By Editor on December 15, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Having already achieved first-to-market status with the November 22nd launch of their innovative mobile money service, TchoTcho Mobile, Scotiabank and Digicel today achieved another important milestone.
The news comes today that Scotiabank and Digicel will be the first mobile money providers to reach the goal of 10,000 transactions as set by the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative placing them in pole position to win the cash prize associated with the launch of the product. As such, Digicel will today file its application for the grant before going through the 30 day audit process.
The Haiti Mobile Money Initiative is a partnership between USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is implemented by HIFIVE, a USAID project.
Since TchoTcho Mobile’s launch in November — just days after obtaining final regulatory approval from telecoms regulator, CONATEL, and the Central Bank of Haiti — thousands of customers have used this innovative service for transactions such as cash deposits, withdrawals and transfers to other TchoTcho Mobile subscribers and the customer feedback has been great.
Digicel Haiti CEO, Maarten Boute, comments; “TchoTcho Mobile is changing the way Haitians live and make transactions. There is massive interest in — and enthusiasm for — our product right across Haiti. We’re proud to be the first provider to achieve the goal of 10,000 transactions as set by the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative.
He continues; “Feedback from TchoTcho Mobile users is that they are very satisfied with the quality of the service and delighted with how fast, secure and user-friendly it is. As Digicel has over 2.4 million subscribers, the widest coverage with over 95% population coverage and the largest retail network in Haiti, TchoTcho Mobile will soon become an essential service to the Haitian people. We are also delighted to have partnered with Scotiabank, which, as one of the foremost banks in the world, has an impeccable track record.”
“When the TchoTcho Mobile agent approached me and explained how the product worked, I have to admit that I was a bit reticent at first. But after I read the information describing the product and its advantages, I felt more at ease and decided to register. I have since made a few transactions very securely. This product is just great. TchoTcho Mobile makes life so much easier for me,” announced Jeffrey Nicholson Carre, a very satisfied TchoTcho Mobile subscriber.
Initiatives such as payroll for manufacturing jobs and “cash-for-work” programmes — as well as community meetings in Port-au-Prince and the provinces — have made it possible for Scotiabank, the largest commercial bank in the Caribbean with over 2 million customers and Digicel, the biggest telecommunications network in Haiti, to reach the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative goal in just three weeks. This was supported by an extensive communications campaign aimed at informing Haitian consumers on the multiple advantages of the product — as well as its ease of use.
“We are very proud to offer a service that contributes to financial inclusion in Haiti and are very pleased at the results so far,” said Maxime Charles, Country Head, Scotiabank Haiti. “We look forward to the ongoing contribution of TchoTcho Mobile to the economic development of the country by providing a safe and secure banking service to people who are not part of the traditional banking system. We are very satisfied with the results.”
TchoTcho Mobile allows users to conduct banking transactions via their Digicel mobile phones and is currently available across 150 TchoTcho Mobile agents nationwide. For more information, please contact our customer care available 24/7 by dialing 202.
About Digicel
After nine and a half years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has 11 million customers across its 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.
Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.
In 2004, Digicel developed Digicel Rising Stars — an annual talent show to support aspiring young music artists in the Caribbean. The show has spanned the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago ranking as one of the top-rated shows.
Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and its markets comprise: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nauru, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. Digicel also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barts in the Caribbean.
Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank has been part of the Caribbean and Central America since 1889. It is now the leading bank in the region, with operations in 20 countries, including Haiti, Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The Bank has more than 7,000 employees in the region, including affiliates, serving more than two million customers, with 232 branches, kiosks and other offices, plus 615 automated banking machines. Through the Bright Future program, Scotiabank focuses our charitable efforts on causes and activities that can enhance the well-being of children, particularly in the areas of education, health, wellness and the environment. For more information on our program, please visit www.scotiabank.com/brightfuture/index.html
Scotiabank is one of North America’s premier financial institutions and Canada’s most international bank. With close to 70,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approximately 14.6 million customers in some 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With more than $523 billion in assets (as at July 31, 2010), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.
