Telecompaper Africa/Asia articles from August 2009

Telecompaper Africa/Asia archives from August 2009

Yemen - Yemen's internet users pass 350,000 mark.
August 31, 2009... The number of internet subscribers via Yemen Net increased during the first half of 2009 to 369,643, compared to 239,951 during the same period of 2008, the Observer reports. According to a report issued by the Public Telecommunications...

India - BSNL places urgent order for GSM lines to Ericsson.
August 31, 2009... State-owned Indian operator BSNL has placed an "urgent" order for 5.25 million additional GSM lines with Ericsson, but the Swedish company has attached some strict conditions, reports PTI. Sources close to the development said that Ericsson is...

India - Samsung launches OMH phone in India.
August 31, 2009... Samsung has launched open market handset phone "Mpower 699" in the Indian market in cooperation with Qualcomm, reports PTI. The OMH technology gives mobile phone customers the flexibility to buy SIM cards for CDMA handsets from operators of...

India - AT&T eyes BSNL stake to re-enter India - report.
August 31, 2009... AT&T has approached Indian state-owned operator BSNL for investing in the firm to re-enter the Indian telecommunication market. It is not yet known if the government is amenable to roping in a strategic investor in BSNL, but unnamed sources...

Indonesia - Trikomsel, Mig33 form voucher distribution deal.
August 31, 2009... Indonesian mobile retailer Trikomsel Oke has signed a contract with mobile social network Mig33. Under the agreement, the two companies will form a voucher distribution partnership to develop new opportunities for mobile Indonesian consumers. In...

Viet Nam - Vietnam mobile phone subscriptions exceeds 100 mln in June.
August 31, 2009... As Vietnam's economy is gradually recovering, the number of mobile phone subscribers is rapidly growing, driven primarily by strong urban demand, Nikkei reports. The number of subscribers exceeded 100 million for the first time in June. The...

Liberia - Lonestar starts top-ups in local currency.
August 31, 2009... Liberia's mobile operator Lonestar has introduced Sim cards that are rechargeable with scratch cards purchased in Liberian dollars. Known as the Liberty Sim card, customers can buy the new scratch cards in Liberia dollars. The new product is...

Bahrain - Batelco introduces auto credit transfer service.
August 31, 2009... Bahrain operator Batelco introduced an automatic credit transfer service for SimSim customers. The development allows SimSim prepaid customers a way to transfer credit from one account to another. SimSim subscribers are now able to manage and...

UAE - RTA activates mParking service with Du.
August 31, 2009... Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority has activated a service for paying parking fees through text messages over mobile phones with the second telecom operator Du. Subscribers of mobile phone service from both Du and Etisalat will now benefit...

Ghana - Ghana says will not license new telecom operators.
August 31, 2009... The Ghana government has decided not to license new telecom operators to safeguard the integrity of the industry, according to the official news agency GNA. Haruna Iddrisu, minister of communications said the government has no intention of...

Nigeria - Zain Nigeria launches StepUp offer for high-value customers.
August 31, 2009... Zain Nigeria has introduced Zain StepUp, an offer targeted at high-value individuals. The offer enables customers to make calls at a discounted rate regardless of the time of day of the call and the network they choose to call. Customers can get...

Kenya - Kenyan govt defends sale of Zain share.
August 31, 2009... The Kenyan government has defended its decision to allow businessman Naushad Merali to sell 15 percent of his shareholding in Zain Kenya to Zain Group the majority shareholder, thus reducing local shareholding below the legal limit. Merali,...

Macau - NEC deploys IPTV systems in two hotels in Macau.
August 31, 2009... NEC Hong Kong has deployed the IPTV systems at Crown Towers and Hard Rock Hotel in Macau, SAR. These are NEC's first installations of IPTV systems outside of Japan and NEC has provided system design to its operation as a managed service. Crown...

Senegal - Senegal's mobile customer growth slows to 5% in Q2.
August 31, 2009... Senegal added 299,936 mobile phone users in the second quarter, for 5.01 percent growth to 6.28 million users and a 51.63 percent penetration rate, according to telecommunications regulator ARTP. This is the lowest quarterly growth in a year,...

