www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The French mobile operators have added 678,600 new subscribers in Q2′09 to end June with 58.91 million subscribers, reports the French telecom regulator Arcep. While the overall mobile market grew by 1.2% in Q2, the postpaid subscriber base grew by 1.8% to 40.51 million and prepaid subscribers fell by 0.3% to 18.4 million. MVNOs, at the end of June, had a 5.3% market share by subscribers, up from 5.17% at the end of March and 4.67% at the end of June 2008. During the Q2, SMS traffic grew by 7.2% to 14.66 billion messages, or 85.9 per month per active subscriber, compared to 13.68 billion or 80.6 monthly messages per customer in Q1.
On 08.06.09, In Mobile, By Editor
On 07.27.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is reportedly implicit to have called on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to limit the number of operators licensed to offer mobile voice services.
DoT said, ‘The number of pending applications in every circle ranges from 13-19 and consideration of these will push the demand for spectrum in a substantial manner.’ Moreover, DoT also noted the fact that the telecom tribunal had called for a reassessment of the policy not to impose limits on the number of operators.
On 07.22.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Open Joint Stock Company Vimpel-Communications, a leading international provider of telecommunications services, officially announced the commercial launch of its mobile operations in Vietnam under the Beeline brand via GTEL-Mobile Joint Stock Company, mobile telecommunications joint venture in Vietnam.
“With the start of our operations in Vietnam we are strengthening our positions in South-East Asia. The Vietnamese telecom market has a great potential with a young and dynamic population of more than 86 million people and a fast growing economy. Our partnership with such a reliable and professional local partner as GTEL Corp helped us achieve the result we had planned,” said Boris Nemsic, Chief Executive Officer, VimpelCom. “The launch in Vietnam follows our successful start in Cambodia where we have already commenced operations earlier this year,” noticed Vladimir Riabokon, Executive Vice President, International Business Development, VimpelCom.
(more…)
On 07.16.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Dell is likely to get in talks again with various mobile operators for the launch of its handsets. According to a media report, Ronald Garriques, Dell’s President of Consumer Division, confirms that the it plans to “work with the top three to four” carriers, in order to “see what their needs are”.
There are also reports that one of the Dell’s smartphones will operate on Android.
The first Dell handsets are anticipated to launch in China by Q4′09.
On 07.15.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The blended ARPU for the GSM operators dropped to INR 205 in the March quarter, down 6.82% since December quarter, reveals the Indian telecoms regulator TRAI. The ARPU for postpaid GSM services dropped by 2.8% to INR 543 from INR 559, and prepaid service declined 6% to INR 181 from INR 192.
The CDMA services posted a blended ARPU of INR 99 down from INR 111. The postpaid ARPU for CDMA services was five times that of prepaid ARPU, driven by declining importance of processing fees levied on recharge vouchers purchased by prepaid subscribers.
On 06.24.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A price war has cropped up among the Australian mobile operators as all of them launch iPhone 3G S across the nation this friday. It is the first time that all the operators will launch a device on the same day and that too the highly anticipated one.
The battle has already started to gain large number of subscribers with the Apple device, as operators unveil their pricing details.
Optus unveiled aggressive pricing with the main focus on their $0 upfront $99-a-month plan, including unlimited calls and text messages and 1.5GB of data over 24 months. Whereas Telstra remains mum about the pricing until the handset is launched this friday.
Vodafone and 3, together are believed to be formulating plans for existing susbcribers.
On 06.17.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) is reportedly negotiating with several domestic companies with a view to have potential mergers or acquisitions. The report indicates that incumbent believes the telecoms market in Pakistan is due for consolidation, and it expects the number of mobile operators to drop from six to three. The details of any potential targets for merger have not been revealed yet.
On 06.17.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The Chinese mobile operators, in an effort to deploy 3G network, intend to spend nearly 1 trillion yuan in next three years. According to chairman of the China Association of Communication Enterprises (CACE), Liu Liqing, 400 billion yuan will be allocated for construction of the infrastructure and the remaining 600 billion will be used for the purchase of CPE (customer premise equipment) products.
He further added that the Chinese 3G projects wull also prove beneficial for the Taiwanese firms.
Chine Unicom, the Chinese mobile operator also anticipates its subscriber base to grow by 30 million in 2009 whereas China Telecom expects somewhere between 15-20 million.
On 05.18.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Department of Telecommunication, DoT India, is likely to slash the spectrum usage charges to a uniform 3% of the operators’ annual revenues. Mobile operators who are willing to pay a one-time fee for all excess radio frequencies they hold beyond the 6.2 MHz mark will be eligible for this reduction.
The one time fee will be equivalent to the market value of the extra radio frequencies. The committee set up to resolve all spectrum-related controversies said that this one-time charge must be established through the upcoming 3G airwaves auctions.
On 05.15.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone and O2 have announced their separate plans to establish and develop mobile advertising. Both the British operators are likely to use their already locally targeted campaigns and offer advertisers further opportunities to reach wider audiences for effective promotions. O2 has launched a new initiative which promotes Fitness First, uses location specific text messages. Subscribers who live near to a Fitness First gym will be offered five days free membership and a session with a personal trainer through SMS. Managing Director of O2 Media, Shaun Gregory said, ‘Through putting the customer at the heart of our thinking, we’re able to offer truly unique media offerings that break new ground and drive market leading response rates’.
Vodafone on the other hand also plans geography based advertising after it experienced a success in an 18-month campaign to expand mobile advertising services in 18 markets. The operator reported that despite of economic slowdown, advertising contributed to stronger revenues for the operator. Rick Fant, Head of Internet Discovery at Vodafone said, ‘Mobile advertising offers a combination of great response rates alongside the opportunity for advertisers to reach out to and engage with their customers.’