Motorola anticipates huge growth for digital radio in India
A senior Motorola executive has stated that India’s public safety system and network expansion is set to double every three years, especially, with the arming of police with digital radio sets.
According to Balbir Singh, Vice President, Sales and Operations at Motorola Solutions Asia Pacific, they are experiencing strong demand for radio-based systems from Indian police force as well as private sectors such as oil and gas industries, coal mines and industrial production centres. The growth is driven by rising security concern across the country.
As per him, these radio sets are more effective in allowing communication between various locations and command centres, helping the police manage any emergency. On the private sector, Coal India has recently selected Motorola systems to manage its mine operations. Moreover, Indian enterprises are very fast in adopting technologies and they believe the Indian market will leapfrog in taking on the best digital systems, leaving analogs aside. They have been leading the radio-based communication market in India for four decades and have now established a working relationship in supplying handsets to police. They also provide training to the police on the effective use of handsets.
Singh further stated that besides the radios, Motorola has a wide range of communication sets in India, a market being served for more than 40 years.
Going forward, Singh sees Indian Postal Services and Courier Services using computers for deliveries in rural areas.
He pointed out that rural India is a huge market where the postman will be using mobile computers to serve the people.
According to Singh, Motorola’s Indian operations were fully supported by India’s software engineers who are involved in designing the software and setting up network for the radio sets. Motorola also operates its biggest research and development centre in Bangalore, software programmes from which are used for its systems globally. Besides the domestic consumer market, the country eventually would emerge as a major exporter with corporate India collaborating and merging local and international technologies in products for the global markets.
STC selects Alcatel-Lucent for broadband access network expansion
Alcatel-Lucent today announced that it has signed multi-million Euro frame contracts with STC (Saudi Telecom Company), the main telecommunications carrier in Saudi Arabia, to expand its broadband access network.
This large-scale project – leveraging Alcatel-Lucent’s leading VDSL2 and GPON technologies – will enable STC to provide state-of-the-art, bandwidth-demanding applications to its customers and expand the reach of its network while benefiting from enhanced aggregation and transport capabilities.
“As a major operator, STC is committed to provide its customers with the latest high-speed broadband services with the highest quality of service,” said Dr. Zeyad Al-Otaibi, STC’s vice president Networks. “We are confident that Alcatel-Lucent’s unique network expertise and the high technical competence of its local team will provide us with a superior – though cost-effective – upgrade of our broadband network, enabling us to continue to achieve this goal.”
Alcatel-Lucent will deploy the industry’s most renowned IP access solution: the Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) platform – supporting DSL and GPON technologies and a cornerstone of Alcatel-Lucent’s High Leverage NetworkTM :
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/hlnarchitecture. Alcatel-Lucent’s ISAM family of IP access products enables the seamless and cost-effective delivery of high-speed broadband multimedia services to mass markets – such as high-speed data, IPTV, VoIP and content-on-demand.
Next to the deployment of its 7302 ISAM with advanced voice capabilities and its 7342 ISAM FTTU, Alcatel-Lucent will also provide a comprehensive range of professional services to STC – including network design, deployment, installation, commissioning, testing and full project management support.
“Thanks to the flexibility of Alcatel-Lucent’s ISAM platform we can help our customers manage and evolve their networks cost-effectively and make sure they meet end-users’ growing bandwidth needs,” said Adolfo Hernandez, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Europe, Middle-East and Africa. “This project further strengthens Alcatel-Lucent’s long-term relationship with STC as we remain committed to deliver our best-of-breed solutions and global services expertise to the Saudi market,” he added.
Alcatel-Lucent is the worldwide leader in fixed broadband access, supporting the largest mass deployments of video, voice and data services. Today, one out of three fixed broadband subscribers around the world is served through an access network provided by Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent is currently involved in over 100 FTTH projects worldwide, over 85 of which are with GPON, and is the driving force behind the world’s most advanced VDSL2 roll-outs.
About STC
STC (Saudi Telecom) is the leading national telecommunications services provider in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. STC provides four key services: Home services which include PSTN, broadband DSL, Personal services which include mobile telephone services and value added services, Enterprise services which provide advanced business data solutions to enterprises and Wholesale services that provide network services to other local operators. In the recent years STC grew beyond its local borders and went global forming a network of business and investments in various Gulf countries, Asia, and Africa. The company is present in Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and South Africa enabling it to provide services to a bigger customer base and increasing its total number of customers externally by studying and evaluating investment opportunities. For more information, visit STC on the Internet: http://www.stc.com.sa/:
http://www.stc.com.sa/
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP and optics technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent’s blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent:
http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.
NSN wins network modernization deal in Afghanistan
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has won a network modernization and expansion contract from Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC), which will also include the supply of subscriber data management and charging and billing platforms.
