Wireless Federation

Bharti Airtel’s profit contribution to SingTel falls 37 percent in Q2 (India, Singapore)

On 11.11.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Bharti Airtel’s contribution to its biggest shareholder SingTel reached the lowest in the past six quarters, when it fell by 37 percent to US$ 101.4 million for the second quarter. The decline in Airtel’s contribution is also considered to be the reason for SingTel falling short of analysts’ forecasts.

According to reports, Weng Cheong, CEO, SingTel said that this quarter, the investments by Airtel in its Indian 3G network and African operations incurred license fees amortisation and financing costs, which combined with weaker regional currencies, had dampened their results.

As per sources, Bharti Airtel had been the leading contributor towards SingTel’s profits prior to June 2009, after which Telkomsel Indonesia came in the frontline. Reports reveal that at the end of the second quarter, Telkomsel’s contribution to SingTel’s profits went up by 1.4 percent to US$ 180.4 million while that from Advanced Info Service PCL rose 17.3 percent to US$ 60.3 million compared to the same period last year. Further, company reports indicate that Bharti Airtel accounted for 15 percent of SingTel’s profit of $ 682.9 million for the three months ended September 2011.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: 3G • Bharti Airtel • India • Indonesia • SingTel • Telkomsel • Weng Cheong

SingTel to raise stake in AIS to 23.32 percent (Singapore, Thailand)

On 11.07.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) may be planning to raise its stake in Thailand’s Advanced Info Service (AIS) to 23.32 percent from 21.27 percent for about US$ 260 million. According to reports, SingTel has said that that Shin Corp PCL will sell 61 million shares in AIS. As per sources, Shin Corp owns a 42.6% stake in Advanced Info Services.

Further, reports suggest telecom giant SingTel has said it continues to look out for investment opportunities in Asia and other emerging markets, and that it will focus on strengthening the operating and financial performance of its associates. SingTel also has a stake in other foreign mobile operators such as Bhart Airtel (India), Telkomsel (Indonesia), Pacific Bangladesh telecom, Globe Telecom (Philippines) and Warid Telecom (Pakistan).

As per industry reports, SingTel has over 400 million mobile customers across 25 countries.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: AIS • Bangladesh • India • Indonesia • Pakistan • Philippines • Singapore • SingTel • Thailand

Telkomsel partners with On-Waves to provide low cost international roaming services to maritime workers (Indonesia)

On 11.01.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

Telkomsel, the largest cell phone operator in Indonesia, has partnered with Iceland-based maritime GSM service provider, On-Waves, to provide low-cost international roaming services to people working on ships. According to reports, Sarwoto Atmosutarno, Managing Director, Telkomsel has said they hope that over 30,000 Indonesians working in the maritime sector around the world can enjoy this international roaming service. He added that apart from providing expanded roaming access, they are also offering lower rates for voice, SMS and data services.

As per sources, Telkomsel distributed free premier SIM cards to 30 Indonesian crew members on the Louis Cristal cruise ship. Sarwoto reportedly added that customers using either Halo, AS or Simpati SIM cards would now be able to make calls to anywhere in the world for $1 (IDR 9,000) per minute and send text messages for $0.22 (IDR 2,000) per message.

Talking from a business point of view, Sarwoto has said that for the 30,000 Indonesian citizens working in cruise ships, commercial and oil drilling in the middle of the sea, cooperation with operators such as On-Waves GSM helps them to stay in touch with their family at an affordable cost. He added that such cooperation deals present an opportunity with a huge potential to be developed.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: GSM • Iceland • Indonesia • International Roaming • maritime • On-waves • Sarwoto Atmosutarno • Telkomsel

Axis Telecom signs deal with Huawei for network expansion (Indonesia)

On 09.19.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

Axis Telecom, the Indonesian mobile phone operator, has signed a deal with Huawei in an attempt to enhance its network capacity. As per the deal, Huawei will provide equipment to Axis Telekom enabling it to double its network services. The $500 million deal is reportedly expected to add 5,000 new sites to Axis’ base, 4,000 of which will be 3G sites capable of supporting HSPA.

