Bangladeshi CDMA-based mobile operator CityCell plans to invest an initial USD200 million in switching to GSM technology, pending regulatory permission, reports local newspaper The Daily Star. CityCell, backed by Singapore’s SingTel, will have to pay USD90 million for 5MHz of wireless spectrum in the 1800MHz band for providing GSM services, as it currently operates with 10MHz in the 800MHz CDMA band.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has closed its investigation into Rogers Communications’ internet traffic management practices, concluding that Rogers has addressed its concerns regarding its slowing down (so-called ‘throttling’) of certain types of internet traffic. The regulator reviewed a complaint from the Canadian Gamers Organisation, and following an enforcement action being launched, Rogers changed its traffic management measures, and announced that its traffic shaping policy would be phased out for all customers by December 2012
Thai state-owned telco CAT Telecom has begun construction of additional submarine cables worth THB2.7 billion (USD85 million) in the Gulf of Thailand, and expects the project to be completed this year, reports Future Gov Asia. The previously announced cable building programme is aimed at adding data bandwidth capacity and connectivity between the southern and central parts of the country as well as meeting the international data transmission demands of Thailand and other countries in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)
Following reports earlier this week that the Uzbek telecoms regulator was considering revoking the licence of Russian-backed cellco MTS Uzbekistan over quality of service issues, the provider has said that the watchdog’s activities are now interfering with its operations. According to Dow Jones, MTS announced that the running of its Uzbek subsidiary was being hampered by an investigation carried out by the Uzbekistan Agency for Communications and Information (UzACI). The company said in a statement: ‘These measures are being conducted with the violation of the current law of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which creates risks for MTS Uzbekistan's continuation of work on schedule and may make further activities of MTS in this country more difficult.’
The Mexican parliament has approved telecoms regulator Cofetel’s proposals to launch punitive proceedings against fixed line provider Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) for violating various sections of the Federal Telecommunications Act, reports El Universal. Cofetel has made five recommendations for sanctions, two of which stem from Telmex failing to provide the required information for the delivery of private circuits and links to other telecoms service providers.
A CAD19 billion (USD18.4 billion) class action suit alleging that mobile operators profited from unfair fees has been allowed to proceed by the Supreme Court of Canada. Reuters reports that the court declined to hear an appeal by the cellcos, including Rogers, Bell and Telus, against the lawsuit which claims that the operators engaged in ‘unjust enrichment’ in charging ‘system access fees’ or ‘licence administration fees’ on top of regular monthly fees. The extra fees have been largely phased out, but the suit seeks damages for around 20 years during which they were in place.
Indian telcos Reliance Communications (RCOM), Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) are expected to face penalties for under-reporting revenues, reports India Today. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will next week issue notices for the telcos to pay a combined total of INR15.94 billion (USD279.5 million) in fines, following an investigation into the companies’ earnings between 2006 and 2008. Earlier this year, the government had ordered an external audit of the telcos’ books to ensure that they had shared the correct revenue with the exchequer.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has launched an inquiry into the Tata Group to determine whether or not the group violated its licence conditions in 2005-2006. According to Telecom Lead, the CBI investigation follows similar probes conducted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and sector regulator the Department of Telecommunications centring on earlier allegations that, during that period, Tata had held more than 10% equity in Idea Cellular. Under the terms of its licence, a company is not allowed to hold more than 10% of more than one cellco providing services in a single area
Spanish firm El Corte Ingles has won a contract to administer Paraguay's mobile number portability (MNP) database, BNamericas reports. The contract was awarded to the company by the Comision Tecnica de Portabilidad Numerica (CTPN), which comprises representatives of the country’s four mobile operators – Tigo (formerly Telecel), Nucleo (Telecom Personal Paraguay), Hola Paraguay (Vox) and Claro Paraguay (formerly CTI Movil) – and telecoms regulator Consejo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel)
A1 Telekom Austria's planned acquisition of mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Yesss! from counterpart Orange faces an extended review by Austria's federal competition authority, Bundeswettbewerbsbehorde (BWB), delaying Hutchison Whampoa’s previously agreed EUR1.4 billion (USD1.87 billion) takeover of the France Telecom-Orange owned unit. The BWB issued a statement this week indicating that the mooted combination of A1 Telekom Austria and Yesss! would have negative consequences for the domestic wireless market in general and consumers in specific, who would likely face higher prices
According to Dow Jones Newswires, Telecom Italia (TI) has received 15 preliminary expressions of interest for its Telecom Italia Media unit, which was put up for sale in May.
Corporate telecoms provider Colt has announced that its new network route linking Dublin and London is fully operational, allowing its enterprise customers to take advantage of ultra-high speed, low latency data transmission rates between Ireland and mainland Europe, via London. European information delivery platform provider Colt claims its new network route will offer ‘unrivalled’ high bandwidth data and backbone solutions, which will be of particular benefit to the Republic’s financial and ICT sectors.
Germany’s telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA, also known as Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA), has approved an application from E-Plus to allow the mobile network operator to use its 1800MHz spectrum for the provision of mobile broadband services, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE).
UK-based telecoms giant Vodafone Group has announced the division of its European unit into two new operating regions, ‘Northern & Central Europe’ and ‘Southern Europe.’ Philipp Humm, who joins from Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA, has been appointed as chief executive of Northern & Central Europe, which comprises Vodafone’s operations in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Turkey, Ireland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania, effective 1 October 2012. The Southern Europe division will from 1 August 2012 be headed by Paolo Bertoluzzo, who will also continue in his role as chief executive of Vodafone Italy. It houses the company’s units in some of Europe’s most economically challenging countries, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Albania and Malta.
Jean-Bernard Levy’s reign as chief executive of French telecoms and media conglomerate Vivendi ended following a disagreement on strategy with the group’s supervisory board yesterday, prompting speculation of pending disposals to reinvigorate Vivendi’s sagging share price. The group has seen its share price slump to a nine-year low and has been reviewing its portfolio and corporate structure to assess how best to reverse its fortunes. Adding to its woes, Vivendi’s French mobile division SFR has been particularly hard hit by the arrival of fresh competition – in the shape of Iliad’s Free Mobile – since January
Vimpelcom, Russia’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers, has confirmed that it has finally achieved full coverage of all of the regions in the Far East Federal District with its GSM network. The news was confirmed by Vladimir Kopyl, director of the company’s Far Eastern branch, at a press conference on Wednesday
Orange France, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has unveiled plans for Europe’s first large-scale rollout of a SIM-based near-field communication (NFC) solution in partnership with Gemalto. The technology paves the way for the nationwide introduction of secure mobile contactless payment services, Orange says, with subscribers able to use their mobile handset for contactless payments at banks, retailers or on transport networks
The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) is considering an amendment to the way it sets up tariff charges under the proposed new national numbering plan. The Himalayan Times quotes NTA deputy director Min Prasad Aryal as saying that numbering is seen as a ‘critical resource’ for the regulator and one of the primary sources for it to collect revenues through the way it allocates frequency spectrum and operating rights.
