Russia

Zamtel shortlists three companies for its privatization bid

On 03.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A step ahead has been taken in the privatization bid of Zambia’s telecommunications operator Zamtel. The step has been taken after the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) short listed three companies to continue the bidding with Indian state owned telco BSNL withdrawing from the bidding.

Angola’s Unitel, Libya’s LAP Green Networks and Russia’s Altimo are now the three shortlisted companies by Zamtel. BSNL withdrew after carrying out due diligence on the company.

According to ZDA privatization manager Henry Sakala, the bids will be subjected to an evaluation by the ZDA and after the evaluation they will be presented to the ZDA board, which will make a decision on which companies with which to negotiate.

The negotiation with the bidders will be done by an independent team to be appointed which will try and avoid the political problems that have bedeviled privatizations in other countries.

ROK launches KOX TV in Russia

On 03.15.10, In Mobile Marketing, By Editor

The UK-based mobile technologies applications and services company, ROK Entertainment Group and KOX TV, the Russian-based mobile TV service company announced the launch of a carrier-agonistic streamed mobile TV service in Russia.

The target group of the service includes those customers of Russian operators Beeline, MTS, Megafone and Tele 2, who have a data package included in their mobile tariff. Priced at 247 Rubles per month, KOT TV comprises of 12 looped and on-demand TV channels. It also offers free of cost viewing for two weeks.

According to the ROK Chairman, Jonathan Kendrick, the company is delighted launch the first ever such service in Russia, which has been done in response to their expectation of significant demand for live and on-demand mass-market Mobile TV in that country, from the ever-growing number of people with compatible handsets and a data package included in their mobile tariff.

Tagged with: Megafone • Mobile Tariff • Mobile TV • ROK Entertainment • Russia • Russian

Sibirtelecom completes DWDM roll out (Siberia)

On 03.15.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The roll out of Digital Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology in Omsk, Novosibirsk and Novokuznetsk has been completed by Svyazinvest-owned regional operator Sibirtelecom.

By investing RUB111 million (USD3.76 million), the operator constructed a 161km of fibre-optic network. The entire work out is aimed at expanding network capacity and bandwidth availability.

The network had a data transmission capacity of 10Gbps and now it has gone up to 40Gbps after the upgrades. Russian vendor T8’s equipment has been used by Sibirtelecom for the network rollout.

Tagged with: ASIA • DWDM • fibre-optic • operator • Russia • Siberia • Sibirtelecom • Svyazinvest

Megafon records 3.7% rise in revenues

On 03.11.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An increase of 3.7 percent in the revenues has been announced by Russian mobile operator Megafon, earning RUB 181.9 billion for 2009. OIBDA went down to RUB 88.2 billion, decreasing 0.1 percent, and the OIBDA margin dropped to 48.5 percent from 50.5 percent in 2008.

2.2 percent increase in the net profit has also been reported generating RUB 45.3 billion. RUB 33.5 billion in free cash flow last year has been generated and with 4.7 percent increase, the CAPEX closed at RUB 52.5 billion. OIBDA dropped 2.0 percent over the same period to RUB 23.1 billion while the fourth-quarter revenues were up 1.9 percent from the third quarter of 2009 to RUB 48.4 billion and the OIBDA margin fell to 47.7 percent from 49.6.

The number of subscribers increased by 16.3 percent, year-on-year, to reach the total of 50.74 million at the end of 2009. The MOU of the company rose 3.6 percent to 285 while ARPU was down 3.1 percent from Q3 to RUB 316. For 2010, Megafon has declared that it will continue with the expansion of its retail network and 3G services.

Tagged with: 3G • ARPU • ASIA • MegaFon • MoU • OIBDA • operator • Russia

XS Games announced “Red Star” for iPhone and PSPgo

On 03.08.10, In Mobile Phones, By Editor

The early spring 2010 will witness The Red Star for iPhone and PSPgo, announced XS Games. The mashup of top down shooter and beat ‘em up game play- the Red Star is based upon the graphic novel of the same name by Christian Gossett.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of XS Games, Steve Grossman, the Red Star is a proudly old school combination of classic action games, much in the spirit of Contra and Streets of Rage. He is also of the opinion that PSPgo and iPhone are the perfect platforms for this game in terms of controls, visuals, and price.

