Telecom Italia selects Nokia Siemens for LTE upgrade contract (Italy)
Nokia Siemens Networks will upgrade Telecom Italia’s mobile infrastructure in several Italian regions with 7,000 base stations (BTS) to offer LTE services.
Nokia Siemens Networks will undertake the radio network modernization in some Italian regions in the 900-1800 and 2100 MHz frequency bands, supplying its Single Radio Access Network Flexi Multiradio Base Stations. No financial or timeline details were provided about the network upgrade.
The LTE technology has already been tested by the two companies in some Turin city areas.
AgCom speeds up mobile spectrum auction (Italy)
AgCom Italys’ Communications Authority has redecided to speed up the auction of the new frequencies to be allocated to mobile operators.
The Authority has adopted a draft regulation of the auction which will now be subject to public consultation. On the market, will be eventually offered 300 MHz of new frequencies, a significant portion of the band, that the regulator plans to make available to Telecom Italia, Vodafone Italia, Wind, 3 Italia and also to any new entrants.
The frequencies being auctioned will come from the so-called digital dividend i.e. frequencies to be vacated by 2012 by local TV channels.
Telecom Italia tests mobile ticketing in Milan
Telecom Italia is conducting tests to launch mobile ticketing service in Milan. The service will allow those who travel on buses, trams and metros to purchase and validate ATM tickets directly with their mobile phones.
The service, based on Near Field Communications (NFC), will be launched on an experimental basis by ATM and Telecom Italia from April 11.
Milan will be the first city in Italy to receive the Mobile Pass service, with the option to purchase directly from the phone, three types of ATM monthly and urban subscriptions for use on all surface transport in the metropolitan area of Milan.
This technology has so far been configured by Telecom Italia on only one mobile phone: the Samsung GT-S5230N Edge Quad band, which ATM will provide free of charge to customers for the duration of the trial.
Bernabe to be Executive Chairman of Telecom Italia
If sources are to be believed, Telecom Italia SpA’s biggest investors have agreed to appoint Franco Bernabe, the current Chief Executive Officer, as Executive Chairman.
According to sources, Marco Patuano, who manages the company’s Italian operations for Bernabe, will be promoted to CEO and given a board seat. Luca Luciani, head of Telecom Italia’s Brazilian business, will become director general with responsibility for all of Latin America and report to Bernabe. Bernabe’s term expires next month.
Telco SpA, the company that owns 22.4% of Telecom Italia, will hold a board meeting to approve the reorganization. Telefonica SA, Mediobanca SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Assicurazioni Generali SpA own Milan-based Telco.
Thailand’s ICT minister to propose fresh bids
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister has stated that he is prepared to submit his proposal to the cabinet to invite foreign telecom firms to take over the concessions of local mobile operators if they fail to pay compensation for past concession amendments.
According to Juti Krairiksh, the proposal would apply to all three mobile operators- Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC and True Move, if compensation negotiations fail.
The minister and executives of TOT Plc met in Spain last month with executives of eight international telecom companies to discuss the possibility of selling the concession of mobile leader AIS to them.
The eight are Telecom Italia of Italy, China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo of Japan, SK Telecom of South Korea, Axiata of Malaysia, and three US operators.
Mr Juti insisted the ministry would not intervene in continuing negotiations between an ICT Ministry committee, private operators and state enterprises on compensation figures.
However, he acknowledged that negotiations were unlikely to be settled amicably given the wide gap in the stances of TOT and CAT Telecom and the private operators.
TOT and CAT, despite having approved the concession amendments, some made as long as 15 years ago, are seeking tens of billions of baht to cover losses from deals that they say favored the operators.
Juti added that if concession negotiations cannot be settled, the matter reverts to the ICT ministry, so he will submit the proposal to the cabinet for consideration. Then, he will announce the opportunity for prospective foreign operators to submit their proposals to take over the mobile concessions from operators that could not settle with the state.
World’s leading mobile operators announce commitment to NFC technology
Many of the world’s leading operators, including America Movil, Axiata Group Berhad, Bharti, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KT Corporation, MTS, Orange, Qtel Group, SK Telecom, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor and Vodafone, have voiced their commitment to implementing Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, and intend to launch commercial NFC services in select markets by 2012.
“NFC is perhaps best known for its role in enabling mobile payments, but its applications go far beyond that,” said Franco Bernabe, Chairman, GSMA and CEO, Telecom Italia. ”NFC represents an important innovation opportunity, and will facilitate a wide range of interesting services and applications for consumers, such as mobile ticketing, mobile couponing, the exchange of information and content, control access to cars, homes, hotels, offices car parks and much more.”
The market potential for NFC is significant the total payment value for NFC globally will reach more than euro 110 billion in 2015 and momentum behind the technology is growing rapidly. To address this opportunity and to provide valuable new services to mobile users worldwide, the operator community is focused on driving the standardised deployment of mobile NFC, using the SIM as the secure element to provide authentication, security and portability.
