Velcom expands 3G network to Braslav (Belarus)
Belarusian mobile operator Mobile Digital Communications, operating under the Velcom banner, has extended its W-CDMA/HSPA+ network to Braslav in the Vitebsk region and to the Silichi Ski Resort, near Minsk.
Consequently, the upgrade Velcom subscribers in these areas can now access a range of advanced services such as video calls, mobile TV or online TV it said, as well as benefiting from higher connection speeds when surfing on the internet.
Velcom completed the construction phase of its 3G/3.5G network covering cities with a population of at least 30,000 in November 2010. At that date it has the total number of settlements equipped with HSPA+ enabled base transceiver stations (BTS) reached 81, a figure which had climbed to around 110 by the year end.
Telecos free to offer all 3G services : Ministery (India)
The Telecoms Ministry has announced that mobile phone companies can now offer all third-generation (3G) services, including video calls and chats, provided they install interception capabilities by July 31.
Last month, the government had asked mobile phone companies not to offer non-voice third generation mobile services unless they demonstrated these facilities could be tapped live.
This temporary ban on 3G services had threatened Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, and State-owned MTNL and BSNL, in addition to delaying the plans of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Aircel.
The ministry has asked companies to ensure that they prove their technical capabilities much before the deadline.
According to Reliance Communications spokesperson, it would provide monitoring capabilities for video calls with the support of global vendors by the July 31 deadline.
Bharti Airtel’s Chief Executive Sanjay Kapoor has stated that his company, which was earlier slated to offer 3G services by December end, would launch these facilities soon.
In December, the Intelligence Bureau had objected to 3G data services on handsets because it was unable to tap these facilities in real time.
Government to issue new norms for 3G video calls soon (India)
The government will soon issue guidelines to address security concerns over 3G video calls.
According to Communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal, 3G issue is almost resolved. Soon you will have new guidelines. Yesterday, home minister P Chidambaram had stated that telecom service providers need to work out the modalities to provide interception facilities to the security agencies, and only after that can the 3G mobile services be launched.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had asked Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications to stop commercial launch of 3G mobile services, including video calling facility. The law enforcement agencies were not able to intercept the video calls on a real time basis. The contents of video calls were displayed only after five minutes. The operators had offered to provide an interception solution in the next six months.
DoCoMo unveils 3G tariff plans (India)
Tata DoCoMo had launched 3G Live in India last week. The company has revealed the tariff details for Basic 3G Plans, Data Plans and even Voice Data plans for consumers in nine Indian circles.
As per the company, the customers, both pre-paid and post-paid, will have to pay Rs 350-2,000 per month based on their usage to avail of high-end services on their mobile phones.
The company 26% owned by Japan’s DoCoMo and the first private operator to unveil third generation mobile services such as ultra-fast internet, video conferencing and mobile TV on cellphones, unveiled a slew of packages to address the data requirements of its wide spectrum of customers.
Video calls will cost about US$0.07 per minute, while mobile TV costs US$2.23 per month for 50 channels. Each of the tariff plans also comes with a data cap, also called a fair-use policy, where connectivity speeds will be reduced after exceeding this limit. Voice calls range from 40 paise to 66 paise per minute depending on the data plan the customer opts for. Tata DoCoMo’s tariffs are priced significantly higher than that of state-owned telcos BSNL and MTNL who currently offer 3G services here. For instance, BSNL charges Rs1/minute for video calls on many post-paid plans, while voice calls are priced at a flat 49 paise per minute.
Average revenue per user for the company will only go up with the advent of 3G services, but cost to consumer may not increase by way of the bundled packages. Valid for a month, each of the 3G plans would have local, STD and roaming minutes bundled with data usage varying from 150MB to 2GB depending on the plan chosen. For purely data usage on tablets and laptops, the company announced plans starting from US$22.52 to US$45.05 a month on pre-paid and post-paid basis giving space of 5GB to 15 GB. All purchases and recharges of 3G services done before December 31, 2010, will get an additional 100 MB of free data per month for the first two months.
An exclusive seven-day trial pack at US$2.03 for storing 100MB of 3G data has been put on the shelves for pre-paid customers that make up 95% of the national mobile subscriber-base of 494 million.
The company that has spent $500 million for rolling 3G services, apart from buying spectrum, will set up 4,000 3G zones across the country starting with metros within four to six months to showcase 3G services being offered by the company.
TTSL to launch 3G services on Diwali (India)
Tata Teleservices has announced to launch 3G services on Diwali day next month in all the nine circles. With this move the company will become first private sector Telcom Company to launch 3G services. State-owned BSNL and MTNL already provide 3G services.
TTSL is one of those companies who operate both on CDMA and GSM technologies to offer telecom services throughout the country. The company has over 70 million subscribers.
Tata Tele’s 3G services would be in partnership with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo which has 26% stake in the company and was the first company to have created 3G network in the world.
The company had recently awarded the equipment deal to Nokia Siemens and Huawei to roll out 3G services.
According to company officials, NTT DoCoMo has provided technical inputs to make TTSL’s 3G network world-class. The various 3G services provided elsewhere by the company like i-mode, location-based services and mobile payments will all be provided in India.
3G services enables subscribers to download full length movies, make video calls and watch live television programs.
Cisco and Logitech introduces Couch-to-couch video calls (USA)
LifeSize, a part of Logitech is aiming to build a High Definition Videoconferencing platform along with industry giants Cisco and Microsoft and will soon announce products for the consumer market.
According to sources, Cisco is planning the launch of an inexpensive home tele-presence product for personal use in US market. The services will be launched in conjunction with either Comcast or Verizon’s network facilities. The subsidized prices might range from US$200-US$500.
According to ATD, the big selling point for the company is the high-definition quality which is supposed to be very good. Cisco will use this selling point to contrast it to what will be its big competitor, Internet telephony and video-calling giant Skype.
If reports are to be believed, Couch-to-couch video calls are being introduced by Cisco and Logitech as the tele-presence systems of the corporate world and will become affordable for mainstream consumers.
The two companies will not be alone in introducing family video calling to the living room this autumn, Skype’s calling service which is already available on several models of high-definition TVs sold by Panasonic and Samsung. In November, video calling will be offered by Microsoft with the launch of its Kinect motion controller for the Xbox 360 games console. The device features a camera and an array of microphones.
TMN reaches 750,000 clients with Mobile Broadband
Portugal Telecom’s mobile operator, TMN, has announced it has 750,000 clients with 3G and 3.5G equipment, representing 15 percent of the total (5 million), and giving it the leadership of the mobile broadband market in Portugal. Mobile TV, video calls, video sharing and broadband connectivity for wireless internet access are some of the services made available by TMN thanks to the new technology.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Technorati : Operator, Portugal, TMN, Telecom
Ice Rocket : Operator, Portugal, TMN, Telecom
