Telecom Asia articles from October 2005

Telecom Asia archives from October 2005

Moto and Apple go off their ROKR.(TANNER)
October 1, 2005... After six months of hype and teasing, Motorola and Apple launched the eagerly awaited iTunes phone last month. As you have no doubt heard by now, it's called the ROKR (pronounced "rocker"), and as you no doubt have also heard, it does anything...

VDSL2 goes better--and further--with MIMO.(FIRST MILE)(multiple input multiple output)(Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line)(Aktino's)
October 1, 2005... Mention MIMO (multiple input multiple output) technology, and most people think you're talking about boosting the performance of wireless systems. But a startup called Aktino, founded a couple of years ago by a group of PairGain veterans, has...

Internet backbone traffic growth declines in 2005.(STAT SNAP)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... For the first time in a decade, international Internet traffic is showing substantial signs of maturity, according to TeleGeography's latest survey of Internet backbone providers. Global cross-border Internet traffic has grown by just 49%...

Powercomm's high-speed success poses threat to Hanaro.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
October 1, 2005... TWO weeks after launching its Xpeed 100-Mbps optical LAN service on September 1 at a lower price than the 4-Mbps services of market leaders KT Corp. and Hanarotelecom Inc., Powercomm Corp. claimed to have 40,000 subscribers, and its chief...

Asia to lead telco TV market by 2009.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
October 1, 2005... After reaching 1.6 million subscribers Last year, the number of worldwide telco TV subscribers is expected to reach 32 million by 2009, with more than half of that number coming from Asia. According to In-Stat, with many telcos all over the...

VAS to push home networking adoption.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
October 1, 2005... Broadband service providers can extend their revenue and profit reach by tying home networking to value-added services, as this is expected to help home networks "cross the chasm" between early adopters and mainstream consumers. According to...

Cellcos feel threat from VoIP.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
October 1, 2005... In the same way that VoIP has increased competition and reduced local and long distance call rates for the fixed-line sector, wireless VoIP is expected to bring changes to the mobile market. An Alexander Resources report says that the rise of...

VoIP equipment revenue expands 55%.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S TELECOM RESEARCH)
October 1, 2005... Global next-gen voice product revenue is forecast to rise to $5.7 billion by 2008, after growing 55% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2005. Infonetics says global VoIP equipment revenue in the second quarter has set a quarterly growth...

Taiwan may bar VoIP over WiMAX.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
October 1, 2005... Data may be flying across the airwaves of Taiwan at the high speeds offered by WiMAX in the near future, but when it comes to voice telephone service, the government is saying "Not so fast." "We have been making plans to grant WiMAX...

Saving public telcos.(RESEND: Flashbacks, updates and nostalgia: Telecom Asia, October 2001)
October 1, 2005... SYNOPSIS: Asia may have embraced deregulation, but it will be a long time before governments are ready to cede control of their telecom assets. Indeed, the era of liberalization has resulted in more, not less, political interference in the...

China will let telecom carriers set their own rates for long-distance and mobile phone roaming charges under reforms that take effect October 1.(BEIJING)
October 1, 2005... China will let telecom carriers set their own rates for long-distance and mobile phone roaming charges under reforms that take effect October 1. The step is meant to encourage competition and innovation.

China Telecom is looking at ways to block phone calls made over the Internet.(BEIJING)
October 1, 2005... China Telecom is looking at ways to block phone calls made over the Internet on services such as Skype.

China Satcom secures $1.89b in credit loans from the China Development Bank.(BEIJING)
October 1, 2005... China Satcom secures $1.89b in credit loans from the China Development Bank, a move that will keep the satellite carrier from being purchased by other Chinese telcos.

China Netcom plans to pay 12.8b yuan ($1.58b) to buy four provincial networks from its state-owned parent company.(HONG KONG)
October 1, 2005... China Netcom plans to pay 12.8b yuan ($1.58b) to buy four provincial networks from its state-owned parent company. The announcement comes after the company posted a 30% rise in its H1 net profits to 6.36b yuan, compared with 4.875b yuan last...