The Norwegian Post & Telecoms Regulatory Authority (NPT) has revealed that it has rejected a request made by Tele2 and Network Norway, the latter of which is now majority owned by Tele2, to maintain higher mobile termination rates (MTRs).
Digicel Jamaica has announced the launch of its ‘4G’ HSPA+ network, which it claims is available to 80% of the population. To coincide with the launch, Digicel has introduced a new series of data oriented tariffs dubbed ‘Surf, Stream and Share’ and a discount of up to 50% on HSPA+ capable handsets. The cellco’s new post-paid offerings range from JMD1,500 (USD16.79) per month for 1GB of data usage to JMD5,000 per month for 7GB; additional downloads are charged at a rate of JMD10 per MB
Belarus’ leading mobile operator by subscribers, MTS Belarus, has marked its ten year anniversary by announcing the signing of its five-millionth customer, Tut.by reports. The milestone was reached on 13 June, the cellco said
Japan-US Cable Network, a consortium which operates a 23,000km undersea cable link across the Pacific, has awarded Ciena a contract to supply 100G packet optical equipment, which will allow it to provide an additional 5Tbps of capacity from early next year. The Japan-US Cable Network is made up of 35 consortium members, including global service providers such as AT&T, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, CenturyLink, KDDI, NTT Communications, REACH, Softbank and Verizon Communications
Ukrainian WiMAX broadband wireless network operator Ukrainian High Technologies (FreshTel) has enlarged its coverage in the Kherson oblast (region), extending its mobile WiMAX internet services to Bilozerka, Komyshany and Chernobaevka, while it also revealed short-term plans to expand its network to Yasynuvata (Donetsk oblast). The FreshTel mobile WiMAX service is currently available in 29 cities across Ukraine, while UHT also provides fixed WiMAX broadband connections in seven oblast capitals and some surrounding areas.
Tut.by reports that two Belarusian telcos, fixed line operator Beltelecom and mobile network service provider MTS Belarus, have announced details of a new ‘convergent cooperation’ initiative which is designed to help maximise each firm’s network capabilities. Under the plan, MTS Belarus will be able to offer its subscribers access to Beletelcom’s interactive IPTV service, branded ZALA, as well as ADSL internet connectivity, while in return, the fixed line telco’s customers will be able to subscribe to packages on MTS’ 3G network.
The Chinese government has said it will encourage private investment in the telecoms sector as part of an effort to arrest the country’s economic slowdown.
Japanese cellular operators NTT DoCoMo, KDDI (au) and eMobile have all been granted so-called ‘platinum band’ 700MHz spectrum by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
America Movil (AM), the regional mobile operator owned by the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, has scored another victory in its quest to establish a bridgehead in Europe, acquiring roughly one quarter of Netherlands-based telecoms group KPN Telecom (or Royal KPN), despite resistance from the Dutch firm’s management. AM’s EUR8 (USD9.9) per share formal offer for a 27.7% stake in KPN ended yesterday, but Slim’s company has over the past few weeks purchased the majority of its 24.91% through the open market at a lower price. In a filing to the Mexican stock exchange, AM confirmed that it was offered a sizeable number of additional shares – equivalent to 40% of KPN’s stock – as its tender offer closed
Sprint Nextel, the United States’ third largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has confirmed that its long-awaited Long Term Evolution (LTE) network will go live in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio on 15 July. Additional market launches are expected to be announced later this year, and by the end of 2013 Sprint aims to have largely completed its nationwide LTE rollout, covering around 250 million people. As part of its ongoing ‘Network Vision’ upgrade programme, Sprint initially plans to deploy LTE using its 1900MHz PCS spectrum, before refarming the 800MHz spectrum currently reserved for its iDEN services.*As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in April 2012 Sprint’s LTE network was soft-launched in Kankakee, a small town situated 60 miles south of Chicago
Oman’s second national telecoms operator Nawras has signed an agreement with Huawei, under which the Chinese vendor will upgrade all Radio Access Network (RAN) sites to increase coverage, indoor penetration, capacity and the speed of the operator’s entire network. At the same time, Nawras will launch Long Term Evolution-Frequency Division Duplex (LTE-FDD) mobile broadband services, using 1800MHz spectrum
TT-Netvaerket, the Danish network sharing joint venture between Telia and Telenor, has won 800MHz spectrum which it says is a ‘major step’ in the build-out of its 4G mobile broadband network. The infrastructure sharing venture has paid DKK111.5 million (USD18.7 million) for 2x10MHz in the 800MHz band to complement its existing holdings at 2.6GHz
British fixed line incumbent BT has revealed a further 98 exchange areas in which its network arm Openreach will make fibre-based broadband services available. With the new areas expected to come online by late-2013, BT claims that the deployment will add nearly 800,000 homes and businesses to the company’s previously announced fibre plans; the development forms part of its GBP2.5 billion (USD3.9 billion) fibre rollout.
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) has outlined its plans for the rollout of both dual carrier HSPA+ (DC-HSPA+) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, Delimiter reports.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued a show-cause notice to Etisalat DB for closing down its operations without giving the regulator and customers 60 days’ notice.
The South Korean telecoms regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), is facing criticism after it revealed that it would allow the country’s three mobile network operators – SK Telecom (SKT), KT Corp and LG Uplus – to charge users to access mobile voice-over-internet protocol (mVoIP) services, such as the one recently launched by Kakao Talk.
Verizon Wireless’ spectrum swap deal with T-Mobile USA is reportedly being viewed favourably by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), increasing the former’s chances of getting a separate deal with the cable firms approved. The development has been leaked to the Washington Post, which cites ‘people familiar with the thinking of government officials’
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and Lusail Real Estate Development Company have signed an agreement which will see Qtel deliver advanced communications services to all the residents of ‘future city’ development, Lusail, including businesses and government entities located in the new-build zone. Lusail is envisaged to eventually provide accommodation for up to 200,000 people and in addition to residential areas will include marinas, island resorts, commercial districts and leisure facilities
Andorra Telecom has completed the rollout of its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, utilising Aurora Networks’ Trident7 platform. The network is reportedly available to all of Andorra Telecom’s 52,000 broadband subscribers and will allow the telco to provide high speed broadband and IPTV – including high definition (HD) content – services. Further, the infrastructure is expected to meet the market’s current needs, as well as being ready for increasing service demand over the next seven to ten years.*Commenting on the deployment, director of Andorra Telecom Jaume Salvat said: ‘Aurora Networks’ Trident7 platform has provided us with the opportunity to deliver today’s advanced services with the quality of service and experience our subscribers have come to demand.’
Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between British mobile network operators Orange UK and T-Mobile UK, has revealed that consumer trials of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in Cumbria are now underway. Having claimed that the pilot represents the first testing of the 4G technology by customers in the north of England, the operator has said that employees at a number of local businesses in the Threlkeld area are testing LTE via both dongles and routers. With customers reportedly receiving download speeds of up to 20Mbps, Everything Everywhere said it had chosen the location to test the service as it currently has ‘insufficient or unreliable broadband’
Bahamian telecoms regulator the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has informed the Bahamas Telecommunication Company (BTC) that it is investigating the telco’s actions regarding the recent network blackouts. The watchdog said it was looking into whether or not BTC took all ‘reasonably practicable’ measures to prevent network outages and if the telco took all appropriate steps to restore the networks within the shortest time frame possible. The URCA has given BTC until 9 July to provide a detailed report on the outage, covering technical details of points of failure, the impact of each failure and the time in which personnel responded.
Telkom South Africa has selected French-US telecoms equipment vendor Alcatel-Lucent to supply equipment for a broadband network upgrade that will form a key part of the company’s ‘Network Transformation Initiative’. The project will see Telkom upgrading its existing nationwide access network with VDSL2 technology, whilst gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology will also be rolled out to support fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure ‘where commercially viable’. Daniel Jaeger, Alcatel-Lucent vice president for Africa, commented: ‘We are delighted to meet Telkom SA’s needs with a turn-key solution that will enable them to provide the new kinds of services their subscribers demand.
US cell tower operator SBA Communications Corporation has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with certain affiliates of TowerCo owning 3,252 tower sites in 47 states across the United States and Puerto Rico. The total cash consideration to be paid by SBA will be USD1.2 billion, as well as 4.6 million shares of SBA Class A common stock, implying a total transaction value of USD1.45 billion.
Swisscom, Switzerland’s largest telecom provider by subscribers, has announced plans to expand the reach of its fibre network by rolling out fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC, dubbed fibre-to-the-street by the telco) to towns and cities where it is not currently deploying fibre-to-the-home.
Landlocked Botswana has inaugurated its link to the West African Cable System (WACS), which was launched last month and stretches 14,900km along the west coast of Africa, reports AFP. Botswana partnered with neighbouring Namibia in each raising USD37.5 million to invest in a 9.2% stake in the cable consortium. Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) will co-locate services within the Swakopmund landing station operated by Telecom Namibia, under the WACS open access policy.
South African mobile operator Cell C has confirmed that it has entered into talks with Vodacom about renegotiating the 15-year roaming agreement the two companies signed in 2001.
The CEO of French media and communications group Vivendi is considering sweeping cuts in the operating expenses of its wireless operator subsidiary SFR. A report from Bloomberg, which cites Vivendi insiders, claims that Jean-Bernard Levy is looking at a EUR350 million (USD437 million) reduction in SFR’s operating expenses in 2013, on top of an already announced EUR450 million cut which has been budgeted for this year. The proposals are due to be put before union representatives next week.
Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission (CMC) has confirmed that it plans to fine mobile operators Asiacell, which is owned by Qatar Telecom, and Korek Telecom (co-owned by France Telecom-Orange and local logistics company Agility) for their respective failures to list on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX), as per the conditions of their operating licences. Reuters reports that the watchdog will fine Asiacell USD8,500 a day since 1 September 2011, whilst Korek will face a smaller penalty of USD2,500 per day
Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), the United Arab Emirates’ incumbent telecoms operator, will launch a SIM registration campaign for its mobile subscribers next month, Emirates 24/7 reports. From 17 July, the operator’s customers will be required to process their mobile registration at one of over 100 points of sale across the UAE
The sale of the assets of Dominican Republic cable TV operator Aster Comunicaciones has been suspended by the Civil and Commercial Chamber of Santo Domingo, Next TV Latam reports. A judge ruled that the bidding process held in March this year by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, which has been acting as Aster’s administrator on behalf of the collapsed parent company Banco Intercontinental (Baninter), was flawed. A bid of USD27 million was accepted from local utility group Consorcio Energetico Punta Cana-Macao (CEPM) despite the fact that another firm – Servicios Ampliados de Telefonos (Satel) – stated that it had intended to offer a higher amount but had been excluded from the bidding.
Brazilian telecoms operator Embratel Participacoes, part of the America Movil (AM) group, has announced that it has won a BRL1.03 billion (USD499 million) contract to supply telecoms services in the state of Pernambuco. Under the terms of the contract, Embratel will assume responsibility for supplying network services to the state for a period of four years, using its unified infrastructure to deliver mobile and fixed services, Wi-Fi access, call centre services, CCTV monitoring and videoconferencing
Having earlier this month launched a voluntary takeover bid to acquire all the outstanding shares in TEO LT, TeliaSonera has announced that as of 25 June 2012 it now holds 85.6% of the Lithuanian fixed line operator. The acquisition price is EUR0.637 (USD0.79) per share in cash, equivalent to a total value of EUR76 million.
The Guardian newspaper reports that Vodacom’s Tanzanian operating subsidiary intends to expand coverage of its popular money transfer service M-PESA to even the most remote parts of the country, by dint of the TZS130 billion (USD83.8 million) network upgrade it is currently undertaking. Rene Meza, managing director of Vodacom Tanzania, says that the M-PESA service – launched in 2008 – is now taken by almost three million subscribers, helping to drive overall customer growth
Canadian cellco Globalive Wireless (Wind Mobile) has announced details of its network expansion programme, revealing that it will launch in five additional markets in the next quarter, extending coverage to an additional 600,000 Canadians, and bringing total population coverage to over 13.1 million.
TT-Netvaerket, the Danish network sharing joint venture between Telia and Telenor, has won 800MHz spectrum which it says is a ‘major step’ in the build-out of its 4G mobile broadband network.
An order issued by a Hungarian court on Monday has put the brakes on would-be fourth mobile operator MPVI Mobil’s plans to use the 900MHz frequencies it was awarded in January this year. Hungarian newspaper Nepszabadsag reports that the decision by the court on 25 June to suspend the opening of the state-run operator’s network until the resolution of an appeal by Magyar Telekom (MTel) and Telenor Hungary (formerly Pannon), means that the newcomer cannot engage in any ‘meaningful work’ on its network, delaying its launch plans for several more weeks
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has made an offer to buy the remaining 47.5% stake it does not already own in its Kuwaiti unit National Mobile Telecommunications Company, or Wataniya Telecom, a division which has operations in six countries: Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria, the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia and the Maldives.
Swedish telecoms group TeliaSonera says it will release final details of its planned charging structure for mobile voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) calls ‘sometime in August’. The group has piloted the model by introducing special charges for VoIP calls made over the mobile network of its Yoigo subsidiary in Spain, with subscribers charged EUR6 (USD7.5) per month for 100MB of VoIP traffic, or somewhere in the region of between five and ten hours of call time. A spokesperson announced that TeliaSonera subscribers on data tariffs which currently allow them to use third-party VoIP services such as Skype and Google Talk via their mobile devices without incurring additional costs will not be liable for any additional specific VoIP charges until their existing contracts run out
The sale of the Bulgarian fixed line and cellular operator Vivacom-BTC may go ahead before the end of this year according to local press reports. Vivacom’s owners attempted to sell the operator earlier this year, with Turkcell of Turkey emerging as the favoured bidder, but the deal collapsed when Turkcell demanded at least EUR100 million indemnity to insure against the outcome of ongoing legal action between the Bulgarian government and previous Vivacom shareholders.
