Motorola Mobility and Nextel Launch Motorola i867w in White (Brazil)
Motorola Industrial Ltd and Nextel launched a white version of the Motorola i867w smartphone with exclusive Push-to-Talk (PTT) technology, designed for people with style and a lot to communicate. The new Android-powered smartphone offers instant high-performance communication, mobile Web access and text and picture messaging.
As per the company, Wagner Mendonça, iDEN sales director, Motorola Mobility Brazil, said that the Motorola i867w has a differentiated design that combines elegance with rapid communication. Whether one chooses the i867 for work, play, or both, the Motorola i867 lets one manage it all with best-in-class PTT and Android mobile technology.
The device is packed with features including Wi-Fi, 3.1 inch touch-screen, MP3 Player, Bluetooth stereo technology, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a 3 MP camera. Store images, videos and music on the included 2-gigabyte microSD HC memory card, or replace it with up to a 32 GB card, sold separately, to hold even more data.
More than 500,000 applications are available to browse and download on Google Play and the five customizable display screens let you access frequently used items rapidly. Users can also follow their social networks and use Google Mobile Services, including Google Maps with Navigation, Google Talk and Google Search right on the handset.
The Motorola i867w is commercialized with the Nextel Email application, enabling access to email accounts and messaging in real time. It enables up to ten personal email accounts and one corporate account with calendar. The handset features SWYPE for easy text entry and has two microphones with noise cancellation technology, allowing clearer conversations in noisy environments.
Huawei bags 3G Network Contracts in Mexico and Brazil
Huawei has won network contracts for new WCDMA networks for NII Holdings subsidiaries in Mexico and Brazil.
Both networks trade under the Nextel brand name Nextel has purchased 3G spectrum in Mexico and has placed bids for spectrum in Brazil.
It is considered that Huawei will develop and deliver the core network, radio access network (RAN) and backhaul, all of which will be customized for NII’s Push-to-Talk service.
Viettel wins Peru fixed wireless license
The Vietnamese company Viettel Group is all set to provide fixed mobile services in Peru through an award in which it undertook to provide free Internet services to more than four thousand schools.
The official announcement of the award shows that the company will operate the 1,900 MHz C-band and will compete with existing companies, Claro, Movistar and Nextel.
The Vietnamese company agreed to pay US$27 million for use of the band and will invest US$150 million to develop the necessary infrastructure for their services.
According to the Deputy General Director of Viettel Global, Quang Nguyen, the company will start services by the end of the year.
Chile recorded more mobile phones than people
The Chilean government’s INE statistics institute has unveiled that there are more cell phones in Chile than there are people.
With 19.4 million cell phones distributed across the Andean nation as of October, there were nearly 1.1 cell phones for each of Chile’s estimated 17.1 million citizens.
According to INE, highlighting the explosion in cell phone penetration, in 2006 there were only 11.9 million cell phones for Chile’s then 16.4 million population. Between 2000 and 2009, Chileans made 94.5 billion domestic calls on their cell phones, racking up 126.7 billion minutes, and 264 million international calls, for some 788 million minutes. Meanwhile, Chileans are expected to make 3.87 million local landline phone calls this year, totaling 8.93 million minutes, up from 6.84 million calls and 14.8 million minutes totaled in 1998.
For the first 10 months of the year, Chileans made 430 million domestic calls and 32 million international calls on landlines. While, in 2009 Chileans made 62,278 calls on public pay phones, totaling 59,131 minutes, compared to 114,518 calls made in 2004 for 136,915 minutes.
The local unit of Spain’s Telefonica Moviles SA, Movistar, is the country’s largest cell provider with Entel PCS, a unit of Entel coming in second. Claro, owned by Mexico’s America Movil is third, and Nextel holds a minority stake in the local wireless phone service market.
Six submit bids for Brazil’s H Band auction
Anatel, Brazil’s national telecoms regulator has revealed that six groups have submitted proposals to bid for the country’s final 3G mobile frequencies the so-called H Band.
The six are domestic operators Vivo, Claro, TIM Brasil, Oi, Nextel and CTBC. The regulator has set up a Special Licensing Committee (CEL) which will assess the applications on 14 December. The H Band auction comprises 165 lots of spectrum with a minimum price of US$649 million, and US$410.31 million for leftover spectrum.