TOT plans to launch a new satellite business in support of its collaboration with Shin Satellite.(BANGKOK)
October 1, 2005... TOT plans to launch a new satellite business in support of its collaboration with Shin Satellite, with the aim of generating more than 3.6 billion baht ($78m) in revenue a year over the next three years.

Hanoi Telecoms and VP Telecoms will establish their respective CDMA networks in Vietnam.(HANOI)
October 1, 2005... Hanoi Telecoms and VP Telecoms will establish their respective CDMA networks in Vietnam, with plans to sign up a handful of subscribers right after their networks are launched in 2006.

Turk Telecom upgrades its network with a $28m supply contract with Alcatel.(ISTANBUL)
October 1, 2005... Turk Telecom upgrades its network with a $28m supply contract with Alcatel. Under the deal, Alcatel will design, deploy and manage an IP/MPLS-based data backbone network for the carrier.

Excelcomindo Pratama expects to earn $193.5m from an IPO selling a 20% stake in the company.(JAKARTA)
October 1, 2005... Excelcomindo Pratama expects to earn $193.5m from an IPO selling a 20% stake in the company. The funds from the IPO will be used to finance the company's business expansion.

State-owned Telkom plans to divest its stakes in two or three subsidiaries this year.(JAKARTA)
October 1, 2005... State-owned Telkom plans to divest its stakes in two or three subsidiaries this year, because the firms contribute little to the carrier's revenues.

Celcom, the mobile unit of Telekom Malaysia.(KUALA LUMPUR)
October 1, 2005... Celcom, the mobile unit of Telekom Malaysia, will expand its 3G services by the first quarter of next year, in a bid to attract more customers.

Digital Mobile Philippines invests $22.3m to boost its network capacity by 3m subscribers.(Manila)
October 1, 2005... Digital Mobile Philippines invests $22.3m to boost its network capacity by 3m subscribers, bringing its total network capacity to nearly 6m users by yearend.

Hanarotelecom accepts the resignation of 25 executives as part of its restructuring measures.(SEOUL)
October 1, 2005... Hanarotelecom accepts the resignation of 25 executives as part of its restructuring measures. The decision follows offers to resign by 55 executives at Hanaro earlier.

The Recording Industry Association of South Korea files a suit against thousands of alleged online file-swappers.(SEOUL)
October 1, 2005... The Recording Industry Association of South Korea files a suit against thousands of alleged online file-swappers, in a move to curb unauthorized song swapping over the Internet.

Chunghwa Telecom reports that its revenues decreased by 1.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2005.(TAIPEI)
October 1, 2005... Chunghwa Telecom reports that its revenues decreased by 1.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2005. The company posts revenues of $2.76b and a net income of $760m during the period.

The number of subscribers to digital broadcasting services via broadcasting satellite in Japan topped 10m.(TOKYO)
October 1, 2005... The number of subscribers to digital broadcasting services via broadcasting satellite in Japan topped 10m at the end of August, two years later than the targeted date.

Access acquires PalmSource.(TOKYO)
October 1, 2005... Access acquires PalmSource, the company behind the Palm OS, for $324.3m.

Telstra denies labor union claims that it had decided to slash more than 10,000 jobs once the government has sold its controlling stake on the carrier.(SYDNEY)
October 1, 2005... Telstra denies labor union claims that it had decided to slash more than 10,000 jobs once the government has sold its controlling stake on the carrier. The government plans to sell its 51.8% stake in Telstra for $23b.

Seven Network files a $775m lawsuit against rivals including Telstra and the Australian subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.(SYDNEY)
October 1, 2005... Seven Network files a $775m lawsuit against rivals including Telstra and the Australian subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Seven alleges the defendants conspired in 1999 and 2000 to prevent the network from gaining broadcasting rights to...

New Zealand Telecom announces a $220m project to switch every telephone line in the country to an IP platform within seven years.(WELLINGTON)
October 1, 2005... New Zealand Telecom announces a $220m project to switch every telephone line in the country to an IP platform within seven years. Telecom contracts Alcatel to launch a joint-venture program to build the VoIP network.