Kuwaiti wireless operator Wataniya Telecom has announced that it has completed the second phase of a convergent charging and billing project with the Swedish vendor Ericsson. Under the project Ericsson has migrated 1.8 million Wataniya pre-paid customers onto a new charging platform which enables the operator to implement more flexible tariff structures while giving customers more insight into their mobile bills.
Kosovo’s government has relaunched the sale of state-owned telco Post and Telecommunications Kosovo (PTK) after the process was scrapped last year when two of the operator’s senior officials were charged with corruption. According to Reuters, Pristina has put a 75% stake up for grabs, with the pre-qualification stage expected to last until 30 July
Satellite operator SES, which is headquartered in Luxembourg, has revealed that it has struck a new multi-year capacity deal with the fixed line incumbent in Papua New Guinea, Telikom PNG. At present Telikom contracts more than 100MHz capacity with SES, and the renewal, it is claimed, will allow the telco to continue expanding its mobile voice services into new regions, while also enabling it to provide telephone services over mountainous terrain ‘by providing cellular backhaul between a large number of sites around the country and the capital, Port Moresby’. Charles Litau, Telikom PNG’s chief executive officer, said of the updated agreement: ‘The new deal will allow us to provide our customers with connectivity to the remotest locations – the highlands, mining camps and islands of Papua New Guinea.’
South Africa-based Jasco Networks is expanding its operations into Central Africa, with the company revealing that, having formed a new subsidiary, Jasco Congo, it has inked a partnership deal with Republic of Congo mobile operator Warid Congo. Under the terms of the deal between the two companies, Jasco will manage and maintain a carrier-neutral co-location data centre in the Republic of Congo, having entered into a service partnership with Warid to use the latter’s existing infrastructure and take over the operational costs and maintenance of the data centre. Jasco will also reportedly design and build an internet switch exchange and provide local internet hosting from the Warid Telecom data centre, in a move which it claims will help to drive down the cost of internet access in the country
Sweden’s largest cable TV network operator Com Hem has signed a deal with US-based TiVo to develop a new range of ‘anytime, anywhere’ content and interactive services across multiple platforms, which it expects to launch in spring 2013. According to the cableco, the new offering will include access over IPTV set-top boxes, PCs and wireless devices such as tablets. Planned features include: a ‘one-stop shop’ where consumers will be able to navigate all available digital entertainment content across various devices; a ‘universal search’ enabling subscribers to search across all content including linear TV, video-on-demand (VoD), pay-per-view (PPV) and web-based over-the-top ‘OTT/play’ services; and ‘TiVo Everywhere’ features allowing users to access their content on mobile devices including tablets and smartphones or over the internet anywhere in Sweden regardless of whether the content is sourced from the cloud or their set-top box
The French telecoms group SFR has teamed up with US telco Verizon to offer communications services to American companies with operations in France. Verizon will deliver global connectivity while SFR will be responsible for providing in-country services. The agreement initially covers the joint delivery of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based virtual private network services, the operators say.
Federico Franco, the vice president of the government of Paraguay has publicly denounced telecoms officials in neighbouring Argentina and Brazil, accusing them of obstructing broadband development in land-locked Paraguay by refusing to provide his country with competitive prices for international broadband connectivity. ‘Our neighbours, particularly the large ones, do not allow us to fully liberalise the internet’, Franco complained during the recent ICT summit in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion. Unless things change, the VP warned, he would be forced to take the case to the relevant international authorities
Cellular operator Airtel Ghana has reported the discovery of the third SIM box fraud gang within a week as it looks to clamp down on the illegal routing of international calls. The firm says it has uncovered a syndicate operating two illegal SIM gateways in Accra.
According to local daily La Nacion, Paraguay’s Comision Tecnica de Portabilidad Numerica (CTPN) has received two bids from companies interested in managing the country’s mobile number portability (MNP) database, namely Spain’s Informatica El Corte Ingles and Ericsson del Paraguay, a local offshoot of US firm Telecordia. Francisco Gutierrez, spokesman for the CTPN, has indicated that the service could be up and running by November, pending a swift resolution to the decision-making process.
Mozambican mobile operator mCel reportedly plans to spend around USD12 million on the installation of new antennas around the country, as part of a wider project to improve its network capacity. IT Web Africa notes that the move will come as a major boost for customers who have previously complained of poor service, weak connections and an excess of dropped calls.
Mikhail Shamolin, the president of Russian telco Sistema, owner of a 52.8% controlling stake in regional powerhouse Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), says MTS is still interested in acquiring the Belarus government’s 51% stake in their mobile joint venture MTS Belarus. Speaking at the International Economic Forum in St Petersburg, Shamolin told reporters that the company was still waiting for a response from the Belarusian side concerning its offer
KeyTech Holding Limited, the parent of Bermuda Telephone Company (BTC) and Logic Communications, has released its preliminary financial results for the year ended 31 March 2012, booking net profit of USD7.2 million compared to USD6.6 million in fiscal 2010/11. In a filing to the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX), KeyTech said that its latest financial results included a USD10.5 million gain from the disposal of domestic mobile operator M3 Wireless and the acquisition of a 42% stake in Bermuda Digital Communications (CellularOne), the mobile arm of Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), in May 2011
The Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) has issued a notice to the country’s telecoms operators to develop infrastructure sharing plans, in order to help boost network coverage and service quality, writes Telecompaper, citing a report by IT Web. Thari Pheko, CEO of the BTA, said the development would promote fair competition by granting equal access to the installations and facilities of operators on mutually agreed terms. Pheko added that infrastructure sharing would improve rollout in underserved areas, as well as protect the environment by reducing the proliferation of infrastructure and facilities installations, and avoid duplication of network deployment to save costs and reducing customer tariffs
The German telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA, also known as Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA), has announced that three of the country’s mobile network operators have met coverage obligations for the 800MHz band in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, meaning that they are now able to utilise the frequencies assigned to them as they wish in the two federal states. According to a press release issued by the watchdog, the three cellcos in question – Telekom Deutschland (TD), Vodafone Germany and Telefonica Germany (O2) – have now fulfilled coverage obligations in eleven of the 13 required states, those being: Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia
T-Mobile USA, the United States’ fourth largest mobile operator by subscribers, has announced that it has signed an agreement with market leader Verizon Wireless for the purchase and exchange of certain Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum licences covering 218 markets across the US.
