Brightpoint, a mobile handset distributor has completed its acquisition of the business and assets of smartphones, tablets, mobile devices and accessories distributor C20 Mobile and C20.
The acquisition was made by Brightpoint Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brightpoint. With the acquisition of C20, Brightpoint enhances its position as a mobile device distributor and supply chain services provider in the Singapore market and this provides a base to grow within South East Asia.
Malaysian wireless equipment developer and service provider, Greenpacket has launched its line of pocket modems to address demands for broadband features.
The line of WiMax Greenpacket Pocket Modem enables the consumer to create a portable hotspot, whereby they can connect multiple wireless devices to the internet or even share secure broadband access.
Greenpacket has worked with operators during the product development stages for the Greenpacket Pocket Modem. Greenpacket’s pocket modem line is already garnering interests from operators in South East Asia, Europe and North America.
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) announced that 2010 full year Group revenue increased 13.1% to end 2010 at QAR27.2 billion (US$7.47 billion), as the Group’s consolidated customer base reached 74.1 million (FY 2009: 60.4 million).
Distributable earnings for 2010 including profits from the Nawras IPO taken directly to retained earnings increased by 21.3% to QAR3.4 billion (US$927.5 million). Earnings per Share (EPS) for 2010 grew 2.2% to QAR 19.69.
As part of the Group’s diversification strategy, Qtel has maintained solid operational and financial progress, successfully balancing the management of competitive pressure to maintain market share in mature markets with the ongoing development of operations in growth markets.
Key highlights of the year include the roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Home in Qatar, the successful implementation of a value-driven strategy by Indosat in Indonesia, strong revenue growth in Algeria leading to a first annual net profit for Nedjma, the successful defence of market leadership position in Tunisia, the launch of fixed line and home broadband services by Nawras in Oman and continued subscriber growth for Asiacell in Iraq.
The Group also successfully launched IPOs in Oman and Palestine, saw strong support for a 10-year Bond for Indosat and for the Qtel Group’s bond sale, which was more than ten times oversubscribed.
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) provides a full range of telecommunications services in Qatar and across its presence in 17 countries. Our vision is to be among the top 20 telecommunications companies in the world by 2020 through expansion in both the MENA region and South East Asia.
Qtel continues to reinforce its market position in the Mena region and South East Asia where major operations showed solid performance with the Group announcing strong revenue and profit growth for the nine months ended September 30, 2010.
The revenue growth reveals a 14.4% increase throughout the period. Net profit rose to US$659.28 million, showing an increase year-on-year of 3.7 percent. The company’s combined customer base remains healthy, positioned at 68.9 million. EBITDA performance also strengthened, increasing 15.1% year-on-year. EBITDA margin has also improved, closing the period at 48%.
According to Chairman of the Qtel Group, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, he is pleased with the consistent and positive progress Qtel has made as a Group. This period’s performance determines the ability to overcome challenges, capitalize on opportunities and deliver meaningful returns. He is also pleased to report solid growth for these first nine months of the period and an unbelievable positive response to our very successful bond issuances.
According to Qtel, it has continued to focus on its core strategy of maintaining its market leadership within the Qatar market, and enhancing its share of market value. The expansion of Qtel’s portfolio of new services and the successful completion of the first phase of a nationwide fibre-to-the-home programme have positioned Qtel to enjoy strong and sustainable returns moving forward. The reason for its growth is the steady increase in the number of subscribers. The customer base of Indosat has grown to 40.4 million till the quarter’s end.
Wataniya is the company that has maintained itself with a good strategic position in Kuwait. Although Kuwait has a lot of competition in the market, Wataniya still stood out from most of the organizations. Wataniya has also extended to Algeria by its Nedjma brand. The customer base of this company is 16.2 million.
Qtel has seen a good consumer-following with its Nawras brand which further strengthened Qtel’s market position. Also, Asiacell has progressed in Iraq. It has grown in revenue and profitability both. Asiacell is known for its strong brand equity and quality of service in its region.
SK Telecom Co, South Korea’s top mobile carrier will spend US$894 million over the next three years to develop its own mobile software like Facebook, Google Maps and iTunes for smart phone users home and abroad.
According to Chief Executive Jung Man-won, the investment will be mostly allocated in research and development, to support the creation of smart phone applications and services that will work on various mobile operating systems (OS), as well as SK Telecom’s own proprietary mobile OS.
The company’s CEO also stated that in the mid to long-term, the wireless operator will build its own proprietary mobile OS to fend off the increasing control by mobile OS creators, such as Apple and Google.
SK Telecom is also planning to build a wide range of mobile software from maps, social networking, instant messaging, commerce and content exchange store that are adapted, distributed and created into thousands of smart phone applications by developers.
According to the company’s statement, what the Korean wireless carrier aims to provide will be akin to the services offered by non-telecom companies like Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc.
