100,000 iPhones sold by Vodafone UK within a month of its launch
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: It’s not even a month when Vodafone UK introduced its iPhones in the market on January 14; the operator already claims to have sold over 100,000 handsets. The sale came even after the extra focus of the company on the business markets than its rivals.
Vodafone’s extensive and reliable 3G network infrastructure to support the deployment of business mission-critical apps in the field has been highlighted as a major reason behind the good performance of the company. Besides, a large number of available apps and the touch-based user interface as key features have also made iPhone attractive to business users.
According to Vodafone UK’s enterprise director Peter Kelly, iPhone works well with Vodafone One and Vodafone One Net unified communications services, which are targeted at enterprise and SMB customers respectively.
Otelo restored by Vodafone as no-frills reseller
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the aim to steal market share from rivals and boost revenue, Vodafone, a UK-based telecoms company has planned to bring back its German ‘Otelo’ brand as a no-frills mobile product. Originally, a joint venture between utility companies RWE and Veba, Otelo offered fixed line services in the country.
Mannesmann Arcor acquired the company in 1999 and Vodafone acquired the Mannesmann group, as well as a 73.6% stake in fixed line operator Arcor, for EUR180 billion the following year.
According to Head of Vodafone Germany, Friedrich Joussen, Otelo hopes to compete with Netherlands-based KPN’s local unit E-Plus, which operates a number of low-priced brands including Simya and Base, as well as incumbent telco Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile Deutschland and Spanish-owned Telefonica O2 Germany.
The new brand will be available online from February this year.
FNA receives six requests for spectrum auction in Germany
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Six requests have been received by Federal Network Agency (FNA) to take part in the country’s digital frequency auction scheduled for early in the second quarter of 2010. The applications will now be examined by FNA after which it will decide whether the companies are qualified to take part or not.
German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom (DT), UK-based Vodafone, Spain’s Telefonica O2 Germany and E-Plus, the local unit of Netherlands-based group KPN, are all expected to be among those asking to be admitted as bidders.
It is one of the largest spectrum auctions in Germany since the allocation of UMTS concessions in 2000 and involves licenses for spectrum freed up in the switchover from analogue to digital television. The spectrum package includes 360MHz, 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz, 2GHz and 2.6GHz besides 60MHz in the digital dividend range of 800MHz.
Bharti Airtel to float one of their Tower subsidiaries (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A stock market floatation of tower holding subsidiaries, the wholly owned Bharti Infratel and its smaller joint-venture with Vodafone and Idea Cellular, Indus Towers, has been mulled by India’s Bharti Airtel.
Around 100,000 towers are owned by Bharti Infratel while Indus has around 70,000 towers. 42% in Indus Towers is owned by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone each while remaining 16% is owned by Idea Cellular. Looking at the financial conditions of Infratel or Indus, Bharti may issue initial public offering in the next fiscal.
In 2007, Reliance Communications too sold a 5 percent stake in it towers business with an equity valuation of US$6.75 billion. A merged GSM tower business with 70,000 towers of RTIl could be worth around US$33 billion. However, it has to be kept in mind that RTIL is a whole operations business, whereas the Indus Towers is solely based on the passive infrastructure and does not include any of the RAN or antenna facilities.
Vodafone UK to offer Truphone’s MVNO service
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Truphone, UK and US VoIP provider and British telco Vodafone UK has signed a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) deal. As per this deal, Vodafone’s UK mobile network could be accessed by Truphone, allowing it to deliver voice and data services to its Truphone Local Anywhere subscribers.
A quick hook will be offered by MVNO service allowing customers to pay local rates in countries where it has wholesale partnerships. Besides, users will also be able to store multiple local mobile numbers for different countries on a single SIM.
According to Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone, similar wholesale partnership are being prepared for other key travel destinations around the world such as Australia, Hong Kong and South Africa, in time for launch and rollout throughout 2010.
Anywhere has also been launched in the US but the name of the operator offering the service has not been revealed.
Vodafone slashes price; rebrands UK femto offering
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The name of the femtocell product will be changed and the prices will be reduced by Vodafone UK in a renewed bid to attract consumers to its indoor coverage proposition.