Tanzania - Vodacom Tanzania signs roaming deal with Aero Mobile.
August 31, 2009... Tanzania's mobile operator Vodacom has joined hands with Aero Mobile to allow its postpaid customers to make and receive calls while on Emirates and Malaysian Airlines. A statement from Vodacom said the customers can also send and receive SMS on...

Africa - CCE picks Huawei for Wimax network in Africa.
August 31, 2009... China Crescent Enterprises has selected Huawei Technologies for its first planned Wimax project in Africa. China Crescent has targeted Kenya as its next foreign market expansion opportunity. China Crescent has participated at the African...

Middle East - Orascom Telecom eyes small acquisitions.
August 31, 2009... Egypt-based mobile operator Orascom Telecom is looking at "small" acquisitions and not deals worth billions of dollars, CEO Naguib Sawiris told Al-Arabiya satellite television. OT is still making acquisitions and looking at small deals in the...

South Africa - Cable theft costs Telkom ZAR 3 bln.
August 31, 2009... South African fixed-line operator Telkom suffered almost ZAR 3 billion in losses last year because of cable theft. Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda told Parliament that the losses are made up of the value of the material stolen, the cost...

Oman - Aptus Infotech, 3M ink distributor deal.
August 31, 2009... 3M has named Aptus Infotech as a distributor for its networking and structure cabling products in Oman. 3M has been providing products in the market since the early 1900s and Aptus Infotech has over nine years of experience in the field. 3M...

Qatar - Vodafone Qatar inks partnership deal with Commercial Bank.
August 31, 2009... Vodafone Qatar has signed a partnership agreement with private sector financial institution Commercial Bank of Qatar. Under the terms of the deal, new customers can subscribe to Vodafone's services by submitting their Commercial Bank account...

Singapore - SingTel to raise SGD 2 mln for charity fund.
August 31, 2009... Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) plans to raise more than SGD 2 million for the SingTel Touching Lives Fund (STLF) in this year. STLF is SingTel's philanthropy vehicle in Singapore and the main thrust of the company's Corporate Social...

New Zealand - New Zealand regulator to investigate Telecom's breach.
August 31, 2009... New Zealand's Commerce Commission will begin an investigation into Telecom's breach of separation undertakings, Stuff.co.nz reports. Recently, the Independent Oversight Group, found that Telecom breached the undertakings with its wholesale...

Australia - Telstra to sponsor Legacy.
August 31, 2009... Telstra has singed a sponsorship agreement with charity Legacy. Telstra will provide financial assistance and telecommunications services to help support the families of fallen Australian Defence Force members. Telstra will also help Legacy to...

Australia - Vodafone Australia's 3G network covers 94% of population.
August 31, 2009... Vodafone Australia has expanded its 3G network. To celebrate the upgrade, Vodafone is offering all new and existing customers (on prepaid and contract) unlimited, free access to Facebook on their mobile phone until 31 October. Vodafone's 3G...

New Zealand - Visionstream to take over Chorus field ops ahead of schedule.
August 31, 2009... Telecom service partner Visionstream will take over Chorus field service operations in the North Shore and Waitakere ahead of schedule. Chorus claims that owner-operators are lined up and eager to start work installing and repairing customer...

Malaysia - Celcom to begin 2nd phase of transformation programme.
August 31, 2009... Malaysian mobile operator Celcom is set to begin the second phase of its transformation programme, following the successful turnaround in the past three years. The company began the turnaround effort in 2006 and Celcom completed all 290...

Philippines - EasyCall to raise PHP 150 mln for data network plans.
August 31, 2009... The board of directors of EasyCall Communications Philippines has approved an increase in the company's capital, amounting to PHP 150 million. The company will increase its capital through a rights offer or private placement, the BusinessMirror...

Australia - Freshtel's FY revenues fall 34%.
August 31, 2009... Australian VoIP services provider Freshtel had an extremely difficult financial year with revenues shrinking and costs running at a high monthly rate. In April, the company raised AUD 1.8 million through a rights issue and now plans to focus on...

