Apple’s journey towards wireless services (USA)
Recent rumours doing the rounds show strong indication of US giant Apple moving towards offering wireless services to its iPad and iPhone users. According to a report by Gigaom, Apple will provide wireless service directly to its iPad and iPhone customers. First, Apple will sell data packages bundled with iPads. Then it will sell data and international roaming plans to iPhone customers through the iTunes Store. And in time Apple will strike wholesale deals with several mobile operators so that Apple can provide wireless service directly to its customers, as Apple Mobile.
With Apple’s increasing dominance in the smartphone arena, mobile operators are less likely to disagree with the company. As per the report, operators are less likely to refuse a deal offered by the iPhone maker out of fear that the same may be sold to a rival.
As revealed in the report, Apple filed a patent for “Dynamic Carrier Selection” on October 10, 2006, just a few months before Apple announced the first iPhone. The diagram in the patent application portrayed Apple as the wireless service provider connecting to multiple carriers. This would allow Apple to make wholesale cellular agreements with and connect to multiple carriers so it could offer its customers choices in carriers, plans and services. Apple has clearly put a lot of thought into its dynamic carrier selection architecture.
Further, Apple recently has been fighting with other handset vendors, including Nokia, over a new, smaller-sized SIM card for GSM and LTE handsets. According to some, such a SIM would allow Apple to bypass carriers entirely, and activate a new customer through the iTunes Store. Whether it uses the NanoSIM, virtual SIM or other variant, Apple could have the ability to activate and sell voice, data, messaging and roaming subscription plans before the ink dries on a carrier wholesale agreement.
Apple has all of the pieces necessary to offer wireless service directly to customers. They have the world’s leading brand, a loyal following who will pay a premium for Apple’s products and services, and 363 retail stores around the world, growing to 400 by the end of the year. And with iTunes, it has the digital content and billing platform to offer service with one-click simplicity. The infrastructure is in place today, with the patented architecture ready for Apple’s next big move.
iPhone customers typically spend as much as twice or more the U.S. national average monthly wireless bill, which was about $44 in the last year. So these are high value customers. And they buy apps and content – music, videos, TV shows and movies – through Apple today. By offering mobile service with iPhones and iPads, the company could provide the full Apple experience to its users.
Airtel Rwanda to launch service operations (Africa)
India’s leading mobile operator Bharti Airtel’s unit in Rwanda will launch its operations today. According to reports, the launch takes place at Airtel’s office in Remera. The operator won the licence in September last year, and will be the third operator to offer wireless services in the region, after MTN Rwanda and Tigo.
As per reports, Bharti Airtel will invest around $100 million over the next three years. According to a company statement, Chief Executive Office Anglophone Africa, Bharti Airtel, Jayant Khosla said Rwanda is a market with great growth potential. He said that as with all their operations, the leadership team in Airtel Rwanda will be made up of passionate and experienced Rwandans who are committed to the goal of providing best-in-class mobile broadband services.
China Telecom may launch wireless services in U.S. next year (China, USA)
China’s largest fixed-line service provider may be planning to start a wireless service for its U.S. consumers by next year in an attempt to target Chinese-Americans, students and tourists travelling between the two countries, as reported by reports.
According to reports, Donald Tan, President, China Telecom (America), has said that the company will offer its users handsets with two lines, one that will work in the U.S., and another in China. He added that the company is already in trials with several possible wholesale partners, and will soon choose one as the service’s network. Further, Mr. Tan also said that if the wireless service grows fast, China Telecom may consider building its own wireless network infrastructure in the U.S., as money is not a problem for the company.
As per sources, the Chinese firm had current assets totalling $ 9.6 billion inclusive of $ 4 billion in cash, in June. However, as per industry sources, China Telecom’s wireless network infrastructure plans in the U.S. may be subject to the terms laid out by the country’s government agencies.
Reports suggest that Mr. Tan has hinted that if success is achieved in their U.S. venture, the company may expand similar services to other markets such as Canada.
