Telecom Asia articles from April 2008

Telecom Asia archives from April 2008

Mobile music still clings to DRM.(TANNER)
April 1, 2008... It's a mobile music free-for-all in Hong Kong. SmarTone-Vodafone is the latest to enter the mobile music sweepstakes, with its new MusicXS service. The pitch is simple enough: unlimited downloads for a flat fee. Users can download tracks either...

SMS spam: now officially profitable and dangerous.(FIRST MILE)(Survey)
April 1, 2008... In the quest to make the internet accessible by mobile devices, it's easy for cellcos to forget that the risks of getting into the internet business aren't limited to new business models and revenue growth. As cliched as it sounds, the internet...

Double-digit handset growth to continue.(STAT SNAP)
April 1, 2008... Worldwide mobile phone sales pasted the 1.15-billion-unit mark in 2007, a 16% jump from 2006 sales of 990.9 million units. According to Gartner, most of the growth came from emerging markets China and India, with many people there buying their...

Global sales jump 16%.(STAT SNAP)(Motorola Inc.)(Nokia Corp.)(Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB)(Statistical table)(Financial report)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Global sales jump 16% Worldwide mobile terminal sales (thousands of units) 2007 2006 Market Market 2007 Share ...

Femtocell prospects surrounded by uncertainties.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2008... Femtocells may have created huge interests among operators worldwide, with some planning commercial deployment this year. However, the lack of a business case and regulatory issues are likely to dim the market outlook of 3G femtocells in Asia....

Users respond to touch-screen lure.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)(Apple Inc.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The success of Apple's iPhone has triggered strong demand for touch screens, with global revenues for leading touch-screen technologies projected to hit $4.4 billion by 2012 from $2.4 billion in 2006. According to iSuppli, sales of touch...

Adult content gets mobile subscribers hooked.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
April 1, 2008... Adult video chat services are seen ensnaring more users over the next four years, with revenues expected to hit $1.5 billion by 2012. A Juniper Research report says that while the adoption levels of such services are relatively low by the...

Wireline spending still on uptrend.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
April 1, 2008... Despite slower revenues, North American wireline telecom operators boosted capex sharply in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006. According to Ovum, wireline revenues grew by only 1.2% to $45.8 billion in the fourth...

Strong growth for mobile video services.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
April 1, 2008... The Asia-Pacific mobile video services market is expected to generate $1.88 billion in revenues by 2015 at a compounded annual growth rate of 27.4% starting in 2007. Frost & Sullivan says the market reached $440 million last year, with South...

Super-MII on its way.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2008... Farewell MII. Hello MII. After ten years, China's Ministry for Information Industry has been phased out. In its place, reflecting the government's new emphasis on "industralization" and "informatization", is the Ministry for Industry and...

Letter.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Dear Editor: I want to clarify the information related to the article in your February issue: "Wimax brings remote Vietnamese villagers new voice". As you know, this project was a cooperation between VDC (a member of VNPT), USMD and...

Rethink of EU-Japan R&D collaboration.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2008... The European Commission (EC) is pushing for collaborative research in the ICT field with Japan and is calling for Japanese research entities to jointly work with European counterparts in projects eligible for EU funding. Some 9.1 [euro] billion...

China's legislature, the National People's Congress, formally approved a reform bill that provides for the setting up of five "super-ministries".(BEIJING)
April 1, 2008... China's legislature, the National People's Congress, formally approved a reform bill that provides for the setting up of five "super-ministries", including the new Ministry for Industry and Information, which now has carriage of industry...

China Unicom will invest at least 20b yuan ($2.8b) to upgrade its GSM network in 2008.(BEIJING)
April 1, 2008... China Unicom will invest at least 20b yuan ($2.8b) to upgrade its GSM network in 2008. The company said the pending reshuffle of China's telecom industry will not influence its investment scheme.

China Telecom is accelerating Wi-Fi deployments and plans to launch a new round of bids for procuring wireless network equipment in 21 provinces.(BEIJING)
April 1, 2008... China Telecom is accelerating Wi-Fi deployments and plans to launch a new round of bids for procuring wireless network equipment in 21 provinces, indicating its business focus is moving to the wireless network sector.

PCCW sees its 2007 net profit surge 20% from a year earlier on growth in its core telecom services and narrowing losses at its pay-television and content operations.(HONG KONG)
April 1, 2008... PCCW sees its 2007 net profit surge 20% from a year earlier on growth in its core telecom services and narrowing losses at its pay-television and content operations. Net profit for the 12 months ended December was HK$1.5b ($193m), up from...