Azerbaijan - Bakcell to invest USD 150 mln to upgrade network.
August 31, 2009... Azerbaijani mobile operator Bakcell plans to invest USD 150 million this year to upgrade its network. Over the last eight months, capacity and coverage have almost doubled, Bakcell CEO Ineke Botter told Trend Capital in an interview. This year,...

Taiwan - FET's revenues slip 5% in H1.
August 31, 2009... Taiwanese communications provider Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) saw its second quarter revenues drop by 5 percent. Revenues were TWD 15.05 billion versus TWD 15.85 billion in the year-ago quarter. Non-voice revenues made up 14.2 percent...

Taiwan - Chunghwa Telecom's capex to hit TWD 20 bln in H2.
August 31, 2009... Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom plans to spend TWD 20 billion on capex in the second half of this year. The company plans to establish next-generation networks, roll out 3.5G base stations and fibre-optic infrastructure. During the first half, the...

Taiwan - Vibo Telecom doubles income in H1.
August 31, 2009... Taiwanese mobile operator Vibo Telecom more than doubled its operating income in the first half ended 30 June. Operating income was TWD 3.61 billion, up from TWD 1.67 billion in H1 2008. Vibo narrowed its net loss slightly to TWD 2.38 billion...

Taiwan - Taiwan will not approve China Mobile's FET investment.
August 31, 2009... The Taiwanese government is not planning to approve China Mobile's plan to acquire a 12 percent stake in Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), the Digitimes reports citing vice economic minister Hwang Jung-chiou. Chinese companies are still...

Kazakhstan - Kazakhtelecom rolls out CDMA WLL services in Akmola.
August 31, 2009... Kazakhtelecom plans to roll out CDMA WLL services in the Akmola region. In 2008, the company began rolling out CDMA base stations in the 450 MHz band to offer WLL services. The company currently has 235 base stations installed with 122,335...

Thailand - Thai regulator to publish 3G auction terms in September.
August 31, 2009... The Thai communications regulator plans to publish the terms for the 3G licence auction next month. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will announce the terms and guidelines for the auction of 3G licences in the 2.1 GHz spectrum in...

Australia - Telstra in talks for stake in NBN.
August 31, 2009... Telstra is in negotiations for a stake in the National Broadband Network (NBN). Telstra could buy a stake of up to 49 percent, the ABC News reports citing Dough Campbell, chairman of the Tasmanian NBN Co. However, the stake Telstra will hold...

China - China Unicom's H1 profits drop 42%.
August 31, 2009... China Unicom saw its profits drop while revenues were up slightly in the first half ended 30 June. Operating revenues were up 4.3 percent to CNY 76.32 billion from CNY 74.51 billion in the year-ago period. However, including deferred fixed-line...

Taiwan - Taiwanese smartphone IC market hits 89 mln units - study.
August 31, 2009... The Taiwanese smartphone application IC market volume reached 89.37 million units in the second quarter of 2009, up 33.9 percent sequentially, research from MIC says. The Taiwanese smartphone application IC market value reached USD 464.8 million...

Japan - Acrodea, Namco Bandai Games to jointly market Emoji Lite.
August 31, 2009... Japanese mobile middleware developer Acrodea will jointly market its Emoji Lite product with Namco Bandai Games. Developed by Acrodea, Emoji Lite automatically inserts necessary picture fonts into mobile e-mail. The ongoing development for Emoji...

Australia - Eftel denies Quoin participated in rights issue.
August 31, 2009... Australian ISP Eftel has said that systems engineering and manufacturing company Quoin International did not participate in its recent rights issue. Quoin made a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange that it would increase its shareholding...

Japan - Panasonic prepares tender offer for Sanyo shares.
August 31, 2009... Panasonic and Sanyo Electric are preparing for the public tender offer for Sanyo shares by Panasonic following the conclusion of the capital and business alliance agreement announced on 19 December 2008. Pursuant to domestic and foreign...

Singapore - SingTel launches entry-level BlackBerry plan.
August 31, 2009... Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) will introduce new entry-level BlackBerry service plan called BlackBerry Value. The plan includes 1 GB of bundled data and costs SGD 10.70 per month. With the plan, the operator targets youth and young...

