Telecom Asia articles from January 2006

Telecom Asia archives from January 2006

Sony ruins DRM for everyone.(TANNER)
January 1, 2006... The Great Sony BMG DRM Disaster of 2005 has already been written about ad nauseum. But it's just too tempting to resist. As a technology fan, for me it has been nothing short of fascinating watching this train wreck unfold. So please bear with...

Wi-Fi on the water in HK.(FIRST MILE)
January 1, 2006... Hong Kong already has a reputation as one of the most wired (and wireless) cities in Asia, but one of its outlying residential areas is determined to be one of the most connected spots in the territory--including its ferry route. Discovery...

IPTV's strikingly slow start.(STAT SNAP)(IP television)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... For all the hype over IPTV as part of the fabled "triple-play" strategy for telcos, it's still firmly in niche territory, according to figures released in late November from Point Topic. All up, the latest worldwide figures (H1 2005)...

MIC set to guide Korea's u-city mania.(NEWS ANALYSIS)(Ministry of Information and Communication )(ubiquitous city)
January 1, 2006... Last month Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), together with the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, announced that they will jointly coordinate and regulate the burgeoning growth of u-city (ubiquitous city)...

Cellcos losing battle for MNC cash.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
January 1, 2006... With mobile operators failing to address a number of concerns that multinational companies (MNCs) have, they may end up losing out to system integrators and fixed operators for future MNC convergence and integration projects. An Ovum/Enterprise...

Broadband CPE revenue to reach $4.6b.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... Global broadband CPE revenue is expected to increase to $4.6 billion by 2008, fueled by the convergence of voice, data and video services. According to Infonetics, voice-enabled broadband CPE, in particular, will benefit from this convergence....

Asia VoIP market set to double.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
January 1, 2006... The Asia VoIP market is forecast to reach $10 billion in four years, growing $1 billion a year from 2004 to 2009. In-Stat says long-distance calls, initiated from either traditional PSTN terminals or full IP local loops but carried over IP...

New policies spur NZ broadband growth.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
January 1, 2006... A proposal by the New Zealand regulator to unbundle the Internet network as well as the advent of wireless Internet in 2004 are expected to spur broadband growth in the country. According to Hot Telecom, the number of broadband customers in New...

Cisco charts aggressive telecom expansion.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2006... Cisco Systems charted an aggressive expansion of its broadening telecom strategy last month by using its worldwide analyst conference as a forum to launch new initiatives into the enterprise, demonstrate IMS-enabled fixed-mobile convergence and...

India's VoIP leap of faith--almost.(RESEND: Flashbacks, updates and nostalgia)
January 1, 2006... SYNOPSIS: After much speculation and delay, India finally takes steps to legalize voice over IR in October 2001, Pramod Mahajan, Minister for Communications, IT and parliamentary Affairs, announced that it was rime for India to benefit from...

The government projects China's telecommunication industry to earn $72.lb in 2005, or an increase of 10.3% year-on-year.(BEIJING)
January 1, 2006... The government projects China's telecommunication industry to earn $72.lb in 2005, or an increase of 10.3% year-on-year. The National Development and Reform Commission also expects China could gain an additional 100m telephone subscribers in...

Authorities plan to suspend 60m prepaid mobile phone numbers.(BEIJING)
January 1, 2006... Authorities plan to suspend 60m prepaid mobile phone numbers after the proposed prepaid SIM registration program becomes effective.

True Corp says Thailand's Internet traffic faces bottlenecks unless the National Telecommunications Commission issues new international gateway licenses.(BANGKOK)
January 1, 2006... True Corp says Thailand's Internet traffic faces bottlenecks unless the National Telecommunications Commission issues new international gateway licenses to expand connections next year.

AIS earmarks $400m to upgrade its network for 3G services and improve its existing infrastructure next year, despite failing to secure a license for 3G.(BANGKOK)
January 1, 2006... AIS earmarks $400m to upgrade its network for 3G services and improve its existing infrastructure next year, despite failing to secure a license for 3G. Regulators rejected a request by AIS to start trial 3G services, citing "regulatory...

