Iraq expects to raise $2 bn from 4th mobile license sale
The Iraqi government is hoping to raise around US$2 billion from auctioning off the country’s fourth mobile operator license by the end of the year.
According to the Communications Minister, Mohammed Allawi, the government will allocate at least a quarter of the license fee towards improving the country’s telecom’s infrastructure.
Mohammed Allawi also stated that he wants to improve landline services, and use that to boost internet penetration to 25% within five years. 40% of the shares will go to the operator, 35% of the shares to the public, and 25% of the shares to the ministry.
The government has been increasingly frustrated by what it says is poor service from the existing three networks – although they cite the difficult security situation and repeated attacks on their networks as a primary cause.
The minister stated that while network jamming by security forces was partly to blame for patchy mobile coverage, the operators’ infrastructure had been unable to cope with growing demand.
Both France Telecom and Etisalat are claimed to be in talks to take a stake in the smallest Iraqi operator, Korek Telecom, although the availability of an independent license may prove more alluring to the bidders.
The country has three operators, Zain, Asiacell and Korek Telecom.
SES ASTRA launches broadband project to provide ASTRA2Connect (Europe)
European satellite operator, SES ASTRA has launched a new service that aims to provide communities in areas without conventional broadband internet access with its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect.
The so-called sub-distribution service allows telecoms firms to offer satellite-based broadband connections via the existing last mile infrastructure.
The sub-distribution allows SES ASTRA to provide small communities in the white spots with broadband connections of up to 6 Mbit/s without households needing to install a satellite antenna at their homes. The satellite broadband connection is installed at the street cabinet of the community, and that is then connected to the customer’s home through the existing landline phone network in the village.
End customers only need a standard DSL modem, to access the broadband internet.
According to Norbert H¶lzle, Chief Commercial Officer at SES ASTRA, they are very proud to be able to contribute to the current broadband discussion with such an innovative solution. Their sub-distribution solution bears an enormous potential to close the white spots in Germany while promoting cooperation between infrastructure providers and telco operators at the same time. They are convinced that they are offering an attractive service for communities, internet service providers and end customers alike.
Vodafone to enter landline business in India
Vodafone Essar is planning to enter the leased landline and business solutions space, competing with larger peers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Tata Communications.
According to Naveen Chopra, Director Enterprise and Carrier Business, they are a late entrant in the business, but that puts them in an advantageous position of nothing to lose. Vodafone’s entry may intensify price wars in the enterprise business, just like new entrants in the mobile telephony space did since late 2008.
With retail customer tariffs coming down to one paisa per second, enterprise business present high margin data revenue for telecom operators. Unlike mobile telephone call rates that have halved over the last two years, telephony solutions for enterprises have been falling 10-15 % every year.
According to Chopra, they cannot pretend that there will be no pricing impact, but the volume growth in the enterprise business more than adequately compensates the fall. Over a span of five years,Vodafone Essar expects trebling of revenue from the segment, which currently accounts for 8-10 % of the company’s revenue at the moment.
According to the company, by the financial year that will end in March of 2016, enterprise business would account for nearly 20% of the company’s revenue. In the October-December quarter, revenue of Vodafone Essar was approximately 7,126 crore. It does not disclose the profitability of the region. It will also give preference to enterprise customers on its 3G services to be launched before March-end.
The company bought 3G airwaves in nine service areas for 11,618 crore in a government auction last year. The service is expected to bring more profit-making data business to telecom operators.
Freephone2phone Announces Unlimited, Free 10-Minute Long Distance and International Calls to Over 50 Countries
Americans can now picks up their landline and mobile phones and call most telephones in the world for free. Based on the success of its public beta, Freephone2phone, Inc. (http://freephone2phone.com) has increased its service offer so any US resident can make unlimited, free 10-minute calls in the US and to telephones in over 50 countries. Unlike Skype, Vonage, Google Voice or magicJack, no sign up is required, neither is computer access or any special equipment. Freephone2phone pays for its calls with a 10-second ad played prior to each call connection. To use Freephone2phone, you simply:
- pick up your landline or mobile phone
- dial a local access number
- listen to one or two ten-second ads
- Then make free, unlimited calls up to 10 minutes to landlines (and some mobiles) in over 50 countries.
There are three billion phone calls a day in the US, paid for on a bundled or per call basis. Freephone2phone has opened up free calling for this market. Prior to Freephone2phone’s offer, free calling was primarily restricted to computer-to-computer voice connections through software supplied by internet telephony providers. With Skype or Google Voice, for example, you cannot pick up your landline or mobile phone to make free international calls. Freephone2phone has changed the notion of what “free calling” means. You can now pick up your everyday phone, save money and call the world.
On its web site, Freephone2phone publishes over 160 local access numbers to immediately place calls from cities throughout the United States. To learn more and to find your local access number to place calls immediately, please visit Freephone2phone.com.
