Best Buy Buys into Carphone Warehouse and Targets Europe
(08/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
UK-based mobile phone retail chain Carphone Warehouse has announced a £1.1 billion tie-up with US group Best Buy. Together the pair will launch a joint venture company aiming to target the mobile phone retail market across Europe. Under the terms of the deal, Best Buy will take a 50% stake in Carphone Warehouse's string of high street shops. The two already work together in the US.The British company said that it will retain its broadband operations in the UK and hopes to use some of the investment money to develop this part of its business. It may even use the funds to buy up smaller ... ... more
Sweden Sells Service-Neutral Spectrum
(08/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
Sweden has followed neighbor Norway's example and auctioned off a series of technology neutral blocks of wireless spectrum. The Swedish telecoms regulator, the PTS, completed the auction of spectrum in the 2.6GHz band this week. In total the sale raised SKr2.1 billion (euros 225.4 million) for the government. In the end, five companies were successful after a bidding battle that lasted 16 days. The total block of 190MHz of spectrum was awarded on a technology neutral basis and the licences will last for 15 years. Mobile operator 3 won two 10MHz chunks of spectrum and agreed to pay SKr 296.6 ... ... more
Diamond Aims to Cut up Apple
(07/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
No sooner had Apple signed up with Vodafone to increase its iPhone distribution network than a new rival has landed on the scene in the shape of High Tech Computer's upgraded version of its popular Touch smart phone. The handset is deliberately designed to compete with its US counterpart.The Diamond handset has strikingly similar features to the Apple iPhone, but goes one step further by supporting 3G networks. The iPhones do not yet connect to 3G, though this is expected to change soon. The new HTC phones are gaining a lot of coverage largely because of the success of the original Touch ... ... more
T-Mobile (Finally) Launches 3G in US
(07/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
A mere four and a half years after some of its competitors, T-Mobile USA has finally launched its 3G network. However, the German-owned operator has only rolled out services in New York and is selling only a handful of compatible phones. In part the delay has been down to the US government which until recently had failed to clear the spectrum that T-Mobile won back in August 2006, for its use. However, that apart, many analysts have expressed surprise that the company has chosen to launch the service with no real eye-catching devices and instead offer only four "mid-range" smart ... ... more
Sprint to Sell Nextel as Bidders Circle
(06/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
Sprint appears to be moving closer to selling off its Nextel division with at least two potential suitors ready to press their case. According to recent reports in the Wall Street Journal, the German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom is getting ready to bid for the mobile company. However, a new company appears to have entered the picture with the Journal reporting that newcomers Cyren Call, also preparing to mount a bid.The two year-old Cyren Call was set up by Morgan O'Brien, one of the co-founders of Nextel, and is busy trying to put together a group of investors to back its bid to buy ... ... more
Vodafone to sell iPhone Around the World
(06/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
Vodafone has secured a deal to sell the much-vaunted Apple iPhone in ten different markets, the UK-based operator announced today. The company has been locked in competition with other mobile operators and retailers around the world to secure the right to sell the iPhone which has been doing very good business for Apple's UK partner O2. According to Vodafone, it will start offering the iPhone to its customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey from later in the year. Rumours that a new 3G version of the iPhone is ... ... more
Beijing Subway Removes Mobile Blind Spots
(01/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
With less than 100 days to go to the start of the "greatest games on earth" in China, Beijing Subway has announced plans to clear all mobile telecoms blind spots on its lines by the start of the Games. The transit authority currently operates eight lines around the Chinese capital and the oldest of these are said to be riddled with blind spots affecting both mobile and WiFi connections. According to reports in the Beijing Daily newspaper passengers on the older lines frequently suffer dropped calls and poor signal reception. In the seven months since September 2007, Beijing ... ... more
India Takes Giant Step towards On-Train WiFi
(01/05/2008, BWCS Staff)
The Indian Railways network has paved the way for the launch of a WiFi on trains system across the subcontinent by inaugurating its own satellite-based VSAT hub system. According to a press release this morning from the Government's Press Bureau, the system will herald a new era of communication services providing a number of new voice, data and video applications. The Indian government points out that the new services will include remote ticketing, data connectivity to remote locations including the Freight Operating Information System and reporting from accident sites. In the future, the ... ... more
Orange Wins National Slovak Licence
(30/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
France Telecom's mobile wing Orange has won the Slovakian tender for a national mobile data network in the 870MHZ band. The frequencies in this area of the spectrum have been reserved by the Slovak government for broadband wireless provision and Orange will now have exclusive use of a block in the 872MHz - 876MHz range.The Slovak government had put a minimum price of SKr 30 million on the licence and it is understood that Orange agreed to pay SKr 40 million. In winning the mobile broadband data licence, Orange managed to beat off bids from rival western European operators - Telefonica and ... ... more
Tiscali Faces Break-up
(30/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
BT and Vodafone are the main companies left in the bidding for the whole of Italian ISP Tiscali, according to reports in the Italian press. The two UK companies are said to be keen to purchase the British parts of Tiscali's operations as well as its Italian assets. Tiscali has apparently received interest from numerous other would-be suitors; however, almost all of these were keen to take either its UK or its Italian operations - not both. Despite the clear interest of at least two heavyweight market players in buying the whole of the company's operations, Tiscali's CEO, Mario Rosso, recently ... ... more
