 49.1% to US$66 million.

According to the company, the bottom line was hit by NZ$16 million worth of regulatory costs, accrued from the removal of its annual Telecommunications Service Obligations (TSO) subsidy for providing services to unprofitable areas, funded via levy through Telecom’s competitors.

The TSO has been replaced by the Telecommunications Development Levy (TDL). While the TDL will also be sourced from rival operators, the fund is expected to average NZ$50 million annually, compared to the NZ$70 million TSO.

Revenue fell 2.9% to NZ$1.32 billion, while EBITDA curved in 0.9% to NZ$443 million. According to Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds, the operator was, like many traditional fixed-line operators, feeling the pressures of the shrinking home phone market. Growth in services such as mobile, broadband and ICT is only partially offsetting declines in traditional fixed line and voice services. However, the rate of fixed access line loss and fixed to mobile substitution remains somewhat less in New Zealand than many overseas countries. Local service revenue fell to NZ$251 million from NZ$261 million in 1Q10.

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