Polish operators fined for misconduct in mobile TV market (Poland)
Polish competition authority UOKIK (The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) has imposed fines on four of its mobile operators for their conduct in the mobile TV market. According to reports, UOKIK has asked all members of the cartel to stop their practices and have been fined a total of US$ 34 million. The Polish watchdog has reportedly accused the operators of obstructing the development of the mobile TV market.
As per sources, the fines imposed on the operators were in accordance with their market share. France Telecom’s unit was asked to pay the highest at US$ 10.5 million, followed by T-Mobile at US$ 10.2 million, PolkomTel at US$ 10 million and Play at US$ 3.2 million.
T-Mobile saves up US$ 64 million cash for top management in anticipation of AT&T merger (USA)
U.S. based mobile operator T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, has reportedly been setting aside cash in an effort to retain its top management if the deal with AT&T is permitted to go through by the US government. According to reports, the network operator has already accumulated $64 million in merger-related employee costs for the past two quarters.
As per sources, AT&T originally hoped to finalize the deal by March 2012, however it recently delayed the date after the U.S. government intervened to block the merger citing unfair competition. As reported earlier by Wireless Federation, The Department of Justice has reportedly stated that the proposed $39 billion transaction would substantially lessen competition for mobile wireless telecommunication services across the United States, resulting in higher prices, poor quality services, fewer choices and fewer innovative products for the millions of American consumers who rely on mobile wireless services in their everyday lives.
KPN considers Telefonica’s O2 for in-country consolidation (Germany)
Dutch telecom company KPN has reportedly said that it makes sense to merge its E-Plus business with O2 in Germany, as both operators currently lag behind telecom giants Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile). According to reports, Elco Blok, CEO, KPN has said there is value to be created in in-country consolidation in Germany and that merging O2 and E-Plus would give the opportunity to create a value of around US$ 4.05 billion.
As per sources, Bloc has reportedly said that neither they nor Telefonica are willing to sell their unit, but are convinced that with their strategy they can create value. However, he added that if the price is right and Telefonica are willing to sell, then it could be an interesting scenario as they have the management in Germany that has proven that it can run an asset far better than the others.
Regarding consolidation in the domestic market, Bloc said that Tele2 is a very attractive target but there are regulatory hurdles given their market share in the Netherlands and of course the price needs to be right. He added that the regulatory hurdles are there and they are not easy to solve.
T-Mobile continues to lose postpaid subscribers in the third quarter (USA)
Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, has reportedly lost 186,000 postpaid subscribers during the third quarter even though it reported net customer additions of 126,000. According to reports, the number of postpaid subscribers leaving the operator has improved as compared to the 281,000 postpaid subscriber losses during the second quarter but has worsened when compared with 54,000 contract subscriber losses in the third quarter of last year.
As per sources, Philipp Humm, President and CEO of T-Mobile USA, has said that attractive prepaid offerings helped them add customers in the third quarter of 2011. Further, company reports reveal that the prepaid customers went up from 231,000 in the second quarter to 312,000 subscribers in the third quarter.
Regarding the contract ARPU, reports suggest that it remained unchanged at $53 in the second quarter of 2011 and went up from $52 during the third quarter of 2010.
MetroPCS may acquire assets in AT&T and T-Mobile (USA)
MetroPCS Communications Inc., an American mobile phone service provider, may reportedly enter into an agreement to buy assets from AT&T and T-Mobile, as the two companies hope to finalize their $39 billion merger, currently being blocked by the U.S. Justice Department. As per industry sources, the deal is likely to include subscribers and wireless spectrum and may be valued at less than $4 billion. AT&T has reportedly approached other smaller operators as well, however, MetroPCS with over $2 billion in cash and short-term investments, is emerging as the strongest candidate for the deal. Sources also suggest that Deutsche Telekom may help MetroPCS with the financing.
Industry analysts say that simply palming off some of T-Mobile’s subscribers or network is not enough for the government to allow the deal to go through, as the amount of assets being transferred are unlikely to transform any regional player into a national network. According to reports, in order to be a national competitor, MetroPCS needs as many as 25 million subscribers which is almost half the subscriber base of T-Mobile.
As per sources, MetroPCS reported a subscriber base of 9.1 million subscribers in June 2011 while T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint had a subscriber base of about 33.6 million, 100.7 million, 107.7 million and 53.3 million respectively in September 2011. Reports suggest that AT&T and MetroPCS may meet with the Justice Department in the next two weeks to see if this deal would persuade the regulator.
