P1 looks for more spectrum (Malaysia)
P1 (Packet One) is looking for more spectrum and is hoping to be allocated with an additional 30 MHz block in the 2.3 GHz band.
The company already has one block of 30 MHz spectrum but the company is registering high growth rates for its wireless broadband service.
P1 has over 320,000 subscribers and its coverage has passed 45% of the populated areas in Peninsular Malaysia.
According to sources, P1 has written to the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in April to ask for more spectrum. The operator would also like to double the 20 MHz which will be allocated to each player on the 2.6 GHz band as 20 MHz is not enough for 4G services.
Additionally, P1 wants a block of the controversial 700 MHz spectrum as coverage is wider and penetration into buildings is better.
Maxis in talks to migrate to LTE (Malaysia)
Maxis is reportly in talks with local WiMAX network operator Asiaspace over a possible LTE joint-venture.
As per sources, if agreed, then Maxis would deploy the network infrastrucutre, while Asiaspace would make available its radio spectrum. Asiaspace would then be able to resell Maxis LTE services to its customers.
They added that talks began several months ago and a preliminary agreement had now been reached. Asiaspace owns blocks of 2.6Ghz spectrum that it currently uses for its WiMAX service, but the license is technology neutral so the company can repurpose it for LTE services without needing fresh licenses from the regulator.
Any deal between the two companies could give them a head start over rival networks who would have to wait until the main LTE license auction, which is not due until the start of 2013. Maxis has already conducted LTE trials in cooperation with Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei.
InMobi introduces SmartPay global m-payments platform (US)
InMobi has introduced its SmartPay global m-payments platform. The system targets developers who want to integrate mobile payments across multiple countries, carriers, and systems.
InMobi SmartPay is designed to enable app developers, game companies, and content providers in the mobile content and virtual goods space to expand their business and monetize their users into new markets by providing a one-time, no setup cost, single point of integration across multiple countries.
The service offers consumers a mobile checkout experience using direct to carrier billing to start, but expanding to all forms of mobile payment methods including credit cards, PayPal, and local mobile wallets by year-end.
The InMobi technology in combination with local InMobi teams handle the regulatory complexity, fraud detection, tax issues, currency conversion, payment settlements, and customer support, globally.
The InMobi SmartPay technology has been designed to automatically recognize the country, handset, operator and OS of the consumer, and dynamically serve the buying path most likely to convert.
According to InMobi, its SmartPay platform currently reaches over 1 billion consumers in 7 countries including the US, UK, Germany, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and South Africa. By year-end the figure is forecast to increase to 3 billion consumers in 30 countries.
Celcom Axiata enhances touchpoints for smartphone users (Malaysia)
Celcom Axiata has enhanced its touchpoints for all smartphone users in Celcom Territory.
The customer service enhancements are designed to support the company’s base of smartphone users, and will complement its range of customised packages and network coverage.
For smartphone users, a specific menu option is available in Celcom’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, to assist them configure their smartphones when they dial in to the contact centre.
This option will route the calls to a specially trained personnel. After which, an exit poll rating will be sent to these customers via SMS for their feedback.
Celcom has also collaborated with CIMB and Maybank to offer enhanced payment options to customers.
All bill payments using the banks’ online portals are processed in real-time and accounts are updated. The company plans to launch several payment options and various installment programmes in the near future.
Vodafone Qatar launches international calls at $0.17
Vodafone Qatar’s World Calling Club is offering international call rates to more than 190 countries for US$0.17 a minute.
Calling destinations included in this promotion are Bahrain, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, US and Yemen.
Vodafone is also running a promotion on its International Calling Card 25 that gives customers 46 minutes of talk time to 15 popular destinations at a rate of QAR 0.14 a minute. Both promotions run until the end of May.
Tune Talk launches BlackBerry service (Malaysia)
MVNO Tune Talk has introduced the BlackBerry service in Malaysia.
The BlackBerry service brings together smartphones, software and services to allow mobile access to e-mail and messaging, social networking, phone, organiser, web, multimedia and other mobile business and lifestyle applications.
Tune Talk will be offering a prepaid BlackBerry service to customers, who will be able to purchase a BlackBerry smartphone from one of Tune Talk’s exclusive partners. The smartphones available through Tune Talk’s partners include the BlackBerry Torch 9800, BlackBerry Bold 9780, BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 and BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone. This prepaid BlackBerry service will be available for customers to purchase upon the launch.
