www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Senegal has reportedly added 299,936 mobile phone subscribers in Q2′09 taking the total base to 6.28 million, up 5%. The mobile penetration in the country reached 51.63%, reports ARTP, the telecoms regulator. This is the lowest quarterly growth in a year, contrasting with 11.03% growth in Q1′09, 7.57% in the Q4′08, 6.12% in the Q3′08 and 14.15% in the Q2′08. At the end fo Q2′09, Sonatel Mobile (Orange Senegal) had 4.04 million subscribers (64.3%), followed by Millicom subsidiary Sentel with 2.11 million (33.6%) and Sudatel affiliate Expresso with 133,194 (2.1%). Of the total mobile subscriber base at June’09 end, 6.24 million accounted for prepaid mobile base while 42,313 were postpaid. The prepaid subscriber base grew by 5%, or 297,358 users in Q2, whereas postpaid subscribers rose by 6.49%, or
2,578 users.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone’s 3G network goes live in hundreds of regional areas today (Monday 31 August), increasing competition and offering choice and value to customers.
Vodafone customers in upgraded areas can now access 3G services on-the-move, such as internet and email on their mobile phone, or laptop via Vodafone Mobile Broadband*.
To celebrate the 3G upgrade, Vodafone is offering all new and existing customers (on prepaid and contract) unlimited, free access to Facebook on their mobile phone, until 31 October 2009^.
Nigel Dews, CEO at Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA), says regional customers can now enjoy 3G services at Vodafone’s great value prices.
“Vodafone is committed to investing in its network to make state-of-the-art 3G services more accessible and affordable.
“Vodafone’s great value 3G services are now available to Australians living and working in regional cities and towns, as well as business travellers and holiday-makers who need to stay connected.
“More Vodafone customers, in more places, can now get online on their mobile phone or laptop while they’re out and about, to keep up-to-date on emails, stay in-touch with friends and family via Facebook, MySpace or Twitter and blog, game or Google,” he said. Vodafone’s 3G network coverage now extends out to Kununurra in WA, Port Douglas in Queensland and Devonport in Tasmania, reaching 94 per cent of the Australian population. Vodafone’s 3G coverage previously reached 80 per cent of the Australian population.
To access Vodafone’s 3G services in both regional and metropolitan areas, customers can purchase one of 18 3G 900Mhz mobile phones available on Vodafone prepaid or contract, such as the prepaid Nokia 6220 for $229. Vodafone Prepaid Flexi Caps start at $29 (includes $300 total value)~ and give customers the freedom to spend their included Flexible Credit any way they like – on calls, txt, internet browsing, instant messaging and downloading games or music. As part of the upgrade, Vodafone’s regional 2G network will now support EDGE technology. Existing Vodafone customers with a 2G mobile phone will continue to access voice and txt services as normal and can experience an increase in data speeds. Coverage maps, information on compatible mobile phones and pricing details are available in Vodafone stores and online at www.vodafone.com.au.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zain Bahrain is continuing its efforts by giving customers free unlimited talk-time in the Zain network.
‘At Zain Bahrain we are packing the Holy Month of Ramadan with as many offers for customers as possible,’ said Zain Bahrain’s Consumer and Corporate Marketing Manager Mr. Ali Rahimi.
‘It is part of our plan to give back as much as possible to customers and reflect the Zain corporate values of Radiance, Heart and Belonging which will be the focus of our approach.’
He added: ‘We all know that people want to communicate with friends and family especially during the latter part of the day when the community is getting ready to come together for the breaking of the fast and the socializing. Between 12 noon and 6 p.m. all Zain customers post-paid as well as pre-paid – can register for the free calls service and make unlimited calls to any Zain number for only 300 fils a day.’
The flexible offer allows customers to choose their busy days to register for the free unlimited calls and, as with all Zain Bahrain offers, it is open to Hewar post paid as well as eeZee pre-paid customers.
‘The free unlimited calls will help customers to stay in touch and save greatly on phone bills,’ said Ali Rahimi, ‘Of course, in addition to this great Ramadan offer, Zain Bahrain is also offering customers many opportunities to enjoy the spirit of Ramadan with fun quizzes, the SMS donation service and verses from the Holy Qu’ran offered as MMS and SMS clips. It is all part of the wonderful tradition of giving that Zain Bahrain is well-known for.’
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: QCell, the firm that received Gambia’s fourth mobile licence in August’08, has reportedy launched its services. The operator announced the launch of packages including 3G video calling services, available to both pre- and post-paid customers, mobile internet access, multimedia messaging and conferencing. Call Promotions will offer free on-net calls in the daytime and at weekends. The operator further aims to offer countrywide coverage in the immediate future.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: BSNL, the Indian mobile operator, has reportedly slashed its 3G tariffs in order to raise the number of subscribers. BSNL will now offer prepaid 3G SIMs at INR59 (USD1.22), with pre-paid activation costs of INR120 and post-paid activation costing INR225. The operator will also provide free, unlimited video calls for all connections for the first month for those signing up before 31 August.
