Deutsche Telekom beats 2008 forecast (Germany)
Overall, Deutsche Telekom exceeded its financial targets in the 2008 financial year. Our 2008 financial year is characterized by stable performance and sound financial figures,†said Chairman of the Board of Management, Ren© Obermann, at the annual press conference in Bonn. The development of earnings in the past years and the current financial figures were proof of the fact that Deutsche Telekom was in good shape, he emphasized.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 0.7 percent compared with 2007 to EUR 19.5 billion, thus exceeding the original guidance of around EUR 19.3 billion. Adjusted net profit rose by 14.0 percent to EUR 3.4 billion. Reported net profit more than doubled to EUR 1.5 billion. Free cash flow of the Group increased 6.9 percent to EUR 7.0 billion, clearly exceeding both the prior-year figure of EUR 6.6 billion and the forecast at the beginning of 2008 of around EUR 6.6 billion. The positive earnings trend was also attributable to the continued Save for Service†program, which so far generated gross cost reductions of EUR 4.1 billion. The Company’s earnings power further improved, despite higher marketing investments and a slight decrease of 1.4 percent in reported net revenue to EUR 61.7 billion. On an organic basis, i.e. adjusted for changes in the composition of the Group and exchange rate effects, revenue was stable at EUR 62.0 billion.
The balance sheet and debt ratios are testimony to the continued solid and sound state the Company is in: net debt only increased by around EUR 1 billion year-on-year to EUR 38.2 billion, although Deutsche Telekom incurred a net expense of approximately EUR 4.4 billion for the 25 percent stake in the Greek company OTE and for the acquisition of the U.S. company SunCom in 2008. On the basis of these strong earnings and financial figures, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose to Deutsche Telekom’s shareholders’ meeting on April 30, 2009 to pay a dividend of EUR 0.78 per share.
Mobile Communications
Mobile Communications in Europe and the U.S. operating segments recorded revenue growth of 2.4 percent to EUR 35.6 billion in 2008. This includes net negative exchange rate effects of EUR 1.3 billion. Revenue growth of 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter outperformed the full year. Adjusted EBITDA growth of 6.2 percent to EUR 11.4 billion was significantly stronger for the full year 2008 than the increase in revenue. Exchange rate effects had an offsetting effect of approximately EUR 0.3 billion. In the fourth quarter, EBITDA increased by as much as 12.7 percent.
In the past year, T?Mobile maintained its leadership in the German mobile communications market. The Company gained more than 950,000 new contract customers in 2008, virtually the same high level as in the prior year. While revenue in this fiercely competitive market decreased 2.8 percent to EUR 7.8 billion in 2008, adjusted EBITDA rose 3.1 percent to EUR 3.0 billion during the same period. As a result, the EBITDA margin improved from 36.8 percent to 39.0 percent.
T?Mobile USA continued to post double-digit growth rates. Revenue rose by 13.5 percent year-on-year to USD 21.9 billion, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 16.0 percent to USD 6.2 billion. The weak U.S. dollar resulted in lower revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth on a euro basis of 6.3 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. The U.S. subsidiary’s customer base grew by 4.1 million over the course of the year, of which almost three million were gained organically. 1.1 million customers were also added from SunCom which was consolidated in February 2008. As a result, T?Mobile USA had 32.8 million customers on December 31, 2008. 7.7 million of these use the MyFaves community service, which corresponds to a 54?percent increase in one year.
Business in the United Kingdom was negatively affected by continued fierce competition. While revenue fell 2.2 percent to GBP 3.2 billion compared to 2007, adjusted EBITDA decreased by 12.7 percent to GBP 708 million. Measured in euros, the decline is significantly more apparent as a result of the continuing weak pound sterling, with revenue dropping 15.8 percent and EBITDA 24.9 percent. The negative trend in contract customer numbers was reversed over the course of the year following the introduction of new calling plans.
The companies in Central and Eastern Europe remain important growth drivers, with revenue increasing by 10.0 percent to over EUR 6.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA growing by as much as 14.3 percent. With more than EUR 2.5 billion EBITDA, these countries once again made an important contribution to the Group’s earnings. The majority of the national companies succeeded in increasing their profitability. For example, Polish company PTC improved its EBITDA margin from 32.9 percent in 2007 to 34.7 percent and at the same time increased its contract customer base by more than 15 percent to a total of 6.3 million.