China - China Telecom in talks to bring Palm Pre to China.
August 31, 2009... China Telecom is in talks with Palm to bring the Palm Pre smartphone and other Palm handsets to the Chinese market, IDG news service reports citing an investor relations representative. The operator is also in talks with Research In Motion (RIM)...

Australia - Over half Australian housholds watch digital TV - survey.
August 31, 2009... More than half of all Australian households have now made the switch to digital television, according to the Australian communications ministry's Digital Tracker Survey for the second quarter. Some 53 percent of households now watch free-to-air...

Malaysia - Tune Talk offers AirAsia E-Gift Vouchers to subscribers.
August 31, 2009... Malaysian MVNO Tune Talk, a unit of Tune Ventures, is offering MYR 200 AirAsia E-Gift Vouchers to its subscribers that can be redeemed for AirAsia domestic and international flights. The AirAsia E-Gift Voucher is given automatically if the user...

Middle East - MENA pay-TV subscribers to reach 11 mln by 2014 - study.
August 31, 2009... The pay-TV market in the Middle East and North Africa region will grow from 6.9 million subscribers at the end of 2008 to 11 million by end-2014, according to Informa Telecoms research. Of these, nearly 60 percent will be based in Turkey and...

Australia - Clever moves to net profit in FY 2009.
August 31, 2009... Australian business communications provider Clever Communications moved to a net profit in the financial year ended 30 June. The company posted a profit of AUD 325,000 versus a net loss of AUD 3.5 million in the previous year, in line with...

China - China Unicom strikes iPhone deal with Apple.
August 31, 2009... Mobile phone operator China Unicom has won an exclusive three-year deal to sell Apple iPhones in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The operator will buy iPhones from Apple on a wholesale basis as the deal does not include revenue sharing....

Oman - Nawras launches special international call offer for Ramadan.
August 31, 2009... Omani mobile operator Nawras has launched a special international call promotion offering significantly discounted call rates between 22:00 and 06.00 hours each day during Ramadan. The promotion ends on 23 October. Nawras has introduced cheaper...

Kazakhstan - Kazakhtelekom launches fixed wireless network in Akmola.
August 31, 2009... Kazakh national operator Kazakhtelecom has launched a fixed wireless network using WLL-CDMA technology in 150 villages of the Akmola region of Kazakhstan. Construction of the national network began in 2008 and it has installed 235 CDMA base...

Georgia - Mobitel Georgia sees sales double year-on-year in H1.
August 31, 2009... Mobile operator Mobitel Georgia doubled its revenues in first-half 2009 to USD 13.1 million compared to a year earlier, according to Interfax news agency. The company's investment reached USD 30 million in H1. It had a total of 289,000 active...

Cote d'Ivoire - Cote d'Ivoire sets tax on incoming, transiting call traffic.
August 31, 2009... Cote d'Ivoire has imposed a tax of XOF 20 (EUR 0.03) per minute on the country's operators for incoming international call traffic, to be applied as of 1 July. Balancing Act, which describes the measure as regressive, writes that the new tax...

India - Reliance Infra inks tower-sharing deal with STel.
August 31, 2009... Indian telecommunication operator STel and Reliance Communications' subsidiary Reliance Infratel have signed an end-to-end telecommunication infrastructure contract for telecommunication towers, transmission for BTS sites and fibre backbone for...

India - Indian govt to ban Chinese telecom parts in sensitive states.
August 31, 2009... The Indian government's move to tightly regulate overseas suppliers of telecommunications gear, especially the Chinese, due to security concerns has met with stiff opposition from Indian mobile phone firms, which fear such stringent measures...

Japan - Softbank to launch monthly fee waiver promotional campaign.
August 28, 2009... Japanese operator Softbank Mobile will launch a promotional campaign on 1 September which will once again stir up price competition between carriers. The operator will waive the JPY 980 basic charge for five months for new customers who switch...

South Africa - iBurst unveils new prepaid pricing, offers 500 MB for trial.
August 28, 2009... South African broadband provider iBurst is giving away 500 MB of data to internet users willing to participate in the first trials of its new wireless prepaid internet service. The iBurst prepaid product is set to launch commercially in...

