Malaysia

Telenor sees potential in Pakistan

On 03.17.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: It has been announced by telecom operator Telenor that the operators are not generating enough profit per phone user to have five mobile groups in Pakistan. The operators would have to consider mergers or acquisitions to see significant growth.

Telenor made its entry into Pakistan exactly five years ago and currently it is the second largest cellular phone operator after Mobilink, a subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom.Pakistan’s. The other mobile operators include Ufone, Warid Telecom and Zong.

Telenor is considering a broader expansion in Pakistan along with India, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. 26 per cent of revenues in 2008 by the company were generated in Asia. The rest of the income came from eastern and central Europe and the Nordic region.

Telenor’s has been concentrating its attention on its 67.3 per cent investment in Unitech Wireless of India but big potential is also seen in Pakistan, which has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of mobile phone users over the past decade.

Vodafone contracted by DPDHL for MPLS network (Germany)

On 03.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Deutsche Post DHL’s (DPDHL) five year contract to provide a fully managed MPLS network in 67 countries has been won by Vodafone. Vodafone will connect over 400 sites across Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Vodafone Global Enterprise will also provide an international Wide Area Network (WAN) across the three regions and a domestic WAN in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Through this solution, DPDHL would be enabled to provide improved tracking capabilities. This capability in return will allow employees to quickly and easily access the vital bespoke applications, as well as provide critical connectivity to DPDHL’s data centres in Czech Republic and Malaysia.

Gateway Business Services and Vodacom Business South Africa, which are Vodafone’s country business, have combined with Vodafone Global Enterprise to provide complete connectivity and management between the international networks.
This will also provide comprehensive project management support throughout besides ensuring that all regions benefit from its global reach and expertise.

Telefonica was selected by DPDHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post World Net last January to manage its mobile and fixed-line services across 28 European countries, also for five years.

Tagged with: ASIA • Czech Republic • Eastern Europe • Germany • Malaysia • Middle East • MPLS • South Africa • Telefonica • Vodacom • Vodafone

STT to buy stake in U Mobile & VNPT

On 03.12.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Malaysian cellco U Mobile stake will be taken up by Singapore Technologies Telemedia. The announcement for the strategic partnership agreement will be made by the two companies on Monday.

NTT DoCoMo and KTF were the earlier partners of U Mobile which exited the company and now ST Telemedia is widely expected to become the latest foreign investor in U Mobile.

10% stake in VNPT Global, the offshore arm of Vietnam’s VNPT Group has also been announced by ST Telemedia.

However, financial terms of the deal are still not disclosed. VNPT Global operates in Singapore, Hong Kong, USA and the Czech Republic.

Tagged with: ASIA • Czech Republic • Hong Kong • Malaysia • NTT DoCoMo • Singapore • Singapore Technologies Telemedia • ST Telemedia • USA • Vietnam • VNPT

Telekom Malaysia HSBB service to launch on March 24

On 03.12.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The next generation high-speed broadband, or HSBB services will be launched by Telekom Malaysia on March 24. Bandwidth at network access speeds of 10 megabits per second and above will be offered by the new service.

Under this public-private-partnership initiative, Telekom Malaysia and the government will develop the country’s next-generation high speed broadband infrastructure and services. An investment of MYR8.9 billion in total has been planned by Telekom and MYR2.4 billion will be contributed by the government on an incurred claims basis based on project milestones.

According to the company, Telekom’s total expenditure related to the HSBB project as of December 31 reached RM1.9 billion and at the end of 2012, approximately 1.3 million premises will have access to the service.

Tagged with: ASIA • HSBB • Launch • Malaysia • Telekom Malaysia

Telekom Malaysia’s Q4 revenue falls but net profit rises

On 02.23.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A rise of 2.5% in the net profit but 9% fall in the revenue of the fourth quarter has been reported by Telekom Malaysia. 7.8% loss from MYR 822.0 million to MYR 757.7 million has been reported in EBITDA while the profit before tax slipped 0.1 percent to MYR 235.6 million.

A net profit of MYR 170.2 million, up 2.5 percent from MYR 166.0 million in Q4 2008 has been posted by Telekom Malaysia.

The company ended the quarter with 1.43 million broadband customers and 4.32 million fixed customers. For 2010, TM expects revenue growth of 2 percent and an EBITDA margin of 33 percent.

Tagged with: ASIA • EBITDA • Malaysia • Net Profit • Revenue Growth • Telekom Malaysia

Indosat might be acquired by XL Axiata (Indonesia)

On 02.19.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Indonesia’s second largest mobile operator, Indosat might be acquired by XL Axiata by the end of 2010. Strong subscriber and revenue growth has been aimed by XL Axiata this year and it has also been confirmed by the company that dividend payments were likely to resume this year following a return to profit in 2009.

86.5% of XL Axiata is owned by Malaysia’s Axiata Group and 13.3% is owned by Etisalat of the UAE while the remaining 0.2% is publicly held.

Tagged with: Acquire • ASIA • Axiata group • Etisalat • Indonesia • Indosat • Malaysia • operator • UAE • XL Axiata

Nokia signs $300 million deal with Indian telco Aircel

On 02.18.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecom network equipment maker Nokia Siemens has signed a $300 million gear and services deal with Indian telco, Aircel. The deal is NSN’s second biggest one in a massive Indian telecom market.

GSM radio, core and microwave network equipment will be supplied and rolled out for Aircel under the deal. The company would also manage Aircel’s network for four years.

Aircel is controlled by Malaysia’s Maxis and is India’s seventh largest operator.

Tagged with: Aircel • ASIA • GSM • India • Malaysia • Maxis • Nokia • NSN • operator

Malaysian telco DiGi expands 3G network

On 02.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The HSDPA-enabled 3G network has been expanded by Malaysian mobile operator DiGi Telecommunications, offering theoretical downlink speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, in Sarawak, in line with its previously announced expansion plans.

68% of the population in Ipoh and 45% of those living in Kuching is covered by the launch and it is expected to reach 98% and 55% respectively by the end of March 2010. MYR100 million (USD29 million) investment has been further planned by DiGi to further enhance its footprint in Sarawak and Perak in the next three years.

According to DiGi CEO Johan Dennelind, DiGi was aiming to offer services in three further Malaysian states by the end of this year, with Johor Baharu said to be the next target and also added that DiGi’s existing 3G network already has coverage of almost 100% of Kota Kinabalu as well as 70% of both Penang and the Klang Valley, having inaugurated commercial services in March 2009 in the latter.

Tagged with: 3G • ASIA • DiGi Telecommunication • HSDPA • Klang Valley • Kota Kinabalu • Kuching • Malaysia • operator

CEO Saad Al Barrak resigns from Zain

On 02.03.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After making Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co or Zain the third-largest Arab telecom operator by market value in 2002, its CEO Saad Al Barrak handed in his resignation to the chairman of the board and the chairman will present the resignation to board members to look into the matter.

His resignation has raised questions regarding the future of the company, particularly when a major shareholder is pushing to sell a controlling stake in the company to foreign investors.

Due to the region’s current economic and financial circumstances, Zains major shareholder Kharafi Group feels that that sale of the 46% stake in the operator might take some more time.

According to Badr Al Kharafi, vice-chairman of Kharafi Group, groups of Indian investors like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., or BSNL, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., or MTNL, and Malaysian investors like billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary, plan to buy a 46% stake in Zain for about $13.7 billion and the deal would take about four months to conclude.

Tagged with: ASIA • BSNL • CEO Saad Al Bukhary • India • Kuwait • Malaysia • MTNL • operator • UK • Zain