Telecompaper Africa/Asia articles from December 2010

Telecompaper Africa/Asia archives from December 2010

Australia - Telstra offers package for flood affected customers.
December 31, 2010... Telstra has announced an assistance package for its residential and small business customers across Wide Bay, Central and Southern Queensland who have been evacuated from their homes or whose phone services have been affected by the recent...

South Korea - KT launches Olleh 1 satellite.
December 31, 2010... South Korean telecommunications operator KT has successfully launched a new broadcast satellite from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. The satellite, called 'Olleh 1' after the firm's flagship brand, will transmit HD digital content and...

China - China Telecom to upgrade broadband services in Shanghai.
December 31, 2010... China Telecom will upgrade its fixed broadband services next year. Customers on a 2 Mbps service will be upgraded to 4 Mbps at no extra cost, while users on a 4 Mbps plan will be upgraded to 20 Mbps. China Telecom's Shanghai branch further said...

Japan - Japanese govt to launch TD-SCDMA testing facility.
December 31, 2010... The Japanese communications ministry is planning to set-up a testing facility for handset and content developers that aim to export to China. The ministry will set-up the facility in early 2011 at the Yokosuka Research Park in Kanagawa...

Thailand - True buys Hutchison assets for THB 4.35 billion.
December 31, 2010... Thai communications firm True and Hutchison have signed an agreement with Hutchison to buy Hutchison's mobile business in Thailand. True subsidiary Real Move will buy a 92.5 percent stake in Hutchison Wireless MultiMedia Holdings for THB 4.35...

Taiwan - Global Mobile set to start Wimax voice service.
December 31, 2010... Taiwanese Wimax operator Global Mobile will launch a Wimax voice service in early January as the first of the country's Wimax operators. The National Communications Commission has approved the plan, The Taipei Times reports citing an unnamed NCC...

Taiwan - Arcadyan to begin 3G femtocell, LTE router shipments.
December 31, 2010... Taiwanese networking and communications equipment maker Arcadyan Technology plans to begin shipments of 3G femtocells and LTE routers in the first half of 2011. Shipments will be mainly to telecommunications firms in Europe, The Digitimes...

Taiwan - Chunghwa, Inventec collaborate on cloud computing.
December 31, 2010... Taiwanese carrier Chunghwa Telecom has signed an agreement with Inventec on cloud computing collaboration. The two companies will develop and promote cloud computing services next year.

Armenia - Beeline Armenia launches roaming add-on, handset promo.
December 31, 2010... Armenian communications provider ArmenTel, which uses the Beeline brand, has launched a roaming add-on for Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and a mobile handset promotion. Until 15 March 2011, customers can receive calls in Egypt and the UAE...

Hong Kong - Ofta issues guidelines for competition provisions.
December 31, 2010... Hong Kong regulator Ofta has issued guidelines to assist operators to comply with the competition provisions under the Telecommunications Ordinance. Following a third consultation round in February this year, the regulator has issued the...

Hong Kong - Peoples launches top-up promotion.
December 31, 2010... Mobile operator China Mobile Hong Kong, which uses the Peoples brand, has launched a top-up promotion that runs from 30 December to 28 February for Peoples prepaid users. The promotion offers customers a 20 percent top-up bonus for recharges...

Malaysia - Maxis, Celcom eye east coast expansion.
December 31, 2010... Malaysian mobile operators Celcom Axiata and Maxis will increase efforts to enhance broadband quality and coverage in east coast regions. Celcom currently has about 150,000 broadband customers in the east coast, Celcom vice president Sulaiman...

Laos - Unitel rolls out internet to 500 schools, education offices.
December 31, 2010... Laos telecommunications firm Star Telecom, which uses the Unitel brand, has provided free internet access to some 500 schools and provincial and district education offices. Roll out of the LAK 24 billion project began in December 2009 and the...

New Zealand - Vector board rejects unsolicited offer.
December 31, 2010... The board of New Zealand energy and fibre company Vector has not endorsed the unsolicited offer from Energy Securities to Vector shareholders. Vector says the offer is considerably below the current market price for Vector shares.

