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.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Deutsche Telekom (DT) has raged a debate by calling for a regulation for cable networks to be opened up to allow non-discriminatory access.  Similar regulations have already being proposed in the Netherlands and Denmark.

According to CEO Rene Obermann, cable operators that have rolled out broadband wiring in homes should also give access to competitors. However, cable operator KDG feels that regulation could not be justified nor would it be legal according to German and European law since cablecos have only a 10% share of broadband accesses in Germany.

Recently, a similar statement had been released by country’s regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur confirming the lack of significant market power after calls for regulation were made by other telcos.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vimpelcom and Ukrainian operator Kyivstar merger has been approved by Commission on Foreign Investments. The announcement has been made by head of Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service.

As per the deal, Alfa Group and Norwegian group Telenor will pool their holdings in the two firms to establish a new US-listed, Netherlands-based operator, Vimpelcom Ltd.

Integrated mobile services to consumers in Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries, as well as Georgia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos will be provided by the united company. Vimpelcom Ltd will seek to expand its operations in Europe, Asia and Africa after its establishment.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The proposed merger between Russian telco Vimpelcom and Ukrainian firm Kyivstar will be completed by mid- 2010. Telenor and Alfa Group, the two shareholders of Vimpelcom, have already agreed to combine common assets in the two cellular operators to create a new US-listed operator, thus, ending years of legal disputes between the two firms.

The proposed company will be based in Netherlands and will provide integrated mobile services to consumers in Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries, as well as Georgia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After attracting almost half-a-million paying subscribers to its DRM-free services since March 2009, Vodafone has claimed to rule Europe’s mobile music market. The clear pricing policy of the carrier has been credited behind the subscription of 450,000 users for its music services.

A monthly bundle allowing the users to download 10 tracks, or a variety of all-you-can-eat packages has been provided to the subscribers. Some 100,000 subscribers have signed up in December alone in Vodafone’s eight key European markets – Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK.

The company has signed deals with Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, and Universal Music, to provide DRM-free MP3 content.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the aim to steal market share from rivals and boost revenue, Vodafone, a UK-based telecoms company has planned to bring back its German ‘Otelo’ brand as a no-frills mobile product. Originally, a joint venture between utility companies RWE and Veba, Otelo offered fixed line services in the country.

Mannesmann Arcor acquired the company in 1999 and Vodafone acquired the Mannesmann group, as well as a 73.6% stake in fixed line operator Arcor, for EUR180 billion the following year.

According to Head of Vodafone Germany, Friedrich Joussen, Otelo hopes to compete with Netherlands-based KPN’s local unit E-Plus, which operates a number of low-priced brands including Simya and Base, as well as incumbent telco Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile Deutschland  and Spanish-owned Telefonica O2 Germany.

The new brand will be available online from February this year.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Six requests have been received by Federal Network Agency (FNA) to take part in the country’s digital frequency auction scheduled for early in the second quarter of 2010. The applications will now be examined by FNA after which it will decide whether the companies are qualified to take part or not.

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom (DT), UK-based Vodafone, Spain’s Telefonica O2 Germany and E-Plus, the local unit of Netherlands-based group KPN, are all expected to be among those asking to be admitted as bidders.

It is one of the largest spectrum auctions in Germany since the allocation of UMTS concessions in 2000 and involves licenses for spectrum freed up in the switchover from analogue to digital television. The spectrum package includes 360MHz, 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz, 2GHz and 2.6GHz besides 60MHz in the digital dividend range of 800MHz.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Shares of Telecom Italia may be acquired by Telefonica at a premium of up to 30%. According to a local newspaper of Italy, Telefonica may be preparing an all-share bid for Telecom Italia, and setting up a holding company to conduct the takeover.

Meanwhile, the remaining shares in subsidiary Ortel Mobile have been acquired by Dutch operator KPN for an undisclosed sum. 65% of Ortel, which operates prepaid services in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, in March 2008, has been taken over and the remaining shares will be acquired by Ortel’s founders.

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ZTE wins KPN’s 3G upgrade contracts

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Two contracts to build HSPA networks for European telecoms operator KPN of the Netherlands has been won by ZTE, a Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturer.

Under the agreement, HSPA platforms will be supplied by ZTE for the upgradation of Dutch telco’s German and Belgian subsidiaries, E-Plus Mobilfunk’s and KPN Belgium’s (Mobistar) 3G networks.

A wireless data services with a maximum download speed of 21.6Mbps will be offered after the completion of the two high speed networks

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Free SMS weekend offered by Vodafone in Netherlands on 17 and 18 November emerged as an instant hit with the customers. The offer was given until Sunday noon after the speech network was hit by a nationwide breakdown.

9.00-11.00 am on Sunday, the SMS traffic was 2.3 times more than normal with most of the SMS sent by the prepaid customers. On Saturday night, between 10.00-11.00 pm, the traffic increased by almost 50 percent as the subscribed customers sent maximum number of texts.

Between 6.00-9.00 pm, during Sinterklaas evening, the traffic rose by 21 percent than normal.

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