Filed under Mobile ·
Tagged with Anguilla, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Central Bank of Haiti, Conatel, Curacao, Digicel, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, HIFIVE, Honduras, Jamaica, Mobile, mobile money Initiative, Pacific, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Scotiabank, Suriname, TchoTcho Mobile, Telecoms Regulator, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, USAID, Vanuatu
By Editor on November 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Operators are using 3G as the key technology to drive Vietnam’s telecom market growth, just as regulation continues to liberalize, allowing foreign firms greater access to the market. Due to the proliferation of 3G services, Pyramid expects to see more future growth coming from mobile data services, with a 13.4 percent CAGR through 2015, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com).
Vietnam: 3G Services and Strong Competition Add Up to a High-Growth Market offers a precise profile of the country’s telecommunications, media, and technology sectors based on proprietary data from Pyramid’s research in the market. It provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies.
Download an excerpt of this report here: http://www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=18&sc=PRN111710_CIRVIET
Purchase the report here: http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/CIRVIETNAM.htm?sc=PRN111710_CIRVIET
Until recently, the Vietnam telecom market was monopolistic, with strict controls on foreign ownership of telecom operators, notes Emily Smith, analyst at Pyramid Research. “This year the market has seven MNOs and two MVNOs, and regulation continues to liberalize, allowing foreign firms greater access to the market,” Smith says. “Due to the tough competition for market share, rates plunged to the point that it was cheaper this year to subscribe to a 3G service than GPRS.”
However, by 2011, the decline in voice revenue will be counterbalanced by the rise in data revenue made possible by the 3G and LTE networks that are being built, allowing transmission of greater traffic volume. “Pyramid expects to see a shift in data traffic away from SMS as other data services gain ground,” Smith adds.
“Due to low fixed penetration rates in Vietnam and extremely low 3G tariffs, mobile broad band will quickly gain ground in the market as many consumers will rely on mobile phones for Internet access,” explains Smith.
Given the gap between PC and Internet penetration, as well as the low broadband penetration rate, Pyramid sees significant potential for mobile broadband through 3G services.
Vietnam: 3G Services and Strong Competition Add Up to a High-Growth Market is part of Pyramid Research’s Asia/Pacific Country Intelligence Report Series and is priced at $990.
Filed under Mobile ·
Tagged with 3G, ASIA, CAGR, GPRS, MNO, Mobile, Mobile Operators, Pacific, PC, Pyramid, SMS, Vietnam
By Editor on December 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Google along with Asian telco’s KDDI, Bharti Airtel, Reliance has planned to built largest ever subsea cable extending up to 8,300-km with an investment of $400 million (€271m). The cable will initially link
Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, and Japan
The 6-fiber-pair Asia-Pacific Japan Cable will have a design capacity of 17 Tbps and will be upgradeable to 23 Tbps. Philippines’ Globe Telecom, cable system operator Network i2i – a JV between Bharti Airtel and SingTel – and Telemedia Pacific, which operates in Hong Kong and Indonesia are the other initiating partners while more companies have intended to participate once the project gets off the ground.
The cable should be operational by the second quarter of 2012. If the project starts, it will become Google’s second cable investment.
Filed under Mobile ·
Tagged with ASIA, Bharti Airtel, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Pacific, Philippines, Reliance, Singapore, SingTel, system operator
By Editor on August 15, 2006 · Leave a Comment
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) — Motorola Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander is betting a new generation of super-thin, low-cost phones will help him boost profitability and break the dominance of industry leader Nokia Oyj in China and India.
“This is our chance to go after them,” Zander said in an interview this month in Schaumburg, Illinois, where Motorola is based. “We know where the No. 1 gets its numbers. It’s these emerging markets, and we have to go in there and go meet them.”
Motorola, the world’s second-largest maker of mobile phones, will start shipping the 1/3-inch-thick Motofone, its thinnest product yet, next month as it seeks to build on the success of the half-inch Razr. The first of the Scpl (pronounced “scalpel”) line, Motofone uses fewer parts, multiple-function chips and more efficient software to cut manufacturing costs.
The Motofone design means as many as 15 phones roll off the production line every second, up from five a second for the Razr. Zander needs that increase in productivity to reach an operating margin of 13 percent to 15 percent, a goal he has failed to meet since taking over in 2004. He declined to say when he might hit his target.