The Bangladesh government issues a decree to allow the country's intelligence agencies to intercept phone calls and emails.(DHAKA)
January 1, 2006... The Bangladesh government issues a decree to allow the country's intelligence agencies to intercept phone calls and emails in an effort to track down suspects in a recent wave of bombings blamed on Islamic militants.

The Vietnamese government approves the Vietnam Television Technology Investment and Development Company.(HANOI)
January 1, 2006... The Vietnamese government approves the Vietnam Television Technology Investment and Development Company to provide broadband Internet and multimedia services.

Telkomsel readies $850m for capital spending next year.(JAKARTA)
January 1, 2006... Telkomsel readies $850m for capital spending next year. Most of the funds will go to capacity expansion.

Telekom Malaysia posts a 76% increase in pre-tax profit.(KUALA LUMPUR)
January 1, 2006... Telekom Malaysia posts a 76% increase in pre-tax profit, reaching $243.9m for the third quarter year-on-year.

PLDT plans to venture into IPTV after it failed to acquire a satellite-based pay TV company.(MANILA)
January 1, 2006... PLDT plans to venture into IPTV after it failed to acquire a satellite-based pay TV company. PLDT officials confirmed that talks with Philippine Multi-Media System, operator of Dream Satellite TV, had broken down.

The government allows private telecom operators to share infrastructure owned by BSNL in providing services to rural areas.(NEW DELHI)
January 1, 2006... The government allows private telecom operators to share infrastructure owned by BSNL in providing services to rural areas. Private companies have already started installing more base stations and the process would be completed by end of Jan...

Reliance Infocomm and China Telecom enter into an agreement for direct service, including a global hubbing service, to subscribers in India and China.(NEW DELHI)
January 1, 2006... Reliance Infocomm and China Telecom enter into an agreement for direct service, including a global hubbing service, to subscribers in India and China. The deal will pave the way for the first direct telecom connectivity between the two nations....

Top fixed-line operator KT plans to spend $2.91b next year to upgrade its facilities and infrastructures.(SEOUL)
January 1, 2006... Top fixed-line operator KT plans to spend $2.91b next year to upgrade its facilities and infrastructures. The investment is a 20% increase from this year.

KTF and LG Telecom expect to sell handsets featuring a terrestrial television service.(SEOUL)
January 1, 2006... KTF and LG Telecom expect to sell handsets featuring a terrestrial television service early next year.

Taiwan's mobile carriers are struggling to expand their 3G subscriber base due to the high cost and limited selection of handsets.(TAIPEI)
January 1, 2006... Taiwan's mobile carriers are struggling to expand their 3G subscriber base due to the high cost and limited selection of handsets. Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Cellular and Far EasTone claim to more than 450,000 subscribers, but recently admitted...

NTT DoCoMo agrees to purchase a 10% stake in South Korea's second-largest mobile carrier KTF.(TOKYO)
January 1, 2006... NTT DoCoMo agrees to purchase a 10% stake in South Korea's second-largest mobile carrier KTF for about $560m.

KDDI plans to take control of Japan Cablenet, the nation's second-largest cable TV company.(TOKYO)
January 1, 2006... KDDI plans to take control of Japan Cablenet, the nation's second-largest cable TV company, by teaming up with Tokyo Electric Power, one of Japan Cablenet's major shareholders.

Yahoo! joins forces with Australia's Seven Network to compete in the online market down under.(SYDNEY)
January 1, 2006... Yahoo! joins forces with Australia's Seven Network to compete in the online market down under. The two firms will be equal partners in a holding company called Yahoo! Australia and New Zealand.

Internet firm Dodo Australia secures a multi-million dollar deal with Telstra's wholesale division for broadband DSL.(SYDNEY)
January 1, 2006... Internet firm Dodo Australia secures a multi-million dollar deal with Telstra's wholesale division for broadband DSL, dial-up Internet and voice services.

Telstra is not likely to face sanctions after Australia's corporate watchdog.(SYDNEY)
January 1, 2006... Telstra is not likely to face sanctions after Australia's corporate watchdog completed its inquiry into whether the telco had broken stock market rules.

