Oman’s Nawras plans $390m investment in fixed line
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Oman’s second national telecoms operator, Nawras has announced that the operator will be investing $390 million over the next two years in the expansion of fixed line services, which are slated for launch in the second half of 2010.
According to the CEO at Nawras, Ross Cormack, the funds will be ploughed into the deployment of the relevant infrastructure.
The company has also announced that it has embarked on a pre-registration campaign for its home broadband service based on WiMAX technology.
Nawras currently operates mobile phone and Internet services in the state but the government last year granted the company a fixed line licence.
The company which has provided mobile services in the Sultanate since March 2005 is also constructing WiMAX base stations to take its high speed broadband service into homes and residences nationwide. The target of the company is to offer fixed broadband services to more than 54% of the population at launch and hopes to increase the figure to 81% by mid-2011.
NTC announces quick 3G frequency auction mandatory
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The final 3G frequency spectrum auction in Philippines has been suggested by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to take place immediately before the technology is overtaken by a much faster one.
According to the 152-page appeal filed by the watchdog , there is an exigent need for it to implement its statutory mandate before the 3G technology is overtaken by better, faster standards and if it is not awarded immediately to a service provider who will use it efficiently and effectively then this renders the same obsolete.
As an example, Filipino telco Liberty Telecoms has been cited which is already rolling out 4G services through its Wi-tribe brand. With a subscriber base of 715,000 as at December 21, 2009, Globe Telecom has been the number one WiMAX operator in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Liberty Telecoms has announced that 1, 000 subscribers has been added to its pre-commercial WiMAX trials at the end of March 2010.
Worldwide mobile subscriptions to reach 5b in 2010
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The rise in the number mobile phone users will continue through 2010, according to a recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report. It has also been predicted that number of mobile subscriptions will surpass the 5 billion mark sometime this year if the current rate of growth continues.
400 million more mobile subscriptions will be there in 2010 as compared to last year. China and India will emerge as the biggest contributor to this rapid increase in the subscribers. While the developed countries have a penetration rate of almost 100%, the developing countries have just 57 percent of its people hooked to mobile phones.
Most advanced countries in telecoms and the Internet terms in 2008 has been named as Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and the UK (in Europe), and South Korea and Japan in Asia.
4.6 billion Mobile subscriptions in 2009: UN
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: According to a report issued by an International Telecommunication Union, 57% of people in developing nations were mobile phone subscribers. 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions at the end of last year has also been estimated in the report compared with about one billion in 2002.
An estimated 1.7 billion people, or 26% of the world’s population, were online last year, up from 11 per cent in 2002.
China comprises a third of the people online in the developing world, still, four out of five people living in poor countries had no access to the internet. It has also been found that general access to the internet, telephones and other technologies was becoming cheaper, with the cost dropping in nearly every country last year.
NTC allows Philippines’ 3G operators to bid for last license
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Three major 3G licensees- Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Digital Mobile Philippines- will be allowed to participate in the upcoming auction for the last 3G spectrum license by Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The three companies had asked the regulator to lift its ban preventing them from participating in the auction after which the NTC revised the rules for the auction allowing companies that are already authorized to operate a mobile network and companies with pending authorizations to participate.
AZ Communications Network, Multi-Media Telephony, Next Mobile, and Pacific Wireless are the companies with pending authorizations.
Regulator endorsement paves way for Thai 3G auction
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The way for the auction of four 3G licenses this year has been paved with the endorsement of the new board of Thailand’s regulator. National Telecom Commission (NTC) was advised by Thailand’s Cabinet Secretariat that the Royal Household has approved the appointment of four new NTC directors.
The Prime Minister’s Office was asked to double check†the proposed NTC directors backgrounds by the Royal Household last month after it emerged that one of the nominees Col. Natee Sukolrat is under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
2100MHz spectrum would be allocated for 3G. The government had intended generating 350 billion rupee for its budget coffers by March 31.
SK Telecom to Develop 3G Mobile Standard in China
Faced with diminishing prospects at home, South Korea’s SK Telecom has of late been looking at China to tap into the world’s largest mobile market. The groundwork is starting to pay rich dividends.
According to published reports, SK has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to jointly develop a 3G mobile standard in the world’s most populous nation.
South Korea’s number one mobile phone operator and the Chinese government will cooperate on the development and commercialization of TD-SCDMA, China’s home-grown 3G standard.
TD-SCDMA allows communication of numerous subscribers by dividing a spectrum into time slots unlike other platforms, which use separate spectrums for wireless transmission and reception.
TD-SCDMA is one of three technologies that is recognized by the International Telecommunications Union as the next-generation mobile telecom standard. The other two are CDMA2000 and wideband-CDMA.
Under the agreement, SK plans to set up a TD-SCDMA experimental station in Pundang, south of Seoul, in 2007 to carry out tests on the mobility-specific techniques. It will also establish a TD-SCDMA service center in China to pursue joint research in 3G multimedia services, value-added devices and platforms.
“SK Telecom is the first foreign telecom service provider to establish a cooperative relationship with China on TD-SCDMA technologies. This signifies the full recognition of our technological prowess,” SK CEO Kim Shin-bae said.
SK spokesperson Do Hoon added: “We have agreed on building a cooperative model with China for the telecom industry, for not only TD-SCDMA technologies but also beyond 3G standards.”
In June, SK had agreed to buy up to $1 billion worth of China Unicom’s (News – Alert) bonds, giving it an option on a 6.67 percent stake in China’s second-biggest mobile firm.
The Unicom share first gave SK Telecom entry into the fast-expanding Chinese market. It is the largest mobile phone market in the world in terms of subscribers. China has more than 421 million mobile phone subscribers and the number is slated to rise to at least 600 million within the next three years.
SK Telecom provides cellular services, wireless Internet services, and online Internet and Internet access via CDMA networks. Through its subsidiary, SK Teletech, it also designs, markets and sells digital handsets under the brand name Sky. The company provides international calling services, multimedia services and a telematic service called NATE Drive, which offers drivers with real-time location and traffic information.
Source- http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com
Technorati : China, Mobile, SK Telecom, South Korea
Ice Rocket : China, Mobile, SK Telecom, South Korea