As per reports, Michael McPhail, Chief Technology Officer, Axis, has said that with this expansion, they will be able to double their coverage area and improve the capacity per area. He added that the expansion will allow the operator to accommodate 40 million subscribers, up from about 20 million currently.

Sources claim that according to, Erik Aas, President Director and CEO, Axis, the company’s target was to gain at least 17 million subscribers by the end of 2011. Further, he believed that by the end of its rollout in 2014, Axis would be able to compete with the nation’s largest GSM operators. He also said that this partnership reinforces Axis’ commitment to providing a high quality network, in order to deliver enhanced mobile broadband and quality voice services.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: 3G • Axis Telecom • HSPA • Huawei • Indonesia

Surprising drop in profits for SingTel, bogged down by regional units (Singapore)

On 08.11.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Southeast Asia’s largest phone company, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. posted a decline in profits for the first quarter, attributed to lower earnings from regional businesses such as Bharti Airtel in India. The reports of drop in profits were rather unexpected.

The company’s net income slump 2.9 percent to $750 million from $776.42 million in the three months ended June; whereas market observers had predicted a rise in profits to $815.77 million.

In the wake of Bharti Airtel’s lower earnings for six consecutive quarters, in addition to the appreciation in the Singapore dollar against eight major Asian currencies this year, SingTel’s revenues from international markets have greatly slowed down. On the other hand, the Optus unit in Australia has positive news for the company. The Australian unit’s earnings saw an increase buoyed by currency gains and customers won from rivals.

The combined earnings from the company’s international partners that include Bharti in India and Africa, Telkomsel in Indonesia, Advanced Info Service Pcl in Thailand and Globe in the Philippines are worth $388.54, down by 10 percent as compared to last year.

While Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from Singapore operations slumped by 4 percent to $466.74 million, in the wake of costs for the company’s mioTV service despite revenues increasing by 2 percent.

In contrast, Sydney-based Optus saw 1 percent increase in earnings to reach $568 million; attributed to new mobile customers joining the network.

Apparently, Vodafone Hutchison’s loss is Optus and Telstra Corp’s gain. The former had reported losing 375,000 customers in the six months ended June.

While Telstra, the biggest telephone company in Australia posted earnings for the second half that market observers’ forecasts on the back of new customer net additions in the mobile segment and also, cost cutting.

According to a statement released by SingTel, the company owns minority stakes in six operators with businesses across 25 countries, and has 416 million mobile phone customers

The company does own whole units in Australia and Singapore while minority stakes in operators across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

India’ Bharti Airtel, of which SingTel owns a stake, posted a drop in quarterly profit by 27 percent; attributed to higher borrowing costs and the start of new services.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Australia • Bangladesh • India • Indonesia • operator • Pakistan • Philippines • Singapore • Thailand

Operators launch prepay data roaming service in Asia on the back of an alliance

On 07.28.11, In Mobile, By Editor

In order to offer a universal prepaid SIM card designed for mobile data roaming, eleven Asian mobile networks have joined hands. The rate for data usage would be a uniform one at $12 per day for unlimited downloads.

Singapore (SingTel Mobile), Malaysia (Maxis), Indonesia (Telkomsel), Philippines (Globe Telecom), Thailand (AIS) and India (Airtel) constitute the Bridge Alliance member networks across which countries, the Bridge AsiaRoamData SIM will be usable.

The Bridge AsiaRoamData SIM starter kit will cost $15 that is comprised of a data SIM card bundled with 1-day unlimited data roaming plan. Subsequent daily usage charges will be US$12 per day.

Currently, eleven Asian mobile operators constitute the Bridge Alliance partnership.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: India • Indonesia • Malaysia • operator • Philippines • Singapore • Thailand • USA

4,000 of Indosat’s base station towers up for sale (Indonesia)

On 06.24.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Indosat, the Indonesian mobile network looks to sell its tower assets in a bid to rake in upwards of $500 million.

According to sources who are in privy with the plan, revealed that the company is not willing to sell the assets in question to its primary rival networks, namely Telekomunikasi Indonesia and XL Axiata.

Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tower Bersama Infrastructure and Solusi Tunas Pratama are touted to be frontrunners, bidding for the base station towers; apparently been holding talks with banks to acquire loans as part of funding the acquisition.