Viet Nam - Viettel completes school internet programme.
December 31, 2010... Vietnamese military-owned telecommunications provider Viettel Telecom has finalised its school internet programme. The education ministry and Viettel have reviewed the project which ran between September 2008 and July 2010. Viettel implemented...

Azerbaijan - Aztelekom to invest AZN 50 mln in broadband.
December 31, 2010... In 2011, Azerbaijani state-owned operator Aztelecom plans to invest AZN 50 million to develop broadband internet and multimedia services. To this end, the company has signed a seven-year contract with Iskratel to be able to purchase...

Malaysia - Malaysian govt wants probe into Alcatel scandal.
December 31, 2010... The Malaysian government wants the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the allegations that Alcatel-Lucent paid USD 700,000 to Malaysians to secure a telecommunications contract between 2004 and 2006. "It does not speak...

China - Cogo buys MDC Tech's smart grid business.
December 31, 2010... China-based customised design services provider Cogo Group plans to acquire certain businesses of MDC Tech, a technology solutions and engineering services company with most of its operations in China. The businesses will be merged into Cogo's...

Gambia - Gambia telecom investment slows.
December 31, 2010... Investment in Gambia's telecommunications sector slowed in 2009, according to the latest report from the sector's regulatory body. The annual report of The Gambia Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) states that total investment in the...

Kenya - Kenya set to deactivate unregistered Sims.
December 31, 2010... Unregistered Sim cards in Kenya will soon be deactivated, as the government prepares to implement the required legislation, the Business Daily reports. The government was unable to deactivate unregistered lines after the expiry of the September...

Kazakhstan - Beeline Kazakhstan offers online payments.
December 31, 2010... Mobile operator Beeline Kazakhstan has introduced online payments for its services for subscribers. Subscribers can pay for services online via the corporate portal using Visa, MasterCard and American Express bank cards.

Uzbekistan - Ucell offers corporate tablet pack.
December 31, 2010... Uzbekistan mobile operator Ucell has introduced the new Smart Tab package for its corporate subscribers. The package includes the Android 2.1-powered Huawei S7 tablet featuring a 7-inch display, the corporate postpaid tariff and 1 GB of free...

Middle East - HCL to acquire 20% equity stake in Techmart Telecom.
December 31, 2010... Indian ICT systems integrator HCL Infosystems has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire through its wholly-owned subsidiary HCL Investments Singapore, an equity stake of 20 percent in UAE-based Techmart Telecom Distribution. Techmart is a...

South Korea - Hi-media, Mobilians sign m-payments co-branding deal.
December 31, 2010... French e-payments company Hi-media Payments has signed a partnership with South Korean payment processor Mobilians for co-branding mobile payments in Korea, already available on the Allopass micropayments platform. Mobilians' general manager of...

Australia - VHA talks to complaints website.
December 31, 2010... The founder of Vodafone complaints site Vodafail, Adam Brimo, has taken the complaints to Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) CEO Nigel Dews. "He and his team are well aware of our issues and are focusing on how to solve them," Brimo wrote about...

Saudi Arabia - STC offers M3AK broadband service with 5000MB limit.
December 30, 2010... Saudi Telecom (STC) has extended the M3AK broadband service by enabling a 5000MB limit in addition to the existing package, Zawya reported. The service allows customers to browse internet in their homes with the availability of shared connection...

Qatar - Qatar National Bank upgrades eazypay mobile payment service.
December 30, 2010... Qatar National Bank (QNB) upgraded its eazypay mobile payment service to enable merchants to complete customer transactions via mobile telephones, local newspaper Zawya writes. In addition, the bank plans to include additional support services...

Jordan - Zain, Tamweelcom launch m-wallet services in Jordan.
December 30, 2010... Mobile operator Zain Jordan has signed a partnership agreement with Jordan-based micro credit company Tamweelcom. Under the terms of the agreement, Tamweelcom will provide Zain customers with mobile financial services. These services are...

