Vimplecom and MTS offer joint proposal for Ukrtelecom’s 3G business (Europe)
Russian telecom operators, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Vimplecom may join forces in an attempt to offer a joint proposal for the 3G mobile operating business of Ukrtelecom, a Uknranian telecom operator.
According to reports, Ukrtelecom is looking for a buyer its 3G mobile operations after receiving the proposals in the second round. Further, sources claim that Ukrtelecom had announced that it was transferring all assets of its mobile business from its internal Utel division into a newly formed company, TriMob, for sale in September.
Vimpelcom and MTS operate in Ukraine’s mobile and fixed/broadband markets via their respective subsidiaries Kyivstar and MTS Ukraine.
MTS offers white-label handset (Ukraine)
MTS, which operates Ukraine, has started selling the MTS Touch 547 handset.
The phone, featuring a 2.8-inch screen, 2 megapixel camera and FM radio, was designed by ZTE. It supports Bluetooth and a microSD card up to 8GB. The handset comes with a price tag of US$ 81.42.
Life:) introduces new roaming add-ons for businesses (Ukraine)
life:), which operates in Ukraine, has introduced two new roaming add-ons for corporate subscribers, namely ’50 SMS in roaming’ and ’100 MB in roaming.’
The add-ons will be available in Russia, Turkey and Europe, each package comes with a subscription fee of US$12.39 (with VAT, without PF), with one SMS in roaming being charged with US$0.24 and 1 MB with US$0.12. Both add-ons come with an availability period of 10 days.
Euroset launches online shops
Euroset ,a mobile retail chain in Russia, has expanded its online shop chain with the launch of online shops in the following places: Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Naberezhnye-Chelny.
Presently, the chain owns 8 online shops in the Volga federal districst, Itar-Tass reported. Euroset owns a total of 39 online shops in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Nokia to offer C2-00, X1-01 handsets in Ukraine
Nokia is planning to start selling its X1-01 and C2-00 handsets with dual-SIM slots in Ukraine soon.
Nokia X1-01 will start be sold from mid-June for a recommended price of US$62.30, and the Nokia C2-00 will go on sale in mid-July for the recommended price of US$85.11.
Smartphones’ average price drops in Ukraine
A recent study has revealed that the average retail price of smartphones dropped by around US$50 year-on-year in Ukraine in Q1, to US$250.
The report has also revealed that over 50% of smartphones sold in Q1 costing less than US$200, rise from 37% in Q1 2010.
Moblika introduces International Flat 150 option (Germany)
MVNO Moblika will be introducing a new international calls package dubbed International Flat 150 for 1 June.
This new package will allow users to utilize 150 minutes for calls to the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Georgia and Uzbekistan for US$13 per month.
The MVNO will provide two EU roaming tariff options providing 50 roaming minutes for US$7 per week and 50 MB for data roaming for US$7 per week.
The EU roaming packages can be ordered together or in combination with other Moblika tariff options. Moblika offers low-cost international calls starting at US$0.07 per minute, while calls within Germany or sending SMSs (within Germany and abroad) cost US$0.18 per minute or message.
Calls between Moblika customers will come with a price tag of US$0.07 per minute and each call abroad has a set-up fee of US$0.18.
A Moblika starter package including Sim card with US$14 call credit costs US$13 and is available at selected retailers including E-Plus shops.
Moblika is based on the tariffs offered by E-Plus’s international discount MVNO Blauworld and is a subsidiary of German low-cost international calling services provider Eco World Connect.
MTS subscriber base crosses 5 mn mark (Ukraine)
MTS Ukraine has stated that its mobile internet subscribers base has passed 4.9 million mark at the end of the first quarter, reporting an increase of 32% capered to the previous year.
The operator offers mobile internet services using EDGE and CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO Rev.A technologies.
Life:) offers new Wap portal (Ukraine)
Life:) Ukraine has introduced a new Wap portal which offers access to all operator specialised services and portals and VAS services to subscribers.
Opera Mini browser surpasses 107.1 mn users mark in April
Opera Mini browser had over 107.1 million users in April an increase of 4.6% from March. With this percentage Opera Mini browser has grabbed the top position as the world’s most popular mobile browser.
Indonesia and the Philippines are on top of user participation on social networks. More than 77% of mobile web users in these countries visit Facebook.
Opera Software itself has more than 400,000 users on Facebook alone. The top ten countries using the Opera Mini browser in the region are Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.
From April 2010 to April this year, page views in the top ten countries of the CIS increased by 198 percent, unique users increased by 65 percent and data transferred increased by 176 percent.