BSNL is in the process of laying a submarine cable between India and Sri Lanka to provide overseas connectivity.(NEW DELHI)
October 1, 2005... BSNL is in the process of laying a submarine cable between India and Sri Lanka to provide overseas connectivity. The firm plans to spend $11.4m on the project.

India's phone users reach more than 110m people.(NEW DELHI)
October 1, 2005... India's phone users reach more than 110m people, with teledensity for fixed line and mobile phones reaching 10%.

eBay agrees to acquire VoIP provider Skype for $2.6b.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * eBay agrees to acquire VoIP provider Skype for $2.6b. eBay will pay $1.3b in cash and $1.3b in stock for Skype.

Intelsat plans to buy PanAmSat for $3.2b in cash.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * Intelsat plans to buy PanAmSat for $3.2b in cash in a deal that would form the world's largest satellite company.

The US wants foreign companies to be allowed to operate satellite relay services in Thailand under a prospective free-trade agreement.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * The US wants foreign companies to be allowed to operate satellite relay services in Thailand under a prospective free-trade agreement. Representatives of Thailand's NTC and US trade representatives will discuss the issue in meetings this...

France Telecom claims a world first that it has conducted laboratory testing of VDSL2 transmission systems.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * France Telecom claims a world first that it has conducted laboratory testing of VDSL2 transmission systems with speeds of up to 100 Mbps on standard copper lines.

Global IP Sound, which provides VoIP technology to Google.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * Global IP Sound, which provides VoIP technology to Google, Skype and others, opens a new office in Hong Kong as part of its Asian expansion.

Ofcom.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * Ofcom announces a proposal to give BT more control in setting up call rates to large business customers.

3 UK opens access to the wireless Internet for customers with 3G phones.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * 3 UK opens access to the wireless Internet for customers with 3G phones. Until now, 3 has been blocking access to a vast majority of WAP sites. However, 3 will still have to pre-approve wireless Internet sites for use on its platform.

The UK broadband unit of PCCW launches its wireless broadband service in London.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * The UK broadband unit of PCCW launches its wireless broadband service in London and plans to complete phased launches in other UK cities before yearend.

The Wi-Fi Alliance authorizes the China National Telecommunication Metrology Station.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * The Wi-Fi Alliance authorizes the China National Telecommunication Metrology Station to test and certify the member companies of the association that are interested in operating in China.

Rescuers deploy WiMAX to help relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * Rescuers deploy WiMAX to help relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. WiMAX is seen bringing the Internet to remote areas where the existing infrastructure has been destroyed or never existed.

Siemens will cut more than 2,400 jobs at its computer services unit in Germany.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * Siemens will cut more than 2,400 jobs at its computer services unit in Germany and reorganize two other divisions to stem mounting losses.

Music companies Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and their local subsidiaries are suing China's largest search engine Baidu.(movements)
October 1, 2005... * Music companies Universal, EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and their local subsidiaries are suing China's largest search engine Baidu for allegedly infringing the copyright of hundreds of songs.

The new face of Asian bandwidth: after the meltdown in 2000-03, the Asian bandwidth sector is picking up. Price erosion is slowing on most routes and rates on some routes are even rising. But questions remain stability and viability of the industry, and some experts believe there are too many players selling bandwidth at barely sustainable prices.(Cover story)
October 1, 2005... The bandwidth bubble. The capacity glut. The overbuild. Whatever you call it, the telecom capacity sector was the centerpiece of the great telecom meltdown, the biggest stock bubble that ever burst. Greed, corporate excess, fraud and...

Know your apps: better awareness through Layer 7 routing.(TECHNOLOGY)
October 1, 2005... From XML routing to Cisco's Application Oriented Networking, the concept of Layer 7 routing seems to be finally coming of age. Enterprises may benefit first, but carriers can also make their networks application-aware. One of the hallmarks...