China - KIT digital to establish KIT China.
December 30, 2010... IP-based video enablement technology provider Kit digital has signed a letter of intent to establish KIT China in partnership with Greater China IP video portal Webs-TV's founder and former CEO Morse Chen. KIT digital has plans to officially...

India - Etisalat, Telenor pay penalties for late India roll-out.
December 30, 2010... Indian operator Etisalat DB has paid INR 99 million as a penalty to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for missing its deadline to roll out mobile telephony services in four regions, reports Dow Jones Newswires citing a company...

Thailand - CAT aims to become wholesale provider.
December 30, 2010... Thai telecommunications firm CAT Telecom plans to position itself as a wholesale network provider and plans to set-up a joint venture to manage its 3G network assets. CAT will own 25 percent in the partnership, The Nation writes citing CAT chief...

Indonesia - Palapa Ring project to be completed in 2012.
December 30, 2010... Indonesia's ICT ministry is aiming for the Palapa Ring fibre project to be completed by 2012. The Palapa Ring is a government initiated project which will roll out a fibre-optic network consisting of 35,280km of submarine cable and 21,708km of...

China - PayPal, Chongqing to set-up e-commerce hub.
December 30, 2010... Online payment services provider PayPal plans to set-up an international e-commerce hub in Chongqing, China. The Chongqing government will work with PayPal to set-up a foreign exchange settlement platform, a telesales services, e-commerce...

China - China to make most VoIP services illegal.
December 30, 2010... China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has ruled that only China Telecom's and China Unicom's internet phone services will be legal. All other VoIP services will be ruled as illegal in China, The Shanghai Daily reports....

Nepal - Teletalk introduces 2 fresh Spice handsets.
December 30, 2010... Nepalese distributor of Spice mobile handsets Teletalk has launched two new models: the M-5262 and the M-5170, The Himalayan Times writes. The Spice M-5262 is a multi-Sim phone with a wide screen. The handset further comes with an 8 GB memory...

Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka delays Sim card ownership restrictions by 3 months.
December 30, 2010... Sri Lanka has delayed regulations that limit the number of Sim cards individuals can own. The mobile operators in Sri Lanka have asked for more time to be able to implement the new rules, The Lanka Business Online reports citing director general...

Hong Kong - KKBox grows paying user base to 130,000.
December 30, 2010... Taiwanese streaming music provider KKBox has seen an increase in paying members from 35,000 at end-March in both Hong Kong and Taiwanese markets to 130,000. The increase is due to the growing use of smartphones, according to KKBox, The Digitimes...

Papua New Guinea - Digicel PNG begins credit promotion.
December 30, 2010... Mobile operator Digicel Papua New Guinea (PNG) has begun a iPhone4 credit promotion. Customers that SMS the first name of their favourite Digicel Star to a shortcode, will go in the draw for credit prizes. The company offers two weekly prizes of...

Armenia - Beeline Armenia launches own-branded phone.
December 30, 2010... Beeline Armenia (ArmenTel) has launched a new own-branded phone, the Beeline A100. The handset can bought for AMD 1 by customers who buy a 'For You - Exclusive' prepaid Sim card and fund their account with AMD 5,000. The A100 features FM radio,...

Armenia - Beeline Armenia launches mobile internet plan.
December 30, 2010... Armenian communications provider ArmenTel, which uses the Beeline brand, has introduced a new postpaid tariff for mobile internet. The 'Drive' tariff plan is priced at AMD 6,000 per month and comes with a USB modem on a twelve month contract....

Taiwan - Asustek expects smartphone shipments in Taiwan to grow 50%.
December 30, 2010... Asustek Computer expects total smartphone shipments in Taiwan to grow by 50 percent in 2011. This year, smartphones accounted for 30 to 40 percent of total mobile handset shipments, lower than the 50 percent in the US, general manager of...

China - FET's Android apps downloaded 140,000 times in China.
December 30, 2010... Taiwanese communications firm Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) has released 25 Chinese-language Android apps on China Mobile's Mobile Market. The 25 apps, of which 23 are offered for free, are selected from FET's app store S Mart. The apps...