SingTel cuts its 30.85% stake in Singapore Post as part of the company's efforts to trim interests in non-core businesses.(SINGAPORE)
January 1, 2006... SingTel cuts its 30.85% stake in Singapore Post as part of the company's efforts to trim interests in non-core businesses. Sing Tel sold 95m shares for $63m and intends to sell its remaining 25.87% stake in the island-state's dominant postal...

PLDT signs a deal with M1 to offer MVNO services in Singapore.(SINGAPORE)
January 1, 2006... PLDT signs a deal with M1 to offer MVNO services in Singapore. The partnership will allow PLDT to tap into the 100,000 overseas Filipino workers in Singapore by offering voice and data services at preferential rates.

Britain's Vodafone Group wins an auction to buy Telsim, Turkey's second-largest mobile company, with a bid of $4.55b.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Britain's Vodafone Group wins an auction to buy Telsim, Turkey's second-largest mobile company, with a bid of $4.55b. Vodafone outbid Kuwait's MTC Telecommunications in the closely fought open auction.

Members of the board of Virgin Mobile Holdings unanimously reject the proposed takeover offer by NTL.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Members of the board of Virgin Mobile Holdings unanimously reject the proposed takeover offer by NTL, citing "the potential offer materially undervalues Virgin Mobile."

Intel, AMD, Microsoft, Nokia, LG Electronic and Ericsson plan to invest over $8b in India's IT services and telecom equipment manufacturing.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Intel, AMD, Microsoft, Nokia, LG Electronic and Ericsson plan to invest over $8b in India's IT services and telecom equipment manufacturing in the next three to five years.

Inmarsat switches on the first phase of its long-awaited $1.5b satellite network.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Inmarsat switches on the first phase of its long-awaited $1.5b satellite network, giving users across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia access to simultaneous voice and broadband Internet service.

European justice ministers approve a compromise deal on controversial anti-terror measures that increase police access to telephone and Internet records.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * European justice ministers approve a compromise deal on controversial anti-terror measures that increase police access to telephone and Internet records. The deal lays out what kinds of data can be retained, for how long, under which...

Verizon Wireless posts a legal victory against telemarketers who made unwanted sales calls to its customers and said it has launched a new offensive against unsolicited SMS messages.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Verizon Wireless posts a legal victory against telemarketers who made unwanted sales calls to its customers and said it has launched a new offensive against unsolicited SMS messages. A telemarketer has been banned from using auto dialers to...

Siemens China expects to add 3,000 new employees.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Siemens China expects to add 3,000 new employees in its annual recruitment in 2006.

MCI expands its global IP network to deliver more bandwidth to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and western Europe.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * MCI expands its global IP network to deliver more bandwidth to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and western Europe. Under the plan customer traffic will be transmitted on the new SEA-ME-WE4 submarine network cable system.

Ericsson signs a deal worth more than $1.87b.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Ericsson signs a deal worth more than $1.87b to manage the mobile network of 3 UK.

The South African government issues a second fixed-line license.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * The South African government issues a second fixed-line license, effectively ending a monopoly by Africa's biggest phone company.

Labor unions threaten Deutsche Telekom with strikes if management refuses.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Labor unions threaten Deutsche Telekom with strikes if management refuses to negotiate over its plans to ax 32,000 jobs over the next three years.

Prosecutors charge four current and former employees at Ericsson with obstruction of tax controls and evading taxes.(movements)
January 1, 2006... * Prosecutors charge four current and former employees at Ericsson with obstruction of tax controls and evading taxes. According to the charges, Ericsson had sent false invoices from a subsidiary in Switzerland to cover up payments made to Bank...

6 for '06: this year's top six telecom tech trends in Asia and elsewhere.(Cover story)
January 1, 2006... You don't need a crystal ball or a crack telecoms consultancy forecast to tell you that telecoms in 2006 is going to be mainly about wireless. And VoIP. All you really need for that was to have paid attention during 2005. Last year's...

