Mozilla to begin sale of smartphone in end 2012 (USA)
Mobile phones running an operating system developed by makers of the Firefox web browser will go on sale in late 2012, according to a report by BBC. The first handsets running Mozilla’s ‘Boot to Gecko’ (B2G) software will be available in Brazil on Telefonica Vivo’s mobile network.
Announced in July 2011, B2G aims to be an open rival to Google’s Android.The Mozilla Foundation is best known for its Firefox browser that adheres strictly to official standards for writing and viewing web pages.
As per the report, Gary Kovacs, chief executive of Mozilla, said this openness would make a difference to the way applications on phones operate. B2G aimed to make apps more like webpages and able to share data and links, he said. It did this by basing everything on the latest web standard known as HTML5.
No details were given on who would make the handsets that Telefonica Vivo was planning to offer to its 90 million customers. It said the phones would cost about the same as existing feature phones.No specific date for the launch was given but Telefonica said it should happen at the end of 2012 or in early 2013.
Brazil plans LTE auction in June 2012 (Brazil)
Brazil plans to auction spectrum in the 450MHz and 2.5GHz bandwidth on June 10 in an attempt to launch upgraded broadband technologies. According to reports, telecom operators TIM Brasil and Vivo had initially opposed the auction citing that it is too soon after the 3G rollout.
However, the regulator aims to hold the auction soon so as to ensure rollout of 4G services in time for the 2014 soccer World Cup. As per reports, operators winning the 2.5GHz spectrum will be required to launch their services by the end of 2013, in all the cities hosting the FIFA World Cup.
The operators expected to participate in the bidding are rumoured to include Claro, Oi and Nextel Brasil, along with TIM Brasil and Vivo.
Telefonica,Vivo to own Telesp total shares (S Africa)
Telefonica and Vivo have approved the exchange ratio for their planned merger. Each Vivo share will be exchanged for 1.55 new Telesp shares.
The transaction awaits for approval by Vivo and Telesp shareholders. Following the completion of the merger, Telefonica will own 73.8 percent of the total share capital of Telesp.
Vivo to shut CDMA network in September (Brazil)
Vivo has announced that it will shut its CDMA network in September.
The company did not reveal how many customers are still using this technology, but noted that they are being warned in advance about the need to purchase a GSM handset.
Vivo’s CDMA coverage in the South, the interior of Sao Paulo and a part of the Midwest was provided by Motorola. The rest of Brazil was divided between Nortel and Alcatel-Lucent.
Vivo picks Oberthur Technologies for Over-The-Air SIM card activation (Brazil)
Oberthur Technologies has announced that it has won a contract from Brazil’s Vivo to manage the activation of SIM cards in flow through Smart HLR, its remote activation platform. Oberthur Technologies will rely on ATS to deploy Vivo’s Platform.
Smart HLR detects first-time user registration and then allocates a mobile number.
This software service intends to support mobile operators to reduce SIM card logistics costs and to optimize their network, hence, no more need to stock pre-activated subscriber identification modules. In addition to this, operators can offer their clients the possibility to choose golden mobile numbers according to their preferences.
Vivo launches pre-paid internet package (Brazil)
Brazilian mobile operator Vivo has launched a pre-paid internet plan for US$5.94 per 30 days, or for US$0.19 per day.
When withdrawing the subscription, the value of the Vivo Internet Brazil Pre Internet is automatically deducted from the total credits of the subscriber.
Customers can try out the service for ten days, by requesting it via SMS. Customers can also contract the service using an SMS. The service is compatible with WAP devices and smart phones and provides for a monthly use of up to 20 MB of data at a maximum speed of 1 Mbps. If this limit is exceeded, the speed is reduced to 32 kbps.
Portugal Telecom Q4 net profits drop by 83%
Portugal Telecom SGPS SA has announced that its fourth-quarter net profit dropped by 83% due to restructuring costs and a decline in domestic wireline and mobile revenue.
According to the company, net profit fell to US$75.05 million in the fourth-quarter from US$429.83 million a year earlier. PT’s fourth-quarter earnings were the first to not include a contribution from Brazilian mobile telephone company Vivo Participacoes SA after the company sold its stake in Vivo to Telefonica SA in September for US$10.32 billion.
PT restated its earnings for the rest of 2010 and for 2009 to remove Vivo’s operating results. The company’s 2010 net profit, however, was maintained by a first installment of the payment from Telefonica of US$7.57 billion. PT’s 2010 net profit rose to US$7.79 billion from US$942.96 million in 2009.
PT’s fourth-quarter wireline revenue dropped 5% to US$655.96 million, while mobile revenue fell around 11% to US$471.14 million. Total fourth-quarter revenue dropped to US$1.30 billion.
In the fourth quarter, PT was also hit by US$185.50 million in restructuring costs, mainly related to workforce reductions and other cost efficiency efforts.
Fourth-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization decreased to US$499.23 million.
PT acquires 22% stake in Oi (Portugal)
Portugal Telecom (PT) has announced that it has bought more than 22% stake in Brazilian telecommunications company Oi for US$4.99 billion.
According to PT, the deal also involved the fusion of the two companies’ call centres in Brazil. Oi also planned to purchase a stake of up to 10% in the Portuguese firm. PT recently sold its share in Brazilian cell phone operator Vivo to Spain’s Telef³nica.
Portugal Telecom acquires $5 Billion stake in Oi of Brazil
Portugal Telecom has announced that it had inked a deal to take a 22.38% stake in the Brazilian telecommunications company Telemar Norte Leste, also known as Oi.
The stake represents $5 billion in cash and awards Portugal Telecom significant corporate governance rights over the Brazilian company.
A deliberate partnership between the two companies reveals Portugal Telecom’s continued interest in the Brazilian market even after it sold its 50% stake in the Cellphone operator Vivo to Telef³nica of Spain in July.
As per the terms of its investment, Portugal Telecom can nominate one member and one alternate member to the board at the Oi subsidiary, TmarPart, as well as two members and two alternate members to the board of TNL.
The stake will also give Portugal Telecom a say in the nomination process for the chief executive of Oi.
According to Portugal Telecom, it hoped to contribute significantly to the improvement of Oi’s performance, citing its successful experience in fixed-to-mobile convergence, mobile broadband and pay TV, as ways it might do this.
EU investigates Telefonica, Portugal Telecom deal (Europe)
Europe’s top competition regulator EU has stated that it has opened a formal investigation into a non-compete deal between Spanish and Portuguese telecommunications companies Telefonica SA and Portugal Telecom SGPS SA.
According to the European Commission, it will probe whether the two companies have broken EU law by agreeing not to compete with each other in their home markets. It states that the non-compete deal between the two companies was concluded last year when Telefonica acquired sole control over their Brazilian joint venture Vivo.
The Commission added that it will also investigate whether the non-compete agreement predates the Vivo deal, which is not concerned by this probe. A formal investigation does not imply that the companies have actually broken EU laws.
