Orange launches the Unique phone – one handset for home and mobile calls
Orange has today launched the Unique phone – the company’s first converged service, offering the benefits of fixed-line and mobile in one handset to customers in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. The first handsets compatible with the service are the Motorola A910, Nokia 6136 and the Samsung P200.
The idea is simple – have a single phone for all your needs, with one number, one address book and one bill. At home, the handset connects by Wi-Fi mode to the Orange Livebox, with calls routed via the net. And outside the Wi-Fi network, it functions on a mobile network. You can move between the mobile and home networks without interrupting your conversation – a call made at home automatically switches over to the Orange mobile network when you leave the house, with a symbol on the phone’s screen informing you of the network you’re connected to.
Source- http://techdigest.tv
Disney, Orange sign pan-European mobile, VoD deals
Disney Channel and Orange have signed a pan-European mobile phone content agreement. The service will consist of 65- to 120-minute programming loops, including 22-minute episodes of shows such as That’s So Raven and cartoons like Kim Possible and Disney’s Recess. The service will be offered in the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and, in time, France. Orange has more than 2.9 million mobile broadband customers capable of watching the Disney content. In a related move, Buena Vista International Television and France Telecom-Orange have also signed agreements to extend their broadband VoD film licensing agreement in France to other European markets. Walt Disney, Touchstone and Miramax films soon will become available to Orange VoD subscribers in Spain and to TPSA VoD subscribers in Poland.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Samsung shoots for 20% share of mobile phone market
Korean mobile phone manufacturer Samsung is aiming to achieve record sales of more than 1.3 million units in Poland this year.
“We will sell one million more mobile phones than last year,” said Wojciech Wasilewski, mobile phones sales and marketing director for Samsung. “We adjusted our offer to the local needs and expectations of mobile operators, we strengthened marketing and distribution and our competitors helped us by ignoring us.” Currently the company is third on the market following Nokia and Sony Ericsson, however, it is slowly catching up. Samsung wants to control 18-20% of the Polish market by the end of the year and, for the time being, is not revealing plans for 2007. “Most of all we want to stabilize our position. We will grow organically and not by leaps. The new offer might help us take control over another piece of the market, but market absorption should be growing as well,” said Wasilewski. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 6) M.M.
Source- http://www.wbj.pl
BenQ says ‘adieu’ to its European mobile phone business
BenQ’s mobile phone business – the former Siemens division BenQ took over less than a year ago for €250m – is facing imminent collapse.
A spokesman for BenQ Mobile GmbH says the company will file for bankruptcy in the next few days as BenQ’s board has decided to discontinue funding the German unit.
At least 3,000 jobs in Munich and the production locations at Bocholt and Kamp-Lintfort are in danger. The design centre in Poznan, Poland, and a manufacturing site in Manaus, Brazil, will be affected too.
BenQ says it plans to continue its Asian-based handset operations and the Siemens BenQ brand, but all European operations will end.
Siemens’ mobile operations were already in bad shape when the Taiwanese bought the company last year. Since then losses have reached €840m, partly because of handset delays and increased marketing costs.
BenQ is also in fierce competition with Nokia and Motorola.
In July, BenQ planned to cut 10 per cent of its German workforce as part of restructuring, and slash the salaries of its executives. ®
Source- http://www.theregister.co.uk
Huawei signs contract with Saudi Arabia’s Mobily
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei), a leader in providing next generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, has signed a contract with Saudi Arabia’s Mobily for the construction of an UMTS network.
A statement issued by Huawei, and made available to Khaleej Times here, explained that according to the contract, Huawei will supply its New Generation Node B solution as part of Mobily’s (Etihad Etisalat, the second mobile operator in Saudi Arabia) plans to deploy a UMTS terrestrial radio access network (Utran) based on High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA).
The statement added that Huawei strategically collaborates with Mobily, owned by UAE’s Etisalat, not only in the field of 3-G but also in deploying GSM networks.
“Huawei is pleased to be the major supplier for Mobily’s 3-G Network and deploy a high quality network with strong performance,” said Wang Jiading, vice-president, Huawei Technologies, Middle East and North Africa Operations. “We are confident in our ability to continuously add value to our customers with innovative 3-G solutions,” he added.
He said that Huawei’s UMTS New Generation Node B incorporates new and innovative features, such as an efficient digital power amplifier to support the multi-carrier technology and support for full performance HSDPA. The new generation UMTS Node B effectively improves network performance for operators.
“Huawei’s UMTS New Generation Node B has been widely deployed in many countries including Spain, Portugal, Poland, Malaysia, and Hong Kong,” he said, and added, “As a leading New Generation Node B supplier, Huawei will consistently focus on customers’ needs, and enrich lives through communication by providing innovative products, excellent services and network solutions.”
Meanwhile, Siemens recently upgraded the mobile network of Saudi Telecom with W-CDMA technology in the northern part of Saudi Arabia. In the near future, other parts of the country will also be given W-CDMA coverage. Saudi Telecom was the first commercial GSM mobile operator in the Kingdom. Following successful W-CDMA tests with Siemens technology, the company commissioned the Siemens Communications Group with the nationwide installation of 3-G technology.
Source- http://www.khaleejtimes.com
Technorati : Huawei Technologies, Mobile, Mobily, Saudi Arabia
Ice Rocket : Huawei Technologies, Mobile, Mobily, Saudi Arabia
Orange France unveils Unik hybrid WLAN/GSM service
France Telecom has unveiled its Unik fixed/mobile service, launching on 6 October in France, then to be extended to other European markets, including the Netherlands, UK, Spain and Poland. The hybrid phone will support VoIP calls when in Wi-Fi coverage and GSM calls when not. Orange France customers will use their regular mobile number for the service. The operator estimates that around 40 percent of mobile calls are made from home and 30 percent from the office, so if customers set up a WLAN at either site, they are bound to save money on their phone bills. Up to three unik handsets will be able to use a single Orange ADSL LiveBox. Two models will be available at launch, the Nokia 6136 and Samsung P200, followed by the Motorola A910 in November, selling from EUR 100 after operator rebate. More phones will be added soon. Orange has set a target of 15 percent of its mobile customers choosing unik by 2008. In France, unik will initially be a limited edition, reserved for the first 100,000 customers and available with two mobile plans: unlimited calls 24/7 from the mobile connected to the Livebox to fixed lines in France for EUR 10 per month, and unlimited calls 24/7 from the mobile connected to the Livebox to Orange mobiles and fixed lines in France for EUR 22 per month.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Technorati : France, GSM, Mobile, Orange
Ice Rocket : France, GSM, Mobile, Orange
Polkomtel adds 1.37 million customers in H1
Polish mobile operator Polkomtel added 1.369 million mobile customers in the first half of the year, for a total 10.416 million at the end of June. The number was up 32 percent from a year earlier. Some 1.081 million of the additions were prepaid users, taking the total number of prepaid customers to 6.075 million. Contract customers rose by nearly 290,000 to 4.341 million. Revenue for the period totalled PLZ 3.541 billion, while EBITDA rose 2.7 percent to PLZ 1.182 billion. The EBITDA margin fell 4.3 percent to 33.4 percent, which the company attributed to falling prices. Net profit fell 4 percent to PLZ 507 million, hurt by higher depreciation. During the first half, Polkomtel invested PLZ 416 million, almost 50 percent more than in the comparable period last year.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
