Telecom Italia Pays $870m for AOL Germany
Telecom Italia SpA has taken time off from a reorganization that has plunged the country’s politics into turmoil by paying 675m euros ($870m) cash for Time Warner’s AOL Germany internet access business in a deal that will make it Germany’s second largest ISP.
It is a deal that fits in perfectly with the company’s future vision as a distributor of media services over broadband that has led it to plan the sale of its fixed-line network and its TIM mobile arm. AOL Germany will adds 1.1 million broadband and 1.3 million narrowband subscribers to give TI 3.2 million subscribers in Germany, including nearly 2 million broadband customers.
TI’s proposed reorganization has horrified the center-left government led by premier Romano Prodi, whose economic nationalism has led it to fear that denationalized telecoms assets could fall under foreign ownership. Though Telecom Italia chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, who was at the center of the dispute with the government, quit on Friday, his successor Guido Rossi has made it clear he will carry in with the reorganization plan.
Telecom Italia has been steadily building its presence in Germany since it acquired Hansenet in 2003. With a base in Italy, France, and the Netherlands, the German acquisition will give it 9 million broadband subscribers in Europe to whom it can market its Telecom Italia Media content.
Under the deal, AOL will provide co-branded audience services and content on a joint web portal for all of Telecom Italia’s residential internet access subscribers in Germany and will handle all online advertising sales.
Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons said the agreement is the latest step in its strategy of focusing on core assets to drive profitable growth. He said the partnership with TI will advance AOL’s worldwide transition from a business built primarily on providing internet access to an advertising-supported business model.
The root of TI’s problems is its huge level of debt that by the end of 2007 it plans to bring down to the 33bn euros ($41.8bn) recorded at the end of 2004.
With TIM alone estimated to be worth 35bn euros ($44.3bn), its sale could solve TI’s debt problems at a stroke but the difficulty seen by the government is that no Italian corporation has the resources to buy it.
Source- http://www.computerwire.com
Technorati : Germany, Italia, Mobile, Telecom
Ice Rocket : Germany, Italia, Mobile, Telecom
Strike over Telecom Italia plans
Unions at Telecom Italia have called a strike over proposals to split the firm’s fixed line and mobile businesses into two new companies.
The planned 3 October walkout and street protest comes amid fears the company’s new focus on broadband and media will result in job losses.
There are also reports that the strategy change will signal the sale of its mobile business, TIM.
About half of the 85,000-strong workforce are represented by unions.
Turnaround
Telecom Italia’s change in strategy has caused a political row, forcing an adviser to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to resign.
Mr Prodi, who opposes the move, said last week that he had no prior knowledge of the firm’s decision.
Yet a leaked note by his aide, Angelo Rovati, appeared to show Mr Prodi did know of the plan.
Telecom Italia’s net profits fell 15.7% to 1.5bn euros ($1.78bn; £953m) in the first half of 2006.
The company bought its TIM mobile business in 2005 after previously selling it off in the 1990s. Experts suggest it could be worth up to 35bn euros (£23.7bn).
Selling TIM, the last Italian-owned mobile network, would mark a major turnaround for Telecom Italia, which has recently been integrating its mobile and fixed-line phone operations.
Separate reports have suggested that rival European telecoms firms including France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, and Spain’s Telefonica – as well as US private equity firm The Carlyle Group – could be interested in buying TIM.
Telecom Italia is Italy’s largest phone company, holding almost 70% of the market, and is the leading mobile operator in Brazil as well as Italy.
It also has broadband interests in Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands and owns a number of media interests including Telecom Italia Media – which owns MTV Italia, a news agency and TV channel La7.
