BSNL cancels GSM network contract with Huawei (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China’s Huawei lost 20 million lines GSM network contract with the state owned telecom operator of India, BSNL, after the latter cancelled it because of the unacceptable conditions imposed by Huawei.
However, Huawei has always denied the rumors allegedly linking it to Chinese government and military. BSNL has been asked by the Indian government to make sure that there are no software exploits within any equipment supplied by Huawei. BSNL might retender the contracts as the one with Ericsson covering the North and Eastern regions are also not finalized yet.
Earlier, it was reported that if there is any problem in Huawei tender, Alcatel-Lucent might take over the contract in the lines with Huawei’s tender prices.
For 25-million lines for the North Zone and 18-million lines for the East Zone, BSNL shortlisted Ericsson while Huawei was selected for 25-million lines for the South Zone. Initially, BSNL wanted to award the contract for Western zone to Huawei but later it contended that western zone was not a priority.
3G services and GSM will be provisioned for some 21 million lines. The total sum spent on these contracts is estimated to be US$6.5 billion.
Azerbaijan joins Iran and Russia to improve connectivity in Caspian region
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The largest stakeholder in Iran based Telecommunication Infrastructure Company, Iranmobin entered into a 50/50 equity joint venture with Russian C-Ring Telecom. C -Ring Telecom is a subsidiary of Russian long-distance operator Synterra while TIC is a unit of fixed line monopoly Telecommunication Company of Iran.
In order to rollout a new fibre-optic ring around the Caspian Sea to handle Europe-Asia voice, Azerbaijan’s AzTelekom forged an agreement with the new venture. The agreement also aims at improving internet service delivery in the Caspian region.
The agreement was signed at trade and economic cooperation summit held in Tehran by Russian and Iranian state and company officials. TIC also signed an agreement with Rostelecom, another Russian carrier, to share international transmission links.
Telsur bought by GTD for USD115 million
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a USD115 million deals, Quinenco agreed to sell telecom firm Telefonica del Sur (Telsur) to rival telco GTD. Chilean financial and industrial conglomerate Quinenco has 74.43% stake in Telsur.
While highlighting the magnetism of Telsur, GTD said that the company has transformed itself from line operator into a multi service provider and now offers a range of broadband and broadcast services. GTD also felt that by the end of 2009, GTD and Telsur together will have a customer base of 480,000 subscribers in fixed and wireless telephony, internet, and digital TV.
Telsur has predicted an annual revenue of USD133 million while GTD expects USD175 million for 2009.
Azerfon receives first 3G license in Azerbaijan Republic
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Azerfon became the first telecom operator of Azerbaijan Republic to receive 3G license. The service will be launched soon on the 2.1 Ghz frequency and will be available not only in Baku or Absheron peninsula but across the country. 11,000 manat (US$13,681) will be charged to all those operators granted with the license.
According to the Mobile World database, the country has three GSM operators and one CDMA operator. 8.1 million subscribers representing 78 percent of the population were recorded by the end of Q3 2009
Price war & the Indian regulator cause mobile stocks to tumble
The Indian mobile sector, a darling of the Indian stock markets has just fallen from grace. Fears that a renewed tariff war may bring its dream run of profit growth to an end and could force smaller players to sell out or shut shop has caused the leader, Bharti Airtel to lose 17% in two trading sessions. Reliance Communications has fallen 11% and Idea Cellular fell 8%.
Mobile tariffs in India are already the lowest in the world. On Monday, Reliance (RCOM) announced the slashing of tariffs across the board for local, roaming and long-distance calls to 50 paise, i.e under a cent per minute.
In addition to this, the Indian Telecom regulator suggested on Monday that telecom operators shift to per-second pricing as opposed to per-minute. After the Indian stock market got jittery with this announcement and telecom stocks started tumbling, the regulator (TRAI) was seen as diluting their position on this statement, stating that proposal on per-second billing was at an initial stage and too much was being read into the issue.
TRAI chairman J.S. Sarma also said that mobile operators were free to oppose the scheme and the regulator would consider their opinion during the consultation process.
Sunil Mittal, the chief of Bharti Airtel said tariffs were best left to market forces.
TATA and BSNL enter Network Sharing deal (India)
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), India’s fastest-growing pan India telecom service provider, today announced the signing of a landmark ‘Master Services Agreement for Passive Infrastructure Sharing’ with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Becoming the first Indian private telecom operator to enter into an agreement of this nature. The agreement which is valid for 15 years will be applicable to both Tata Teleservices Limited and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited in all of India’s 22 telecom Circles.
This is a moment of pride for us, as we have become the first private telecom operator to enter into such a strategically important agreement with BSNL, one that will allow us to expand our telecom footprint across the country much more quickly,†Mr Madhav Joshi, President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Teleservices Limited, said.
The agreement comes at a very strategic time for Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), as both companies have been aggressively expanding their network presence on the CDMA side with Tata Indicom, while also rolling out GSM services under the TATA DOCOMO brand name. In the short space of just three months, we have already rolled out our GSM services in nine Circles—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and Haryana,†Mr AG Rao, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited, said. This agreement has the potential to not just speed up our network expansion and rollout process, but would also have a substantial impact in terms of reduced costs,†he added.
Under the terms of the agreement, TTSL and TTML will have access to thousands of BSNL towers all across the country.
MVNO deal signed by Tele2 in Germany
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement has been signed between Tele2 Telecommunications Services GmbH and VIAG Interkom in Germany as per which Tele2 will use Interkom’s wireless network to provide the air interface for Tele2′s fixed line customers.
With over 1 million residential and business fixed telephony customers, Tele2 is one of Germany’s largest Indirect Access Operators.
According to Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, President and CEO of Tele2 AB, Germany is the largest telecoms market in Europe and this MVNO will enable Tele2 to offer an attractively priced offering of both fixed and mobile services on one bill to its customers.
The MVNO is expected to be operational in Q2 2002.