Hutchison Whampoa may acquire Orange Austria (Europe)
Hutchison Whampoa, Hong Kong based conglomerate may reportedly be in talks to acquire Austrian mobile operator, Orange Austria, owned by France Telecom and private equity firm Mid Europa Partners. As per reports, Hutchison, which operates in Austria through its subsidiary 3, aims to acquire Orange by this year.
Sources claim that a deal between these two operators, would compbine the third and fourth largest telecom players in the country, after Telekom Austria AG and T-Mobile Austria (Deutsche Telekom AG). As per company reports, France Telecom has a stake of 35 percent in Orange Austria with the remaining 65percent being controlled by Mid Europa Partners.
T-Mobile expected to lose three times its contract subscribers this year (USA)
T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the US, may reportedly lose as many as three times the number of contract subscribers this year as compared to 2010. With the Justice Department of USA refusing to AT&T’s proposed merger with T-mobile, the company has been unable to cut prices, one of T-mobile’s most important features to attract customers.
Sources claim that the number of customers on monthly contracts is expected to fall by about 1.2 million as compared to 390,000 last year, thereby bringing the company’s contract subscribers to a total of 25.2 million by the year end. Analysts and industry insiders claim that a significant reason for the reduction of T-Mobile’s market share is due to the fact that it has been unable to use the drastic price cuts as adopted previously. T-mobile has been known to offer promotions such as 1000 minutes at $40 a month and days when a phone was given free with every new contract. Further, with Sprint also joining the list of operators offering the iPhone in the USA, T-Mobile is the only major operator in the USA which does not offer its subscribers such an option.
However, even though contract subscribers are expected to reduce, analysts believe that the number of prepaid subscribers for T-Mobile is expected to go up especially in lieu of their offers regarding unlimited text messaging and web access.
AT&T and T-Mobile merger blocked by Justice Department (USA)
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a lawsuit to block the acquisition of T-mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), by AT&T. Sources claim that Sharis Pozen, acting head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, believes that unless the merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced, and consumers will suffer.
The DOJ has reportedly stated that the proposed $39 billion transaction would substantially lessen competition for mobile wireless telecommunication services across the United States, resulting in higher prices, poor quality services, fewer choices and fewer innovative products for the millions of American consumers who rely on mobile wireless services in their everyday lives. In the event that the acquisition takes place, AT&T would displace Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc, as the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier.
Reports suggest that Dallas based AT&T plans to fight the lawsuit in court, stating that the deal would let it add capacity and meet demand for high-speed wireless service. However, industry insiders say that there is little scope for the Justice Department to agree on a settlement allowing the acquisition to take place. In case the deal does not follow through, AT&T would be liable to pay Deutsche Telekom a cancelation fee of $3 billion in cash, along with providing T-Mobile USA wireless spectrum and reduced charges for calls into AT&T’s network, a package valued at approximately $7 billion.
T-Mobile and Orange opens dual-branded retail stores (UK)
T-Mobile and Orange has opened its first trial dual branded store in South-East London, which will split branded Orange and T-Mobile products and services, all under one roof.
Both brands will occupy 50% of the shopfloor and. The second dual branded store will be opening in Bracknell, Berkshire tomorrow. Keith Seddon,
According to Bexleyheath store manager, Everything Everywhere, they can’t wait to open the doors of the first ever Orange and T-Mobile dual branded store. Their in-store staff have been fully trained as experts across both T-Mobile and Orange products and services, and truly believe that anyone coming in to visit us will find the best possible device and payment plan available to them.
The shop frontage will be branded Orange and T-Mobile, offering distinct services that represent the different Orange and T-Mobile brands. Orange and T-Mobile both had stores in both Bexleyheath and Bracknell and the dual branded stores were previously the T-Mobile sites.
T-Mobile Netherlands will not offer compensation for network failure
T-Mobile Netherlands will not reportedly compensate customers hit by a network failure on 28 March. T-Mobile NL has stated that the disruption to services was due to a force majeure.
According to the company, it will also not compensate business customers which were not able to conduct their business due to the failure. The business customers can point out to T-Mobile where or how they suffered damages. The fault occurred in the subsystems in Amsterdam.
Customers registered onto these systems could not access the network. Some customers were able to make calls from 9.00 pm on 28 March, but not all of these could receive calls. The network issue was fully resolved at 11.00 pm on the same day. A total of two million customers, both business and consumers, were affected throughout the country. T-Mobile NL made no comment on how the network failure would impact the company.
According to spokesman for T-Mobile NL, text messages were sent a bit later because they piled up as a result of the network disturbance. It was virtually impossible to prevent these kinds of failures. Regulator OPTA told T-Mobile NL that it would look into the events of the day.