Even after selling more than 50 million phones in the Razr line, Motorola’s 11.2 percent operating margin — or percentage of net sales left after subtracting the costs to make and sell products — lags behind Nokia’s 16.7 percent.
Toward 15 Percent
“The Scpl Motofone will be the quickest-to-manufacture product in the world,” Ron Garriques, president of Motorola’s mobile unit, said in an interview. “This platform will bring us toward that 15 percent profit number.”
Boosting profit margins and the company’s share of emerging- market business at the same time may be tough, said Inder Singh, an analyst at Prudential Equity Group Inc. who rates Motorola shares “neutral” and doesn’t own them.
“Entering emerging markets and looking for margin expansion is somewhat challenging,” said New York-based Singh. “Most new entries to emerging markets are tagged with higher initial costs, and Nokia being an entrenched competitor in many of those markets makes it harder.”
Shares of Motorola, up 3.2 percent this year, declined 31 cents to $23.32 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Shares of Espoo, Finland-based Nokia, up 8.6 percent this year, gained 25 cents to 16.78 euros in Helsinki.
While the Scpl line will have some high-priced models, it will start with an inexpensive phone to capture market share in faster-growing regions. The introduction strategy contrasts with the first Razr phones, which targeted customers willing to spend more for a camera and other features.
Working Up
“We launched the Razr platform at the $800 price point and worked our way down,” Garriques said. “With the Scpl we’re using it to work up. We’ll have more scale faster than we had on the Razr platform.” Motorola already has orders for 2 million Motofones in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, he said.
Zander said he expects to sell phones as cheap as $35 in emerging markets. Total handset sales in the Asia Pacific region gained 52 percent in the second quarter, compared with just 9.5 percent in North America, according to research firm Strategy Analytics in Milton Keynes, England. Motorola hasn’t yet priced the Motofone.
“The opportunity in this market is the unconnected,” said Zander, 59. “It’s giving billions of people the capability to make a phone call, and you eventually get to sell all this other cool stuff.”
Motorola had a 16 percent share of the Asia Pacific market in the second quarter, trailing Nokia’s 35 percent. Motorola has a 22 percent share of the global market, compared with 33 percent for Nokia, Strategy Analytics said in an Aug. 15 report.
Trimmed Costs
In the same quarter, Motorola’s profit from continuing operations rose 47 percent to $1.35 billion, and Nokia’s net income jumped 43 percent to 1.14 billion euros ($1.5 billion). Both companies were helped by demand for phones in India and China, as well as pricier models.
Garriques, 42, trimmed costs and production time for the Motofone by integrating multiple functions into each electronic component to cut the number of parts. He also increased the number of parts used across the Scpl range, allowing Motorola to command lower prices from suppliers.
The company designed new software that requires less memory, new battery technology and a one-piece casing design to keep costs down. The phones have features tailored to emerging markets including displays for bright environments and longer battery life.
Next Generation
Razr sales will exceed the Scpl through 2008 as Motorola develops clamshell and keyboard Scpl models and introduces new Razrs with the goal of selling 300 million to 500 million of the current generation before the end of the line, Zander said.
He said teams are already working on the successor to the Scpl, which may arrive as soon as 2010. Motorola must keep introducing products to remain ahead of competitors in the same markets who copy elements of Motorola’s most popular designs, said Prudential’s Singh.
“In a world in which it’s easy to become the victim of copycats you have to run faster than the competition,” Singh said. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
Source- http://www.bloomberg.com
Technorati : India, Mobile, Motorola, Nokia
Ice Rocket : India, Mobile, Motorola, Nokia
Filed under Mobile ·
Tagged with Allen, Asia Pacific, Bangladesh, Battery, Chief Executive Officer, China, England, Finland, Handset Sale, Helsinki, Illinois, Income, India, keyboard, manufacturing, Marathon, Milton Keynes, Mobile Unit, Net Incom, Net Income, Net Sales, New York, Operating Margin, Pacific, Pakistan, platform, Schaumburg, Shipping