On price plans of £25 or more, Vodafone Sure Signal will be available at a fixed price of £50 while for price plans below £25, Vodafone has priced the Sagem-made Sure Signal at £120, or £5 per month for 24 months.
The femtocell will also be made available by Vodafone to small business customers at the same prices minus VAT. Originally launched in 2009, Vodafone Sure Signal was treated as the Vodafone Access Gateway, with a price tag of £160.
Vodafone Essar’s stake to be transferred to overseas investment company
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 2.63% of the economic interest of the Essar Group will be indirectly transferred to its mobile network operator Vodafone Essar to its overseas investment company. 49% stake in Essar Telecommunications Holding (ETHPL), which has a 10.97% stake in the Essar Group will be transferred to Mauritius-based Essar Telecom India (ETIL) for INR5.3 billion (USD116 million).
Provisions of the relaxed foreign investment norms according to which foreign investment of less than 50% in an Indian investing company will not be treated as foreign direct investment (FDI) as long as Indian citizens have a 50% stake and the right to appoint a majority of directors in the investing company, will be used to switch investment.
Currently, 33.02% stake in Vodafone Essar is held by Essar Group and with 22% of that held through ETIL, which is treated as foreign investment. ETIL will acquire 49% stake in Essar Capital Holdings (India) (ECHL) for INR2.8 billion, and a further 49% stake in Essar Satvision (India) after the proposed transaction. ECHL and Essar Satvision will then subsequently purchase a 49% stake in ETHPL.
Next G price overhauled by Telstra
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a bid to keep its arch rivals, Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia at bay, the pricing structure of the Next G mobile broadband service of Telstra has been overhauled. The new pricing will be implemented on January 18.
The monthly data allowance of A$29.95 ($27.83) per month entry-level Next G plan to 400MB has been doubled by Australia’s largest mobile operator. A$20 a month off its A$59.95 a month plan offering 1GB of data as also been shaved by the company besides abolishing charges for excess data usage.
Even after the overhaul, the standalone packages of Next G’s will still not be as attractive as those of its rivals. For instance, 2GB of data for A$25 with a 12 month contract is offered by Optus.
According to Ovum’s Australian mobile analyst, Nathan Burley, Telstra has introduced bundled discounts where a customer gets A$10 off their mobile broadband service if they have one other service with Telstra. The discount increases to A$20 if the subscriber has two other services with Telstra.
Besides, the company also has coverage and speed compared with its two mobile broadband rivals.
Dispute between H3G and other telcos opened for consultation by Ofcom
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A consultation on a draft determination has been published by UK’s telecoms regulator Ofcom to resolve disputes between the country’s smallest mobile network operator Hutchison 3G UK (H3G) and each of its four major rivals O2 UK, Vodafone UK, Orange UK and T-Mobile UK.
The mobile termination rates (MTRs) for calls to ported numbers is the reason behind the disputes between H3G and the other telcos. H3G applied to the regulator in March 2008, to examine the four spate cases to be resolved.
It has already been concluded by Ofcom that a switch to alternative charging arrangements could be appropriate. However, it has also noted that the other operators acted reasonably in rejecting previous proposals from H3G regarding changes to the existing arrangements. The calculation will close on February 12.
SingTel plans to float Optus share as Australian IPO
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an aim to raise about A$4 billion, 25% stake of Australian unit Optus is planned to be sold by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd through an initial public offering in Australia. Southeast Asia’s largest telecommunications firm by revenue, Singtel, acquired Optus in 2001 through a bid valuing the Australian telecommunications firm at A$17 billion.
Though Optus is a cash cow for SingTel, 23.0% loss was incurred in the second fiscal quarter compared with 23.2% at the same time a year earlier. The company revenue was 27.8% in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year ended March 31.
The pressure will further intensify with the entry of Vodafone Hutchison in the Australian market. In order to deal with the rising competition, the operator is set to create a cash war-chest for acquisitions and expansion in markets outside Australia and Singapore.
According to Singtel, it is evaluating investment opportunities in China and is also interested in taking a stake in Vietnam’s MobiFone.