Thailand - HTC targets Thai smartphone market with Hero launch.
August 28, 2009... HTC is gearing up to capitalise on the fast-growing smartphone handset market in Thailand, a market worth an estimated THB 8 billion this year, reports the Bangkok Post. HTC also introduced its new HTC Hero smartphone in Thailand priced at THB...

Nigeria - Glo slashes international call tariff by 62%.
August 28, 2009... Nigerian mobile operator Globacom announced an up to 62 percent reduction in tariffs for international calls. The discount is available on calls to fixed lines in the UK and all lines in the US, Canada, India and China, from 20 August. Calls...

Ghana - MTN Ghana launches Text to Go World Cup promotion.
August 28, 2009... Mobile operator MTN Ghana launched the 2010 FIFA World Cup 'TXT TO GO' promotion, designed to give subscribers the opportunity to win one Fifa VIP package every week for the tournament in South Africa next year. Apart from the Fifa VIP packages,...

Japan - Smartphone accounts for over 10% of Japan's mobile sales.
August 28, 2009... Smartphones accounted for more than 10 percent of Japan's mobile phone sales in July, the first time for the advanced handsets to break through that threshold, reports the Nikkei. The smartphones accounted for 12 percent of overall handset sales...

South Africa - Ex-Icasa official named new Communications DG.
August 28, 2009... Former Independent Communications Authority of South Africa councillor Mamodopi Mohlala has been appointed as director-general of the Department of Communications. The department said in a statement that Mohlala, whose responsibilities at Icasa...

Uganda - Zain Uganda introduces Supa Talk promotion.
August 28, 2009... Mobile operator Zain Uganda launched the Zain Supa Talk promotion, allowing customers to enjoy a 50 percent and 90 percent discount on calls made during the day and late night respectively. Customers will be required to subscribe for UGX 500...

Australia - Fone Zone signs new dealership agreement with Telstra.
August 28, 2009... Vita Group's mobile phone retail chain Fone Zone has renewed its dealer agreement with Telstra for another five years with potential for up to four additional one year extensions. Vita Group has also been appointed the master licensee for...

Nigeria - Starcomms slashes on-net calls during Ramadan.
August 28, 2009... Nigerian mobile operator Starcomms slashed its on-net call price during Ramadan. All Starcomms subscribers using both mobile and fixed lines and those who purchase Starcomms phones during the period with the exception of tele-centre operators on...

Africa - Gateway Communications connects to Seacom submarine cable.
August 28, 2009... Gateway Communications has gone live on the Seacom submarine fibre-optic cable connecting Africa to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world, two years after committing to the project. Seacom, privately funded and three-quarters African owned, is...

Japan - NTT DoCoMo keen to up stakes in foreign ventures.
August 28, 2009... NTT DoCoMo is keen to take majority stakes in foreign ventures, using its ample cash on hand, said President Ryuji Yamada in an interview with Nikkei. The mobile operator has spent almost JPY 500 billion since 2005 bolstering international...

Malaysia - Time DotCom net profit falls in Q2.
August 28, 2009... Malaysian communications provider Time DotCom's second-quarter revenues dropped to MYR 67.9 million from MYR 71.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. The net profit declined to MYR 24.5 million from a net profit of MYR 602 million. The decrease...

India - India sets terms for 3G auction.
August 28, 2009... The Indian government has set the terms of the long-awaited auction of 3G licences. Telecommunications minister A Raja announced that the minimum price for each licence is INR 35 billion, and there will be four licences available in each...

Indonesia - Nextnation terminates Indonesian publisher acquisition deal.
August 28, 2009... Malaysian mobile applications developer Nextnation Communication has announced that Godynamic Investments, Hamdan Busyairi and Syaeful Huda have applied to the Ministry of Law, Indonesia on 18 June to terminate the share sale contract on the...

Indonesia - Indonesia yet to authorise RIM's trade certifications.
August 28, 2009... The Indonesian government has approved a service centre for Research in Motion, but is yet to authorise all trade certifications that RIM needs to trade its products, reports the Jakarta Post. Information and communications ministry spokesman...

