Rostelecom and MegaFon sign 4G service agreement with Scartel (Russia)
Mobile operator MegaFon along with State-owned telecommunications company Rostelecom, have reportedly signed an agreement with Scartel to offer 4G services in Russia. According to reports, the agreement with Scartel, which operates under the brand ‘Yota’, will enable the two operators to act as mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) for offering 4G services.
As per sources, as part of the agreement, Yota would use Rostelecom and MegaFon’s infrastructure, in exchange for its 4G network. Further, industry analysts have reportedly said that as Scartel is the only company in Russia which has built a 4G network, the two operators will gain significant lead in providing users with 4G services as compared to TeleSystems and VimpleCom.
Virgin Mobile receives MVNO licence for wireless services (Latin America)
The Ministry of Communications and Transportation in Mexico has reportedly approved Virgin Mobile Latin America’s (VMLA) request to offer wireless services as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the country.
According to reports, Virgin Mobile is hopeful of offering its services within one year of its wholesale agreement with a mobile network operator. Phil Wallace, Chairman, VMLA has reportedly said that by having their licence in hand they expect discussions with the operators to proceed along at a quicker pace.
As per sources, in June, Virgin Mobile had announced plans to launch MVNO services in Latin America, following which it signed an agreement with Movistar in Chile where it expects to launch its services by early 2012.
Ortel Mobile ties up with Orange for MVNO services (France)
KPN owned virtual operator Ortel Mobile has reportedly tied up with Orange to use its network for new customers. According to reports, a spokesperson for KPN has said that they’ve added Orange as a network operator in an effort to reduce dependence on a single supplier – Bouygues Telecom. However, Orange has reportedly claimed that the move comes in an effort to improve the quality of the service offered.
As per sources, all the new SIM cards will be issued on the Orange network; however, there will be no change for the existing customers who will continue with Bouygues Telecom. Further, Ortel Mobile has been using Bouygues Telecom’s network since it launched services in France in early 2010. The SIM cards issued to the old customers are locked to the Bouygues network which is not expected to be switched to Orange.
Virgin Mobile to launch MVNO services in Chile in 2012 (Latin America)
Virgin Mobile, an innovative wireless service provider, plans to launch mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in Chile in Latin America by early 2012. As per reports, the company will use Movistar’s (Telefonica) network and has signed an agreement for the same. The company, which begins its MVNO services in Chile, plans to expand its services in Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico. The company aims to target the youth consumers by positioning itself as a fresh alternative to existing wireless providers.
As per sources, Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin, has said that they are very excited about what they have achieved in their first commercial operation in Chile. He added that this is a very interesting project for Virgin and they believe that all Virgin Mobile Chile clients will be very satisfied with the services they will offer with this launch. Further, Claudio Muñoz, Executive President, Movistar has said they are convinced that this agreement will make the telecommunications market grow in Chile. The fact that Virgin Mobile will start operating as a new mobile operator shows that this type of business is likely between companies.
La Poste launches MVNO La Poste Mobile (France)
La Poste, a French mail service has introduces its MVNO service under the La Poste Mobile brand. La Poste Mobile is a 51:49 joint venture between the two. It intends to attract almost 1.5 million to 2 million subscribers by leveraging the country’s post office network.
The MVNO has reportedly set its prices slightly below operators currently in the marketplace, and is the first to offer customers whose two-year subscriptions have expired the same deals as new customers. When clients decide to switch service plans, they are not required to commit to another tie-in period.
CoopMobile slashes call, text prices (Switzerland)
CoopMobile, Switzerland’s MVNO has improved its CoopMobile Friends tariff plan with effect from 23 May.
With the change, customers will now be able to make free calls to all CoopMobile and Orange customers, instead of paying US$0.05 per minute.
Calls to other networks will cost US$0.30 per minute, reduced from US$0.39 per minute, with the cost of texts lowered from US$0.15 to US$0.10 each. In addition, international calls (Zones 1 and 2) will be reduced from US$0.60 or US$0.80 to US$0.40 per minute.