To achieve this, the GSMA will develop the necessary certification and testing standards to ensure global interoperability of NFC services. This interoperability is critical to the widespread adoption of NFC, enabling users to benefit from NFC services around the world, regardless of operator network or device type.
“As we have seen, the adoption of different approaches to NFC will only serve to fragment the market,” continued Bernabe. ”By uniting around a single standardised approach to mobile NFC and by collaborating across the entire ecosystem, our industry will continue to develop the compelling services that customers demand.”
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.
For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the new online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at www.gsmworld.com.
Mobile Operators plan to make Instant Messaging, Live Video Sharing, and File Transfer as Easy on the Mobile as Calling and Text
The GSMA is welcoming a new version of Rich Communication Suite (RCS) that will enable mobile phone customers to use instant messaging (IM), live video sharing and file transfer across any device on any network operator. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone intend to commercially launch RCS across several European markets from late 2011, and additional operators are expected to launch later in 2012.
Once adopted, Rich Communication Suite – e* (RCS-e) will enable customers to use these enhanced communication services across mobile networks in a simpler and more intuitive way. It is based on a specification put forward by Bharti, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Orascom Telecom, SK Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor and Vodafone which aims to lower the hurdle and speed up the market introduction and adoption of these services.
With RCS-e, customers will be able to use IM, share live video and share files such as photos simultaneously during calls, regardless of the network or device used. RCS-e will enable users to communicate in a very natural way, much like with GSM voice and text today, and will also offer the simplicity and security customers expect from mobile operator services.
As customers open their address book, they will be able to see which communication services are available to them. They can then choose their preferred communications option. For example, a customer would see if their contact is in an area with 3G coverage and is able to receive video.
The participating operators will work with handset suppliers to ensure the service is integrated into the address books of devices, so that customers will not have to download any additional software or technically configure their handsets in order to benefit from the enhanced experience.
“Mobile operators are committed to giving their customers greater choice in the way they communicate with one and other,” said Rob Conway, CEO and Member of the Board of the GSMA. “We welcome the pragmatic approach taken by these operators to accelerate the commercialisation of RCS and simplify the experience for mobile customers and we will work to adopt this specification within the RCS initiative.”
The RCS specification is designed to be interoperable between all operators and devices, giving customers greater choice in how they communicate. The new RCS-e is the result of extensive trials and is a subset of the current RCS 2.0 standard with enhancements. It is focused on extending the principles of voice and SMS calls to deliver an advanced set of interoperable data-centric communications services.
Available to all operators through the means of the GSMA, the RCS-e specification is available at www.gsmworld.com/rcs. In addition, visitors to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from February 14 to 17 will be able to see live demonstrations of the specification implemented on devices at the RCS exhibit in the App Garage, Stand 7APG, Hall 7.
* RCS-e is a new enhanced version of the RCS specification which is based on the use across networks of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) technology, an architectural framework for delivering Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia services.
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organizations. The GSMA is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.
For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the new online portal for the mobile communications industry, atwww.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at www.gsmworld.com.
FreeMove forms partnership with MegaFon (Europe, Russia)
FreeMove, the mobile telecommunications alliance between Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, TeliaSonera and Telecom Italia has announced its partnership with Russian telecoms operator, MegaFon.
As per the agreement, MegaFon will offer FreeMove’s enterprise mobility solutions to its multinational client base.
According to Sergey Soldatenkov, MegaFon’s Chief Executive Officer, their partnership with FreeMove will provide them with the tools to offer their growing number of multinational customers increased simplicity, efficiency and transparency across their mobile operations. By joining the alliance, they will be able to provide better support their enterprise customers as they meet the challenges of a rapidly changing communications environment and strengthen their position in Russia’s highly competitive market.
Telecom Italia plans to sell 27% stake in ETECSA (Cuba)
Telecom Italia is reportedly planning to sell its 27% stake in Cuban telco ETECSA.
According to reports, Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabe’s had announced in October that talks were at an advanced stage.
It is uncertain what price Telecom Italia will seek for the stake. In 2009 the Italian company reportedly asked for US$780 million during its negotiations with Telefonica, although in its latest half-year report Telecom Italia valued the stake at US$481 million.
Telecom Italia aims up to 40% of Italy eBook market
Telecom Italia SpA, Italy’s largest telecoms operator believes eBooks will take off in Italy among young readers, and is targeting up to 40% of the country’s digital book market as it prepares for the launch of its new tablet by February.
According to Cesare Sironi, Head of Telecom Italia’s strategy and innovation, the Italian eBook market is at its very early stages, but they consider it a potentially booming one, as it was for mobile phones and social networks. The digital sector represents just 0.03% of the Italian book market, which is worth about US$4.47 billion.
He added, but it has a good chance of growing to 8% of the whole market, as already happened in the United States, in a period of three to four years. Telecom Italia aims to conquer 30% to 40% of this blooming market. Statistics show that teenagers between 11 and 19 years old are the people who read more, and also the ones more open to technological innovation.
Telecom Italia is targeting this young demographic with its own digital platform and different products, as it seals content partnerships with Italy’s largest publishers such as RCS Mediagroup and Mondadori.
