NTT DOCOMO to bid for mobile app provider Buongiorno (Japan)
NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced that it has launched a tender offer to acquire all shares in Buongiorno S.p.A., one of the largest providers of mobile internet content and apps in Europe and beyond. The tender offer will be conducted by NTT DOCOMO’s German subsidiary, DOCOMO Deutschland GmbH. Mauro Del Rio, owner of approximately 20 percent of the company’s stock, has entered into an irrevocable undertaking with DOCOMO Deutschland GmbH to tender all of his shares for the offer. DOCOMO Deutschland GmbH has issued a public notice in Italy to announce the tender offer.
Buongiorno is a worldwide leader in the development and management of paid apps and services that maximize consumer experiences with mobile devices. The company has steadily grown its business through the direct delivery of a broad portfolio of content and services to some two billion customers in 57 countries across four continents. DOCOMO decided to conduct the public tender in consideration of the potential positive impact on the growth of both companies.
The acquisition will combine DOCOMO’s innovative mobile business and services know-how in Japan and other countries with Buongiorno’s advanced mobile technologies and extensive global customer base. As part of expanding the businesses of both companies, DOCOMO expects to strengthen the foundation of its mobile platform businesses overseas.
Softbank and PayPal form joint venture for mobile payment services (Japan)
Softbank and PayPal have come together to offer mobile payment services in the country. According to reports, the venture is worth $25 million and will be headed by the director of Softbank Mobile, Hiroaki Kitano.
As per a report by the register, John Donahoe, president and CEO of PayPal parent eBay, said that their Our Softbank partnership and launch of PayPal Here will make it easier for millions of merchants in Japan to grow their businesses and for consumers to easily pay anytime, anywhere.
Further, customers will receive the newest Japanese version of the PayPal app, which helps users locate shops that accept PayPal Here payments and transfer the cash with a quick tap on their phone. The business will then receive the customer’s name and picture so that it can verify the payment.
M-commerce to overtake e-commerce soon (India)
In an emerging market such as India, mobile broadband is expected to become the prime source of internet access, racing ahead even of e-commerce. Accprding to a report by ET, of the next 300 million Internet users to be added, more than 200 million are expected to be mobile Internet users. The variety of low end smartphones available in the market, beginning at $ 58 will aide in the growth of this phenomenon.
The report highlights other Asian markets where mobile commerce has been making its mark. In Japan, around 20 percent of online commerce is done via the mobile phone; whereas, China has an m-commerce level of 12 percent of the overall 30 percent.
As per the report, the number of mobile only Internet users is expected to be over 50 percent in India by 2015. Of the total e-commerce in 2015 in the country, about 15-20 percent is expected to be transacted via the mobile phone.
M-commerce offers consumers certain advantages such as convenience in placing orders over their mobile phone, enhanced interaction between retailer and purchaser, easy mobile payment options with advanced technolgy functions, amongst others.
Ericsson wins LTE contract with SoftBank Mobile (Japan, Sweden)
Video-sharing and streaming in high definition, facilitated mobility and richer multimedia content, enhanced security and improved latency are one of the many advantages that LTE users could enjoy. And soon SoftBank Mobile’s subscribers will be able to share these advantages, thanks to a new LTE network contract signed by SoftBank Mobile with Ericsson. The Ericsson network will cover Japan’s major cities – Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya – which together account for 70 percent of the country’s total data and voice traffic. SoftBank Mobile is currently Japan’s third-largest mobile operator, with more than 29 million subscribers.
Ericsson will upgrade SoftBank Mobile’s packet core network, including systems integration and deployment of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution, and build a new LTE radio access network using RBS 6000 multi-standard base stations. This will allow SoftBank Mobile users to experience the best possible networks in one of the world’s most densely populated areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.
Junichi Miyakawa, Executive Vice President, Director and CTO of SoftBank Mobile Corp., says that to fulfill their customers’ expectations, they continue to improve their networks. With LTE, customers get increased speed and decreased latency, while they will enjoy a wide range of new services and applications. With Ericsson’s support, they will be able to offer their customers high quality LTE services.
Jan Signell, President of Ericsson Japan, said that during 2012, many new smartphones, notebooks and tablets with LTE capabilities will be launched in Japan. This will lead to a strong increase in consumer demand for higher data speeds and throughput – a demand that SoftBank Mobile will be able to meet thanks to the state-of-the-art LTE network that we will rapidly deploy.