South Korea - SK Telecom's app store hits 100 mln downloads.
December 30, 2010... South Korean carrier SK Telecom has clocked up 100 million downloads at its mobile application store. The company's T Store has attracted 4.8 million registered users since its launch in September 2009, news agency Yonhap reports. About 90...

Malaysia - TM to conduct internal investigation into Alcatel scandal.
December 30, 2010... Telekom Malaysia (TM) will conduct an internal investigation into the Alcatel-Lucent bribery scandal. Alcatel-Lucent recently agreed to pay USD 92 million in fines to the US department of justice to settle bribery charges and also agreed to pay...

China - China Unicom launches 3G Wi-Fi router.
December 30, 2010... China Unicom has launched a 3G Wi-Fi router package. The router can support up to five Wi-Fi devices accessing the internet at the same time, Xinhua reports. The device, called 3G WiFi SuiShenXing, allows Wi-Fi devices to access the internet via...

China - SMG, China UnionPay, Bank of China launch TV-based payments.
December 30, 2010... Shanghai Media Group (SMG), China UnionPay and Bank of China (BOC) signed agreements on 22 December during the China Network Audio-Visual Industry Forum in Shanghai to launch a TV-based payment service, China Radio International's official...

Kazakhstan - Neo offers online payments.
December 30, 2010... Kazakhstan mobile opertaor Neo has introduced online payments for its services for holders of Visa, MasterCard and American Express bank cards. The service is offered in cooperation with Kazakhstan bank Kazkommertsbank, with no commission fee...

Uzbekistan - Ucell offers call blocking.
December 30, 2010... Uzbekistan mobile operator Ucell has introduced a call filtering service for subscribers. The service enables subscribers to set up a 'black list' of numbers from which calls are blocked, as well as a 'white list' from which calles are allowed.

Israel - Hamashbir, Pelephone to market mobile services in Israel.
December 30, 2010... Israeli department store New Hamashbir Lazarchan has returned its MVNO licence for Telecom 365 to the ministry of communications after reviewing its feasibility, reports the Globes. The company received the licence in June this year. In...

Pakistan - Pakistan holds 3G seminar.
December 30, 2010... The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has held another industry seminar on 3G. Sponsored by ZTE and Qualcomm, the event also saw the five major mobile operators sign memoranda of understanding to support the development of local mobile...

Jordan - Umniah signs cooperation agreement with JoSecure.
December 30, 2010... Jordanian mobile operator Umniah has signed a cooperation agreement with Jordan International Security Company (JoSecure International), a commercial entity owned by the King Abdullah II Design & Development Bureau (KADDB). The agreement is...

India - Trai consults on telecom equipment manufacturing.
December 30, 2010... The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released a consultation paper on 'Encouraging Telecom Equipment Manufacturing in India'. To bring the issues relating to telecommunication manufacturing into focus, a pre-consultation paper on...

Philippines - Globe Telecom, Zong partner on m-payments.
December 30, 2010... Globe Telecom has signed a partnership agreement with mobile payment services developer Zong to provide its direct carrier-billing service to its subscribers, Positive News Media reports, citing Rina Azcuna-Siongco, head of value-added services...

India - Security agencies to get access to India's 3G networks.
December 30, 2010... Indian private telecommunication operators have offered to provide access to security agencies to 3G mobile services within six months of its launch, reports the PTI. Home secretary Gopal K Pillai and Department of Telecommunication's (DoT)...

India - Telemarketers registration to begin from 15 Jan 2011 - Trai.
December 30, 2010... The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2010. Trai had issued The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations,...

UAE - Du offers 'StreetDance 3D' movie On Demand.
December 30, 2010... UAE telecommunication service provider du's service has added 'StreetDance 3D', a dance movie to its VoD offering. This offering is a result of a deal, du has completed with the UK's multi-screen content aggregator On Demand Group, a subsidiary...

India - Airtel to raise Mobile Office service charges in India.
December 29, 2010... Indian operator Airtel will raise its internet browsing charges through its Mobile Office service from INR 0.3 per 50KB to INR 0.3 per 20KB with effect from 5 January 2011, reports The Times of India. This amounts to more than doubling of...

