Telenor concerned over lack of spectrum (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Claiming it as the largest single day launch in telecom history, Uninor, Telenor’s Indian unit launched its GSM network covering nearly 600 million people. But at the same time, the company also expressed its
concerns over the lack of spectrum.
The company said that when they got the license, they were said to be given extra spectrum after reaching certain subscribers level. Two third of Uninor is owned by Scandinavia’s Telenor while the rest is owned by India’s Unitech Group.
The company plans to cover 22 telecom circles in India in which eight circles will be covered in this month while five will be covered early next year. Instead of offering per second billing, Uninor has offered 25 paise per minute tariff for local calls, and 49 paise for STD.
Rwanda receives its third mobile network service
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: African telecom company Millicom officially launched its mobile operations in Rwanda after receiving the license in December 2008, thus becoming the third operator in the country. The service will cover almost 50% of the population while there are plans to extend the service in the next three years.
The 3G infrastructure of the firm has been deployed in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda including other key urban centers.
According to Mikael Grahne, President and CEO of Millicom, Rwanda has emerged as a highly lucrative market with the population of 10 million, less than 20% mobile penetration and the country’s status as a highly developing economy.
With its strengths in distribution and innovation, the company feels that it can provide Rwanda’s mass market with mobile voice and value-added services.
Norwegian firm Telenor enters India with 29p per minute plan
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Moving one step ahead of the pay per second system, Norway-based firm Telenor, entered Indian market with 29 paise per minute plan under the brand name Uninor. The company has tied up with India’s Unitech Group and will be launched in seven circles — UP (East), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, UP (West) and Bihar.
According to the CEO and President of Telenor group, Jon Fredrik Baksaas, the new plan offers more value for money to the users as the consumers want something more than the usual features. The pay per second billing was first launched by TATA DoCoMo, followed by other operators.
According to Unitech Wireless Managing Director Stein-Erik Vellan, the company’s target is to occupy 8% of the market share by 2018 and operate cash-flow break-even in five years.
Besides, the company also expects that the average revenue per user (ARPU) becomes lower than the industry level in the near term. However, Unitech is susceptible about bidding in the 3G auction but at the same time it has made it clear that it will surely not bid for an all India license.
Qualcomm to acquire Qualphone for $18 million
Qualcomm to acquire Qualphone for $18 million
US based mobile telecom company Qualcomm has said that they are acquiring privately held wireless technology developer Qualphone Inc for $18 million.
The deal would be conducted in a cash only transaction and would help Qualcomm in this market.
The company is basically involved in development of mobile phone technologies and licenses their technologies to mobile phone makers and service providers around the world.
This deal would help Qualcomm to enable integrated features such as photography and video for phones that have high-speed wireless links to the Internet.
Qualcomm added that they expect this deal to be closed by the end of the month
Source- http://business.techwhack.com/`
Technorati : Mobile, Operator, Qualcomm, USA
Ice Rocket : Mobile, Operator, Qualcomm, USA
