Clarification sought from Nepalese regulator with regard to license irregularities
The Nepal Telecommunications Authority has been called upon by the Nepalese Parliament to shed light on what it thinks with regard to awarded telecom license that is being said to be laced with irregularities.
The political leaders in Nepal have sought an explanation by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, as directed by the subcommittee.
The Public Accounts Committee believes that Limited Mobility licenses with the provision of roaming facility tantamount to being a full mobile network. Awarding a limited mobility license allows operators to function like normal operators albeit at a fraction of actual license cost.
According to a committee member Rabindra Adhikari, UTL was granted a limited mobility license with roaming facility by the regulator that is almost same as granting a full mobile service license. In the process, the government has lost $2.95 million in revenue.
Poor network coverage triggers investigations by phone networks (Nepal)
Nepal Telecom faces investigations by phone networks with regard to whether land rented for setting up base stations was based on friends or relatives owning the land or optimum location suited to enhance coverage.
According to the deputy director of the regulator, Baburam Dawadi, the mismatch between Geographical Information System (GIS) network planning and the resulting placement of the base stations is being investigated.
In addition, lack of good quality of service has been augmented by the operators’ failure to upgrade tools for optimization as a result a lot of the operators have failed to perform network optimization planning.
Nepal Telecom plans GSM tender
Nepal Telecom (NT) is planning a tender to add 10 million new GSM lines. The total GSM user base in Nepal was just under 10 million in March, and Nepal Telecom had 4.71 million GSM subscribers.
According to reports, the Nepal Telecom board has also decided to deploy 400,000 IP CDMA lines and has called a tender.
Nepal Telecom earlier awarded a tender to Huawei to deploy 2 million IP CDMA lines but that will take 12 to 18 months. To quickly expand the number of IP CDMA lines, the company has called for this ‘bridging’ tender. Nepal Telecom has around 1.26 million CDMA subscribers.
Vodafone extends World Calling Club promotion (Qatar)
Vodafone Qatar has extended its World Calling Club international call rates to more than 180 countries for just US$17.69 a minute until June 30.
All of the most popular calling destinations are included in this promotion, which included 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, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Yemen.
Vodafone is also extending until 30 June its International Calling Card 25 offer that gives customers 51 minutes of talk time at a rate of US$0.13 a minute. The countries included in this are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand, Syria, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
NTA grants ILD licences to Smart Telecom, NST
Nepal telecom regulator, Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has reportedly decided to grant license to rural telecom operators Nepal Satellite Telecom (NST) and Smart Telecom Private Limited (STPL) to operate International Long Distance (ILD) gateway service without following due process.
According to sources, these operators are currently designated as rural telecommunications operators and have been granted the licences without due process. NTA had formed a committee comprising of independent consultants to find out if the telecom operators had fulfilled the required conditions for getting the permission for ILD gateway facility. The report clearly states that these operators haven´t fulfilled the required pre-condition for ILD gateway.
NST is required to provide services to 273 VDCs in the Mid-western Development Region. It is also mandatory for NST to reach out to more than 50 percent area of mid-western region to provide service as per the local demand. Similarly, STPL is required to provide service in 398 VDCs of different regions excluding Eastern Development Region. Sources added that Smart Telecom is yet to cover 28 VDCs.
However, NTA chairperson Bhesh Raj Kandel denied the accusations that a decision has been made to provide those companies with ILD gateway permission violating the existing provisions.
The source also stated that both companies are planning to acquire GSM licences with help of foreign investments after upgrading their ILD service.
ZTE, Ncell ink exclusive managed service contract
ZTE has stated that it has won a three-year Managed Service project with Nepal’s Ncell. The contract comprises of managed services for Ncell’s existing Radio network including active and passive infrastructure, site maintenance, management of equipment from multiple vendors and OPEX optimization.
According to Yang Jiaxiao, General Manager of ZTE’s Service Product Line, this marks the beginning of cooperation between ZTE and TeliaSonera in global managed service projects. Via this project, they can demonstrate our ability to create more value for their clients in this new area.
Nepal introduces 4G feasibility study
Nepal’s telecommunications regulator, NTA (Nepal Telecommunications Authority) has announced that it will be launching a feasibility study into 4G technology.