State-owned incumbent fixed and mobile operator Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (Nepal Telecom, or NT) has signed a NPR6.75 billion (USD79.6 million) contract with Huawei Technologies of China for the supply of 4.8 million GSM lines. In what NT spokesperson Surendra Prasad Thike is calling ‘the largest project ever taken by the company,’ Huawei aims to help the telco improve its Quality of Service assurance for GSM users in the Kingdom. Under the agreement, the Chinese vender will install the new lines within the signing date of the contract
According to a report by Romanian business daily Finantistii, Orange Romania invested around EUR110 million (USD137.6 million) in the expansion of its 3G network during 2011, increasing coverage from 55% to 98% in the process. According to Madalina Suceveanu, technical manager for Orange Romania, in 1Q12 alone data traffic in rural areas increased 182% on an annualised basis, suggesting that Orange’s strategy is already starting to pay off
The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has announced that it will provide customers a compensation package valued at around BSD3 million (USD2.98 million), after a power outage caused a service blackout last week. A spokesperson for BTC, which is the fixed line incumbent and sole wireless provider, said: ‘Even as we continue to uncover the cause of Monday’s failure, the company moved very quickly to come up with this package, which contains something for everyone, because we understood the magnitude of what happened and how it affected everyone in the Bahamas.’*The compensation package includes USD5 free credit for pre-paid customers, and a temporary price reduction of around 75% for on-net calls, down to USD0.05 per minute. Customers on pre-paid data packages have had an additional two days of data usage, whilst post-paid customers received free calls all weekend.
A European Union-funded twinning project aimed at harmonising Israeli communications regulations with those in Europe has been successfully completed. The project, which was funded to the tune of EUR600,000 (USD753,000) by the EU, saw Israel’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) and a consortium created by the telecommunications regulators from Germany’s Federal Network Agency (FNA), Spain’s Comision del Mercado de las Telecomunicacinoes (CMT) and Italy’s Autorita per le Garanzie Comunicazioni (Agcom) work towards fostering competition in the Israeli telecommunications markets and increasing the protection of the Israeli consumers. In the wake of the project’s closure, the head of the EU Delegation to Israel, Ambassador Andrew Standley, underlined the symbolic dimension of the project, including ‘the many tangible contributions and results of the twinning project, which contribute to the reinforcement of the regulator’s role in ensuring a smooth functioning of the communications market that achieves a high level of consumer protection’.
The new president of Japanese cellular operator NTT DoCoMo has said that the company is looking to increase sales from smartphone-related business by a factor of 2.5 by March 2016. Kaoru Kato said that DoCoMo expects to generate JPY1 trillion (USD12.4 billion) from smartphone-related business in its 2015 fiscal year, up from around JPY400 billion at present, Japan Times reports. The firm is thought to be looking at developing cloud-based services and will be targeting vertical markets including health care, ecology, food, finance and online shopping for smartphone users.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced the issuing of a final access determination (FAD) for the declared domestic transmission capacity service (DTCS). Under the latest ruling, while parties will still be able to negotiate their own commercial agreements, the FAD establishes benchmark prices for regulated transmission services and non-price terms and conditions for access seekers to fall back on in negotiations
The Greek telecoms group OTE has indicated that it may offload its operations in Bulgaria as it looks to refinance EUR3.4 billion (USD4.3 billion) of debt. ‘OTE is considering the possible sale of its units in Bulgaria, GloBul and Germanos Telecom Bulgaria, and plans to start the necessary procedures,’ the Greek firm said in a statement. Reports suggests that Turkcell of Turkey, Orange of France and UK-based Vodafone Group may be among the bidders for GloBul, which claimed around 38% of the Bulgarian mobile market with 4.36 million subscribers at the end of March 2012 according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.
British fixed line incumbent BT’s latest effort to force its rivals to help share the cost of lowering its pension scheme deficit has been blocked, the Financial Times reports. It is understood that the Competition Commission has upheld telecom regulator Ofcom’s decision to bar the telco from including deficit repair charges from the cost base that determines how it charges alternative operators for wholesale broadband access in those areas of the country where competition remains limited. BT had called on the Competition Commission to rule that Ofcom had, in fact, made an error with its original judgement, amid hopes that a ruling in its favour could have been worth in the ‘low tens of millions of pounds’ to its network arm Openreach, according to a source with a knowledge of the matter.
Kenyan broadband provider Jamii Telecommunications Ltd (JTL) has revealed that it has completed work on a comprehensive upgrade of its fibre-optic network, which saw its existing Ethernet network upgraded to the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) standard. The KES261 million (USD3.1 million) project covers Nairobi, Mombasa, Naivasha, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Kitale, Bugoma, Busia, Kakamega, Thika, Kisii and Kericho. *The network overhaul, which was first announced by JTL in January this year, is expected to situate the company in pole position for future government tenders to bring internet connectivity to the country’s rural counties, whilst simultaneously allowing it to formulate improved working relationships with banks and other financial institutions that are perceived to be increasingly susceptible to cyber-crime.
Vietnamese wireless operator Vietnamobile plans to ask the government for help as competition in the wireless market intensifies, reports Viet Nam News.
Digicel Jamaica has introduced a new tariff in response to price reductions by rival operator LIME Jamaia. The price cuts follow a decision by telecoms watchdog the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) in early June to lower mobile termination rates (MTRs) to a flat level of JMD5 (USD0.06) per minute. In the wake of the MTR change, LIME announced early last week the introduction of a lower tariff offering on-net calls at a rate of JMD2.99 per minute (JMD1.99 per minute for post-paid customers): in response, Digicel launched a new rate of JMD2.89 per minute for on-net calls.
The board of directors of the US government’s development finance institution Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), has confirmed that it has approved USD72 million in financing to Kenya’s Wananchi Group Holdings (WGH) to help the company extend high speed broadband services in East Africa. The OPIC loan will allow Wananchi, which offers triple-play TV, telephony and broadband internet services over a hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) network under the ‘Zuku’ brand, to roll out infrastructure in countries such as Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, and Zambia
T-Mobile USA has received a second round of bids for its cellular towers, attracting offers from companies such as American Tower (AMT) and Crown Castle International (CCI), Bloomberg reports, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the talks. The cellco has also reportedly received bids from a number of as-yet-unnamed private equity firms it added. T-Mobile, which is owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom (DT), currently has around 7,000 cell towers in the US.*As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in March T-Mobile hired New York bank TAP Advisors to help sell off wireless towers and raise cash for parent company DT
In Ukraine’s fixed call market, the National Commission on Communications and Information Regulation (NKRZI or NCCR) plans to enforce a 10% increase in the minimum call rate for residents in both urban and rural areas, as part of an ongoing tariff rebalancing programme.
Indian telecoms operator Bharti Airtel plans to invest USD25 million in Airtel Malawi, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, Business Today reports.
Local online news journal Caribarena Antigua reports that Cable and Wireless’ (C&W, or LIME’s) 25-year monopoly on the provision of international direct dial (IDD) telephone calls has officially ended. The news journal quotes the Minister of Telecommunications, Dr Edmund Mansoor, as confirming that LIME’s monopoly, which applied to overseas calls originating from and terminating onto fixed lines and mobile phones, expired at midnight last Friday.