The company will unveil the so-called application programming interface (API) of the company’s maps, music store and other services, to invite developers to create applications based on them, which the company hopes will attract more smart phone users and enrich their phone experience.
SK Telecom is setting its prospects on markets in the United States, China and Southeast Asia as developers use its software.
SingTel, the largest telco operator in South-East Asia, has announced a corporate venture company to invest in innovative technologies and solutions to create future growth engines for the Group. The company, Innov8, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SingTel, will have an initial fund size of US$150 million.
Innov8 will team up with innovators, developers, government agencies, R&D organizations as well as other equity providers around the region to promote innovation. It will work strongly with these partners to identify and explore new ideas and technologies, fund and support promising companies and provide access to markets that the SingTel Group operates in.
According to Yvonne Kwek, CEO of SingTel Innov8, Innov8 will connect with the innovation hotspots of the world for new ideas, technology, products and services. The company will invest in and incubate these innovations, and eventually bring them to market.
Developers and innovators can influence the scale and reach of the SingTel Group to access over 350 million customers across Asia and Africa. Innov8 will also let the developers and innovators to reveal the exclusivity of diverse markets and help them create enhanced solutions for mass deployment. In return, the SingTel Group will gain early access to new technologies, allowing it to improve its customer scheme and make ventures into new markets or segments.
According to Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group CEO, the investments made by Innov8 will ensure that the SingTel Group continues to stay relevant to customers’ needs and capture growth opportunities. With Innov8, the Group will continue to shape the market and deliver sustainable growth into the future.
VimpelCom will pay about $66 million for Millicom’s 78 percent stake in Millicom Lao Co. Ltd. The remaining 22% of Millicom Lao Co., Ltd. is owned by the Government of the Lao PDR.
VimpelCom’s CEO Boris Nemsic describes the deal as, “the next logical step in our international expansion strategy” and one that “fits perfectly into our strategy of building a solid Southeast Asian cluster.”
VimpelCom already has mobile operations in Vietnam and Cambodia, having launched services in both markets in July 2008. It holds a 40 percent stake in a JV established with state-owned GTEL in Vietnam. In Cambodia, it owns 90 percent of Sotelco.
Laos has a population of 6.5 million people and low mobile penetration estimated at around 23%, thus making it attractive for Vimpelcom and an obvious choice for acquisition.
An Ericsson statement said the company has signed a deal with
Indonesia’s largest cellular phone operator Telkomsel to provide a 3G/WCDMA network. Another statement said it has been given a managed services contract by Warid Telecom for a GSM/GPRS network in
Bangladesh. Under a three-year agreement signed with Telkomsel, Ericsson will deliver a 3G/WCDMA radio and core network, including HSPA, with deployment beginning immediately. The contract also includes three years of managed services, with Ericsson providing a comprehensive services offering including establishing, operating and managing the operations of Telkomsel’s 3G network. Bengt Thornberg, Country Manager of Ericsson
Indonesia, said: “We have had a longstanding cooperation with Telkomsel for more than 10 years and we are honored to be selected to deliver its 3G network in
Indonesia. Our solutions will allow Telkomsel to introduce new and advanced services in the country.”
Telkomsel is 65 percent owned by PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk and 35 percent by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.
The
Bangladesh contract covers the operation, management and maintenance of Warid Telecom’s core GSM/network, backbone transmission and real-time charging/Value Added Services (VAS). This agreement is an extension to the contract signed earlier this year where Ericsson was chosen by Warid Telecom to supply and implement the complete core and backbone transmission equipment for its nationwide GSM/GPRS network. Ericsson will now also manage Warid Telecom’s radio network in the western part of the country, covering the areas of Rajshahi,
Khulna, and
Barisal.
Muneer Farooqui, Warid Telecom CEO said: “By having Ericsson to manage and operate our network, we are able to focus our resources on building our branding, sales and marketing activities, strengthening our customer services and developing more services that meet our subscribers’ needs and expectations.”
Jan Signell, President, Ericsson South East Asia, added: “We are proud of being selected by Warid Telecom in this contract. We have enjoyed a fruitful managed services partnership with them in
Pakistan, where Warid has exceeded its own expectation. We are committed to ensure that Warid Telecom repeats similar success in
Bangladesh.” The GSM expansion contracts with China Mobile together worth $550 million were signed during the first half of 2006. They include projects in 17 regions of
China. Ericsson has already started deliveries of network equipment which it claims will be able to support nearly 200 million subscribers across the 17 regions. Under the contracts, Ericsson will provide China Mobile with core and radio networks, together with related technical support and services. It will also deploy its Mobile Softswitch Solution in the contracted regions.
Source- http://news.tmcnet.com
Technorati : Bangladesh, Ericsson, Indonesia, Mobile
Ice Rocket : Bangladesh, Ericsson, Indonesia, Mobile
