www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia Siemens Networks has been selected by the parent company of France’s fourth 3G license holder Free Mobile, Iliad, to supply its core network equipment. The preliminary agreement has been signed by the company and the definitive deal is expected soon.

The network core equipment is covered in the deal with NSN and it is traditionally the most expensive part of a rollout. Though the contract value has not been disclosed, it is estimated to be around EUR 250 million.

A similar deal at a smaller scale is also under consideration by Iliad.

Tagged with:
 

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A group- wide framework agreement has been signed between Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and China’s Huawei Technologies. Qtel’s long-term development strategy across international markets has been supported by the deal in which Huawei is required to provide mobile radio infrastructure including its ‘Single RAN’ base stations alongside circuit switch and packet switch core and transmission systems besides providing solutions and services.

Standard terms and volume-based discounted pricing for network equipment will be available to Qtel group companies under the agreement. The initial term of the deal is one year and can be extended at Qtel’s discretion for up to two additional years.

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobily announced on Saturday that subscribers to Mobily’s prepaid and postpaid services can enjoy nightly international calls.

As of Saturday and until 3 August 2009, international calls made between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM the following morning will be charged at this rate. The offer is not valid for subscribers of the Rehal visitor’s plan.

The rate works for all countries except Ethiopia, Somalia, Lichtenstein, Afghanistan, Sao Tome and Principe.

On the other hand, Bayanat Al-Oula, Mobily’s data arm, launched a new speed for its hugely popular WiMax service. With 512 kilobits per second, users now have a much broader choice of speeds.

With the new speed, Bayanat launched a new promotion in which subscribers can get a WiFi modem plus three months. This is perfectly suitable for those who seek fast browsing and downloads.

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Zapp Romania has reduced its international call tariffs by 80%. The new tariffs will be valid for both new and existing postpaid subscribers with effect from  27 April. Zapp slashed the tariffs for calls made to fixed numbers in the UK, Turkey, Spain, Germany and France, as well as to fixed and mobile numbers in the US, Canada and China by up to 75% at a starting price of 2.5 cents/minute. Zapp has also reorganised its international call areas, which will now be divided among 6 regions, at same tariffs regardless of the time of making the call. Tariffs will only vary depending on dialed number type, whether fixed or mobile, and the destination country.
Zapp further launches three international call packages, Basic, Star and Xtreme. For EUR 6 per month, subscribers can opt for the Xtreme package and make international calls for prices ranging between EUR 0.025 and EUR 3.5 per minute, depending on country of destination. The Star package is priced at EUR 3 per month and offers calls between EUR 0.05 and EUR 3.5 per minute. The Basic package is available with no monthly fee, and subscribers can make international calls for prices ranging between EUR 0.19 and EUR 3.5 per minute.

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone Romania slashes the international call tariffs by 27% for it’s prepay subscribers. Cartela Vodafone (Vodafone Card) and Vodafone Avantaj (Vodafone Advantage) prepaid subscribers will now be able to make calls to European fixed networks, Vodafone mobile networks and partner mobile networks at EUR 0.40/min, down by 27% as compared to previous tariff of EUR 0.55/min.
Calls to other European mobile networks will cost EUR 0.50, down from EUR 0.60/min. Moreover, Prepay and Vodafone Avantaj subscribers will be charged EUR 0.50 for calls made to fixed and mobile networks in the US, Canada, Alaska, Israel and Hawaii, down from the previous tariff of EUR 0.55/min. The operator further announced Vodafone Europa, an option that enables the subscribers to make international calls to other Vodafone subscribers across Europe along with Vodafone partner mobile networks and European fixed-line networks at a tariff of EUR 0.18, down from EUR0.24/min.