UFB legislation gives Telecom a ‘free pass’, Vector says
Legislation governing the rules of the government’s $1.35 billion roll-out of ultra-fast broadband will give Telecom Corp. a free pass,†according to rival bidder Vector Ltd.
Vector chief executive Simon Mackenzie told Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee the Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband and Other Matters) Amendment Bill would give free rein to the dominant Telecom.
The supplementary order paper tabled by Communications Minister Steven Joyce last month would leave Telecom free to acquire any other local fibre company or telecommunications firm without regulatory oversight by the Commerce Commission, enabling an unregulated copper business to price in a predatory manner,†Mackenzie said.
It’s really important that Parliament and the rest of New Zealand recognises the supplementary order paper bestows significant market and competition benefits to Telecom and does so when not required,†he said. If Telecom sees separation as an issue for its bid, then surely that’s Telecom’s issue.â€
Simon Fuller, chairman of the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group, told the committee Telecom would get special treatment from the SOP over how it would structurally separate, as it would decide how to reallocate its assets and liabilities between the two entities. He said he was concerned that the minister wouldn’t see the phone company’s proposals for 40 days, essentially making it a fait accompli.
With the minister’s office running the stream of a potential Telecom demerger, the Regional Fibre Group was worried Crown Fibre Holdings’ negotiation with the phone company was under the assumption it would separate, but with no detail about how that would occur.
The bill and SOP were intended to ensure Telecom can’t build a dominant position in the telecommunications environment that will emerge as fibre-optic cable and wireless services gradually replace today’s copper-based telephone networks. Telecom has made it to the priority list to win a chunk of government funding, along with Vector and some of the Regional Fibre Group’s members.
Vector wants a calmer approach on regulation, with the principles established by industry and government at the start of the process. That would give capital markets and rating agencies more confidence around the future certainty of the regime, as would a bipartisan approach to the legislation.
The issue of forbearance, which essentially excludes regulatory oversight of the winning bids, initially offers some certainty, but that may falter as longer-term issues emerge, he said. The view to front-load regulation in principle was endorsed by the Regional Fibre Group.
Antony Royal, a spokesman for unsuccessful rural broadband bidder Torotoro Waea, told the committee it appeared there was a lack of vision on the part of the government as to what the end-game is.
My worry here is that we’re going down a really fast track of trying to stitch what we have together to try and make something work without actually figuring out where we actually want to go in the long term,†he said. I think that we have missed an opportunity to really look at where we’re going in telecommunications in the future.â€
Sprint witnesses massive 3Q loss
Sprint Nextel, nation’s third-largest wireless carrier by customers posted a wider third-quarter loss but added the most customers in four years as the carrier messes up to capitalize on its 4G wireless services.
The company added a net 644,000 new customers, the second-straight quarter of growth. But it continued to lose its most lucrative contract subscribers, largely from the Nextel side of the business.
Wireline revenue decreased 14% to US$1.2 billion in Q3 2010. The company reported total net revenue of US$8.2 billion, an increase of 3%, compared to US$8 billion for the same period last year.
According to the company, the wireless revenue grew 3% to US$7.2 billion, while wire line revenue decreased 14% to US$1.2 billion. For the third quarter ended 30 September 2010, the company made an operating loss of US$213 million, compared to an operating loss of US$254 million last year.
The company also reported a net loss of US$911 million for the third quarter 2010, against a net loss of US$478 million in the year-ago quarter.
According to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, the company gained postpaid customers for the fourth consecutive quarter, for the second consecutive quarter based on porting data, more customers switched to Sprint from their competitors than switched from Sprint to their competitors.
China Mobile, Larger Than Vodafone, May Say Net Rose (Update2)
Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest cellular operator by market value, may report a 23 percent gain in second-quarter profit after adding a record number of subscribers.
The Beijing-based company, which overtook Vodafone Group Plc as the world’s largest mobile company by market capitalization last month, will report net income rose to 15.7 billion yuan ($2 billion) from 12.8 billion yuan a year earlier, according to the median estimate of six analysts in a Bloomberg survey. China Mobile is scheduled to report earnings tomorrow after the 4 p.m.market close in
Hong Kong.
