Telecompaper Africa/Asia articles from February 2012

Telecompaper Africa/Asia archives from February 2012

South Africa - 8ta extends prepaid data promotion.
February 29, 2012... South Africa mobile operator 8ta extended the 'Go 3 Gigs Big' promotion for entry-level prepaid data. The promotion offers 2GB of any-time data and 1GB of "Midnight Surfer" data for use between midnight and 05:00hrs for ZAR 149. This promotion...

South Africa - Dark Fibre rolls out fibre network in George.
February 29, 2012... South Africa's Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) is currently deploying a fibre infrastructure worth ZAR 15 million in cooperation with George Municipality. DFA said that other nearby cities that will benefit from this rollout includes Knysna, East London...

Kenya - Kenya operators cut ad spending.
February 29, 2012... Kenya's telecommunication firms are slashing their advertising budgets as a price war eats into their earnings. Data from Ipsos Media shows that Safaricom, Airtel and Orange Kenya reduced their collective advertising spend to KES 7.5 billion...

Kenya - Safaricom seeks review of termination rates.
February 29, 2012... Kenyan operator Safaricom has renewed its call for a fresh cost analysis on interconnection charges. CEO Bob Collymore said the company will accept the outcome and adjustments on termination rates if based on a proper study. Currently, the MTR...

Africa - Expresso picks eServGlobal's Subscriber Stimulation Service.
February 29, 2012... eServGlobal will deliver its Software as a Service (SaaS) subscriber stimulation service to African telecommunications group Expresso Telecom. The service will initially be provided to key African affiliates of the Group. eServGlobal's SaaS...

Africa - Bhairti Airtel may revise low-cost strategy in Africa.
February 29, 2012... Bharti Airtel may devise a new strategy for the African market, following what it termed an unexpected response to its low-cost model developed in India. According to the Daily Nation, the mobile company told participants at the Mobile World...

Bahrain - Kalaam links with Bahrain Financial Harbour.
February 29, 2012... Kalaam Telecom Bahrain has installed a backbone link connecting the Bahrain Financial Harbour to Kalaam's redundant network operating from Almoayyed Tower. The connectivity to BFH allows businesses to avail of high-capacity bandwidth options of...

Asia - C&W appoints Webb as managing director of Asia Pacific.
February 29, 2012... Cable&Wireless Worldwide has appointed Darren Webb as managing director for Asia Pacific region to oversee the expansion of its business in the region. In addition to the Asia Pacific leadership role, Webb continues to be responsible for the...

Australia - Motorola inks deal with Australian govt for network upgrade.
February 29, 2012... Motorola Solutions has signed an agreement with the Victorian Government's Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA), Australia worth over AUD 130 million to upgrade and extend the management of Victoria's Metropolitan Mobile Radio...

New Zealand - Igloo selects Brightstar as supply chain provider.
February 29, 2012... New Zealand-based pre-pay and on-demand TV provider Igloo has selected mobile phone distributor Brightstar as the exclusive supply chain provider. Brightstar NZ will provide a complete supply chain service for Igloo's TV set top boxes, including...

Qatar - Internet Society to launch Qatar chapter.
February 29, 2012... The Internet Society (ISOC) has announced the opening of its chapter in Qatar, the Gulf Times reported. The chapter will offer programmes around various topics on the internet such as e-learning and technology, in addition to holding workshops,...

Nigeria - Airtel Nigeria launches 3.75G service.
February 29, 2012... Airtel Nigeria announced the roll-out of 3.75G services across the country. To mark the launch, the mobile operator announced an up to 50 percent bonus offer on the purchase of any of its data plan bundles, a free 2GB with the purchase of a data...

South Korea - LG U+ turns to Spirit as engine provider for VVoIP.
February 29, 2012... LG U+, a telecommunication services provider in Korea, has selected Spirit DSP's TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine Mobile as the engine to power HD-quality VVoIP (Voice&Video Over IP) calling on the company's U+070 Mobile application...

Pakistan - Etisalat, Pakistan near settlement on PTCL deal.
February 29, 2012... The UAE and Pakistan say the will soon find an amicable solution to a standoff on a final payment by Etisalat for its 26 percent stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL), a top official said. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, advisor to Pakistan's...

Saudi Arabia - ITC picks iDirect to enhance VSAT services.
February 29, 2012... Saudi operator Integrated Telecom Company (ITC) has enhanced its enterprise VSAT services with the iDirect Evolution platform. VT iDirect said ITC purchased an iDirect Universal 15000 Series satellite hub, which is integrated with iDirect's...

Saudi Arabia - STC gets exclusive on Galaxy Nexus.
February 29, 2012... Saudi operator STC announced the exclusive launch of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the first device powered by Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). STC will provide customers with several service package options with the smartphone developed by Google...