About Freephone2phone
Freephone2phone is an ad-sponsored telecom provider. It’s based in New York City and has a management team with extensive experience in the media, advertising and telecom sectors. For more information, please visit Freephone2phone.com.
Go articulated eagerness to acquire Zain Saudi Subsidiary
Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Atheeb Telecom (Go) has expressed its interest in acquiring the Saudi assets of Kuwait’s Zain if the takeover by UAE’s Etisalat is successful. Etisalat is currently offering to buy control of Zain in a US$12 billion deal, which is currently undergoing due diligence.
As per the reports, if Zain Saudi is put up for sale there will be an opportunity, and both companies will complement each other.
Zain holds 25% stake in the Saudi network, but Etisalat also operates a mobile network in the county, leading to expectation that it will have to sell the Zain KSA network stake to another company. The stake is currently valued at around US$751 million.
According to Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco) previous statements, it would be interested in bidding for Zain KSA, and is also a 15% shareholder in Etihad Atheeb Telecom, and the synergies between the mobile and landline networks could help the two firms to cut costs significantly.
Vodafone UK Launches One Net Express
Vodafone UK launches Vodafone One Net Express, a completely new way of communicating for small businesses that merges all landline and mobile calls to create an innovative mobile-only solution. Customers can get through first time, no matter which number they dial.
The new service from Vodafone’s One Net family means all landline and mobile business calls go straight to one phone giving business people the flexibility to work in an office or on the move and never miss a call. Businesses can have multiple geographic numbers, allowing them to advertise a local number no matter where they are based. These services are designed to help make any business even more responsive and increase customer satisfaction.
Vodafone One Net Express, aimed at companies with up to ten people, is a unique, purpose-built solution that brings landline and mobile calls together on one intelligent network. It opens up powerful call management features which would usually only be available to larger businesses, such as helping to control calls, creating `hunt groups’ where a call gets routed to multiple people, single voicemail and an automated switchboard.
Both Vodafone One Net Express and Vodafone One Net can help businesses reduce communication costs by up to 20% with unlimited internal calls across landline and mobile devices and no call forwarding costs. There’s no installation with Vodafone One Net Express, meaning businesses can get started straight away.
And that’s just what the world’s one millionth One Net connection did. Basingstoke based FitMama’s founder Marie Behenna-Moran is now using Vodafone One Net so her busy team of pregnancy exercise specialists can keep in touch with expectant mums. Whether her trainers are in the office, in a class, or on the move, calls will find them.
“The phone is our office,” said Marie Behenna-Moran, Founder of FitMama. “Now we can take it everywhere, we don’t have to worry about missing customer calls or forgetting anything – it’s all in one place. The smartphones provided as part of the Vodafone One Net package are very easy to use and provide us with access to absolutely everything we need – even while on the run between appointments. It’s making a real difference to the way we do business.”
Peter Kelly, Director of Enterprise at Vodafone UK said: “With our trio of unified communications solutions – Vodafone One, Vodafone One Net and Vodafone One Net Express we now have a complete family of unique, simple and effective services to help transform the communications of any size of business, deliver tangible cost savings and improve customer experience on the UK’s best network. Customers like FitMama are telling us that these services are positively impacting the bottom line by improving their results and delivering cost savings. This market is really taking off because companies can now be more responsive to their customers and spend more time focused on their own business.”
Vodafone UK is spreading the word about Vodafone One Net and Vodafone One Net Express services with a multi-million pound integrated marketing campaign that launches today.
For more information on Vodafone One Net and Vodafone One Net Express go to: http://www.vodafone.co.uk/onenet.
About FitMama:
Founded in 2005 by Marie Behenna-Moran, FitMama is a pregnancy exercise specialist offering exercise and education services to pregnant women and new mothers in and around Basingstoke, UK. FitMama provides both public classes and private sessions, to help pregnant women prepare for the rigours of labour and new mothers recover from the physical stresses of birth.
Irish People say Adiós to landline phones
The people in the Ireland no longer use a traditional landline phone and instead prefer cellphones as their first choice. The republic saw a rapid change as 96% of people use mobile.
According to a survey conducted by Irish telecoms regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) they found three out of ten people no longer have a fixed telephone. When compared to a similar survey carried out in Q1 2000 which found that 82% had a fixed telephony, compared with just 37% for mobile. Regardless of the extensive rise of wireless communications, the it also highlighted that older people in their 60s 70s and for those working in the home prefer fixed lines than cellphones.
Globul Bulgaria launches discounted bundle offers
Bulgaria’s Globul announced that it will offer a 5% reduction to mobile subscribers who also take out the Globul Landline service. also a 10% reduction will be offered to those who take the Mobile Internet Package as well.