Reportedly, 4,000 out of the 17,000 towers owned by the company comprise the sale offer. Late in the previous year, the company had hinted at selling up to 14,000 of its towers in 2011.

Qatar Telecom controls 65% of Indosat.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Indonesia • operator • Qatar

Axis rolls out international calls promotion (Indonesia)

On 06.06.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Axis, which operates in Indonesia, has rolled out a promotion for international calls via VoIP during the school holidays.

Calls to Singapore are charged at US$0.02 per minute, calls to Canada are priced at US$0.01 per minute and calls to Australia at US$0.09 per minute. The offer is available to all Axis customers.

Besides Singapore, Australia and Canada, the special VoIP rate is also available to call other countries like Malaysia at US$0.04 per minute, Saudi Arabia at US$0.16 per minute, and to China, Hong Kong, and Thailand at US$0.04 per minute.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Australia • Canada • China • Hong Kong • Indonesia • Malaysia • operator • Saudi Arabia • Singapore • Thailand

Qtel adds Bollywood Music Comes to Backstage (Qatar)

On 06.03.11, In Mobile, By Editor

The Qtel Group’s popular mobile music service, Backstage, took another giant jump forward today, as Bollywood and South Asian entertainment from Hungama Mobile were added to the song catalogue.

Top ten hits including Dhinka Chika, from the album “Ready”, Pee Loon Hoto Ki Sargam from “Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai” and Sajid-Wajid’s popular love song “Tere Mast Mast Do Nain” can now all be easily downloaded to a laptop or mobile with Backstage, Backstage customers in Qatar who have selected the Premium Package can automatically update their Backstage application and have immediate access to the Hungama catalogue.

Alternatively, new customers can select the special Bollywood Package from Backstage for just QR15 a month. The pioneering Qtel-Hungama partnership will allow Backstage customers to download the latest hits from Indian and Bollywood content as well as Pakistani, Afghani and Tamil music genres.

Hungama Mobile’s content library includes hit music from films such as Tees Maar Khan, and Dabanng, as well as music from the films of leading superstars such as Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, and Priyanka Chopra.

Backstage offers unlimited music downloads for mobile phones and PCs, as well as privileged access to industry stars and music heroes. With an easy subscription process via SMS, PC or WAP, and for a minimal flat-rate monthly fee, customers can enjoy unlimited downloads from an international catalogue of more than one million international tracks.

Backstage customers can build their own collections, create playlists to suit their mood, search by track, artist, genre or album, and share playlists with other fans and friends, through a specially-designed interface.

For English language musical tracks, Backstage has partnered with the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, which represents a host of the most famous names in music, including Lady Gaga, Akon, Justin Bieber, Enrique Iglesias, Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, 50 Cent, Nelly Furtado, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and Kanye West, among many others.

Backstage also offers unlimited access to two of the region’s most popular Arabic labels, Melody and Mazzika – which represent leading Arab artists including Amr Diab, Ragheb Alama, Haifa Wehbe, Myriam Fares, Abdallah El-Rweished, Angham, Asala, and many more – to provide a wide range of choice and value to customers. Backstage is now available through Qtel in Qatar, Nawras in Oman and Wataniya in Kuwait, with a forthcoming launch in Indonesia – including local music listings – planned for the summer of 2011.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: India • Indonesia • Kuwait • Oman • operator • Pakistan • Qatar

Vodafone extends World Calling Club promotion (Qatar)

On 05.31.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Vodafone Qatar has extended its World Calling Club international call rates to more than 180 countries for just US$17.69 a minute until June 30.

All of the most popular calling destinations are included in this promotion, which included Bahrain, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Yemen.

Vodafone is also extending until 30 June its International Calling Card 25 offer that gives customers 51 minutes of talk time at a rate of US$0.13 a minute. The countries included in this are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand, Syria, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Bahrain • Bangladesh • Canada • China • Egypt • France • Germany • Ghana • India • Indonesia • Iran • Italy • Japan • Jordan • Kenya • Kuwait • Lebanon • Malaysia • Nepal • Niger • Nigeria • Oman • operator • Pakistan • Philippines • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • South Africa • Spain • Sri Lanka • Sudan • Syria • Tanzania • Thailand • Turkey • United Arab Emirates • United Kingdom • Yemen