Source- http://news.bbc.co.uk
Technorati : Mobile, Telecom Italia
Ice Rocket : Mobile, Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia says no takeover offers for mobile operations
Telecom Italia has issued a statement saying it has no plans for selling its Italian or Brazilian mobile operations and has also received no offers for the activities. Press speculation has suggested the company may sell the mobile activities to reduce debt and focus on broadband and media operations, with Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and private equity groups named as possible bidders. Leaving the door open for a possible future sale, the company repeated that it will examine any “opportunities for value enhancement” which may present themselves, for both its fixed and mobile networks. The Italian company also noted that while it plans to hive off its fixed and mobile networks into separate companies, no decision has been taken yet on the financial structure for the new companies.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com/
Technorati : Italy, Mobile, Telecom Italia
Ice Rocket : Italy, Mobile, Telecom Italia
Palm Introduces Windows Mobile-Based Treo 750v Smartphone for Vodafone Customers
Palm has announced the Palm Treo 750v, the first Treo to take advantage of Vodafone’s 3G/UMTS network around the world. The new Treo 750v will be available first to Vodafone customers in the following countries:
Austria
,
France
,
Germany
,
Ireland
,
Italy
,
Netherlands
,
Spain
,
Switzerland
, the
UK
and other regions by the end of the calendar year.
The Treo 750v combines the Palm experience of a multifeatured mobile phone with email, messaging, web browsing and organization software all in a new compact design.
The new device comes with Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) for Windows Mobile 5.0, which includes Direct Push Technology and enhanced security features free and out of the box, when combined with a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 for communications.
It is also fully compatible with Vodafone Business Email, giving remote access to enterprise and Internet-based email accounts.
Unique to the Treo smartphone on Windows Mobile 5.0 is a suite of software enhancements developed by Palm, including Today screen enhancements, which feature the ability to “dial by name” with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a web search directly from the Today Screen and perform one-touch dialing with personalized photo speed dials.
Also featured is the ability to manage a call directly from the Today Screen and stay on top of voicemail with on-screen, VCR-like icons, such as rewind, delete and fast-forward controls for easy navigation.
For users who are constantly busy in meetings and appointments, the software supports the ability to ignore a call and quickly compose a text message, such as “In a meeting” or “Can’t talk”.
The Windows Mobile 5 platform comes with mobile versions of Microsoft Office applications (including Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel), a messaging application for e-mail, SMS and MMS and 1.3 megapixal digital camera.
Users can expand the built-in memory through miniSD cards, and connect to other devices via Bluetooth, which also supports Bluetooth enabled stereo headsets, so users can enjoy multimedia through the built-in Windows Media Player 10 mobile.
Source- http://www.geekzone.co.nz
Technorati : Mobile, New Zealand, Palm, Vodafone
Ice Rocket : Mobile, New Zealand, Palm, Vodafone
Telecom Italia Plans to Sell Mobile Unit
Telecom Italia (TI – commentary – Cramer’s Take) plans to sell off Telecom Italia Mobile,
Italy
‘s No. 1 mobile-phone provider, according to a weekend media report.
The company’s chairman, Marco Tronchetti Provera, is expected to announce the sale Monday, according to a report on The Wall Street Journal’s Web site Sunday. The most likely buyer would be a private equity firm, the report said, citing one adviser to Telecom Italia.
The sale would be a strategic about-face for Telecom Italia, which less than two years ago conducted a $27.88 billion merger with Telecom Italia Mobile, the report noted.
Last week, Tronchetti Provera met with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch about a content deal between their companies.
Telecom Italia shares gained 22 cents Friday to $28.64.
Source- http://www.thestreet.com
Technorati : Italy, Mobile, Telecom Italia
Ice Rocket : Italy, Mobile, Telecom Italia
Cloud considers T-Mobile complaint
The wi-fi operator The Cloud may lodge a formal complaint with the German regulator against T-Mobile, the mobile telecoms division of Deutsche Telekom. The two companies compete in the mobile broadband market and the fast-growing British company believes T-Mobile is using its economic muscle to stifle competition.
George Polk, founder and chief executive of The Cloud, said: “T-Mobile is spending an uneconomic amount of money to compete with us.” He said the company would consider complaining to the German telecoms regulator over the coming weeks but added that there could be a better way to resolve the situation.
The Cloud is one of Europe’s largest wi-fi network providers and works with incumbent telecoms operators to provide access to its network of hot spots through wholesale agreements. The Cloud’s network provides users with wireless broadband access, allowing business customers to use laptops in coffee shops and hotels. It has built a wi-fi network in London’s Canary Wharf area and recently won a contract to build a network in London’s financial district that was contested by BT and T-Mobile.