The move is driven by low demand for BSNL’s 3G services, as the operator reportedly signs up just 10,733 3G users in the first four months of the service being made available which with the announcement of slashed prices has seen approximately 40,000 subscribers.
The operator has been charging high prices due to lukewarm reception to the new services initially, although the telco also initially offered a limited range of services.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zain today announced the expansion of the One Network platform with the admission of Sierra Leone to the borderless connection. Following the move, Zain customers travelling to Sierra Leone will not be charged roaming fees to access voice and data services.
The admission of Sierra Leone to the One Network brings to 18 the total number of countries, spread over Africa and the Middle East, on the borderless platform.
The One Network service which was first introduced in East Africa two years ago, is a borderless mobile phone network that allows all prepaid and post-paid Zain customers when travelling in 18 countries in the Middle East and Africa to be treated as local customers allowing them to make calls and SMS at local rates and to receive calls and sms free-of-charge.
One Network also enables them to top-up their mobile phone while on travel with locally purchased scratch cards, which are widely available from more than one million sales outlets in any of the countries in which One Network is operational.
The service guarantees customers’ convenience since there is no need for pre-registration, no extra fees, no roaming deposits, and no complicated dialing formats while travelling. This reduces the cost of making telephone calls considerably, said Mr. Rene Meza, Zain Kenya Managing Director.
He said the process of bringing together all Zain operations under One Network was ongoing. In terms of country footprint, Zain is the third largest mobile operator in the world with a commercial presence in 24 countries.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Excelcomindo Pratama (XL) has reported a rise of 12% in net profit in 1H’09. The rise is attributed to the strong growth in its pre-paid subscriber base which rose 9% from 19.9 million in the first quarter to 21.8 million as at 30 June. Communication traffic has also increased drastically to 113% while messaging traffic mounted 170%, it said. According to the press release, XL said earnings before tax, cost, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, jumped 31% from the first quarter, while net profit rose to IDR706 billion from a year ago. The telco ended June with a subscriber base of 24.7 million.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile USA) today reported second quarter of 2009 results. In the second quarter of 2009, T-Mobile USA reported
OIBDA of $1.6 billion, up 16% compared to the first quarter of 2009 and up 1% from the second quarter of 2008, with an OIBDA margin of 34%.
Additionally, T-Mobile USA reported contract churn of 2.2%, down from 2.3% in the first quarter of 2009, and 325,000 net new customers in the second quarter of 2009.
“In 2009, we’re launching the best products and services we’ve ever brought to market,” said Robert Dotson, President and CEO, T-Mobile USA.
“In the quarter, we unveiled devices like our new T-Mobile myTouch 3G with Google. The myTouch will join other new T-Mobile 3G devices just in time for a powerful back-to-school offering available in even more locations with our newly announced RadioShack retail agreement. In the quarter, we also made steady progress in growing data revenues as more customers move to craved-for mobile internet and messaging services. And finally, in Q2 we also drove operational cost efficiencies that helped us deliver a much better margin for the quarter.”
“We see opportunities for new growth given the anticipated growing demand for innovative mobile internet and data services in the U.S. market,” said Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “In the area of cost control, I’m pleased with efforts by the U.S. team to drive a sequential increase in margin.”
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China Mobile, nation’s largest mobile operator, will reportedly introduce the 3G OPhone running on Android OS in China by next week, an industry source reveals.
China Mobile will offer the handset at 50% subsidized cost for its prepaid and contract subscribers. The OPhone is made by Lenovo Mobile, sources said.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Entel has reported net profit of CLP33.3 billion (USD61.7 million) in Q2′09, down 6% from CLP35.4 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. For the first six months of the year earnings were CLP64.5billion, also down 6% from CLP68.4 billion a year ago. Total revenues for the quarter were CLP239 billion, up only 1% in comparison to CLP236 billion in 2Q08. Sales were affected by a 45% drop in mobile interconnection rates that came into effect earlier this year.
Entel’s CFO Felipe Ureta said the global economic crisis was responsible for a weaker economic environment, which in turn had impacted results. Nonetheless, he said he expects demand to pick up in the third quarter of the year. ‘Despite the 45% decline in mobile interconnection rates and a weaker domestic economic environment, consolidated revenues for the quarter increased 1%. This result was principally driven by higher revenues in the Chile wireline business, fueled by data and IT services,’ Ureta said. The telco is home to 5.95 million subscribers, up 2%, holds a market share of 39%. In the post-paid arena, total subscriber base reaches to 31% corresponding to 28% a year ago.