Japan - NEC, Hitachi, Casio in talks for handset merger - report.
August 28, 2009... NEC, Hitachi and Casio Computer are in talks to consolidate their mobile phone handset operations, an unnamed source close to the matter told Dow Jones. This could see them creating the second-largest handset maker in Japan. The source wouldn't...

Japan - NTT Data wins four contracts for SaaS.
August 28, 2009... NTT Data has won four contracts for its SaaS service. The four trust banks, with which contract negotiations began last year, are Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, Sumitomo Trust & Banking, Mizuho Trust & Banking, and Chuo Mitsui Trust...

Philippines - Philippines regulator approves EasyCall's data network plan.
August 28, 2009... The Filipino communications regulator has approved EasyCall Communications' application to roll out and operate a nationwide data network, the BusinessMirror Online writes. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted approval for...

India - Intel Capital to establish Wimax consortium in India.
August 28, 2009... Intel Capital is planning to establish a consortium to roll out Wimax broadband services in India. The venture capital arm of Intel is currently in talks with Indian and foreign companies to set-up the consortium, Business Line reports citing an...

China - MediaTek, China Mobile strengthen cooperation on TD-SCDMA.
August 28, 2009... Taiwanese IC design firm MediaTek will strengthen its cooperation with China Mobile on TD-SCDMA products. The agreement also covers collaboration on TD-LTE technology, the Digitimes reports. China Mobile's chairman Wang Jianzhou is currently...

Taiwan - Taiwanese court acquits BenQ executives.
August 28, 2009... A Taiwanese court has acquitted BenQ chairman KY Lee, former president Sheaffer Lee and ex-CFO Eric Yu of the company of insider trading charges, the Digitimes reports. The executives were accused of illegally selling stock options in the three...

Taiwan - Taiwanse Wimax licensees to launch on islands first.
August 28, 2009... Most Taiwanese Wimax licensees are planning to launch services on offshore islands. Vmax Telecom, Vee Telecom Multimedia, Global Mobile, and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) are still building up their Wimax base stations, the Digitimes...

North Korea - North Korea to expand telecoms networks.
August 28, 2009... North Korea plans to expand its telecommunications networks and to modernise its broadcasting sector, Yonhap reports citing official media reports in the country. Mobile networks will be established nationwide, while fibre-optic cables have been...

Indonesia - Mobile-8 Telecom plans debt to equity swap.
August 28, 2009... Troubled Indonesian operator Mobile-8 Telecom is planning to issue new shares to transfer its debt into equity. The company hopes to issue the new shares in October this year, following an AGM at end-September, Bisnis Indonesia reports citing...

Australia - Woolworths to sell 3G, data packs.
August 28, 2009... Australian supermarket chain Woolworths plans to sell 3G and data packages. Recently, Woolworths launched a mobile offering as an MVNO on Optus's network, offering voice and SMS services under the Everyday Mobile brand. The prepaid mobile...

China - Chinese search engine market grows 36% year-on-year.
August 28, 2009... The Chinese search engine market reached CNY 1.72 billion in the second quarter, up 32.4 percent from CNY 1.31 billion in the previous quarter, according to iResearch. The search engine market went up 35.7 percent from CNY 1.27 billion in Q2...

Malaysia - Time dotCom sells 3.6% stake in DiGi.Com.
August 28, 2009... Malaysian communications provider Time dotCom (TdC) has sold 3.6 percent in DiGi.Com in a private placement. The company sold 27.75 million shares for MYR 604.95 million. With the proceeds, Time will repay some bank borrowings and boost working...

Philippines - Cordoba appointed as head of NTC.
August 28, 2009... Gamaliel Cordoba has been appointed as the new head of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in the Philippines. Cordoba will replace Ruel Canobas, who resigned at end July for personal reasons, the Philippine Star reports.

New Zealand - New Zealand regulator defers mobile roaming investigation.
August 28, 2009... The New Zealand Commerce Commission has decided to defer an investigation into whether regulation of national mobile roaming services should be extended to include price. The Commission will reconsider the matter after it has finalised its...