Data revenue excluding messaging continued to grow unabated. In Europe, this figure climbed 44.9 percent to EUR 1.4 billion in 2008. U.S. operations reported an increase of 19.3 percent to USD 1.5 billion for the full year, with growth accelerating to 24.4 percent in the fourth quarter. This positive trend is chiefly due to innovative devices such as the Apple iPhone 3G in Europe and the Android-based T?Mobile G1 that was launched in the United States and the United Kingdom in October and has been available in other countries, including Germany, since mid-February.
For more information, please visit www.deutschetelekom.com/
Nokia announces Comes With Music Range of Devices for Singapore launch
Revolutionary Digital Music Offer will be available on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic and Nokia 5220 XpressMusic Devices, as Well as the Nokia N96, Nokia N85 and Nokia N79 Multimedia Computers.
Nokia will deliver music loud and clear to local music lovers with its revolutionary Comes With Music service when it is launched in Singapore in the coming weeks, making it the first market in Asia where it will be available.
The service will be delivered on its newest and highly anticipated Nokia 5800 Xpress Music device – which will begin shipping in Singapore very soon – as well as on Comes With Music editions of the Nokia N96, Nokia N85 and Nokia N79, as well as the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic and 5220 XpressMusic devices.
Consumers in Singapore will be the first in the world to get their hands on a Comes With Music-enabled Nokia 5800 XpressMusic when it hits the stores.
NTT DoCoMo, enhances voice-activated services with HP Media Server (Japan)
HP announced that NTT DOCOMO, a world leader in 3G and multimedia services and the largest mobile operator in Japan, has deployed a standards-based media server from HP to reduce costs and shorten time to market for new services.
NTT DOCOMO is currently migrating its 54 million customers to the HP OpenCall Media Platform, which is designed to enhance the quality of voice-activated services. The server supports NTT DOCOMO offerings such as voice mail services, customized ringback tone services and interactive voice response services. The HP OpenCall Media Platform is designed to support many of NTT DOCOMO’s multimedia services.
Integrated within a core network node of NTT DOCOMO, the HP solution consolidates a variety of services onto a single platform to increase efficiency. With its 20,000 audio ports, the HP OpenCall Media Platform handles existing demand and can be scaled up in a cost-effective way to meet future needs.
As a software-based Internet Protocol (IP) media server, the HP OpenCall Media Platform can take advantage of industry-standard technologies such as VoiceXML and Session Initiation Protocol. As a result, NTT DOCOMO is able to significantly reduce the complexity of developing new applications and reduce the time needed to bring new services to market.
The HP OpenCall Media Platform is an open, proven media server that helps us reduce internal costs and provide our customers with more responsive service,†said Yukichi Saito, director, Service Support Node Development Group, Research and Development Center, NTT DOCOMO. During deployment, HP worked very closely with the NTT DOCOMO team to meet our aggressive timeline for launch.â€
NTT DOCOMO is showing that commercial technologies, optimized by HP for telecom, can reduce costs and accelerate delivery of new services without sacrificing carrier-grade performance and reliability,†said Steve Dietch, vice president, Marketing, Communications and Media Solutions, HP.
HP OpenCall Media Platform is deployed by more than 150 operators in 52 countries.
HP builds comprehensive solution
HP worked with NTT DOCOMO to build a complete solution around the media server, including management software, storage products, hardware and integration services.
The HP OpenCall software runs on the HP BladeSystem Carrier-Grade Platform with the Linux operating system. Storage is based on industry-standard HP StorageWorks EFS CGW and XP10000 Enterprise Virtual Arrays. Management functions are handled by HP Operations Software. HP provided consulting and integration services to integrate the solution into NTT DOCOMO’s network.
More information on the HP OpenCall Media Platform (HP OCMP) is available at www.hp.com/go/opencall/ocmp.
About HP
HP, the world’s largest technology company, provides printing and personal computing products and IT services, software and solutions that simplify the technology experience for consumers and businesses. HP completed its acquisition of EDS on Aug. 26, 2008. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com/.