Sweden’s National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) has launched a secondary consultation on its third generation of competitive decisions for ex-ante regulation of four telecoms sub-markets applying to mobile and fixed call interconnection and fixed telephony access. The regulatory determinations on the sub-markets for fixed access, fixed call origination, fixed call termination and mobile call termination will be aimed at ensuring that end-users can ‘continue to select fixed line rental from multiple operators and be able to call each other no matter which operator you have subscribed to,’ the watchdog stated. Market participants have until 31 August 2012 to comment on the PTS’ proposed market determinations/remedies, and the regulator expects to enter into consultations with the European Commission and other European regulatory authorities by early November
Mobile money transfer company Dahabshiil Group has denied reports that it has acquired a majority stake in Somali telecoms operator Telcom Somalia, according to a report by Somalilandpress. 'Lately, the Somali media have been circulating various versions of Dahabshiil’s takeover of Telcom Somalia and that their staff have been laid off,' chief of media relations and public information at Dahabshiil, Hassan M.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Mexico’s antitrust watchdog, Comision Federal de Competencia (Cofeco), has dropped the USD1 billion fine it imposed on America Movil’s domestic mobile arm Telcel.
Bharat Telecom Limited, a telecoms joint venture between Mauritian and Indian investors, reportedly plans to connect every home and business in Mauritius to fibre, according to BalancingAct quoting the firm’s Baljinder Sharmer as saying.
Lalith de Silva, CEO of Sri Lankan cellco Mobitel, has announced the conclusion of a major nationwide phase of expansion for the 2G/3G operator. He stated in a press release: ‘We have just completed our biggest stage of expansion by increasing our total number of 2G and 3G base stations by over a mammoth 1,000 sites within a record breaking period. We have now become a dominant operator servicing North and East following the liberation of those areas which is a priority component of the government’s development strategy.’ Chandana Gunasekara, general manager of projects and network planning at Mobitel, further elaborated on the cellco’s plans: ‘All our new base stations will be LTE ready
Canadian cellco Globalive Wireless (Wind Mobile) has filed a complaint to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) calling into question whether the concentration of ‘foreign’ funding at its larger rival, Telus, breaks the country’s overseas ownership restrictions on telecoms companies. Reuters reports that Orascom/Vimpelcom subsidiary Wind, which itself survived a high-profile foreign funding inquisition from the same regulator, has submitted a filing suggesting that almost half of Telus’ voting shareholders are ‘not Canadian’ as they have registered addresses outside Canada. Canadian law currently bars foreigners from owning more than one third of the voting shares in telcos – and while this restriction is set to be abolished for smaller operators such as Wind pending the enacting of new legislation, the limit will remain in place for the largest groups including Telus
Telco and ICT provider KPN International and China’s Huawei Technologies have completed a successful pan-European field trial of 400G technology. In a joint press release the pair that the bidirectional optical transport network (OTN)-based 400G network spans 540km between Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and Dusseldorf (Germany). The 400G transmission technology was tested on KPN’s pan-European WDM backbone network, which was deployed by Huawei from 2008 using NG-WDM products and which was subsequently upgraded to coherent 100G by Huawei in 2011.
The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that it has sent a formal request to the Estonian authorities, directing the country to ensure it is compliant with European Union (EU) rules that require a clear separation between bodies which regulate the telecoms sector and companies providing telecoms services. The EC noted in a press release on the matter that the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MEAC), which manages radio frequencies, numbering resources and the provision of universal service, also controls local WiMAX provider Levira
Ericsson has performed a bidirectional LTE FDD/TDD handover on China Mobile Hong Kong’s live network, using a commercial chipset from Altair Semiconductor, demonstrating seamless end-user service in a converged LTE FDD/TDD network, and claiming a world first.
Canadian 3G mobile operator Mobilicity, which currently covers the cities of Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa with its HSPA-based network, has announced plans to widen its coverage. The firm said that it would begin expanding its footprint west of Toronto to Milton, Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton to meet growing demand for its on-net services based on unlimited talk, text and data packages
Canada’s MTS Allstream has selected Ericsson as an exclusive partner to supply it with an LTE-based 4G mobile network that the Manitoban telco says will be launched commercially by the end of this year. Under the deal – of undisclosed value – Ericsson is providing an LTE radio network and Evolved Packet Core network, as well as policy control and subscriber management systems
Following a decision by Lebanon’s Ministry of Telecommunications, state-owned cellco MTC Touch, managed by Kuwait’s Zain Group, has rebranded itself to simply ‘Touch’. The new moniker was officially launched on 19 June 2012. Zain (formerly MTC Group) entered into its original management contract for Mobile Interim Company 2 (MIC 2) in June 2004, and rebranded it as MTC Touch in November that year.
Macau’s Bureau of Telecommunications Regulation (DSRT) has postponed the country’s planned switch-off of 2G services for Macanese subscribers to 1 January 2013, from the previous deadline of 9 July 2012. Cellcos in the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) will provide exclusively 3G services to their subscribers from the start of next year, with their 2G networks to be restricted to offering roaming-only services for tourists from that date. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database shows the penetration of 3G services in Macau reached 95% of all mobile subscribers in the territory at the end of March 2012, when there were 1.35 million 3G customers
According to online news portal Agence Ecofin, regional mobile operator Africell is poised to launch commercial services in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), almost two years after receiving rights and spectrum to offer wireless services there. Africell, a subsidiary of Lebanese firm Lintel Holding, already operates mobile networks in Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and has now been authorised to launch in DRC by Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and New Information Technologies and Communication, Tryphon Kin-Kiey, on 18 June.
Zimbabwean ISP Utande Internet Services, a subsidiary of Dandemutande Investments, has officially launched its WiMAX wireless broadband service for consumers and small businesses in the capital, Harare, under the uMAX brand.
Zain Iraq, the country's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has confirmed that it has invested around USD20 million in its proposed listing on the local stock exchange, its chief executive confirmed in an interview with Reuters. Zain is required to list on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) as part of the terms of its USD1.25 billion operating licence, which it obtained in 2007.
Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC), the nation’s second largest cellco by subscribers, has launched a new pre-paid fixed telephony package. The service utilises AMC’s wireless network and includes 500 minutes of calls to all AMC numbers, 40 minutes to other national fixed lines, plus ALL100 (USD0.9) of airtime and costs ALL2,600 per month.
Yesterday’s meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) due to make a decision on the controversial base prices for spectrum has been postponed, reports the Economic Times. The meeting of the EGoM, which is headed by finance minister and presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, was reportedly cancelled by the finance minister’s office though it was not made clear whether the EGoM would reconvene before Pranab steps down from his office on June 24.