Hutchison Telecom International's net profit soared to HK$66.88b ($8.6b), thanks to the HK$69.3b sale of its investment in Indian operator Essar last February.(HONG KONG)
April 1, 2008... Hutchison Telecom International's net profit soared to HK$66.88b ($8.6b), thanks to the HK$69.3b sale of its investment in Indian operator Essar last February. The company posted a HK$2.7b operating loss on turnover of HK$20.4b for the full...

CAT Telecom looks to adopt an MVNO model to improve its competitiveness once the concessions it has granted to DTAC and True Move expires.(BANGKOK)
April 1, 2008... CAT Telecom looks to adopt an MVNO model to improve its competitiveness once the concessions it has granted to DTAC and True Move expires. Under that model, CAT would form alliances with DTAC and True Move to provide mobile phone services.

DTAC plans to spend 500m baht ($15.8m) to promote and improve services to corporate users.(BANGKOK)
April 1, 2008... DTAC plans to spend 500m baht ($15.8m) to promote and improve services to corporate users, in an effort to dethrone current leader AIS, which controls more than 50 of the corporate market.

Vietnam is preparing to launch its first satellite, hoping to improve the country's telecommunications to keep pace with its rapid economic development.(HANOI)
April 1, 2008... Vietnam is preparing to launch its first satellite, hoping to improve the country's telecommunications to keep pace with its rapid economic development. Vinasat--is scheduled to be launched April 12.

PLDT expects core earnings growth to slow to 5% this year from 11% last year, as a strong peso and economic uncertainty threaten sales growth.(MANILA)
April 1, 2008... PLDT expects core earnings growth to slow to 5% this year from 11% last year, as a strong peso and economic uncertainty threaten sales growth. It expects its broadband and data businesses to drive growth in the next two to three years as the...

Statistics from the Cellular Operators Association show the nation's leading GSM operators added 5.9m users in February, about 300,000 less than in January, taking its total subscriber base to 184.7m by end-February.(NEW DELHI)
April 1, 2008... Statistics from the Cellular Operators Association show the nation's leading GSM operators added 5.9m users in February, about 300,000 less than in January, taking its total subscriber base to 184.7m by end-February. Leading the pack is Bharti...

The government is studying the fineprint of an agreement between Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile and Tata Teleservices on mobile services to see if it complies with licensing norms of the country.(NEW DELHI)
April 1, 2008... The government is studying the fineprint of an agreement between Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile and Tata Teleservices on mobile services to see if it complies with licensing norms of the country. The Department of Telecommunications has asked...

India's Tech Mahindra signs a $350m, five-year deal to provide BT Group with application maintenance and support services for BT's business software solutions and open source software platforms.(NEW DELHI)
April 1, 2008... India's Tech Mahindra signs a $350m, five-year deal to provide BT Group with application maintenance and support services for BT's business software solutions and open source software platforms. These services would be delivered from the firm's...

The Fair Trade Commission levies a fine of 696m won ($729,000) on Motorola's Korean unit for helping three South Korean companies collude.(SEOUL)
April 1, 2008... The Fair Trade Commission levies a fine of 696m won ($729,000) on Motorola's Korean unit for helping three South Korean companies collude to get orders from government agencies.

Citigroup and SK Telecom launch a joint venture to offer mobile financial services, investing $8m each.(SEOUL)
April 1, 2008... Citigroup and SK Telecom launch a joint venture to offer mobile financial services, investing $8m each. The joint venture, Mobile Money Ventures, will offer a trial service to Citi customers in select Asian and North American markets in the...

Special prosecutors probing alleged corruption at Samsung Group.(SEOUL)
April 1, 2008... Special prosecutors probing alleged corruption at Samsung Group questioned its vice chairman amid intensifying speculation the conglomerate's top boss could be called in soon.

Chunghwa Telecom reports that sales rose 3.6% from a year ago, but its net income dropped 47.4% due to a large currency-related loss stemming.(TAIPEI)(Financial report)
April 1, 2008... Chunghwa Telecom reports that sales rose 3.6% from a year ago, but its net income dropped 47.4% due to a large currency-related loss stemming from the Taiwan dollar's recent gains.