Mr Polk, who founded The Cloud in 2003, said despite competing against incumbent operators for contracts, the company maintains a good relationship with such companies across Europe. The Cloud has worked closely with BT in the UK since 2003 and recently signed up Norway’s Telenor as a customer.
It entered Germany in early 2005 by acquiring a small wi-fi company. But it has found competing against the aggressive German incumbent tough.
Mr Polk said that despite The Cloud’s strong growth over the past two years, he still does not expect a flotation of the business for at least 18 months. It received funding from the private equity companies 3i and Accel Partners when it expanded into continental Europe. Mr Polk said the company is likely to raise more capital over the coming months to fund further expansion of its network into Spain, France and Italy.
Source- http://news.independent.co.uk
Technorati : BT, Mobile, T-Mobile, The Cloud, UK
Ice Rocket : BT, Mobile, T-Mobile, The Cloud, UK
Mobile, global is aim of cell phone makers
JEJU, South Korea — Most mobile phones you buy in South Korea don’t work in Japan, while a phone bought in the United States may or may not work in Europe.
Consumers have long faced a perplexing alphabet soup of terminology involving disparate wireless technologies and radio frequencies when simply seeking to buy a phone to call business associates or loved ones from anywhere in the world.
The engineers of tomorrow’s mobile technology are hoping to change that.
At a forum last week sponsored by Samsung Electronics Co. on South Korea’s Jeju island, the architects of tomorrow’s wireless future — referred to as fourth-generation technology — discussed ways to help them meet the challenge of true worldwide mobile roaming.
Finding a common radio frequency that could be used anywhere in the world isn’t a simple task, given the current airwave clutter among cell phone, police radio, satellite and other wireless transmissions.
Studies are seeking to determine whether frequencies now in use by other technologies could be shared with new devices that would be able to sense when those channels are busy or free to transmit.
Another idea to free up frequencies would be to reallocate ones now given to obsolete technologies or those that don’t see heavy use.
Agreeing on a single global frequency would also be a key to allowing the new technology to work seamlessly worldwide.
“It’s essential this time that the fourth generation, whatever that means, is indeed a global technology,” said Alberto Ciarniello, a vice president at Telecom Italia SpA of Italy.
Consumers shouldn’t have to spend thousands of dollars for devices that can work with various competing technologies to be able to roam worldwide, said Ali Tabassi, a vice president from U.S.-based Sprint Nextel Corp.
But as is often the case with trailblazing technology, a potential format and frequency war is taking shape, along with a debate over how quickly the industry should move.
Some companies are supporting the technology known as Mobile WiMax, a burgeoning standard now coming into use that has been strongly backed by U.S. chip maker Intel Corp. It offers relatively fast connections over a long range, but not the kind of superfast speeds that are considered the realm of the fourth-generation future.
“We cannot wait for another three to four years for another technology platform to support the Internet-everywhere dream,” said Bin Shen, vice president for broadband at Sprint Nextel, which plans WiMax trials by late 2007 before launching the service in the United States in 2008. “We believe Internet is like air and oxygen in people’s lives in the future.”
There already are limited trials of Mobile WiMax under way in South Korea, with plans to cover the capital, Seoul, by early next year. However, in a sign of the difficulties in deploying a worldwide standard, the South Korean system uses a different frequency than the one planned for Sprint Nextel’s future network because of government restrictions.
Samsung has backed WiMax and is a partner in commercializing the technology in South Korea and the United States.
But at the same time, Samsung is using the forum to show off another potential next-generation technology. The South Korean company is one of several working to develop a standard for a lightning-speed data transmission that hasn’t yet been named and won’t be agreed upon until at least 2010, meaning it won’t be in consumers’ pockets for years.
Some say that’s too long to wait.
“Why can’t users today connect to the Internet everywhere they are?” asked Siavash Alamouti, chief technology officer for Intel’s mobile wireless division. “We’ve got to do it as fast as possible.”