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information please visit http://wirelessfederation.com/news/
MTN South Africa expands messaging options with new service from Movius Interactive Corporation
Movius Interactive Corporation, a global leader in messaging, collaboration and mobile media solutions, today announced that MTN South Africa has rolled out VoiceMail Xpress service to all MTN ‘Pay as you Go’ customers as part of their latest messaging system upgrade. This new service, enabled by Movius’s next generation messaging platform Versera ICE, gives callers to MTN subscribers more choice in message notification by allowing them to either leave a voicemail or SMS message.
Previously prepaid subscribers had to choose between two options; regular voicemail or an SMS notification service (called VoiceMail Lite) which sent subscribers information about missed calls but had no ability to record a message. VoiceMail Xpress brings these two services together. Now when a subscriber is unavailable, the caller is given the choice to either leave a voicemail message or to simply send an SMS with their phone number indicating who called. VoiceMail Xpress improves communication and therefore the overall value of MTN’s service to its customers.
VoiceMail Xpress is perfectly suited to a mixed text and voice market such as South Africa, where there are over 42 million(1) mobile subscribers, all of whom use SMS on a regular basis. With a simple interface and no need for user guides or passwords, it is also ideal for emerging markets where adoption challenges may have existed with traditional voicemail.
Donovan Smith, General Manager, Consumer Segment, MTN South Africa, commented, “VoiceMail Xpress makes our customers’ lives easier and gives them greater choice in communication. This new capability from Movius enables us to continue to lead the market with innovative messaging solutions to meet the various, unique needs of our market.”
“In such a competitive market as South Africa, the ability to offer choice is a great differentiator. This alongside the capability to encourage call completion and increase the chance of subscribers making a return call, makes VoiceMail Express a perfect solution for the region,” said Jay Whitehurst, Senior Vice President, Products and Technology of Movius Interactive Corporation. “With the ongoing success of our mobile messaging solutions, we are delighted that MTN South Africa has chosen to deploy our platform service to its subscribers.”
This new voicemail capability is one of a number of new services available with the latest software release (3.3) of Versera ICE. This new release also supports a new auto-attendant functionality and expanded message notification as well as a number of features to provide carriers great flexibility and control to meet the needs of the fast changing mobile telephony market.
About Movius
Movius Interactive Corporation gives people the power to enrich their lives through viable innovations that transform the way they interact with information, media and each other. Formerly under the name IP Unity Glenayre, Movius is a recognized leader in messaging, collaboration and mobile media solutions for service providers and enterprise customers worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.moviuscorp.com.
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information please visit http://wirelessfederation.com/news/
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
20% increase in Mobily’s network usage during Hajj (Saudi Arabia)
Mobily had signed a site sharing agreement, as well as a local roaming agreement, whereas Zain would use Mobily’s state-of-the-art infrastructure until its own network is up and running. Mobiliy has many services on offer for the pilgrims, such as free Internet connectivity through WiFi in the holy sites. The company is also giving away millions of awareness brochures and dispatching millions of SMS messages in an awareness campaign. The company also added new features to its Rihal package, which enjoys runaway popularity among pilgrims, and is giving away millions of gifts, such as umbrellas and water bottles.
For more information, please visit www.mobily.com.sa
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information, please visit http://wirelessfederation.com/news/
Mobinil celebrates its 20 millionth subscriber (Egypt)
Mobinil celebrates its 20 millionth customer and consolidates its leadership position on the Egyptian telecommunications market
Ten years after the launch of commercial activities, Mobinil celebrated yesterday in Cairo its 20 millionth customer in the presence of Olaf Swantee, Senior Executive Vice President, Personal Communication Services, UK, Europe and the Middle East for France Telecom-Orange, and Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Telecom. Mobinil, which had 15 million customers at the end of 2007, increased its customer base by almost 5 million people in less than one year, a progression of around 35%. This commercial success allows Mobinil, in which France Telecom has a majority stake, to consolidate its leadership position on the Egyptian mobile telecommunications market with approximately 52% of market share.
This performance is essentially due to the high quality of service provided by Mobinil and its capacity to deliver innovative offers. The launch of a new 3G network last September, for example, has provided Egyptians with access to high-speed mobile Internet.
Beyond Mobinil, France Telecom-Orange is also present in Egypt through two structures:
Orange Business Services, which provides services to large multinational companies, employs 1,500 engineers in Cairo. The activity started up in July 2004 and is one of Orange’s four global centres supporting Orange Business Services’ multinational customers. In Egypt alone, Orange Business Services works with around 150 local and foreign multinational companies, as well as around 50 airlines.
