www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecom New Zealand has reportedly shelved its plans to upgrade the CDMA network in a 4G network based on LTE technology. It was in February that Telecom announced that it would work with technology partner Alcatel-Lucent in 2010 to see whether an upgrade from CDMA was viable. But spokesman Ian Bonnar says it now believes the route to LTE is from UMTS, the technology standard on which its XT mobile network is based.
“As we have invested in UMTS, and that is the network we are going to be pushing over the next few years, it seems sensible to evolve it.” he stated.
Vodafone and Telecom now intend to deploy 4G networks in 2012, though they are likely to have to wait till 2013-2015 for radio spectrum to be released. Vodafone spokeswoman Alison Sykora says it plans to test LTE next year. 2degrees chief executive Eric Hertz says it will not be left behind and also intends to look at the technology.
Mr Bonnar says the move to 4G does not necessarily mean that XT susbcribers will have to look for new mobile handsets. “The way it will probably play out is we will keep the [XT] network for voice and use LTE for data, but it depends on what handsets evolve.”
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: eServGlobal Limited, a provider of end-to-end solutions, enabling smart communication and charging services for telecom operators on any generation network, today announced that their prepaid services platform has been selected by Two Degrees Mobile Limited.
As the newest entrant to the New Zealand telecoms sector, 2degrees is preparing to supply great value services to the New Zealand mobile communications market. eServGlobal secured the multi-million dollar contract to provide ChargingMax, its prepaid services platform, following 2degrees’ satisfaction with Mailis, eServGlobal’s voicemail solution.
The ChargingMax, IN-based, solution provides for a distributed architecture, thus separating billing and rating from call control, which leads to a more scalable and highly available solution. In addition, ChargingMax includes value-added services and online network control, allowing 2degrees to monitor customer usage and modify features to maximise customer satisfaction.
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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Bakrie Telecom, the Indonesian telco, according to VP Muhammad Buldansyah, intends to acquire another Indonesia telecom company or have a possible merger by next year. The move is driven by the intense competition in the market, he said.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: TelstraClear and Vodafone in New Zealand have inked a 3 year agreement, under which Telstra will offer 3G services over Vodafone network in New Zealand in Q4′09.
TelstraClear’s head of business Brenda Stonestreet reportedly said that Telecom’s inability to offer TelstraClear “complete and timely access” to the new XT network was a stumbling block for continuing TelstraClear’s relationship with Telecom.
TelstraClear, will continue to sell and service to the subscribers on Telecom’s CDMA network and wouldn’t be closing down access to that network when it launched on Vodafone, Ms Stonestreet said.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: BSNL, the state owned telco, has inked a deal with NTT Communication Corporation for customizing its enterprise offerings and solutions.
Under the MoU, both organizations will jointly explore their strengths and expertise, so that customized offerings/solutions can be given to their enterprise customers, BSNL said.
BSNL intends to provide complete telecom and IT solutions to the enterprise customers with guaranteed service level agreement, it said.
“Through this joint relationship, BSNL intends to bring the global best practices and products to enterprise segment customers,“ it added.
Both the firms, as per the deal, will would strengthen the discussion for expansion of service area, concrete provision of quality assurance; prompt service delivery, enhancements of the operation and maintenance formation.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is reportedly deeming a proposal to bring in an international telecom operator as a strategic partner. The government will get more money by bringing in a strategic partner than by selling a stake or listing the state-run telecom operator, the report said.
“A strategic partner will be a better option…provided the government is favorable to that idea,” the source said. “…when they (international partners) come, they can have a say in the management and change the face and culture of the company,” the report further said.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Idea Cellular, the Indian mobile operator and Firstsource Solutions, an India business process outsourcing (BPO) services provider, have inked a five year outsourcing agreement worth Rs 145 crore.
Firstsource will provide a suite of customer management interaction services including customer service, billing, new product information and plan details related interaction services to Idea from its centre in Coimbatore. It will be provide these services for Idea’s Kerala and Tamil Nadu customers in English, Malayalam and Tamil.
“Firstsource brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in running large customer support operations for global telecom service providers and has the ability to help us manage our rapid growth in the service areas of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We believe our customers will benefit from their service capabilities” said Navanit Narayan, Chief Service Delivery Officer, Idea Cellular.
Chandra Iyer, EVP & Head Asia Business Unit, Firstsource said, “The Indian telecom market is an extremely large, rapidly growing one and has unique challenges. We look forward to leveraging our global best practices and our process expertise to help Idea get better operational flexibility, productivity and increased customer satisfaction.”
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The co-location plans of New Zealand’s new mobile operator, 2 Degrees, have been halted. The new entrant, earlier known as NZ Communications, has been lobbying the Commerce Commission for regulation of co-location for a long time now. It was last December that the regulator had approved the required regualtions allowing 2 Degrees to use Telecom’s and Vodafone’s towers. However, the Commerce Commission has recently sent a letter to 2degrees questioning the company’s lack of co-location requests and the breach of a number of regulatory obligations.
2degrees has reportedly said the slow roll out is driven by resource management constraints and because equipment would not fit on many towers.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: TelstraClear is likely to put down its deal with Telecom Mobile and restart selling Vodafone handsets, after being denied the right to resell Telecom’s XT mobile network till 2011.
TelstraClear had signed an agreement to resell its connections to Telecom’s CDMA network in August 2007 after it parted ways with Vodafone over margins and the collapse of TelstraClear’s ill-fated $50 million Unplugged wireless initiative in Tauranga.
But then Telecom later in October announced that it would allow access to resellers to its $574 million XT network until 2011, leaving TelstraClear without a credible offer in the interim.
An industry source says it is not clear whether TelstraClear is in negotiations with Vodafone amount to posturing by the telco, or whether it is seriously considering burying the hatchet.
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Telecom, the only mobile operator in Cook Islands, is now likely to face competition from KukiCel, a local company owned by Cook Islanders, which plans to upset Telecom’s monopoly as a mobile operator.
A proposal to set up a new mobile phone service in the Cook Islands will reportedly be presented to the government next week.
KukiCel has been lobbying the Government from past eight months to change the legislation which enables the monopoly.
The company’s secretary, William Framhein, said the existing services were not adequate and his company could do better.
KukiCel hopes to move into the internet market as well, he said. KukiCel though will have to wait for amended legislation by the Government.