Having previously warned mobile network operator BASE to ensure it achieved pre-determined coverage requirements for its 3G network rollout, the Belgian Institute for Post and Telecommunications (BIPT) has now confirmed that the cellco has done so. Confirming that BASE’s third-generation infrastructure was now available to at least 85% of the Belgian population, and with the operator having reached that coverage level within a deadline stipulated by the concession it won in 2001, the BIPT has revealed that it has halted administrative proceedings against BASE
Malawian mobile operators have criticised an increase in corporate tax on the wireless sector to 33% from the standard rate of 30%, calling the move unfair and unjustified, The Business Times cites senior officials at Airtel Malawi and Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) as saying. The tax rise on the sector was announced by Finance Minister Ken Lipenga earlier this month in his 2012/13 budget statement to parliament. Describing the tax as ‘punitive’, Airtel Malawi's managing director Saulos Chilima said: ‘It is unfortunate that we have been singled out .
Mascom Wireless, Botswana’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, last week launched the country’s first 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) pilot, reports The Tswana Times. At the same time, the company said it had launched an initiative to increase ICT penetration across Botswana by boosting coverage and capacity of its 2.5G EDGE and 3.5G HSPA networks.
MTS Turkmenistan could be operational again as early as next month, Prime Business News Agency reports, citing Vladimir Yevtushenkov, a major shareholder in AFK Sistema, which holds a 50.8% stake in the Turkmen cellco’s parent company Russia-based Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). Following on from reports last month that a deal had been reached with the Turkmen authorities which would allow the former market leader to re-enter the sector, Mr Yevtushenkov was cited as saying this week: ‘I think that (operations will be resumed) in a month or a month and a half.’ As noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, following the one-month suspension of MTS Turkmenistan’s licence the cellco was quick to claim that it concession was not due to expire until February 2012. Despite this, and contrary to its expectations of being back online by end-January 2011, that month the Turkmen Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) publicly stated that the operating agreement it signed with MTS in 2005 was only valid for five years
France Telecom-Orange yesterday launched its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the city of Marseille, promising to deliver maximum download speeds of 150Mbps to users – up to ten times the speed of its current 3G network. In its press release the French giant opted not to focus on the LTE acronym, choosing instead to foreground the fact that its 4G coverage will be extended to Lyon and Nantes by the end of this year, with another dozen cities following by the summer of 2013
The Liberian Observer reports that two members of the House of Representatives, Eugene A Kparkar and Gabriel Smith, are backing the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA’s) decision to suspend MTN Liberia’s operating licences. Earlier this month the LTA reportedly suspended the cellco’s two operating licences in relation to its ‘unilateral disconnection’ of rival operator Comium Liberia.
America Movil (AM), the Mexican telecommunications group controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, announced yesterday that it has upped its stake in KPN Telecom (or Royal KPN) and now owns 20.9% of the Dutch company. The move marks the latest in a series of share purchases that have occurred since AM launched a formal offer for 27.7% of KPN last month
According to Australasian telecoms trade journal CommsDay, proposals to create a single economic telecoms market between Australia and New Zealand will be considered as part of a number of reforms by the productivity commissions of both countries, with Australian telecoms giant Telstra urging the commissioners to consider a common trans-Tasman telecom regulatory regime. The development was confirmed by Australian Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks, in his keynote speech to a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch in Canberra; the proposal will be considered as part of a discussion draft planned for release in mid-September.*In March this year the Productivity Commissions of both nations were tasked with conducting a ‘joint scoping study’ to identify reforms that would further enhance economic integration and improve economic outcomes
Bangladeshi finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has promised the country’s cellular operators that a proposal to introduce an additional 2% tax on mobile services will be reviewed, BDnews24 reports. The proposed tax, which was included in the draft 2012/13 budget, would be applicable to post- and pre-paid mobile service users – added to monthly bills, or in the case of pay-as-you go users, applied to the cost of buying a top-up card or during credit recharge. The levy would be additional to the existing 15% VAT on mobile services and a mobile SIM card tax currently set at BDT606 (USD7.22)
Croatia’s government yesterday put forward a parliamentary motion to abolish a special mobile services tax under which cellcos pay 6% of voice and messaging service revenues to the state. The country’s largest telecoms group T-Hrvatski Telekom (T-HT) reported that MPs will vote on the proposal to remove the levy with effect on 1 July 2012, bringing forward an original date set for 30 June 2013. The special excise tax was imposed in August 2009 to help plug holes in the national budget, and although it was cancelled under an October 2011 decision with effect from January 2012, later that month the incoming centre-left government reinstated it, originally with the aim of enforcing the fee until Croatia’s expected accession to the European Union in mid-2013
Sint Maarten’s Council of Ministers is poised to make a decision on how it intends to move forward with the ownership of local telecoms operator Telem Group, SMNnews.com reports. Citing ‘reliable information’, the website suggests that pan-Caribbean telco United Telecommunication Services (UTS), which is based on nearby Curacao, has lodged a bid to take a controlling 51% stake in the Telem Group, which is currently wholly owned by the Sint Maarten government
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has indicated to Bloomberg that it is maintaining its focus on the domestic market amid increasing opportunities across Europe. Citing the numbered of European assets that have suffered during in the ongoing economic downturn, Josh Tulgan, MTS’s investor relations officer, told the news agency: ‘Obviously, we look at opportunities, though the company doesn’t have an active goal to expand beyond its current market
Choice Wireless, a mobile operator based on the Virgin Islands (US), has announced the completion of five new 3G base transceiver stations (BTS), the Virgin Islands Daily News reports. On the island of St Croix, new cell sites have been constructed at Mary's Fancy, Grove Place and Hotel-on-the-Cay and in downtown Christiansted, whilst on St Thomas, a new tower has been deployed at Sugar Estate, alongside a number of other network upgrades. The website adds that Choice plans to install five more BTS before the end of the year, with the locations listed as Bugby Hole (St Croix) and Stalley/Hillcrest, Frenchtown, Caret Bay and Mahogany Run (all St Thomas).
Bahamian PM Perry Christie has met with Tony Rice, the CEO of Cable and Wireless Communication (CWC), which owns 51% of fixed line incumbent and wireless monopoly holder the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), reports the Nassau Guardian. The talks were believed to have revolved around the prime minister’s intention of re-nationalising BTC.
Slovenian-backed telco Ipko has deployed a fibre-optic backbone network in Kosovo, reports the Slovenian Press Agency.
France Telecom-Orange has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chinese equipment vendor Huawei for the joint development, sales and marketing of smartphones, mobile broadband devices and tablets.
Telenor Serbia has announced that it has upgraded its HSPA+ networks to allow maximum theoretical download speeds of 42Mbps. The upgrade has so far been launched in six cities – Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac, Subotica and Pancevo – though the cellco plans to extend the upgrade to all locations with 3G coverage.
Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has given state-run telco CAT Telecom 30 days to amend its 3G network operating contracts with True Corp, on the basis that the 14-year partnership deal – agreed in January 2011 – violates Section 46 of the Frequency Allocation Act of 2010, which requires licensed operators including CAT to manage their own spectrum. The NBTC yesterday officially confirmed the decision of its sub-committee, which on 6 June found that CAT was illegally allowing private sector operator True to control spectrum management on its behalf, and ruled that the CAT-True wholesale/resale contracts must be amended in seven areas to comply with the law.*Additionally, the NBTC’s telecom committee has ordered an investigation into whether True’s wholly-owned subsidiary BFKT (Thailand), which leases network equipment to CAT under the CAT-True partnership, is effectively operating part of CAT’s business without a licence issued by the NBTC, in violation of Article 7 of the 2001 Telecom Business Act. Officials must report their findings to the panel within 30 days, reports Thai newspaper The Nation.*A report from the Bangkok Post adds that if CAT is unable to comply with the NBTC’s order and amend its contracts, it could ultimately face the revocation of its 800MHz-850MHz operating licence, which in turn would have serious consequences for True’s ‘True Move H’ HSPA-based 3G service, which is offered via a capacity resale deal between True’s Real Move unit and CAT.
The total number of mobile phone subscriptions in Brazil reached 254.9 million by 31 May 2012, up 0.78% (or 1.97 million) from the previous month, according to data published by the telecoms regulator Anatel.
US mobile giant Verizon Wireless, which presides over the nation’s most expansive Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, has announced that 4G services will be available in 46 new markets from today, with existing coverage also expanding in 22 additional US markets. The new deployments mean that Verizon’s LTE services are now available in a total of 304 markets, covering two-thirds of the population. According to the cellco, the latest batch of rollouts means that Verizon can now boast a more comprehensive LTE footprint than that offered by all of its domestic cellular rivals’ combined
Dutch telecoms operator KPN (or Royal KPN) has failed in its bid to find a buyer for its German unit E-Plus Mobilfunk – a move designed to stave off a hostile approach by Carlos Slim’s America Movil (AM) – just days before the Mexican’s tender offer for KPN shares closes. Talks between the Netherlands-based group and an unnamed interested party reportedly broke down on Wednesday, leaving KPN with precious few options when it comes to fighting off AM’s advances. The Dutch carrier is due to respond to Slim’s formal tender offer on Thursday, ahead of its closing date of 27 June.
Czech online business daily iHNED.cz reports that the country’s national telecoms regulator the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU) may be distancing itself from an earlier plan to auction off frequencies in the 800MHz band. The frequencies up on offer were considered the best option to support the build-out of fourth-generation (4G) mobile networks in the country, and had also been heralded as the best way to introduce a fourth player to the market.
South Korea’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers, SK Telecom, has revealed that it aims to offer a commercial voice-over-Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) service from September 2012, according to the Korea Times.
Telefonica Germany (O2), the local subsidiary of Spanish telecoms group Telefonica, has unveiled its tariffs for its urban 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband service, ahead of a commercial launch of the network on 3 July 2012. Initial coverage will be focused in Nuremberg and Dresden, shortly followed by Munich and Leipzig. Prices for the company’s O2 Go Surf Flat data tariffs for laptop and tablet users start at EUR14.99 (USD19) per month, with the top-end 50Mbps download speed option costing EUR44.99, including 10GB of data per month
Digicel Jamaica, the largest of the island’s two cellcos by subscribers, has filed a law suit against watchdog the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), challenging the regulator’s right to alter interconnection rates. According to Go Jamaica, Digicel claims that due process was not followed when the OUR announced earlier this month that it was lowering mobile termination rates (MTRs), saying that it was not consulted before the OUR acted. As noted by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, the OUR set a new flat MTR at JMD5 per minute to come into effect from 15 July.
Vodafone India and Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL, also known as MTS India) have joined the recent trend of slashing rates for 3G-based services. According to the Times of India, Vodafone, following similar action by Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication (RCOM), cut the price of its pre-paid data plans by 80% to INR0.02 (USD0.0004) per KB whilst lowering its post-paid packages with the new prices ranging from INR25 per month for 25MB of data to INR1,599 per month for 12GB. An unlikely addition to the 3G tariff war was SSTL.
The recently launched Ghanaian cellular operator Glo Mobile has paid in full the USD200,000 fine that had been imposed on it by the National Communications Authority (NCA) for failing to meet the network rollout obligations as laid out in its operating licence, Adom News reports. It took Nigerian-owned Glo Mobile over three years to launch a commercial service following the award of its licence, meaning it failed to meet a requirement to deploy services to six regions within three years of the award. Glo launched on 29 April this year, offering near nationwide coverage with services available in almost 1,000 towns and thousands of villages across all ten regions of Ghana
The South African government has moved to deny local press reports linking it with an approach to seize full control of Telkom South Africa, Moneyweb.co.za reports.
Copper Valley Telecom, a regional telecoms operator serving customers within a 15,000 square mile region of south-central Alaska, has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Verizon Wireless to participate in the mobile giant’s ‘Long Term Evolution (LTE) in Rural America’ programme. As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, through the initiative, Verizon plans to lease pockets of its 700MHz spectrum to rural carriers so that they can roll out 4G networks of their own, over which Verizon will have roaming rights. Copper Valley Telecom CEO Dave Dengel commented: ‘We are enthusiastic to start work on our 4G LTE deployment.
Indian regulator the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly sought advice from the attorney general regarding potential legal action from foreign investors in mobile operators whose licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court in February. According to the Economic Times, the DoT is looking for the attorney general’s office to give its stance on whether foreign investors would be able to invoke bilateral investment protection agreements (BIPAs) to sue the Indian government and claim damages for the revocation of concessions. Russia’s Sistema group and Telenor of Norway, both of which are partially state-owned, are amongst those that have lost out from the 2G licence debacle and have threatened to seek international arbitration to reclaim some of their losses.
Pakistan’s anti-trust agency, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued a show cause notice to fixed line incumbent Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) for abusing its dominant position in the DSL broadband market. According to local daily the Express Tribune, the CCP’s notice was prompted by a formal complaint from Micronet Broadband, LinkDotNet Telecom and Nexlinx accusing PTCL of practising predatory pricing and refusal to deal.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it is suspending its assessment of the Special Access Undertaking (SAU) lodged by NBN Co, the public-private company set up to oversee the construction and management of the National Broadband Network (NBN). The decision, the regulator noted, was the result of ‘the expectation that NBN Co will soon lodge a revised undertaking,’ with NBN Co reportedly having already provided an outline of its proposed amendments to the ACCC.
Senegalese telecoms watchdog the Agence de Regulation des Telecoms et Postes (ARTP) has published state owned fixed line PTO Societe Nationale des Telecommunications du Senegal (Sonatel’s) new catalogue for interconnection services covering 2011/12. In a website announcement ARTP reports that the new rates were approved on 24 May 2012, in accordance with Decree No.2005-1183 (6 December 2005) on the interconnection made under Article 13 of Law No.2001-15 (27 December 2001) of the Telecommunications Code – as amended by Act No.2011-01 (24 February 2011).