The Orange Labs in Cairo, which opened in January 2008, reinforces the Group’s global network of 18 Orange Labs and strengthens its capacity to propose innovative services to its customers, notably in the Middle East and Africa. The Orange Labs in Cairo also offers a unique opportunity to create partnerships with actors in the local ecosystem. Employing 50 people, of whom 90% are Egyptian, it enhances the Group’s capacity to deliver innovative services to its customers, and works in particular on specific usages and services for the region, such as voice services and content access in Arabic.
Finally, within the framework of its educational sponsorship programme, the Orange Foundation is participating in several projects including a programme, in partnership with Samusocial International, to help street children in Cairo. Other projects include an initiative in partnership with PlaNet Finance to develop micro-credit systems that will help women living in rural areas to create their own economic activity. The Orange Foundation also participates in a scholarships programme for girls living in poor districts of Cairo.
About France Telecom
France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, serves more than 177 million customers in five continents as of September 30, 2008, of which two thirds are Orange customers. The Group had consolidated sales of 52.9 billion euros in 2007 and 39.9 billion euros for the nine first months of 2008. As of September 30, 2008, the Group had 117.6 million mobile customers and 12.4 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers. Launched in June 2005, the NExT program (New Experience in Telecommunications) will enable the Group to pursue its transformation as an integrated operator and make France Telecom the benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. In 2006, Orange became the Group’s single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates, and Orange Business Services the brand name for services offered to businesses worldwide. France Telecom is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband Internet services in Europe and one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information please visit http://wirelessfederation.com/news/
ZTE grabs CMPak’s $100Mn network expansion contract (China, Pakistan)
ZTE Corporation (ZTEâ€), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, added another significant customer win to its growing list of service providers deploying its GSM solution. The company today announced the signing of a US$100 million contract with China Mobile’s Pakistan subsidiary (CMPak) to help them expand the capacity of their GSM infrastructure as part of its Phase 2 project.
The project covers central Pakistan, where the highest GDP in the country is produced and more than half of the country’s population resides, hence becoming the main source of most operators’ voice data service profits. The central Pakistan territory comprises of eight cities and regions, including Multan, Faisalabad and Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city.
Under the GSM infrastructure extension project, ZTE will provide CMPak with its latest 8000 series of base stations using a unified total IP hardware platform. The solution allows operators to smoothly evolve their telecom infrastructure into total IP integrated mobile broadband networks helping them reduce network evolution cost, lower their TCO, and continuously enhance their profitability.
CMPak will specifically deploy ZTE’s M8206 base station for its GSM expansion project, a solution that adopts industry-leading modular design. An M8206′s single module only weighs 20kg with a size of a 15-inch notebook and can be easily installed by only one technical expert. It allows operators to flexibly accommodate additional carrier frequencies from two to 12 depending on their network environment. It also features other key advantages, including low power consumption, quick installation, easy maintenance and extension, as well as rapid network evolution.
With this significant contract deal with CMPak, ZTE again proves its cutting-edge technology in the industry and strengthens its partnership with CMPak as its preferred and No.1 telecom equipment supplier. At the same time, ZTE has been sharing China Mobile’s success in the overseas market which further shows the substantial mark that Chinese telecom players are achieving in the global telecom arena,†said Zhang Liang, CEO of ZTE Pakistan. Such a model of cooperation creates win-win situation and valuable opportunities to both parties. We look forward to further strengthening our cooperation with CMPak in the near future.â€
ZTE’s GSM equipment is now deployed by over 60 operators in more than 50 countries worldwide, resulting in the installation of mobile capacity exceeding 200 million lines. From 2003 to 2007, ZTE’s global GSM market share had increased more than 100%. The exceptional performance is attributed to the continuous robustness and expansion of the international GSM market, which the company took advantage of by launching several GSM product marketing campaigns in Asia Pacific. The strategy paid off allowing ZTE to win a number of multi-million deals, especially for its service products.
Currently, the company has applied for over 3,000 GSM patents and is a pioneering member of many international standards organizations such as ETSI, 3GPP and GSA. ZTE ranks among the leading GSM equipment providers in the world, partnering with industry-leading operators including China Mobile, China Unicom, Reliance, Etisalat, Telenor, Hutchison, among others.