The Red Star is all about the dystopian United Republics of the Red Star (URRS), a mystical and technologically advanced alternate reality resembling Soviet Russia. Here an individual can choose to play as one o the graphic novel’s there most important characters. The names of the characters are Maya Antares who is regarded as a powerful sorceress in search of her husband lost in battle, Kyuzo, Maya’s personal bodyguard as well as a powerful fighter and Makita, a quick and agile warrior forced to abandon her life as a world-class athlete when her homeland was invaded.

The iPhone and PSPgp offer fresh visual polish as compared to PlayStation2.

Tagged with: Game Play • iPhone • PlayStation • PSPgo • PSPgp • Russia

Lomo LC-A+ Gold camera debuts in a limited edition

On 03.07.10, In Mobile Phones, By Editor

Lomo has unveiled a limited edition (130 units) of the LC-A+ Gold camera that comes clad in 24K gold-leaf gilding and finest brown leather wrapping.

Priced at $600, the Lomo gold edition features an original Russian Minitar lens, wooden casing, a unique number and certification sheet guaranteeing its authenticity, two rolls of Lomography 800 Film in a golden tin and the ‘Lomographiere’ hardcover book.

Tagged with: hardcover • LC-A • Lomography • Russia • Russian

NTT & TTK to link IP-VPN services in Russia

On 03.06.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: IP-VPN services of Russian long-distance operator Transtelecom (TTK) and NTT Communications of Japan will be interconnected in Russia and NTT’s ‘Arcstar Global’ IP-VPN service will be made available nationwide. The announcement has been made by both the companies whose strategic partnership began in 2006 when the two agreed to develop data networks.

This partnership between NTT and TTK resulted in the construction and launch of the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System, a 570km, 640Gbps undersea fibre-optic cable linking Ishikari, Hokkaido and Nevelsk, Sakhalin, the shortest route between Japan and Russia.

Owned by Russian railways, TTK’s network is laid along the rail route, spanning more than 55,000km. 19 foreign partner telecoms companies and NTT have reached an agreement to implement new process and practices that will enhance the quality and customer satisfaction levels of the Arcstar global network service.

Managing services for multinational organizations has been the major focus of Arcstar and the list of the organizations include VLAN, MPLS IP-VPN, leased lines and ATM.

Tagged with: Arcstar • ASIA • Hokkaido • IP-VPN • Japan • Launch • operator • Russia • TTK

Tele2 Russia’s subscribers base increase to 15 million

On 03.05.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 15 million users have been achieved by Tele2 Russia in 2009 and it has already expressed its plans to increase its subscriber’s base to 18-19 million subscribers over the next two years.

30% growth in the subscribers’ base has been reported by the operator in the year 2009, compared to 14.45 million in 2008.

The growth has represented the highest number of additions in the Russian mobile services market.

Tagged with: ASIA • operator • Russia • Tele2

Russian cellco MegaFon completes Synterra buyout

On 03.03.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a move to speed up expansion of broadband business, the USD710 million buyout of wireless broadband operator Synterra has been completed by Russian cellco MegaFon.

Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) gave clearance to MegaFon at the end of July 2009 to buy 100% of Synterra’s shares. On February 25, 2010, cellco’s board met to approve the acquisition of the telco. According to Sergei Soldatenkov, MegaFon’s director general, Synterra is very important for the company for its backbone network and corporate clients.

Synterra operates the second largest backbone network in Russia and also owns a controlling stake in a number of wireline operators, such as St Petersburg-based PeterStar.

Tagged with: Acquisition • ASIA • FAS • Federal Anti-Monopoly Service • MegaFon • operator • Petersburg • Russia • Synterra

Russia’s MTS customer base rises 7.1% in 2009

On 03.03.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an increase of 7.1% year-on-year, the consolidated customer base of Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) group reached 97.81 million, up from 91.33 million. Even the flagship domestic operation of the company had 69.3 million customers at year-end, up nearly five million from a year earlier.

However, a decline in the customer base has been faced by MTS in its Moscow market from 14.9 million at end-2008, to 13.6 million a year later. While growth was recorded in all MTS markets, only one international market, MTS Ukraine saw its customer base falling from 18.12 million to 17.56 million year-on-year.

The cellco’s operations in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus ended 2009 with 7.07 million, 1.76 million, 2.07 million and 4.56 million customers respectively.

Tagged with: Armenia • ASIA • Belarus • Mobile TeleSystems • Moscow • MTS • MTS Ukraine • Russia • Turkmenistan • UK • Ukrain • Ukraine • Uzbekistan