Ericsson has signed 45 LTE/EPC contracts in 23 countries on five continents. The global LTE population coverage is 325 million, of which 215 million are covered by Ericsson networks. LTE, the next generation of mobile communication technology, enables the fast transfer of huge amounts of data in an efficient and cost-effective way, optimizing the use of the frequency spectrum. With increased speed and decreased latency, consumers can enjoy a wide range of applications – such as lag-free web browsing, online gaming, social media and video conferencing – effortlessly, while on the move. LTE will meet the demands of new and enhanced mobile internet applications of the future.
Ericsson continues to drive open standards and has had the greatest influence on the LTE specifications released to date. Ericsson expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents related to LTE, which will make it the standard’s largest single patent holder.
Orange Business Services inks 5 year deal with JTI (France, Japan)
Orange Business Services has signed a five-year outsourcing contract with JTI (Japan Tobacco International), the international business of Japan Tobacco Inc., worth over $100 million. Orange Business Services helps JTI with managed services such as LAN, data and voice traffic, security and call centers among others.
As per reports, Diego De Coen, JTI CIO, said that their 17-year relationship with Orange Business Services is built on trust and mutual success. Such a long-term relationship is nearly unheard of these days and this contract renewal was not a given. Instead, Orange Business Services proved again that its competitive strength, unmatched global reach and comprehensive portfolio made it the best choice for JTI as they continue to evolve their global telecom infrastructure and services.
Helmut Reisinger, Senior Vice President Europe, Orange Business Services, said that over the years, they have developed a very strong partnership with JTI. They are grateful and proud that they have been entrusted with this contract for another five years. This is certainly mainly due to the quality of services they have been providing to JTI, even during the days of 2011 turbulences in times of the Japan earthquake or the ‘Egyptian spring’ where their business continuity plans proved to be beneficial to a lot of multinationals such as JTI. Building on the success, they look forward to collaborating with JTI on innovative solutions over the next several years.
Panasonic unveils Elegant Eluga (Japan)
Panasonic has announced the launch of a smartphone named ‘Eluga’. Name of the device is based on the concept of ‘elegant user-oriented getaway.’ By April 2012, the Japanese manufacturer will be marking its entry to the smartphone market in its homeland as well as in Europe also.
The launch of Eluga outside the Japanese shores will place it as the first high-end Android Smartphone making an entry outside its native place. The huge display of Eluga covers 66 per cent of device’s body and it weighs a 103 gm in total.
While sharing the information about Eluga, the company added that the device is waterproof, dustproof and very light. The company informed that the frame of Eluga is 123×62.0×7.8mm, protected by international standard
The device can sustain in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes and can keep the dust at bay for up to eight hours in desert like conditions. The technical features of the device includes Near Field Communication (NFC), 4.3-inch 960 x 540 OLED QHD display up front and a 1GHz dual-core Texas instruments OMEP 4430 processor on the inside.
The company has neither disclosed the release price of the device nor the OS version on which the device will be functioning. The device is expected to hit the US market after its launch in Europe.
Telstra receives telecom licences in Japan and Singapore (Australia, Asia)
Australian telecom operator Telstra has reportedly been given operating licences in Singapore and Japan, enabling the operator to expand its footprint in the Asian continent. As per company reports, Telstra plans to open and operate voice and data networks that will allow the company to build the local backbone required for new cable submarine capacity to Singapore.
Further, the company has reportedly claimed that the license enables them to offer voice and data services as well as systems and facilities locally. As per sources, the operator had previously received three telecom licences in India for providing customers with international telecommunication services.
Telefonica signs network sharing agreement with China Unicom (Spain, China)
Spanish telecom operator Telefonica has reportedly entered into a strategic partnership with China Unicom, wherein both operators will use each other’s networks to expand their coverage. According to reports, the deal will provide Telefonica access to China Unicom’s network in the regions of Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, France and Sweden.
In return, China Unicom can reportedly increase its presence through Telefonica’s network in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
Reports suggest that Telefonica believes this agreement will help both operators expand their capabilities to provide telecom services to various customers in different geographic areas.
America Movil’s increases its stake in Telemex to 93 percent (Latin America)
America Movile, the leading wireless service provider in Latin America, has reportedly said its stake in Telmex has gone up from 60 percent to as much as 93 percent, as a consequence of a shareholder buyout offer. According to reports, the operator will be required to pay around US$ 4.6 billion, to increase its holding, for which the company reportedly sold bonds worth over US$ 5 billion in the UK, Japan, Switzerland and the US since August this year.
As per industry reports, in August, Carlos Slim, Chairman, America Movil had said that they were looking to restructure their telecoms empire by buying out a 40.4 percent stake in Telmex for US$ 0.77 per share in an attempt to reduce administrative costs along with improving its competitiveness in the market.
