DT to rename merged domestic fixed, mobile units as ‘T’ (Germany)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In order to integrate its fixed line and mobile operations in Germany, the domestic brand of German telecoms operator Deutsche Telekom (DT) will be renamed to ‘T’. T-Home brand is currently used by DT for its domestic fixed line operations and markets its German mobile services under the T-Mobile moniker.
2.5 million to three million subscribers has also been targeted by DT to its IPTV service, dubbed ‘Entertain’, by 2012, besides an additional 600,000 customers by the end of this year.
Until, December 31 2009, DT had just over 850,000 Entertain subscribers.
O2 fastest mobile internet provider in London
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: O2 has emerged as the quickest provider of mobile phone web page access in London compared to four other operators. 1.7 seconds on average was taken by the testers to access a page on the web when using O2′s mobile internet.
For over 60 days, the speeds of five networks were compared at 150 locations and concluded that the British company was speediest in London in January 2010.
It was also declared to be the fastest for downloading music track in 12 out of 20 British cities.
Telekom Austria’s business merger approved by its board
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The merger of all the fixed-line division and Austrian mobile arm, Mobilkom Austria by Telekom Austria has been given a green signal from its supervisory board. Making benefits from efficiency savings and simplifying the selling and handling of bundled offers is expected to be gained from the merger.
It is also expected that the company’s cash flow will be reduced by EUR80 million. The merger will take place in 2010.
According to Telekom Austria Chief Financial Officer Hans Tschuden, the market developments over the past few years have demonstrated that this step is imperative and the company is convinced that through this merger Telekom Austria will be best equipped to address future challenges, while at the same time it considerably strengthens the group’s earning power.
Deutsche Telekom seeks IPO for T-Mobile USA
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A number of discussions have been held by T-Mobile’s parent, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom with a number of banks about underwriting an IPO for the unit. Partial spinoff of the business which would carve it into a separate entity with its own balance sheet has been considered another option.
Since a past few years, there were continuous rumors regarding Deutsche Telekom’s intention to dispose of its US arm in some form or other. Merger talks with Clearwire and Sprint died off after Clearwire was able to raise the necessary funding for its own network independently.
T-Mobile would be able to raise the funds to boost its network quality, after the floatation of the stock market without Deutsche Telekom ceding management control.
Intel’s mobile push threatened by iPad
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Among the entire hullabaloo during the launch of Apple’s iPad, the most important fact which did not come to the fore was the new tablet computer will be powered by an in-house chip called the A4.
Though the chip will not be marketed by Apple publicly, it is highlighted that the rival chip designs may eventually win out over Intel’s designs in the emergent hot category of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. It is also said to give the iPad a long battery life and is considered comparable to rival processors in both speed and performance.
According to Intel, the first smartphones using its chips go on sale by 2010′s second half, as it tries to stake out a corner in the wireless market and replicate what it did for the formerly red-hot netbook category it now almost completely dominates.
India’s Spice Televentures to merge with Spice Mobiles
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: India’s Spice Mobile limited and its telecom services arm, Spice Televentures Pvt. Ltd have finally decided to merge with each other. Spice Mobile has been valued at INR109 per share and Spice Televentures at INR862 a share by the audit firm BSR & Co.
A swap ratio of 791 Spice Mobile shares for every 100 Televentures shares has also been accepted by the board of directors of the two companies. 163.4 million shares will also be issued by the company stockholders of Spice Televentures, resulting in an equity capital of INR190.9 million at INR3 each while the existing Spice Mobile shares held by Televentures stockholders will be extinguished
Telkom may acquire stake in troubled Bakrie Telecom (Indonesia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), Indonesia’s dominant telecommunication group plans to acquire a stake in rival telco Bakrie Telecom.
In order to settle debts of more than USD1.2 billion, Indonesian family-run business group Bakrie & Brothers announced in October 2008 that it was looking to sell stakes in several of its major subsidiaries. Telkom’s announcement confirmed the speculations regarding the ownership of the company and its financial trouble for more than a year.
However, according to a report by CommsUpdate, the group’s Esia brand of wireless communication products and services is planning to merge with or buy other rival telecom companies in 2010. The company has taken this move to deal with competition in the market which the company describes as an intense one.