About ZTE
ZTE is a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions. The ZTE product range is the most complete in the world covering virtually every sector of the wireline, wireless, service and terminals markets. The company delivers innovative, custom-made products and services to over 500 operators in more than 140 countries, helping them to achieve continued revenue growth and to shape the future of the world’s communications. ZTE commits around 10% of annual turnover to research and development and takes a leading role in a wide range of international bodies developing emerging telecoms standards. It is the fastest growing telecoms equipment company in the world, and is China’s only listed telecoms manufacturer, with shares publicly traded on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. In the Asian Wall Street Journal’s Readers’ Survey 2007, ZTE was among the ‘Top 10 Most Admired Companies in China’, the only company that was included in the Top 10 list representing the telecom industry. ZTE was awarded the Most Promising Vendor of the Year†by Frost & Sullivan in its 2007 Asia Pacific ICT Awards, and was reported as the fastest growing telecom equipment and solutions provider among the major telecom vendors worldwide by IDC in 2007. ZTE was included in BusinessWeek’s 2006 ranking of China’s Top 20 Brands. For more information, please visit www.zte.com.cn.
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information please visit http://wirelessfederation.com/news/
Telecom New Zealand selects Alcatel-Lucent to deploy IP/MPLS-based mobile backhaul
Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Telecom New Zealand (Telecom) to deploy its IP Multi- Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS)-based mobile backhaul solution. This will enable Telecom to accommodate its growing cellular W-CDMA and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) traffic needs and to cost effectively scale its mobile services across a unified network infrastructure. Alcatel-Lucent’s IP/MPLS solution is being rolled out across Telecom nationwide and supports its strategic transition to all-IP network.
Alcatel-Lucent’s solution features pseudowire technology, which adapts various traffic and media types from the W-CDMA base stations into IP/MPLS. As Telecom moves to a W-CDMA and HSPA deployment, the backhaul network will have the flexibility and cost-effective scalability needed to support strong traffic growth. Telecom’s mobile backhaul network will also leverage the existing IP/MPLS aggregation network already provided by Alcatel-Lucent for residential and business services. This supports Telecom’s strategic decision to consolidate services onto a converged network infrastructure.
“Alcatel-Lucent’s backhaul solution resolves the issue of cost-effectively transporting the exponential growth of data services we expect from the deployment of the W-CDMA mobile network,” said Stuart Sutton, Chief Technology Officer – Technology and Shared Services, Telecom New Zealand. “It will allow us to scale efficiently and rapidly roll out exciting new mobile broadband services, while its high availability features will ensure a reliable mobile broadband service for our customers.”
Alcatel-Lucent’s pseudowire solution includes the 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR) which is deployed in cellular base station sites to consolidate and aggregate traffic. The Alcatel-Lucent 7705 SAR allows service providers to scale traffic and simultaneously flatten their cost-curves for leased bandwidth, therefore improving their competitiveness. The 7705 SAR inherits its software architecture from the widely deployed IP/MPLS Service Router product line, retaining and building on its qualities but at a price and form factor appropriate to the cell site and hubs.
“We are building on our success with Telecom in supporting existing residential and business services with our IP/MPLS products,” said Steve Lowe, Chief Executive Officer, Alcatel-Lucent New Zealand. “With the addition of the 7705 SAR, and interworking capability with our entire service routing portfolio, Alcatel-Lucent is bringing an end-to-end converged solution for mobile traffic transport.”
The contract reconfirms Alcatel-Lucent’s expertise in addressing mobile operators’ requirements, enabling CDMA and GSM/W-CDMA service providers to profitably scale their networks. By providing an evolution path for any type of infrastructure (copper, fibre, wireless), Alcatel-Lucent delivers integrated, end-to-end management across fixed and mobile technology. With its Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture (META), Alcatel-Lucent has developed the industry’s most comprehensive vision for the evolution of mobile networks from TDM to all-IP.
In addition to the Alcatel-Lucent 7705 SAR, TNZ has already deployed a Carrier Ethernet network based on Alcatel-Lucent’s 7450 Ethernet Services Switch and an IP/MPLS infrastructure for residential services based on the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router – all managed end-to-end by the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware Manager.
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent is the trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, providing solutions that deliver voice, data and
video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 17.8 billion in 2007 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris.