Chunghwa Telecom plans to step up investment in Southeast Asia and expects to spend NT$120b ($3.9b) in the next five years on capital spending projects.(TAIPEI)
April 1, 2008... Chunghwa Telecom plans to step up investment in Southeast Asia and expects to spend NT$120b ($3.9b) in the next five years on capital spending projects. The firm had started in countries like Vietnam and Thailand and was planning to invest in...

NTT is to sell its entire stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Malaysia's Maxis Communications after a long legal battle.(TOKYO)
April 1, 2008... NTT is to sell its entire stake in Sri Lanka Telecom to Malaysia's Maxis Communications after a long legal battle. The 35.19% stake would be worth about $214m.

KDDI plans to build new data management centers in Britain, France and Singapore.(TOKYO)
April 1, 2008... KDDI plans to build new data management centers in Britain, France and Singapore to assist Japanese businesses overseas. KDDI will invest 25b yen ($242m) by 2010 to equip the sites.

The two regional units of NTT plan to boost their capital spending.(TOKYO)
April 1, 2008... The two regional units of NTT plan to boost their capital spending by 6% in the new business year from April as they expand their advanced fiber-optic networks to boost growth.

Ericsson wins an order from Vodafone in Australia for a national broadband rollout.(SYDNEY)
April 1, 2008... Ericsson wins an order from Vodafone in Australia for a national broadband rollout. The firm will deliver HSPA hardware and software.

The government rejects Telecom New Zealand's plan to break up its operations.(WELLINGTON)
April 1, 2008... The government rejects Telecom New Zealand's plan to break up its operations, saying the incumbent carrier must change the proposal if it is to meet regulatory requirements.

Orascom Telecom plans to launch mobile phone services.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Orascom Telecom plans to launch mobile phone services in North Korea in May, aiming to sign up 100,000 subscribers initially.

Nokia Siemens Networks agrees to outsource some of its R&D operations.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Nokia Siemens Networks agrees to outsource some of its R&D operations currently handled in Dusseldorf to Tata Consultancy Services in India.

Mitsubishi Electric plans to exit its loss-making mobile phone business.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Mitsubishi Electric plans to exit its loss-making mobile phone business, becoming the latest Japanese electronics maker to withdraw from a market.

France wins EU approval.(movements)
April 1, 2008... France wins EU approval to give $152m to several companies in an effort to build a European rival to US search giant Google.

Telecom Italia's new CEO outlines a three-year business plan.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Telecom Italia's new CEO outlines a three-year business plan that calls for investing 15b euros ($22.98b) to exploit the trend toward mobile and fixed-line convergence, while reducing debt and compensating shareholders.

UTStarcom says its quarterly operating revenue climbed.(movements)(Financial report)
April 1, 2008... UTStarcom says its quarterly operating revenue climbed 14.5% year-on-year to $806m while its net loss narrowed to $24.6m. Sales for the 2007 were $2.5b, resulting in a gross margin of 13% compared with 15.7% in 2006, while the net loss for the...

Deutsche Telekom agrees to take a 20% stake in Greece's biggest phone company.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Deutsche Telekom agrees to take a 20% stake in Greece's biggest phone company, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, or OTE, in a 2.5b euros ($3.9b) deal and aims to increase the stake.

Baidu.com faces a lawsuit from a music industry group.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Baidu.com faces a lawsuit from a music industry group in China over alleged copyright violations. The Music Copyright Society said the company provided "music, broadcasting and downloading services without approval, and through unfettered...

Google has pegged the final acquisition price of online ad service DoubleClick.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Google has pegged the final acquisition price of online ad service DoubleClick at $3.24b, slightly above the value when the internet search leader announced the deal 11 months ago.

Global Crossing swings to a small fourth-quarter profit on increased sales to internet and corporate networking customers.(movements)(Financial report)
April 1, 2008... Global Crossing swings to a small fourth-quarter profit on increased sales to internet and corporate networking customers. The company earned $1m compared to a loss of $90m in the 2006 quarter.

Apple tweaks the iPhone to work better with business email, an expected move that is meant to address a key weakness in the popular consumer device.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Apple tweaks the iPhone to work better with business email, an expected move that is meant to address a key weakness in the popular consumer device. The company said that the next software update for iPhones will enable them to work with...

A German state asks Nokia to return subsidies, with interest, totaling nearly $92m, that it received to build a cellphone factory it now plans to close.(movements)
April 1, 2008... A German state asks Nokia to return subsidies, with interest, totaling nearly $92m, that it received to build a cellphone factory it now plans to close. Nokia plans to close its plant in Bochum, in the industrial Ruhr region, a move that likely...