Telecom goes back to school: Academia and industry have traditionally been regarded as separate worlds when it comes to R&D, but these days, more companies are looking to work with universities.(ONE-TO-ONE)
October 1, 2005... Telecom goes back to school: Academia and industry have traditionally been regarded as separate worlds when it comes to R&D, but these days, more companies are looking to work with universities. Professor Joe McGeehan, managing director of...

Data opportunities in the youth market.(FORUM)
October 1, 2005... The main opportunities in the mobile data services market lie in the shift from voice to data traffic, which will allow for "bursty" applications and thus a multitude of new services. As the Asia-Pacific mobile data services market enters a...

PoE switch simplifies network management.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... Allied Telesyn's newly launched AT-8624POE is a 24-port, Layer 3, Fast Ethernet switch with Power over Ethernet (POE) capabilities. It gives network managers the choice to simplify the management of their networks. As the PoE technology allows...

Fuss-free total digital home solution.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... ZTE has launched a total digital home solution, which combines a home gateway, home network peripheral equipment and the ZTE equipment management system. ZTE's home gateway has a high-speed ADSL/cable modem allowing up to eight concurrent...

Stand-alone IP communications platform.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... Ericsson's stand-alone MX-ONE IP communications platform offers a complete range of business-class telephony services across IP networks for up to 7,000 users. It also has mobility and collaboration features, including instant messaging,...

MCI DSL in Asia-Pac, Middle East.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... Expanding out of Australia, MCI is now offering DSL Internet access services to multinational companies with operations in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Israel. MCI's new DSL access option helps enterprise...

Complete digital microwave solution.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... Comba Telecom's MASELink family of digital microwave products offers a full range of digital microwave solutions for wireless carriers and enterprise networks. The solutions operate across all frequency bands and ranges, from the traditional...

Web browser for mobile phones.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... Opera Software has introduced the Opera Mini J2ME Web browser for virtually all types of mobile phones, enabling Web access on more than 700 million low- and mid-tier Java-capable handsets worldwide. Instead of requiring the phone to...

Mobile video toolkit for BREW applications.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)
October 1, 2005... FreeVerse Partners and Nihon Enterprise have jointly released the MobileMovie Showdo, a toolkit that will enable BREW application developers to integrate video and audio into new and existing BREW applications. Showdo, based on high-performance...

Real-time surveillance info delivery.(PREMIERE: Latest products and services)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Datacraft's enhanced digital video security surveillance (DVSS) solution delivers "actionable intelligence" directly to PCs, laptops, PDAs and wireless devices for people who need surveillance information right away. It has advanced...

Exec movements at China Netcom.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... China Netcom controller Li Fusheng has assumed the CFO post after the resignation of Fan Xingcha, who will continue serving the company as an advisor to the board. Telefonica chair and CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete has also been appointed as a...

Nokia's new mobile head.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Kai Oistamo, who has been with Nokia since 1991, will take over the company's mobile phone business group on October 1 from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo's who will become president and COO. Prior to this new post, Oistamo was in charge of the business...

Motorola names Vietnam director.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... After being GM of Motorola networks units in Australia and Indonesia, David Knapp has been appointed general director of Hanoi-based Motorola Vietnam.

Management changes at J:COM.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM) has named Akira Ito as president of its cable TV subsidiary, Chofu Cable, replacing Hiroshi Baba, who has been appointed as GM of sales support at J:COM Technologies, a J:COM subsidiary that provides...

Additional directors at PacNet.(TELECOM CAREER)(Claude Charles , Johnson Tan )(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Claude Charles and Johnson Tan have joined the Pacific Internet board as independent directors. Charles, the company's first non-local director, is president of Great Tangley, a consulting firm operating in Asia, Europe and North America....

AT&T Australia's client services head.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... AT&T Australia has appointed Spiro Tsironis as its new client services manager. Prior to his new post, he held the same position at British Telecom since 2000.

F5 Networks' new country manager.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Application traffic management solutions provider F5 Networks has appointed former Microsoft executive Le Tuan Quoc as country manager for Singapore. His position involves working closely with top systems integrators, partners, consultants and...

Ex-Siemens exec heads T-Systems.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Former Siemens communications division CEO Lothar Pauly has been named CEO of Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Systems. He succeeds the late Konrad Reiss.