India - Nokia's market share in India slips by 5% in Q3.
December 29, 2010... Nokia's grip over the Indian market has loosened further as its market share slid by another 5 percent in the July to September quarter, reports The Times of India citing a study by IDC. Nokia, however, remains the largest mobile handset brand...

UAE - On Demand Group delivers 3D movie for du's VoD.
December 29, 2010... UK-based content aggregator for VoD and three-screen video On Demand Group, a subsidiary of SeaChange International, has completed a deal to deliver theatrical 3D content over UAE telecom service provider du's IPTV VoD service. Under the terms...

Bahrain - Viva Bahrain to launch Facebook SMS service.
December 29, 2010... Viva Bahrain will launch Facebook SMS service. The service is offered for both postpaid and prepaid customers. Customers can activate the option online through the account setting and then clicking on mobile to turn on the mobile text feature....

UAE - Sheikh Zayed Mosque picks Etisalat for maintenance services.
December 29, 2010... UAE-based Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre has selected Etisalat Facilities Management (EFM), a member of Etisalat Services Holding of Abu Dhabi to provide electro-mechanical and civil engineering facilities maintenance services for the Sheikh...

Pakistan - PTCL unveils Vfone New Year offer.
December 29, 2010... Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) has launched the countrywide Vfone New Year offer for existing and potential Vfone subscribers in Pakistan. PTCL is offering its customers a limited-time offer on loading a Vfone scratch card of over PKR...

Middle East - Zain shareholder plans appeal.
December 29, 2010... A shareholder in Zain said it will appeal an earlier Kuwaiti court decision rejecting its lawsuit to stop the due diligence process for the sale of a 46 percent stake in the mobile operator to the UAE's Etisalat. "Tomorrow [28 December], we will...

Rwanda - Tigo Rwanda, education ministry collaborate for OLPC project.
December 29, 2010... Tigo Rwanda has collaborated with the ministry of education to facilitate the rollout of internet access points in the country's primary schools in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, reports the New Times. As part of the agreement, Tigo...

Sao Tome & Principe - CST surpasses 100,000 mobile customers.
December 29, 2010... Companhia de Telecomunicacoes Santomense (CST), 51 percent owned by Portugal Telecom and 49 percent by the State of Sao Tome, has just passed the milestone of 100,000 customers on its mobile network. This represents a penetration rate of over 60...

Rwanda - MTN Rwanda to connect to Eassy.
December 29, 2010... MTN Rwanda will increase its data and internet capacity by 22.4 percent early next year when it connects to Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), the undersea fibre-optic cable linking East African countries and the rest of the world....

Ethiopia - Ethiopia break up grey calls ring.
December 29, 2010... Ethiopia's Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (FEAC) charged 15 individuals with running illegal international phone businesses, after a three-month investigation, the Addis Fortune reports. Police arrested 43 suspects during a raid...

Nigeria - Nitel struggles as bidder misses payment deadline.
December 29, 2010... Nigerians should be worried about what is happening to national operator Nitel, CEO Hajiya Zainab Y. Ilyasu Sa'ab told the Daily Trust in an interview. The state-owned company has shrunk to around 5,000 employees, from 11,000 under its previous...

India - Tata Docomo launches regional VAS in South India.
December 29, 2010... Indian GSM operator Tata Docomo in association with converged mobile and online technology platform services provider IMImobile has launched three Value-Added Services namely Chalisaas, South Movie Masala, and Panchaang and Astro for all its...

Armenia - Orange Armenia sponsors 'Music days' concerts.
December 29, 2010... Orange Armenia is sponsoring the 'Music days' concerts that are taking place until 29 December in the 'Lovers park' in Yerevan. The events, part of the five-day Winter Festival 2010, will host Armenian music bands and performers, representing...

Hong Kong - South China Financial picks H3C for network infrastructure.
December 29, 2010... South China Financial Holdings (SCFH) has selected IP equipment provider H3C Technologies to design, implement and support the extension of its network infrastructure to its new office at Lippo Centre, Hong Kong. The agreement also includes a...