We can secure you.(ONE-TO-ONE)
January 1, 2006... The latest enterprise security study from AT&T and the Economist intelligence Unit says that CXOs are spending more on business continuity but aren't testing their plans. Stanley Quintana, VP of managed security services at AT&T, explains to...

Shift to Barcelona creates new buzz.(PREVIEW: 3GSM WORLD CONGRESS: FEB13-16, 2006)
January 1, 2006... More than 36,000 executives from across the mobile industry are expected to attend the 3GSM World Congress as the world's largest mobile industry event shifts to a larger venue at the Fira conference center in Barcelona from February 13-17. ...

A pivotal policy-making year ahead.(FORUM)
January 1, 2006... Like my colleagues in this dynamic telecom business, I am looking at my 2006 calendar to see what can be accomplished this year. With Internet growth and wireless broadband penetration soaring, particularly in Asia, telecom policy makers around...

Networking opportunities: across Asia.(EVENTS)(Table)(Calendar)
January 1, 2006... Networking opportunities across Asia Date Event Location Jan 15-Jan 18, 2006 PTC 2006 Hawaii, USA Jan 17-Jan 18, 2006 GSM India 2006 Mumbai,...

First commercial HSUPA test system.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(high-speed uplink packet access)(Aeroflex Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Aeroflex has launched the world's first commercial test system for high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), which provides full support for the latest 3GPP enhanced uplink technology. The new test system, an enhancement to the Aeroflex...

RRH solution accelerates 3G rollouts.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
January 1, 2006... Comba Telecom has introduced a remote radio head (RRH) solution that helps mobile operators roll out faster, more efficient 3G networks at 30% lower cost than when using traditional base station solutions. While typical 3G base station...

Convergent mobile charging solution.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
January 1, 2006... LogicaCMG's new real-time rating and balance management payments solution, Intelligent Charger, enables mobile operators to handle both prepaid and postpaid charging for all their voice, data and rich-media services. With its open...

Richer multimedia capabilities for cellphones.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
January 1, 2006... Texas Instruments' new high-performance OMAP 2-based processor boosts the multimedia capabilities of mobile phones by providing up to four times better video performance compared with first-generation OMAP 2 processors. The new OMAP2430...

Larger-capacity DWDM signal transmission.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
January 1, 2006... Huawei Technologies' 40-Gbps per wavelength dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transmission system is now commercially available for carriers with the launch of the OptiX BWS 1600G and OptiX BWS 1600A DWDM versions. The systems,...

Low-cost wireless sensor network starter kit.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
January 1, 2006... Jennic has released a low-cost wireless sensor network starter kit for developing IEEE802.15.4 and ZigBee products based on its single-chip wireless microcontroller device. The kit contains sample demonstrations that highlight the potential...

Enterprise-class stackable switches.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Huawei-3Com )(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... In anticipation of high demand for enterprise network equipment next year, Huawei-3Com has launched the 3Com 5500 premium stackable switch series, which includes the 5500-SI, 5500-EI and 5500G-EI switches. The company claims that the...

Optus shuffles chiefs.(TELECOM CAREER)(new appointments and resignation)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Optus CFO Pat O'Sullivan has resigned and consumer chief Allen Lew will return to Singapore to take up the newly created position CEO, Singapore, reporting to SingTel group president and CEO Lee Hsien Yang. Jeann Low, previously SingTel EVP...

Motorola name new VP.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Jeff Spaeth has succeeded John Gherghetta as the new VP for Motorola's government and enterprise mobility solutions business in Asia Pacific. Most recently Spaeth was VP for the same business in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.

LogicaCMG Asia CEO.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... LogicaCMG has appointed Michael Warren as chief executive for its Asia operations. He will be leading LogicaCMG's operations in the region and is responsible for driving growth for LogicaCMG's customers primarily in the telecommunications,...

Inter-touch taps CEO.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Inter-touch, a NTT DoCoMo-owned company providing broadband service to the hospitality and travel industries, has appointed Charles Reed as CEO. Reed will be based in Singapore at the Inter-touch global headquarters. Previously he was...