Under the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will upgrade the operator’s radio network with its Flexi Base Station and Flexi Base Station Controller. In addition, the operator’s energy costs will be reduced as a result of swapping outdated mobile switches with mobile soft-switches.
Nokia Siemens Networks will also deliver a complete range of professional services, including network implementation, care and system integration. No financial or timeline details were provided by the company.
Mobinil seeking financial support for Network Expansion
If reports are to be believed, Egypt’s Mobinil is seeking to raise US$347 million in debt to fund a network expansion.
According to reports citing the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Hassan Kabbani, the size of the debt offering depends on market conditions as well as talks with Commercial International Bank (CIB) and the state-owned National Bank of Egypt.
The Central Bank has blocked the mobile network from borrowing additional funds from local banks, as the banks have reached locally imposed limits on how much they can lend to a single customer. When calculating loan limits, the Central Bank Orascom Telecom’s liabilities into consideration because Orascom still owns part of Mobinil.
As per the report, Mobinil had asked for an exception after it had incorporated its financial accounts into those of its other major shareholder, France Telecom.
Q1 2010 – Zain revenue up 11% & subscribers up 28%.
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Total Managed Active Customers
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31.4 million up 28% on Q1, 2009
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Consolidated Revenues
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KWD 329.7 million (US$1.146 billion)
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EBITDA
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KWD 139.2 million (US$ 483.7 million)
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EBIT
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KWD 99.4 million (US$ 345.6 million)
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Net Income
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KWD 51.5 million (US$ 179.1 million)
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EPS
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KWD 0.013 (US$ 0.05)
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PLDT’s fibre-optic network expansion completed (Philippines)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The second phase of fibre- -optic network expansion programme has been completed by Philippine Long Distance Telephone along with the activation of an additional 320 Gbps across six network loops nationwide.
The operating capacity of PLDT’s DFON has been increased to more than 1,000 Gbps after this expansion project at a total cost of about PHP 600 million. PHP 2.6 billion DFON network fortification programme has also been started by PLDT through establishment of loops within the loops to enhance network resiliency.
1,220 km third fibre-optic cable of PLDT running between Lucena and Cebu is expected to be completed by the middle of this year.
TATA and BSNL enter Network Sharing deal (India)
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), India’s fastest-growing pan India telecom service provider, today announced the signing of a landmark ‘Master Services Agreement for Passive Infrastructure Sharing’ with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Becoming the first Indian private telecom operator to enter into an agreement of this nature. The agreement which is valid for 15 years will be applicable to both Tata Teleservices Limited and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited in all of India’s 22 telecom Circles.
This is a moment of pride for us, as we have become the first private telecom operator to enter into such a strategically important agreement with BSNL, one that will allow us to expand our telecom footprint across the country much more quickly,†Mr Madhav Joshi, President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Teleservices Limited, said.
The agreement comes at a very strategic time for Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), as both companies have been aggressively expanding their network presence on the CDMA side with Tata Indicom, while also rolling out GSM services under the TATA DOCOMO brand name. In the short space of just three months, we have already rolled out our GSM services in nine Circles—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and Haryana,†Mr AG Rao, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited, said. This agreement has the potential to not just speed up our network expansion and rollout process, but would also have a substantial impact in terms of reduced costs,†he added.
Under the terms of the agreement, TTSL and TTML will have access to thousands of BSNL towers all across the country.
MegaFon reveals 3G suppliers (Russia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Russian mobile operator MegaFon, announced Finland-based equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as the winner of its tender for the right to supply and construct 3G networks for MegaFon. NSN is said to supply at least 60% of 3G node-B base stations for the operator’s upcoming network expansion.
Five firms, NSN, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and ZTE, would collaborate on the company’s 3G deployment and upgrades until 2010 end. Moreover, Huawei and NSN will provide MegaFon’s staff with full technical support for the supplied equipment. The cellco says it will decide the territory of the deployments within Russia and there will be no exclusive rights granted to vendors.
BH gives Ericsson’s Croatian unit new 5.9Mn GSM contract (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: BH Telecom given Croatia-based technology provider Ericsson Nikola Tesla a new contract for GSM mobile network expansion worth HRK30 million (USD5.9 million). With immediate effect, the contract covers expansion of BH Telecom’s GSM/GPRS/EDGE infrastructure to allow for continued user base growth, as well as faster and more reliable mobile voice and data access across the network. Gordana
Kovacevic, President of Ericsson Nikola Tesla, said, ‘I am very pleased with the continued cooperation [with] BH Telecom in mobile telephony. It should provide a foundation for even larger projects with our strategic customer in further mobile network modernisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.’