UAE - Etisalat selects Jasper Wireless for M2M services.
February 29, 2012... UAE-based operator Etisalat, has selected Jasper Wireless to wirelessly connect machine-to-machine (M2M) and consumer electronics devices across Etisalat's mobile network properties. Etisalat will use the Jasper Wireless platform to accelerate...

Africa - Orange to add Visa prepaid services to Orange Money.
February 29, 2012... Orange will offer Visa Mobile prepaid accounts to Orange Money customers in selected markets of Africa and the Middle East by the end of the year. It is based on the Visa Mobile Prepaid product, introduced in October 2011 to enhance the...

Egypt - ZTE, Etisalat Misr sign expansion agreement.
February 29, 2012... Egyptian operator Etisalat Misr and ZTE have reached an agreement to expand the mobile operator's network to meet forecast capacity requirements. The latest contract is the second phase of the Etisalat Misr wireless network expansion plan agreed...

New Zealand - CallPlus launches BuyBack plan for businesses.
February 29, 2012... New Zealand communications firm CallPlus has launched new business mobile plans that will give customers money back for unused mobile minutes and data. Under the BuyBack plan, CallPlus will buy back the unused portion of the plan's minutes and...

China - China Mobile unveils TD-LTE plans.
February 29, 2012... China Mobile has unveiled its TD-LTE plans at the Mobile World Congress. The company aims to operate over 20,000 TD-LTE base stations by the end of this year and will boost this number tenfold by the end of 2013, Xinhua writes. "We are ready for...

Brunei Darussalam - Brunei ends 2011 with 443,161 mobile subs.
February 29, 2012... Brunei Darussalam ended 2011 with 443,161 mobile subscribers, up from 435,104 mobile users in 2010. The total comprises 377,425 prepaid users and 65,736 postpaid subscribers, figures from AITI show. Mobile penetration slipped to 104.84 percent...

South Korea - KT to launch NFC coupon service with Docomo.
February 29, 2012... Korean operator KT plans to launch an NFC coupon service with Japanese operator NTT Docomo. The company demonstrated the near field communications (NFC) coupon service at the Mobile World Congress. The service allows KT customers with an NFC...

China - China Telecom to drop corporate broadband prices in Shanghai.
February 29, 2012... China Telecom will lower the price of corporate broadband services by around 30 percent in Shanghai from April. The move follows complaints about high costs and low speeds of the service, the Shanghai Daily reports.

China - Sina to invest USD 160 mln in Weibo.
February 29, 2012... Chinese internet company Sina will invest USD 160 million in blogging website Weibo this year to upgrade infrastructure and build an advertising system. Weibo will launch a self-service advertising system for corporate account holders to...

Australia - Coalition would take Telstra's copper network for NBN.
February 29, 2012... The Australian opposition would expect Telstra to transfer ownership of its copper network to NBN Co if it were to win the election. Telstra has signed a AUD 11 billion deal with the government company rolling out the NBN, NBN Co, to migrate its...

Japan - KDDI in talks to sell Apple iPad - report.
February 29, 2012... Japanese communications provider KDDI is in the final stages of negotiations with Apple for sales of the iPad by the operator. KDDI could launch iPads in Japan as early as March, the Nikkei writes. Currently, Softbank has the exclusive rights to...

New Zealand - Telecom NZ launches T-Stick promotion.
February 29, 2012... Telecom New Zealand has launched a T-Stick USB modem promotion. Customers that sign-up to a 24-month, 2 GB plan before 31 March will get the T-Stick for free and will get 50 percent more data included until the end of June. The 2 GB plan is...

Australia - SMB complaints to TIO grow 52%.
February 29, 2012... Complaints from Australian small businesses about their telecommunications services increased 52 percent in the last financial year, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) reports. More than 22,000 complaints were made in 2010-11 by...

Hong Kong - PCCW's FY profit slips to HKD 1.61 bln.
February 29, 2012... Core revenues of Hong Kong ICT provider PCCW went up 5 percent in 2011 to HKD 22.512 billion from HKD 21.47 billion in 2010. Core revenues exclude PCCW's property development business Pacific Century Premium Developments (PCPD). Core EBITDA...

Philippines - Sun Cellular promotes 2 call and text add-ons.
February 29, 2012... Filipino mobile services provider Sun Cellular has launched two add-ons. The Sun Call and Text Combo 30 includes 40 minutes of on-net calls, 120 on-net SMS messages, and now also offers 120 SMS messages to other networks. The add-on is priced at...

Philippines - Sun Cellular to expand coverage in Mindanao.
February 29, 2012... Philippine mobile operator Sun Cellular will be strengthening its network coverage in areas of Mindanao. The company says demand for services in Mindanao is "immense" and has therefore prioritised this region in the initial phase of its network...

Australia - Virgin Mobile to launch Nokia Lumia 800, 710.
February 29, 2012... Virgin Mobile Australia will launch the Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 on 5 March, the company announced on Twitter. The Lumia 710 will be offered for AUD 0 upfront on the Big Plan 29 (AUD 29 per month) and the Lumia 800 will be AUD 0 upfront on the...