Vimpel Communications reports fourth-quarter profits rose 86% compared with a year ago.(movements)(Financial report)
April 1, 2008... Vimpel Communications reports fourth-quarter profits rose 86% compared with a year ago. Full-year profit for 2007 was up 80%. The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $368m on net operating revenues of $2b, with revenues rising 38.5 %...

Turkcell posts a 54% rise in net profit to $1.4b in 2007 and revenues rose 35% to $6.3b due to higher usage and subscriber growth.(movements)
April 1, 2008... Turkcell posts a 54% rise in net profit to $1.4b in 2007 and revenues rose 35% to $6.3b due to higher usage and subscriber growth. But the company expects the mobile phone market in Turkey to grow at a slower rate this year.

Gaining a 360[degrees] view: to understand the customer experience operators are pushing, for a consolidated customer view, which begins with real-time services.(Cover story)(Company overview)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As customers gain access to more choice and become ever more demanding, the telecom industry is slowly shifting its main focus from the technology side to customer service. While service providers face an array of...

Investing to stay ahead: Verizon Business director of Asia Pacific network planning and engineering Yali Liu updates group editor Joseph Waring on plans to expand its footprint in Asia, add capacity and improve availability.(ONE-TO-ONE)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... Telecom Asia: Web traffic is expanding exponentially, driven in large part by video usage. How does a network planner go about trying to project the needs of your business clients? Yali Liu: As a network service provider, we definitely see...

The fight for attention: uptake of new mobile apps, such as TV, video downloads and internet browsers, has slowed in many markets, indicating that the industry has not yet succeeded in delivering a satisfactory service at the right price.(SURVEY)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite manufacturers and operators packing ever more functions and features into mobile phones, the majority of consumers continue to stick with the basic phone functions. According to a study conducted by TNS...

The struggle for success.(INDUSTRYVIEW)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many telcos have tried to move into the IT services space to compete against outsourcers and new players. Building any new business is difficult and, for traditional telcos, moving into this space presents a steep...

Limited market for laptop mobile broadband.(FORUM)
April 1, 2008... Whether delivered by HSPA, Wimax or another technology, there are numerous markets and applications for wide-area mobile broadband. Although not confined to laptop mobile broadband, this is one application that has large potential and has...

Multi-band indoor coverage.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Andrew Wireless Solutions )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Andrew Wireless Solutions has introduced a digital, multi-band selective repeater that enables building cost-effective indoor coverage. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The node A RF enhancer supports a combination of narrowband channels and...

High-performance control plane scaling platform.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Juniper Networks Inc.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Juniper Networks has unveiled the JCS 1200, what it claims as the industry's first high-performance control plane scaling platform. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It introduces independent scale of control and forwarding plane resources to...

New FTTB solutions.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(CI Telecom )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... CI Telecom has introduced new gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and gigabit Ethernet (GbE) additions to its broadband access product suite, specifically targeting fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) network requirements. The new optical...

JDSU's three new offerings.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... JDSU has released three new offerings, including an all-in-one solution for optical transport, Nano wavelength selective switch (WSS) technology and an embedded operating system. The Agile Optical Network (AON) Superblade delivers all major...

Feature-packed prepaid mobile service.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
April 1, 2008... Long Distance Post has unveiled OneSIMCard, a prepaid international SIM card that allows users to take their GSM phone overseas and make calls without incurring high roaming charges. It works in more than 140 countries worldwide and offers...

Enhanced media converters.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Omnitron Systems Technology Inc.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Omnitron Systems Technology has enhanced its iConverter T1/E1 and T3/E3 media converters. The media converters are carrier-grade products designed to give telco and cable operators, utilities and enterprises the flexibility to provide...

Richer social networking experience.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Movial)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Movial has released its Social Communicator software application, which uses Global IP Solutions' VoiceEngine technology. The Social Communicator makes social networking truly social on mobile and PC devices by bringing voice and video...

Distortion equalization platform.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... CoreOptics has launched the second generation of its maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) technology for deployment in metro/regional optical networks. Apart from significant capex and opex savings, optical metro and regional...

Tata exec at WBA helm.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... The Wireless Broadband Mliance has appointed Prateek Pashine, Tata Communications' VP of planning and retail business, as chairman. Tata Communications is the only Indian telco that is part of this industry forum, with Pashine being the first...