Virgin Mobile France starts Sony Ericsson Xperia Play sale
Virgin Mobile France has commenced the sale of Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone in its black and white versions.
The Android Gingerbread 2.3 handsets features a GPU Adreno 205 graphics processor for games, a 4-in TFT touch screen, 5.1 megapixel camera, 523 MB of memory and a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. The basic price for the new “Playstation Phone” is US$281.10, but the operator is halving its starting price by offering a US$70.63 online rebate plus US$70.63 discount if bought in conjunction with a Liberty Plus or E-Divine plan.
Virgin Mobile starts Nexus S sale (France)
MVNO Virgin Mobile France is set to start the sales of Google Nexus S smartphone, made by Samsung, for US$69.04 until April 12. This offer will be available for customers who sign up for a 4-hour E-Divine, 4-hour Divine Collector or Liberty Plus plan.
This promotional price comes after a US$70.45 rebate on the handset’s new list price of US$139.49. Virgin Mobile France started selling the Nexus at US$209.94 one month ago, and for US$139.49 after a US$70.45 rebate. The Nexus S runs the latest version of Android, Gingerbread, and is one of the first phones on the market with an NFC chip.
Alon Holdings Blue Square announces signing of Mou with Partner Communications for launching MVNO services (Israel)
Alon Holdings Blue Square – Israel Ltd. announces that in connection with the Company’s plans to enter the cellular communication market by becoming a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (“MVNO”), on March 23, 2011 - Alon Cellular Ltd. (“Alon Cellular”), a joint- venture company in which the Company holds indirectly 70.1%, signed an MOU with Partner Communications LTD. (“Partner”) for launching cellular services in an MVNO model, which will enable Alon Cellular to offer cellular services and become a major player in Israel’scommunication market.
At this stage, there is no certainty that Alon Cellular will eventually operate such business, and the Company cannot assess at this stage the conditions and costs of such operation.
Alon Holdings Blue Square- Israel Ltd. (hereinafter: “Alon Holdings”) is the leading retail company in the State of Israel and operates in four reporting segments: In its supermarket segment, Alon Holdings as pioneer of modern food retailing, Alon Holdings, through its 100% subsidiary, Mega Retail Ltd., currently operates 210 supermarkets under different formats, each offering a wide range of food products, “Near Food” products and “Non-Food” products at varying levels of service and pricing. In its “Non-Food” segment, Alon Holdings, through its 100% subsidiary BEE Group Retail Ltd., operates specialist outlets in self-operation and franchises and offers a wide range of “Non-Food” products as retailer and wholesaler. In the Commercial and Fueling Sites segment, through its 78.38% subsidiary, which is listed on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Dor Alon Energy inIsrael (1988) Ltd is one of the four largest fuel retail companies in Israel based on the number of petrol stations and a leader in the field of convenience stores. Dor Alon operates a chain of 188 petrol stations and 177 convenience stores in different formats in Israel. In its Real Estate segment, Alon Holdings, through its TASE traded 78.26% subsidiary Blue Square Real Estate Ltd., owns, leases and develops yield generating commercial properties and projects.
Blyk surpasses 800,000 subs on Aircel and Orange UK
Mobile advertising company Blyk, operating on a subscription model, now has over half a million users in the UK, against 400 thousand in January, and 300 thousand users in India.
These results appear to confirm the steady progress made by the firm since it abandoned its MVNO model to focus on running programs on behalf of operators.
It launched the Orange Shots project in the UK in February 2010 (aimed at the age segment 16-34) and Blyk on Aircel India in November 2010 (age segment 16-29). It’s also launched with Vodafone Netherlands.
In all services, users are invited to subscribe to receive advertising and promotional messages from brands. It is interesting that Blyk has revealed critical differences between services in the UK and India. The company stated that subscribers Aircel applies to messages from brands as to the content. Thus, the operator uses the program more as a tool of differentiation and retain users, and not for advertising sales.
According to Aircel, after 90 days of retention levels Blyk customers using the service, reached 89%, compared to 60% on average.
