Millicom Pulling out of Asia?
(02/07/2009, BWCS Staff)
Mobile operator Millicom has announced that several companies are keen to buy its Asian operations, after it employed Goldman Sachs to help flog them, or rather "look at strategic options for the activities". The operators which are in Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Laos, generated total revenues of US$68 million and net profits of US$4 million in the first quarter of this year.The move seems to indicate that Millicom is preparing to consolidate its holdings in the African and the Middle East markets and abandon plans to expand further in Asia. In November of last year the operator ... ... more
Mobile Transfer Season Now On ...
(02/07/2009, BWCS Staff)
It's the season of inflated buy-outs, in the mobile world as much as in the football world, and now it appears that Vodafone will not be alone in its pursuit of T-Mobile. Earlier in the week, the FT reported that the Newbury-based global wireless giant was poised to mount a take-over of the ailing, German-owned, UK operator, T-Mobile. Not to be outdone by their larger rival, it now appears that Orange-owner, France Telecom, is putting together its own bid to buy T-Mobile, at least according to the FT it is. Meanwhile, the same newspaper is citing "sources close to the matter" as ... ... more
Apple Sees Light and Joins Interchangeable Charger Brigade
(30/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
Finally, the years of wasteful duplication of mobile phone chargers may be about to come to an end. Today the European Commission announced that ten major mobile phone manufacturers and chip-makers have agreed to produce standard chargers. The big ten, which unexpectedly includes Apple, have all agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to harmonise chargers across Europe on the basis of the micro-USB connector. The decision has been almost universally welcomed as a victory for common sense and one which will hopefully reduce electronic waste.Initially, Apple, a relatively recent member of ... ... more
Kiwis to Regulate Mobile Termination Fees
(30/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
A draft report from the New Zealand Commerce Commission will recommend that mobile termination access fees in the country should be regulated. The Commission will further suggest that the framework put in place by the three main mobile operators, which has functioned in place of mobile termination regulations across New Zealand, should be rejected. The system had been set up and agreed to by Telecom New Zealand, Vodafone and 2degrees.The report from the Commission will be thrown open to the operators for consultation, though they are unlikely to agree with the findings that mobile termination ... ... more
France Telecom Wins Tunisian Licence
(29/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
Following its recent problems in Egypt, France Telecom executives no doubt breathed a collective sigh of relief when they learned at the weekend that the company had won a mobile and fixed line telephone operating licence in Tunisia. In partnership with local company Divona, the French company agreed to pay 257 million dinars (US$189.7 million) for the licence, beating a rival bid from Turkcell, the Turkish mobile phone company.According to the Tunisian Communication Minister, Haj Klai, the French-backed consortium has agreed to invest one billion dinars (US$738.13 million) to roll out its ... ... more
Vodafone to Take Over T-Mobile?
(29/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
Rumours are rife this morning that Vodafone may be about to launch an audacious bid to buy rival UK mobile operator T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom. However, it is far from clear that such a deal would meet with approval from British regulators. The UK-based Vodafone has a market share of some 25% and adding T-Mobile's 15% of the British market would place it in a very strong position and allow it to overtake rival O2, which has a 27% market share. According to reports in the Financial Times this morning, T-Mobile's German parent company, is keen to sell its troubled offspring. The paper ... ... more
Big Cuts in Spanish Mobile Rates on the Cards
(24/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
CMT, the Spanish telecoms regulator, is proposing massive cuts of up to 43% in the mobile termination fees currently charged by the country's three main operators. The mobile call termination rate is the fee that mobile network operators charge to connect calls made from other fixed or mobile networks. The watchdog has launched a public consultation on the issue, but it is suggesting that Orange Spain, Telefonica Moviles and Vodafone Spain should face large cuts and newcomer Xfera - operating as Yoigo should reduce its fees by 52%. However, the CMT is prepared to let the operators trim the ... ... more
Icomera Catches the Luxury Bus
(24/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
On-board WiFi provider Icomera has made what it believes is an important break-through into the US luxury-coach market. Yesterday the Swedish/UK technology company announced that it has signed a deal to provide WiFi connections on 120 coaches owned and operated by Texan company Executive Coach. Based in Houston, Dallas and Austin Executive operates luxury buses across the US.According to Dave Palmer, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Icomera, the potential market for such services on chartered buses in the US is huge - "With over 5,000 charter bus companies generating in excess ... ... more
Regulators Roll out NGN in 25 Minutes - Latest BWCS Blog Entry
(23/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
Last month BWCS hosted the No-Nonsense Guide to NGNs and NGAs at the recent IIR conference in Berlin (see previous blog entry http://www.bwcs.com/blog.cfm ). You may remember, we rather ambitiously offered regulators and those in the regulatory function of telcos the chance to find out how all this new telecoms technology works ... find out what happened at http://www.bwcs.com/blog.cfm . Besides presentations from BWCS people, we had a couple guests who came along for the day - Phil Holmes, formerly design guru for BT's 21CN, and Peter Weik, IMS specialist with the FraunhoferInstitute ... ... more
Indian Sale to Raise US$5 Billion ...