Local 3G - First off the Blocks in Olympic Month
(29/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
China Mobile has announced that it will launch 3G services based on China's TD-SCDMA standard during this summer's Beijing Olympics in August. According to reports from the country's official Xinhua news agency, the company, together with one of its suppliers, Samsung Electronics, has already distributed 15,000 free TD-SCDMA handsets to the Beijing Olympic Committee. At the end of March this year, China Mobile launched TD-SCDMA commercial trials in eight cities.The giant Chinese operator will also launch a massive W-Lan network capable of serving 5 million users across all Olympic venues by ... ... more
Mobile Sales Beat Expectations in First Quarter
(29/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
Despite the Credit Crunch, consumer spending slow-down and the housing market going belly-up, mobile phones it seems are still in high demand. According to figures from ABI Research, handset sales around the world beat estimates during the first three months of this year, bringing some cheer to generally depressed board rooms. According to ABI Research vice president, Jake Saunders, "Operators and distributors continued to top up their inventories in the first quarter of 2008 after a particularly strong fourth quarter in 2007." However, Saunders's statement went on to point out that ... ... more
Bharti Mulls Bid for MTN
(28/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
Indian operator Bharti Airtel is said to be the latest mobile player considering a takeover bid for South Africa-based mobile company MTN. According to reports in the Financial Times, Standard Chartered Bank is acting as an advisor to Bharti on a possible deal. The paper also said that Singtel, which owns a 35% stake in Bharti Airtel, is in favour of a bid for MTN. Meanwhile, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Indian company's founder and chairman, denied that a recent board meeting had studied a proposal for a formal approach. A decision to proceed with a formal offer had not been taken and might ... ... more
Coffee Boost for AT&T WiFi
(28/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
AT&T has announced the start of its roll out of free WiFi services in 7,000 US Starbucks coffee houses. The Chairman and CEO of the US telco, Randall Stephenson, told shareholders recently that the two companies have already started the deployment of AT&T WiFi service at Starbucks locations in San Antonio. The move means that AT&T will take-over from T-Mobile as the primary supplier of WiFi in the café chain. In February of this year, Starbucks announced that it planned to tear up its previous WiFi agreement - first made with MobileStar then with T-Mobile - and that it ... ... more
Sony Ericsson Slips
(23/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
Swedish-Japanese joint venture Sony Ericsson Mobile has reported a 47% drop in its first quarter profits, compared to the same period in 2007. However, the results were slightly better than many market analysts had been predicting. For the first three months of 2008 the handset maker announced pre-tax profits of euros 193 million. This was pretty much in line with its earlier warning that profits would slip to somewhere in the range of euros 150 million to euros 200 million. The group announced that sales of its mobile phones had brought in euros 2.7 billion during the quarter, down 8% ... ... more
Spanish to go Dutch?
(23/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
Acquisitive Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica is reportedly licking its lips yet again, this time the dish on offer is said to be Dutch telco KPN. According to reports in the Financial Times German edition, the Madrid-based group is seriously considering a bid for KPN. The two companies have been linked several times before and eight years ago even came close to a merger. However, the renewed interest is said to be sparked by reports that France Telecom is preparing to bid for TeliaSonera and Telefonica does not wish to be left behind in the new round of empire building. In fact it could be ... ... more
India to Opt for Two Step 3G
(22/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
The department of telecommunications in India will auction 3G licences for the country in two phases, reports the Indian business newspaper, the Economic Times. The first round will be launched before the end of this year, the paper says, while the second will be held back until March 2009. The problem is that some of the spectrum to be used for 3G in the subcontinent is reserved for military use and will not be freed up until March next year. However, the government has already promised that it will sell off 3Glicences before the end of 2008. So the two-part licence sale is a bid to save ... ... more
Profits Soar as China Mobile Prepares to Take on the World
(22/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone carrier by subscribers, has reported a surge in first quarter profits. In contrast the country's main fixed line operator, China Telecom, has almost flat earnings for the first three months of this year. China Mobile said that profits for the three months ending 31st March soared by 37.2% compared to the same period last year. At the same time its subscriber base grew by a more modest 6% to 392 million customers.While China Mobile could boast net profit of Yuan 24.1 billion (US$3.4 billion) for the first quarter of this year, its fixed line ... ... more
French on Course for Nordic Deal
(21/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
Rumours about an upcoming take-over of TeliaSonera by France Telecom gained ground over the weekend as the head of the Swedish-Finnish telco seemed to endorse the idea. Speaking to Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, TeliaSonera chairman, Tom von Weymarn, said the geographic fit between the Nordic operator and France Telecom was "perfect". Von Weymarn claimed that "Our footprints on the different markets are in no way overlapping, so geographically the fit is perfect." According to von Weymarn the combined seize will help both operators. As he put it, "if one is to, ... ... more
New Mobile VoIP Service to Hit Japan Early
(21/04/2008, BWCS Staff)
Japanese wireless service company - Japan Communications is reportedly planning to launch what it refers to as an Internet mobile phone service by this July. According to the Nikkei business daily, the company will offer users a mobile phone service for a flat fee every month and will not charge any extra for calls placed the Internet. Newspapers in Japan have been reporting that Japan Communications hopes to launch what it has been referring to as "the world's first" Internet Protocol mobile phone service in the third quarter of this year. Now it seems that it plans are ... ... more
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