The rates provided by Tune Talk are US$0.47 per day or US$13.36 per month for a full BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) plan that includes BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and Instant Messaging services.
Thai mobile services meet international quality standards
Data from Telecommunications Consumer Protection Institute (TCPI) shows that the overall quality of mobile phone services in Thailand meets international standards, but the rate of unsuccessful off-net calls remains high.
According to TCPI Director Prawit Leesatapornwongsa, about 15% of the calls placed from one network to another are unsuccessful, compared with 10 percent in Malaysia.
The rate for unsuccessful calls between the True Move and Hutch networks was considered high, but still met the industry standard. Industry regulations published in the Royal Gazette say the on-net failure rate should not exceed 10% and the off-net rate 15%. True Move came first for most dropped calls, but fewer than 2 percent in line with the basic standard. The average call waiting rate was at six seconds.
According to Leesatapornwongsa, the TCPI tests were aimed at providing a comparison of service quality of each operator, and did not favor a particular network. However, mobile tariff rates remained the key factor for users to choose a service.
The TCPI conducted its survey on the mobile service quality in the Bangkok area over twenty days. The test also showed that DTAC provided the best speed for mobile application download service through its 2G mobile platform, with 121.25 kbps for downloads and 60.69 kbps for uploads. Advanced Info Service (AIS) was second with 111.54 and 63.95 kbps for downloads and uploads respectively. True Move’s 2G speeds were 106.83 and 59.57, respectively. However, True Move’s 3G service provided the best speeds of 1,162.22 and 269.98 kbps for downloads and uploads, followed by AIS at 577.26 and 183.94 kpbs. DTAC has no commercial 3G service yet.
Vringo, Hungama launches video ringtone platform (India)
Vringo, a video ringtone services provider and entertainment content aggregator Hungama Digital Media Entertainment have launched a video ringtone platform in India.
As per its agreement with Hungama, Vringo will add premium content from Hungama to its video ringtone content library and will share revenues from such content with Hungama.
The Vringo-Hungama service is available to 500 million subscribers of fifteen different Indian mobile operators, including Reliance, Bharti Airtel and Tata.
Vringo will also make available Hungama content through its existing services in the UK, UAE and Malaysia. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Greenpacket introduces 3GPP compliant data (Malaysia) offload module
Greenpacket, a wireless equipment developer and service provider has boosted its Intouch Connection Management Platform (ICMP) to comply with the 3GPP-defined standard for networking connectivity function, namely the Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF).
The enhanced ICMP now enables mobile operators to dynamically offload subscribers from congested mobile networks to Wi-Fi networks using intelligent switching rules based on operator’s network management policies and controls.
ANDSF is a module within an Evolved Packet Core of the System Architecture Evolution for 3GPP mobile networks. ANDSF enables consumer-level devices such as notebooks, modems and mobile phones to discover and communicate with non-3GPP networks such as Wi-Fi or WiMax and enforce network policy controls. Greenpacket’s ANDSF in ICM is compliant to the 3GPP TS 24.312, TS 22.278 and TS 23.402 standards.
DiGi revenue growth increase by data revenues in Q1 (Malaysia)
DiGi has announced that it plans to continue to prioritize network modernization initiatives this year.
The company currently has over 4.5 million internet users and foresees that demand for data services will continue to grow.
Total revenue for the quarter rose 11% to US$472.57 million from US$438.81 million in the year-ago period.
Data continues to be a key revenue driver for DiGi, with first quarter data revenue growing 38 percent year-on-year to US$122.09 million. EBITDA stood at US$221.83 million, with an enhanced margin of 45.9 percent, marking an improvement over an EBITDA of US$194.36 million and margin of 44.6 percent a year earlier.
DiGi posted a profit of US$111.86 million, up from US$93.94 million in Q1 2010. DiGi grew its total subscriber base to 8.8 million from 7.9 million a year earlier.
However, ARPU declined to US$16.87 from US$17.89, a result of new customers coming in at lower spend levels, competitive price pressure as well as reduced domestic interconnect revenue following the lower regulated mobile termination rate which took effect beginning July 2010.