According to NTA Chairperson Bhesh Raj Kanel, a team of NTA is now studying experiences in other countries. The team will pass on its findings to its Radio Frequency Policy Determination Committee (RFPDC), which will then take any necessary action.
208 operators in 80 countries currently investing in LTE- Report
A recent report by Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) has revealed that around 208 operators are now investing in LTE, which is 98 operators more than in June 2010.
According to the report, the number of countries and territories where LTE systems are deployed or planned has increased by 32 in the same period.
The report confirms 154 firm LTE network deployments are in progress or planned in 60 countries, including 20 networks which have commercially launched. A further 54 operators in 20 more countries are engaged in LTE technology pilot trials or tests.
Taken together, it means that 208 operators in 80 countries are now investing in LTE. The report covers both LTE FDD and LTE TDD systems. The 60 countries and territories having firm LTE network commitments are Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong S.A.R., Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore , South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, UAE, UK, Uruguay, USA, and Uzbekistan.
LTE networks are launched in 14 countries, namely Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, USA, and Uzbekistan. GSA forecasts that at least 81 LTE networks will be in commercial service by end-2012.
TeliaSonera to overhaul the brand identity at subsidiary companies (Sweden)
TeliaSonera takes an important step in uniting the company by launching a new common brand identity. It reflects the combination of the company’s international strength and strong local connection, as well as the heritage as one of the true pioneers of the telecom industry.
To mark the occasion, TeliaSonera also launches the most attractive offering for mobile data roaming in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
TeliaSonera’s 18 main brands will be united under an attractive common brand identity, while retaining their current brand names. The foundation of the new brand identity was launched already in 2009 in TeliaSonera’s Eurasian operations and has now been developed further, and extended to the Nordic and Baltic countries.
The rebranding exercise entails more than 300 retail stores, 1,000 signs and some 500 digital interfaces, including TeliaSonera’s websites in the Nordic and Baltic countries which count close to 7 million unique visitors every month.
According to Lars Nyberg President and CEO, TeliaSonera, this is the next step of their journey. Their customers will get tangible benefits from being part of an international telecoms group, providing cutting-edge services, technology and multimarket offerings, while understanding the local customer needs and conditions better than anyone else.
He added that today they lower the price of data roaming in the Nordic and Baltic markets by 90 percent, an important demonstration of what we mean by tangible benefits of being a customer to the TeliaSonera family. This major price reduction is made possible by fully utilizing their market presence in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
From the Nordics to Nepal
In less than a decade, TeliaSonera has developed into one of Europe’s and Eurasia’s leading operators. In the past few years TeliaSonera has launched the world’s first 4G network, developed Europe’s leading IP-carrier, and built the world’s highest located mobile data network in the Himalayas. The Groups’ footprint now spans from the Nordic and Baltic countries, further on to Eurasia and all the way to Nepal, counting more than 150 million customers.
The new brand further strengthens TeliaSonera’s position on the international telecommunications scene by manifesting a unique combination of global reach and local execution. The brand also marks TeliaSonera’s history and heritage as one of the industry’s real pioneers, being one of the founders of mobile telephony and a driving force in the development of the information society.
According to Lars Nyberg, during the past couple of years they have put a lot of effort into transforming TeliaSonera into an integrated company. The new brand identity is the next logical step to unify their operations across their full footprint, leveraging the combination of their international strength and local connection and creating the most attractive brand within the industry.
Alcatel introduces three mobiles phones in Nepal
Alcatel Mobile Phones has launched three models with Chaudhary Group in OT-category in the Nepali market.
According to the company, it has launched phones with touch facilities with the prices ranging from US$90.58-208.83. The cheapest one is a dual Sim touch phone (OT-710D). The OT-806 has Qwerty+touch and Dual Sim features that comes at US$208.83.
The company has also launched its flagship Android Model (OT-980) that is a 3G phone with processor speed 600 GHz. Both OT-806D and OT-980 have Wi-Fi capability and have a free Wi-Fi internet service from Broadlink for one month, with speed of 678 Kbps, the company said.