Source- http://seattlepi.nwsource.com
Technorati : Japan, Mobile, Samsung, South Korea, WiMAX
Ice Rocket : Japan, Mobile, Samsung, South Korea, WiMAX
Samsung to Demonstrate 4G Mobile Technology
Samsung announced its plan to demonstrate 4th Generation (4G) mobile technology at the annual Samsung 4G Forum in Jeju Island, Korea for the first time in the world.
Demonstration will take place at the specially designed bus in mobile circumstances reaching 100 Mbps data transmission as well as at the display area inside forum venue to show speeds of 1 Gbps of data transmission.
The bus demonstration will give participants a first-hand experience of this latest technology. A demonstration bus will be moving at speeds of 60 km/h to show multi-cell handover with data speed of 100Mbps. A live broadcast of the Forum, VOD, and internet access will be shown simultaneously in a demonstration bus allowing delegates to experience the stability and speed of 4G connectivity of 100 Mbps data speed.
1 Gbps data speed under nomadic circumstances is 50 times faster than current Mobile WiMax technology. It takes about 2.4 seconds to transfer 100 MP3 files (300 MB), 5.6 seconds to transfer 1 Movie (800 MB) at speeds of 1 Gbps. Samsung will demonstrate 1 Gbps data speed at nomadic circumstances by showing 32HD channel broadcast (20 Mbps) download, Internet access and video telephony all at the same time. Furthermore, a 3.5 Gbps data transfer demonstration will be shown using 8×8 MIMO(Multi-Input Multi-Output) technology.
Samsung’s 4G technology demonstration is a next generation wireless communication service, a step up from last year’s Mobile WiMax demonstration. Samsung has recently announced its plans to provide Mobile WiMax systems and handsets to Sprint Nextel and lead the industry in next generation telecommunications technology. Additionally, Samsung has plans to commercialize Mobile WiMax with nine major operators in seven different countries such as US, Italy, Brazil.
Samsung hosts an annual 4G Forum to discuss about technology development and standardization of future telecommunication technology. Around 175 high-profile industry representatives from 20 countries meet to discuss the key technologies for 4th generation mobile communications at the 4th Annual Samsung 4G Forum from August 30th to September 1st covering the “Service Requirements & Spectrum for 4G.”
ITU defines 4G technology as a future wireless telecommunications technology allowing data transfer rates of 1Gbps at nomadic circumstances and 100 Mbps at mobile circumstances. The spectrums for 4G technology will be decided at WRC (World Radiocommunication Conference) in October of 2007. The 4G mobile communications format is expected to become commercially available around 2010.
Source- http://www.mobiledia.com
Technorati : 4G, Mobile, Samsung
Ice Rocket : 4G, Mobile, Samsung
Mobily launches 3.5G wireless technology globally
MUMBAI: Saudi Arabia mobile operator Mobily has announced the offer of its 3G services internationally. Mobily subscribers will be able to make video calls to UAE, Italy, Hong Kong, Luxemburg and Australia using the technology of 3G or 3.5G. Mobily has just completed its own 3.5G network which covers 15 cities in Saudi Arabia, consisting more than 900 base stations.
Subscribers will also be able to watch TV channels live on 3.5G. These include Alarabiyah channel, CNBC Arabiya channel, Saudi TV, Space Toon and others. Mobily says that it is offering a very competitive rate compared to other operators. The cost of video telephony is 0.80 halalas per minute for postpaid subscribers, whereas a minute cost one riyal when using the TV streaming. Mobily does not demand any monthly fees for all the third generation services.
Media reports indicate that the 3.5G service will also allow for multiplayer gaming. Most of the 3.5G (HSDPA) services require 2G and 3.5G phone handsets, except for the video calling which works only on 3G handsets. One of the excellent services the 3.5G will provide is the access to the internet with 3G speed from laptop using the mobile as a modem. The setting of the internet will not be different from 2G web setting. The speed exceeds four mega per second for download.
Source- http://www.indiantelevision.com
Technorati : India, Mobile, Mobily, Saudi Arabia
Ice Rocket : India, Mobile, Mobily, Saudi Arabia
