Greece raises US$ 521.5 million through mobile spectrum auction (Greece)
National Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT) in Greece has reportedly completed the auction of mobile operating frequencies in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands for US$ 521.5 million, higher than the government’s expectation of US$ 488.8 million.
According to reports, the 900 MHz spectrum had been pre-allocated to each operator for a combined value of US$ 246.7 million, after which the next set of blocks were auctioned for US$ 269.9 million.
As per sources, mobile operator Cosmote, obtained four 900MHz blocks and two 1800MHz blocks for US$ 163.3 million, Vodafone Greece received six 900MHz blocks and two 1800MHz blocks for US$ 228.7 million while Wind Hellas received four blocks of the 900 MHz spectrum for US$ 126.5 million.
Vodafone Greece launches new ch@tphones
Vodafone Greece has expanded its services with the addition of three ch@tphones- Samsung Ch@t 335, Vodafone 553, and Nokia C3.
Vodafone is now further expand communication to all and presents Ch@tphones, a new class of mobile phone chatting incredible experience from the mobile.
The Ch@tphones offer access to the most popular social networking sites and instant messaging, such as MSN, Yahoo messenger, Facebook and Twitter, from wherever one is, keeping constant contact with everyone, in whatever network you belong.
The Vodafone 553 is available in two colors and comes with a price tag of US$112.06, the Samsung Ch@t335, in four colors and comes with a price tag of US$140.44, and the Nokia C3 in five colors and retail price of US$168.81.
In addition, Vodafone enables everyone to any network you belong to acquire their own Ch@tphone only US$112.06without contract, or even cheaper exchanging their old device in a shop Vodafone.
Vodafone Greece lowers data fair usage policy
Vodafone Greece has lowered the monthly fair usage policy for domestic data usage to 10 GB from 30GB for a number of tariff plans, effective from 14th March.
The change applies for voice tariff plans which include data, Mobile Internet data plans for mobiles and Blackberry data plans. Subscribers who are affected by these changes have the right to terminate their contract without penalty within one month.
Vodafone Greece upgrades Network
Vodafone Greece has announced the upgrade of its network to support a peak theoretical rate of 42.2 Mbps after deploying HSPA+ DC (High Speed Packet Access, Dual Carrier) network technology.
New upgraded Vodafone Mobile Broadband speeds are initially provided in selected areas of Athens, with plans to expand elsewhere in the country.
Customers will also need to buy an upgraded USB modem to access the higher speeds that are now available in the Capital City.
Vodafone Greece upgrades network in Athens
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Network of Vodafone Greece in Athens has been upgraded by the company with peak theoretical speeds of 28.8Mbps (download), via HSPA+.
The speed can be commercially received through Vodafone 4505 USB Stick, free of cost by subscribing to a ‘Vodafone Mobile Broadband’ tariff plan.
The rolling out of the upgrade in other part of the country will take place later in the year.
Vodafone fined €76m over Greek wiretap scandal
Greece’s privacy watchdog has fined Vodafone €76m ($100m) over a wiretapping scandal that saw the illegal monitoring of the mobile calls of top government officials including Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
Vodafone was ruled at fault for not preventing unknown hackers from subverting a legitimate surveillance system, supplied by Swedish firm Ericsson, to spy on Greek officials around the time of the 2004 Athens Olympics. The mobile operator said that the investigation was incomplete because officials were yet to question Ericsson. It plans to appeal the ruling.
“Vodafone announced that it fully rejects the rationale of the authority and considers the penalty illegal, unfair and totally groundless,” Vodafone Greece said in a statement, AP reports. “Vodafone will seek recourse with the judiciary against the decision and is certain it will be overturned.”
Investigators failed to determine who was behind phone taps targeting more than 100 Vodafone users including government ministers, military officials and journalists between around June 2004 until March 2005, when Vodafone dismantled the systems after the security breach was uncovered. Calls from and to targeted phones were relayed to 16 mobile phones using pre-paid cards, located in central Athens, thanks to unauthorised manipulation of the Ericsson-supplied surveillance software used by Vodafone Greece.
The Hellenic Authority for the Information and Communication Security and Privacy criticised Vodafone for obstructing its investigation by failing to own up about the surveillance system itself.
Greece’s parliament has also launched a separate investigation into the wiretapping scandal. During a hearing earlier this year, the heads of the Greek arms of Vodafone and Ericsson pointed the finger of blame for the scandal at each other, AP adds. The parliamentary probe also looked into the death of a senior Greek Vodafone official, George Tsalikidis, who was found hanged in March, just before Vodafone briefed government officials about the role of the surveillance system in the scandal. A judicial investigation failed to uncover any link between the suspected suicide and the scandal, the FT adds. ®