Senior appointments at Sony Ericsson.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Sony Ericsson has appointed Ulf Lilja as CFO and Shoji Nemoto as head of product unit for GSM/UMTS. Lilja joins Sony Ericsson from Ericsson's Group CFO office. Nemoto was most recently president of Sony's Digital Imaging Business Group.

6Wind laps Asia VP.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... 6Wind has appointed Jesse Zhang as VP of Asia and MD of China based out of Beijing. He is responsible for expanding the company's customer base in Asia. Zhang comes to 6Wind from UTStarcom where he was most recently deputy GM of central...

WiseSpot CTO.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Telecommunication applications developer WiseSpot (Hong Kong) has named Lee Kwan as CEO, leading the company's technical team to develop and implement products and solutions for fixed-line and mobile operators in the Asia-Pacific region.

EMC's Greater China president.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Information storage and management solution provider EMC Corp has hired SoonChoo Loke as president of the Greater China region, based in Hong Kong. Loke joins EMC with more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry. Previously he was...

Netease names founder CEO.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Chinese Internet company Netease.com has appointed its founder, William Ding, to take over as CEO of the company, replacing Ted Sun, who passed away in September. Previously, Ding served on Netease's board.

China.com names CEO.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... China.com has appointed Albert Lam as CEO, succeeding Rudy Chan. Lam has also been nominated to server as an executive director, pending regulatory confirmation. Most recently he was president and COO of China.com.

New appointments at Emerson.(TELECOM CAREER)(Emerson Network Power appoints Hitesh Prajapati and Harry Hong)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Emerson Network Power, a supplier of business critical continuity solution, has named Hitesh Prajapati as director of channel business and Harry Hong as director of key account management. Both will be responsible for rollout programs to...

Former banker chairs Vodafone.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... John Bond, the outgoing chairman of banking group HSBC, has joined Vodafone as chairman, replacing Ian MacLaurin, who will retire from the board in July 2006.

Nortel hires legal chief.(TELECOM CAREER)
January 1, 2006... Nortel Networks has appointed David Drinkwater as chief legal officer. Drinkwater previously worked as the executive assistant to the Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Asia telecom transactions index.(TELECOM CORPORATE)
January 1, 2006... Asia telecom transactions index Value Seller Buyer Deal (US$) KTF NTT DoCoMo Acquisition of 10% 560m ...

Index moves up after three-month slump.(TA30 TELECOM STOCK INDEX NOV 11-DEC 15, 05)
January 1, 2006... The TA Index ended 12 points or 0.97% higher, after falling 0.68% the previous month, half of the telecom stocks traded higher, moving up between 0.5% and 19.8%, while 14 lost ground and one was unchanged. The top gainer was Telkom...

Vendors test the services waters.(INSIDE LINE)
January 1, 2006... Specialization--that's what it's all about" sang Marilyn Monroe and Frankie Vaughan many years ago. Marilyn is not normally known for her business strategic expertise, but she couldn't have better described 21st century business. In...

Meet the new death star.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
January 1, 2006... Few were surprised when the newly merged AT&T/SBC decided to keep the AT&T name. Even less surprising was AT&T's decision to keep but refresh its famous globe logo. And like most companies that revamp classic logos, AT&T (or, as it is now...

Phreak.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)(flaw in government wiretaps - University of Pennsylvania's report)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... PHREAK: Research from security experts in the US have discovered a security flaw in government wiretaps that allows the subject of telephone surveillance to switch off the recorder by remote. Matt Blaze, an associate professor of computer...

Security.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
January 1, 2006... SECURITY: The Internet continues to be a dangerous place, according to Sophos, which says that the number of new threats rose 48% in 2005. On average, one in every 44 emails was viral during the year, the company said in its year-end...

VoIP.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
January 1, 2006... VoIP: With VoIP's continued ascension to the mainstream, the idea of VoIP phone booths was probably inevitable. Anyone living in or heading for Singapore can now find them at Changi Airport. MediaRing and the Civil Aviation Authority of...