For more information, please visit www.alcatel-lucent.com
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information, please visit www.wirelessfederation.com
AT&T and ChaCha announce strategic relationship (USA)
AT&T Inc. today announced a strategic relationship between AT&T and ChaCha, one of the fastest growing text messaging mobile search services in the industry. As part of the agreement, ChaCha will use a co-branded greeting and promote AT&T when consumers call 1-800 2ChaCha.
The two companies also will work together to further enhance ChaCha’s free mobile-answers service and explore opportunities in both text and voice ad-based services. ChaCha will continue to provide free answers to any question anytime, anywhere to and from any activated wireless phone. Questions can cover any topic, from science to culture to sports and more.
“AT&T continues to look for new ways to make its voice and local search services tailored to the needs of today’s consumer — in the voice space specifically, beyond just traditional name and number searches,” said Susan Johnson, senior vice president of AT&T Customer Information Services. “Our work with ChaCha provides a great opportunity — really, another vehicle — to put information and answers right at people’s fingertips.”
Scott Jones, chief executive officer of ChaCha, said: “This is a groundbreaking venture for us. We will now be able to combine our efforts and enhance the service for our users and advertisers who want to reach this coveted young demographic with relevant and targeted SMS advertising.”
About ChaCha
ChaCha, a free mobile answers service, allows users to call 1-800-2ChaCha or text questions to ChaCha on mobile phones and receive answers within minutes. ChaCha expert guides — trained and skilled individuals — use ChaCha’s powerful internal patent-pending search tools to respond to any query. For more information about ChaCha’s newest features, go to http://www.chacha.com. For more information about how to maximize the power of mobile answers to take your marketing campaigns to a new level on the mobile frontier, visit ChaCha’s 1:1 Mobile Marketing Solutions partner site at: http://partners.chacha.com/.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world’s most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation’s leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America’s Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
For more information please visit http://wirelessfederation.com/news/
Glu Mobile announces Global Cost Reductions to reduce operating expenses and improve liquidity (USA)
Glu Mobile announced that it is reducing headcount and operating expenses across its global organization. As a result of these and previous actions, the Company will reduce total annualized non-GAAP operating expenses by approximately $13 million, or 19 percent from its second quarter 2008 levels. When these actions are completed and the benefits are fully realized beginning in the first quarter of 2009, total non-GAAP operating expenses in 2009 are expected to be approximately $57 million.
“These decisions are difficult but necessary given the increasing economic headwinds facing our industry and the softening in consumer spending,” said Greg Ballard, chief executive officer. “By realigning our operations and resources worldwide, we are able to improve our financial performance in the near term while continuing to invest in key growth opportunities in the mobile games industry, especially surrounding high-end handsets and new platforms such as iPhone, Android and N-Gage. In addition, I have asked the Board to reduce my salary by 25% as part of our cost reduction efforts until the Company is demonstrating consistent progress toward our long-term goals.”
“This reduction in headcount and other operating expenses continues our focus on expense controls that began late in the second quarter of 2008 across all areas of our business to better position the Company’s financial foundation and support our growth initiatives,” said Eric R. Ludwig, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “These actions will improve our liquidity in 2009, and we continue to explore other avenues to improve our available cash and credit positions.”
The Company currently estimates that, in connection with the workforce reduction, it will incur pre-tax restructuring charges in the fourth quarter of 2008 related to estimated severance costs in the range of approximately $625,000 to $675,000. Substantially all of these charges will result in future cash expenditures, of which the Company believes approximately $230,000 will be paid in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the remainder will be paid in the first quarter of 2009. Additionally, the Company expects to record a pre-tax, non-cash facility closure charge in the range of approximately $700,000 to $800,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008.
About Glu
Glu is a leading global publisher of mobile games. Its portfolio of top-rated games includes original titles Super K.O. Boxing!, Stranded and Brain Genius, and titles based on major brands from partners including Atari, Activision, Konami, Harrah’s, Hasbro, Warner Bros., Microsoft, PlayFirst, PopCap Games, SEGA and Sony. Founded in 2001, Glu is based in San Mateo, Calif. and has offices in London, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Russia, China, Brazil, Chile, Canada and Mexico.
For more information, please visit www.glu.com
About Wireless Federation
Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.
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