According to reports, at this stage though, only Nextel fulfils the basic stated requirement of the H Band auction i.e. as an iDEN digital trunking operator it will be classed as a new entrant in the GSM/W-CDMA market. As such, if it bids for the new licence it is understood that four GSM operators (Vivo, Claro, TIM Brasil and Oi) will be restricted to bidding for the frequencies as extension bands. If Nextel and CTBC fails to express an interest in the H Band, the other operators will be allowed to compete.
Nextel Mexico Continues to organize 3G Network across Mexico
Nextel Mexico will continue to execute the strategy that calls for the employment of a 3G network across Mexico with the first phase of the commercial launch of that network expected to occur in the next 12 to 18 months.
It has also mutually agreed with Grupo Televisa to conclude the pact that was agreed earlier this year to jointly build a 3G network. NII Holdings and Televisa have agreed to continue to discuss entering into commercial agreements. No reason was specified as to why the two companies decided to end their agreement.
The new 3G network will be supported by the 30 MHz in the AWS spectrum granted to Nextel Mexico on October 1, 2010.
According to Gokul Hemmady, NII Holdings’ Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the company is excited to be moving forward with plans for the deployment of 3G network in Mexico utilizing the spectrum granted by the Mexican government to Nextel Mexico. The company is in a strong financial position with the funding necessary to carry out deployment plans in the country and look forward to offering more choice in wireless services to the people of Mexico.
Chile Confirms LTE Auction to be Held in December
Chile’s telecoms regulator Subtel has confirmed to launch auction for 4G LTE spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band in December and plans to award the licenses around the middle of next year
According to Subtel’s head Jorge Atton, the company is clearing the spectrum and has decided to auction it. The governing body hopes to achieve better coverage and enhanced broadband capacity as a result of spectrum allocation. The auction is scheduled to be held in Dec’10. The company hopes to award the spectrum no later than June, which will coincide with the introduction of number portability and greater competition. By then Nextel and VTR should be operating in the market. The company will have greater competition, which will bring price reductions and better quality of service for the consumer.
The regulator has also been talking of sell digital dividend spectrum in the 700 MHz bands by the next year.
Argentina to finally launch number portability system
Argentina users will soon to have number portability services as the Argentinean government has passed the order for the introduction of the portability system in the country.
According to reports, a decade after the publication in the Official Gazette of the document that originated the present announcement, President Cristina Fernandez has now ordered the regulation of the number portability system for mobile phone users.
Argentina’s telecommunications secretariat Secom’s decree 98 specified that the portability system will be made available the next year. The portability system execution is likely to entail overall investments of around US$ 40 million. With 35 million subscribers and 4 operators (Movistar, Claro, Personal and Nextel) in the local market, MNP will play a crucial factor in determining future market dynamics.
Rogers Customers offered GetJar Apps
Independent app store GetJar has announced that it will make its entire library of more than 60,000 free mobile applications available to Rogers customers at no charge. The customers of the network will be able to access GetJar’s applications library via a GetJar link on the Rogers Application page on its mobile Internet portal.
The app includes games, social networking, sports, entertainment and productivity applications.
According to GetJar CEO, Ilja Laurs, the company is thrilled that Rogers is working and cooperating with GetJar to meet the demands of its customers.
This agreement is much like their recent announcement with Sprint Nextel, allows Rogers to immediately connect all its customers with over 60,000 free applications with very little effort, opines Laurs.
Sprint unveils HTC Evo 4G Android Phone
Sprint Nextel Corp. has launched the first ever 4G phones, HTC Evo 4G, with a massive 4.3′ display. The phone is expected to be able to tap into super-high speeds and the carrier hopes to capitalize on its lead in next-generation wireless technology.
No pricing information on the device or service plans has been provided so far. Sprint is expecting 4G to be a good way of winning back the lucrative customers who might look forward to sign a long term contract. The carrier has lost nearly 9 million customers over the last three years.
The highlight of the phone is its two cameras, including a front-facing one used for video conferencing. The device also has the ability also has an HDMI post to transmit high-definition video to the television.
According to Dan Hesse, the Sprint Chief Executive, this is going to take multimedia to a whole new level.