Chief Executive Wang Jianzhou raised revenue by offering a wider range of wireless phone services such as movie and video downloads and targeting the more than 900 million people living in
China’s rural areas. The mobile operator added 13.1 million users in the second quarter, gaining a record number for three straight months to June.
“With the continued growth of subscribers and strong growth of data revenue,” earnings will keep rising, said Mandy Chan, who helps manage $1 billion at ABN Amro Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong, including China Mobile shares.
China Mobile attracted users after it received approval from the telecommunication regulator to cut rates and offer cheaper monthly packages for cell-phone users in
Beijingstarting May. The operator also reduced international roaming charges in the provinces of
Sichuanand
Zhejiang.
The phone operator is expected to report half-year profit rose to 30.2 billion yuan from 24 billion yuan a year earlier, analysts said.
Share Price China Mobile’s market capitalization on July 11 was $132 billion, compared with Newbury, England-based Vodafone’s $110 billion. The Chinese company’s shares have risen 38 percent this year, compared with a 23 percent decline in Vodafone stock.
“The share price reflects the market’s view of the prospects of the companies in the future,” Francis Cheung, an analyst at CLSA Ltd., said. “There’s more growth potential in
Chinathan in
Europe, where the market is more mature.” China Mobile, which lags behind Vodafone and
Japan’s NTT Docomo Inc. in sales, may say second-quarter revenue rose to 69.4 billion from 59.6 billion yuan a year earlier.
The company, which offers global system for mobile communications, or GSM, services, gained 25.8 million subscribers in the first six months of the year for a total of 273.8 million, about two-thirds of the nation’s mobile-phone users. That’s more than Vodafone’s 186.8 million users and Docomo’s 51.9 million combined by the end of July.
User Revenue China Unicom Ltd., the country’s second-largest mobile operator, offers services using both the GSM and code division multiple access standards. Unicom had a total of 135.1 million users at the end of June. China Mobile’s average revenue per customer, or ARPU, an industry measure of the size of a phone bill, probably remained unchanged in the second quarter from a year earlier, and up from the previous quarter, analysts said.
We expect China Mobile’s ARPU to be driven by higher usage and wireless data contribution,” Kelvin Ho, an analyst at Nomura International (
Hong Kong) Ltd. said. Ho estimates China Mobile’s ARPU will be about 90 yuan in the second quarter, unchanged from a year earlier, and up from 86 yuan in the previous quarter. Usage per subscriber probably rose 10.8 percent from a year earlier to 363 minutes per month. Chief Executive Wang, 57, is boosting revenue from new businesses such as short message services, ringtone downloads and wireless services such as emails and games.
Data Services New businesses from such wireless data services may account for 23 percent of revenue in the first six months, compared with 19.7 percent a year earlier, Ho said. Competition also eased as fixed-line phone network operators China Telecom Corp. and China Network Communications Group Corp., slowed promotions of a city-wide cordless service called Little Smart, which has cheaper rates than for cellular calls, as they prepare for the government’s issuing of high-speed wireless licenses.
Chinahasn’t set a timetable for granting licenses for 3G services, which allow subscribers to video conference and download movies faster on their handsets. The Ministry of Information Industry on Jan. 20 said it has adopted the locally developed time division synchronous code division multiple access standard as one of the so-called third- generation services. “A 3G license could be further delayed into second half 2007, which implies the 2007 could be another safe year for China Mobile, and the company could still deliver stellar results until the beginning of 2008,” Wang Jinjin, an analyst at UBS Securities Co. said in a report. China Mobile shares rose 1.5 percent to HK$52.10 as of middayin
Hong Kong, after gaining as much as 1.7 percent earlier.
Source- http://www.bloomberg.com
Technorati : China Mobile, GSM, Hong Kong, Vodafone
Ice Rocket : China Mobile, GSM, Hong Kong, Vodafone