Motorola mobile head quits.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Stu Reed has stepped down from his position as president of Motorola's mobile devices business. A spokeswoman said Reed, who had led the division since last summer, had been preparing for his departure after Motorola announced in February that...

Exec appointments at Intelsat.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Intelsat has appointed Kurt Riegelman as SVP of global sales, and Tobias Nassif as VP of satellite operations and engineering. Riegelman was previously Intelsat's SVP of Americas sales, while Nassif most recently served as the senior director...

Sun Greater China gets new chief.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Sun Microsystems has named Christopher Chi-ho Lin president for Greater China to oversee the company's business in China, Hung Kong and Taiwan. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lin succeeds Lionel Lim who served as acting president for Greater...

iBasis names CTO.(TELECOM CAREER)(Ajay Joseph appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... iBasis, a KPN affiliate, has promoted Ajay Joseph to CTO, making him responsible for the technical strategy, innovation, and engineering of the company's global telecom network and supporting systems. Joseph joined iBasis in 1999 as VP of...

Cisco taps Asia HR head.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Cisco has chosen Scott Slipy to be its senior director of human resources for Asia Pacific, based in Shanghai. Slipy joined Cisco in January, bringing more than 15 years of global human resources, business and leadership experience to the...

GoldSpot Media appoints execs.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... GoldSpot Media, a supplier of ad-insertion solutions for mobile broadcast TV, has selected William Ganon as SVP of advertising strategy and Staffan Nilsson as SVP of business development and sales. Ganon was previously VP of advertising...

Fairchild exec reshuffle.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Fairchild Semiconductor has hired Allan Lam to lead its sales and marketing organization worldwide, replacing Tom Beaver, who recently retired. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lam was previously SVP of Fairchild's Standard Products group,...

TENA hires interactive director.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Turner Entertainment Networks Asia (TENA) has assigned Benjamin J. Grubbs to the newly created position of regional director of interactive media. He will oversee the development and management of TENA's interactive business, with the mandate...

Juniper Research adds analysts.(TELECOM CAREER)(Howard Wilcox and Anne Powell appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Juniper Research has appointed Howard Wilcox as senior analyst and Anne Powell as research analyst. Formerly an associate of Juniper Research, Wilcox will develop Juniper Research's report portfolio, specializing in the areas of mobile...

STAR taps VP.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... STAR has chosen Yvonne Chuang as VP to oversee the syndication and home video distribution of the company's content library worldwide. She officially joined the company on March 10.

Alc-Luc exec jumps to NSH.(TELECOM CAREER)
April 1, 2008... Marc Rouanne, former head of Alcatel-Lucent's convergence Group, has joined Nokia Siemens Networks as head of its radio access business unit, effective April 1, 2008. He succeeds Ari Lehtoranta, who has taken leave of absence for personal...

Redefining for the future.(SHOW REPORT: Carriers World Asia 2008 * Mar 11-13, 2008 * Hong Kong)
April 1, 2008... The annual Carriers World event in Hong Kong last month attracted its usual crowd of wholesale insiders, who caught up on the latest developments (both carrier and capacity related, and increasingly personnel) between sessions and after hours....

Networking opportunities: across Asia.(EVENTS: CALENDAR)(Calendar)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Networking opportunities across Asia Date Event Location Apr 10-11, 2008 Next Generation Networks Shanghai, China 2008 Apr 14-17, 2008...

Exaflood revisited.(INSIDE LINE)
April 1, 2008... So, it's back to the exaflood. Once more we are seeing extravagant claims of a massive internet traffic jam. US research firm Nemertes says internet bandwidth demand is doubling every year and "could outstrip network capacity both in...

Can't live without it.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
April 1, 2008... "They'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers!" In two years cellphones have supplanted landline phones as the "most necessary" tech gadget--the last they would be willing to give up. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Pew Internet /...

Do-it-yourself.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
April 1, 2008... The Economist reports the average cost of serving a customer at the Tameside Borough Council in Manchester, Great Britain, is 14.65 [euro] ($22.80) for a face-to-face exchange, 1.39 [euro] for a single contact through the call center and just...

Mobile justice.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When an elephant at one end of a troupe of pachyderms was clipped by a hit and run cab driver in Bangalore, the mahout did what any enraged elephant driver would do--he whipped out his mobile and relayed the cab's...

No future.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
April 1, 2008... From Supply Technology: "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communications. The device is inherently of no value to us." An 1876 internal memo at Western Union, responding to Alexander...