India - Tech Mahindra unit establishes 3G device test lab.
December 29, 2010... Tech Mahindra subsidiary CanvasM will operate a 3G device testing lab in Noida, India. CanvasM has signed an agreement to offer the service with Qualcomm. The lab will provide quality testing to 3G handsets and devices for their compliance with...

Philippines - PLDT to complete BPL trials in Q1 2011.
December 29, 2010... Filipino communications firm PLDT plans to complete a broadband over power lines trial in the first quarter of 2011. The company is testing three technologies for broadband over powerlines (BPL) and will extend its trial to the first quarter of...

Indonesia - XL plans to invest IDR 4.5 trln in network expansion.
December 29, 2010... Indonesian mobile operator XL Axiata plans to invest IDR 4.5 trillion to boost growth next year. Most of the funds will be used to improve the company's network, XL's president director Hasnul Suhaimi told the Jakarta Globe. The company will...

Japan - NTT to lower fibre prices - report.
December 29, 2010... Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) plans to lower the prices for its fibre-optic broadband services by up to nearly 40 percent in 2011. NTT is also considering lowering access fees for other providers by about 25 percent over the next...

Malaysia - DiGi to continue growth in east coast regions.
December 29, 2010... Malaysian mobile operator DiGi Telecommunications plans to continue to build its presence in the east coast. DiGi's head of the eastern region, Jennifer Neal, told Bernama that the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang were...

Thailand - Cabinet endorses CAT's cancellation of Hutchison asset buy.
December 29, 2010... Thailand's Cabinet has endorsed the plan by state-owned communications firm CAT Telecom to pull out of the take-over plan of Hutchison Telecom's assets. The decision will clear the way for TrueMove to buy the CDMA business instead, The Bangkok...

Bhutan - Bhutan Telecom launches Wi-Fi for broadband customers.
December 29, 2010... Bhutan Telecom has launched a trial Wi-Fi service for its internet customers. DrukNet, Bhutan Telecom's internet service provider brand, has launched DrukNet Wi-Fi for its broadband customers on a trial basis. Customers in the vicinity of Bhutan...

Armenia - Beeline Armenia launches mobile to fixed SMS service.
December 29, 2010... Armenian communications firm Armentel, which uses the Beeline brand, has launched the 'Talking SMS' service. The service allows Beeline mobile users to send SMS messages to fixed-line users in capital Yerevan, and vice versa. Fixed-line...

Afghanistan - Afghanistan ends June with 14 mln GSM users.
December 29, 2010... Afghanistan ended June with 14 million GSM users, up from 13.30 million at end-March and 12.11 million at the end of 2009. The number of CDMA mobile users rose to 84,143 from 83,809 in March, according to statistics from the ICT ministry. The...

Hong Kong - Hong Kong mobile users send 25 mln SMS messages on Christmas.
December 29, 2010... Hong Kong mobile users sent 25.09 million SMS messages on 25 December, up 7.25 percent from last year when mobile users sent 23.40 million messages. Furthermore, mobile users received 33.76 million SMS messages, up 4.82 percent from Christmas...

Hong Kong - Hong Kong ends September with 4.89 mln 3G users.
December 29, 2010... Hong Kong has seen its mobile user base has reach 13.115 million in September, up from 13.082 million in August, according to the figures from regulator Ofta. Of the total, 6.419 million were prepaid users and the number of postpaid users stood...

India - Cheers Mobile opens second contact centre.
December 29, 2010... India's Etisalat DB has inaugurated its second customer contact centre in Noida, India for its Cheers Mobile brand. The company has an end-to-end outsourcing partnership with Tech Mahindra. While Tech Mahindra will be responsible for managing...

Indonesia - NTT to create geo-spatial data network for Indonesian govt.
December 29, 2010... Japan's NTT Data and Itochu have secured a contract to create a national geo-spatial data network system for the Indonesian National Coordination Agency for Surveys and Mapping (Bakosurtanal). The system will enable ten Indonesian government...