In-Stat appoints new director.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... In-Stat has made Bryan Van Dussen, previously a director of the Yankee Group's telecom strategies research group, the head of the company's telecom service provider and business segmentation research services group.

Business Objects' AP director.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Business intelligence solutions supplier Business Objects has appointed its pre-sales manager for Australia and New Zealand Tracy Kent-Jones as its new Asia-Pacific pre-sales director.

CCC Technologies assigns new sales VP.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... After serving as regional VP for USA Mobility, owner of US wireless data carriers Arch Wireless and Metrocall Wireless, Michael Bogolia has joined CCC Technologies as VP of sales. His new post entails overseeing and directing all sales...

PMC-Sierra CTO.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... PMC-Sierra has appointed Robert Yung as CTO. Yung was most recently a founder and partner at GSR Ventures, an early-stage private equity technology fund focusing on semiconductor design, wireless and Internet services in China and US.

Visto Japan GM.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Visto Corporation, a provider of secure push mobile email, has hired Toshihiko Kobayashi as country manager for its subsidiary in Japan. Most recently, he was GM of client solutions for EMC Japan where he managed all client activities,...

Micron Technology director retires.(TELECOM CAREER)
October 1, 2005... Thomas T. Nicholson has retired from the board of semiconductor solutions supplier Micron Technology. Nicholson was first elected to the company's board of directors in 1980 and served for 25 years. Contacting TelecomCareer

Networking opportunities across Asia.(EVENTS CALENDAR)(Calendar)
October 1, 2005... Networking opportunities across Asia Date Event Location Oct 12 - Oct 13, 2005 MOBILES ASEAN 2005 Conference Bangkok, ...

TA Index falls 1.9%.(TA30 TELECOM STOCK INDEX 15 AUG-15 SEP, 05)
October 1, 2005... The TA Index slipped 1.9% to 1,239 points, after hitting an 8-month high the previous month. Telecom stocks in Asia Pacific mostly ended lower, following a fall in US stocks on worries that slower economic growth after Hurricane Katrina would...

Asia telecom transactions index.(TELECOM CORPORATE)
October 1, 2005... Asia telecom transactions index Seller Buyer China Network China Netcom Group Communications Group Corp (HK) Alcatel Telecom Corp of New Zealand...

On the near battlefield.(FUTURE WIRELESS)
October 1, 2005... "Ladeez and gennelmennn! In the blue corner, all the way from Stockholm, Sweden, weighing in at 700 million units, is Bluuuueeeetooth! "And in the red corner, weighing in at 400 million units, from California and Japan, what else but...

eBay's big buy.(INSIDE LINE)(eBay Inc.'s acquisition of Skype Technologies S.A.)
October 1, 2005... If Meg Whitman bought Skype on eBay, would she give Niklas Zennstrom a good seller rating? The Skype business might one be worth a lot, but it s not worth $2.6 billion. A lot of questions remain to be answered about how much value Skype can add...

Nice user base, shame about the hubs.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... Asia may have the largest Internet population in the world, but the top hubs, most trafficked routes and best-connected providers will still be found elsewhere, according to a report from TeleGeography. Here's a breakdown: * Top Internet...

Crystal ball.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)(BT Technology Timeline's report on Future)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... CRYSTAL BALL: If BT futurologists are accurate, in 20 or 30 years we'll be looking at holographic TVs projecting 3D images into our living rooms, entertaining custom designed pets and taking a space elevator to a moon village. The...

Disaster.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)(failure of Government agencies in post Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts)(Brief article)
October 1, 2005... DISASTER: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a number of US government agencies have been under fire for taking too long to respond to the devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi. Even the FCC has not been immune to criticism, as fixed and...

P2P.(BACKPAGE BRIEFING)
October 1, 2005... P2P: The fallout from last month's Australian court ruling against KaZaa in the peer-to-peer file sharing world remains to be seen, but then KaZaa is so 2004. 2005 belongs to BitTorrent--or at least it did. Now it belongs to eDonkey 2000. ...