(22/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
The long awaited sale of 3G licences in India could raise as much as 242 billion rupees (US$5 billion) according to the Financial Times. The newspaper quotes the usual "people familiar with the matter" saying the auction may now finally take place in August or September of this year, providing that plans by the government's telecommunications department are approved. The department hopes to issue six national 3G licences, costing 40.4 billion rupees each, the newspaper reported. Late last month it emerged that Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile operator in India, was again being ... ... more
Nortel Selling up to Nokia Siemens
(22/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
The once mighty Nortel Networks is to sell its CDMA and LTE businesses to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for an estimated US$650 million, according to press reports. The Canadian vendor, which has been in bankruptcy protection since earlier this year, has begun selling off its assets and says it hopes that the sale to NSN will at least save some 2,500 jobs, mainly in the US and Canada, which will be transferred to NSN.The Canadian government is said to be supporting the deal with a US$300 million loan. As Nortel is under Chapter 11 protection the sale is subject to the approval of the United ... ... more
Atlanta Gets WiMax
(17/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
US broadband operator Clearwire Communications says it has launched its third city-wide roll-out of its mobile WiMax network in Atlanta. The new system, which will cover approximately 1,200 square miles, is seen by many as a sign that Clearwire is speeding up its deployment of high-speed wireless technology. The new network, which will use mainly Motorola kit, will cover an area more than twice the size of those covered in previous roll-outs in Baltimore, Maryland and Portland, Oregon. The end-to-end Motorola equipment includes the company's CPE1 150 desk top device that automatically ... ... more
More Calls for WiFi on Trains ...
(17/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
US Senator Charles Schumer has joined the chorus of on-board WiFi supporters demanding more on-train access for passengers. Speaking earlier this week he called on the Long Island Rail Road to install wireless Internet access on all its trains to "Make commuting more productive and pleasant." Joined by wireless experts from Stony Brook University, Schumer said, perhaps overstating the case, that the LIRR needs to catch up with the many other train providers in the US and across the world, who are already offering passengers and staff wireless internet access. According to Schumer, ... ... more
Customers Keen on New Apples ...
(16/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
In another sign that it is the phone that everyone wants, it has emerged that AT&T Mobility has already sold out of pre-order units for the new 3G Apple iPhone. The mobile operator confirmed that no more of the devices could be ordered, for love nor money, and that would-be new customers will now have to wait up to two weeks for new phones to hit the stores.According to reports from various blogs and internet sites, AT&T Mobility has confirmed that only customers who pre-ordered an iPhone from an AT&T store by June 12th will have their order fulfilled. These lucky few should be ... ... more
WiFi Mesh to Envelope Indian Cities
(16/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
Zylog Systems India, part of the US company Zylog, has announced plans to cover several major Indian cities with WiFi mesh networks by next summer. The new service, to be known as Wi5, will debut in Chennai, before being rolled out to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Zylog can offer such wide coverage as it possesses an ISP licence to operate in all of India's DoT telecom circles.Zylog is still trialing its system before embarking on what appears to be the first commercial roll-out of WiFi mesh networks on the subcontinent. The first stage of its deployment is around its own ... ... more
More WiFi on More Trains ...
(15/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
Wrexham & Shropshire railway has become the latest UK train operator to start offering free WiFi services to all passengers. The new service, installed and operated by Icomera, will be available on all trains running between Central London and the Midlands. Icomera announced at last week's Train Communications Systems Conference, hosted by BWCS, that it will install its Moovbox M200R mobile broadband gateways to provide Internet connectivity to passenger carriages. At the same time, the company will provision power outlets for laptops, netbooks, phones and other devices. The Icomera ... ... more
State to Sell Vodafone Iceland Stake
(15/06/2009, BWCS Staff)
The cash-strapped Icelandic government is rumoured to be mulling a sale of its 57.2% stake in local mobile operator Og Vodafone. The Icelandic newspaper, Morgunbladid, reported that Foroya Tele, of the Faroe Islands, is the most likely bidder for the stake. Despite carrying the Vodafone brand name, the UK-based mobile giant does not actually own any part of the Icelandic mobile venture. Instead the brand is franchised to local company Teymi. Vodafone Iceland offers mobile, fixed-line, and ADSL/ internet services to individuals and companies. Its telecommunications branch is a franchise of the ... ... more
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