Australia - Optus loses case to silence AFL CEO.
February 29, 2012... The Australian Federal Court has rejected a request by telecommunications provider Optus for an injunction to stop the chief executive of the AFL from criticising the company's mobile TV recording service, TV Now. Justice Richard Edmonds...

Indonesia - Axis launches internet offer for Megabazar.
February 29, 2012... Indonesian mobile operator Axis has launched a mobile internet offer for the Megabazar which will be held from 29 February to 4 March in Jakarta and Bandung. The offer is valid with a coupon printed in a national newspaper or a receipt for an...

Azerbaijan - Ulysse Nardin launches smartphone in Azerbaijan.
February 29, 2012... Swiss watch manufacturer Ulysse Nardin has launched sales of its exclusive Chairman smartphone in Azerbaijan, reports Trend. The device includes a multi-touch display and 5 megapixel camera. Azerbaijan company ItalDesign Group offers the device...

Middle East - Qtel Group signs partnership with WEF.
February 29, 2012... Qtel Group has signed an agreement with the World Economic Forum to champion its upcoming regional meeting taking place in Istanbul, Turkey in June. Under the terms of the WEF agreement, Qtel Group will act as an industry associate for...

Saudi Arabia - STC launches Quicknet 4G modem offer.
February 29, 2012... STC has launched the Quicknet 4G offer for mobile data over a USB modem. The dual-mode modem enables customers to access both the 3G and 4G networks. After an initial 3-month package, customers can buy services at SAR 99 for 5GB per month or SAR...

Kyrgyzstan - Megacom grows customer base to 2.65 mln.
February 29, 2012... Kyrgyzstan mobile operator Megacom reported that its subscribers base has exceeded 2.65 million. The total is up from 2.232 million a year earlier.

Asia - CSA, Trend Micro establish Asia Pacific headquarters.
February 29, 2012... The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and mobile security provider Trend Micro have established the CSA Asia Pacific headquarters. As founding sponsor, Trend Micro will chair the CSA Executive Council. CSA has appointed Aloysius Cheang, currently...

Azerbaijan - Elcell upgrades customer services via premium rate line.
February 29, 2012... Azerbaijan operator Elcell has upgraded its customer services call centre operations in cooperation with the company One Smart Star. Elcell customer services will now be available to both fixed and mobile subscribers over a premium rate number.

Kyrgyzstan - Nexi expands 3G network in Talas region.
February 29, 2012... Kyrgyzstan mobile operator Nexi announced that it has expanded the coverage of its 3G network in the Talas region. The operator provides internet services using EV-DO technology.

India - Telenor, Unitech approach Company Law Board over Uninor.
February 29, 2012... Indian property group Unitech and Norwegian firm Telenor have approached India's Company Law Board (CLB) seeking to restrain each other's moves concerning their Uninor joint venture, writes The Times of India. The CLB is an independent...

China - Huawei, IBM China unveil Smart Workspace@Mobile.
February 29, 2012... Huawei Device has unveiled a Smart Workspace@Mobile service developed for the enterprise mobility market at MWC. Huawei will collaborate with IBM Global Business Services in China, to develop service for the enterprise mobility market providing...

Palestinia - Wataniya celebrates half million customers.
February 29, 2012... Wataniya Palestine launched a campaign to celebrate reaching half a million subscribers. Customers making a top-up will be awarded bonus credit. The amount depends on how long they've been a customer, their balance and the form of top-up and can...

Bahrain - Batelco starts Champions League SMS competition.
February 29, 2012... Bahrain's operator Batelco is giving football fans the chance to win prizes in a Champions League SMS and Win competition. The competition, which is open to both postpaid and prepaid customers, give customers the opportunity to win valuable...

Botswana - Orange Botswana sends staff out into shops.
February 29, 2012... Staff at Orange Botswana have left their offices for a day to interact with customers for a day. The All for Customers day saw staff join frontline service providers at Orange shops and stalls where they met customers face-to-face, the Business...

Morocco - MLS expands to Morocco.
February 29, 2012... MLS, the creators of 'MLS Destinator', announced the company's expansion to Morocco. The company markets the 'MLS Destinator Talk&Drive' navigation system with voice recognition. MLS is already active in Chile and Turkey. The decision to...

Saudi Arabia - Integrated Telecom sets up Bahrain gateway.
February 29, 2012... Saudi Arabia operator Integrated Telecom (ITC) announced the launch of a new gateway and interconnection point in Bahrain. This new terrestrial gateway contributes to increased diversity offered to operators and enterprises in both countries via...

Middle East - Yahsat picks Newtec for Ka-band service.
February 29, 2012... UAE-based satellite operator Yahsat announced that it will implement Newtec's FlexACM technology for its high-speed, Ka-band IP trunking service. The new agreement will support Yahsat's new business service, YahCarrier, which is set to be the...

Kazakhstan - Kartel to upgrade Sicap DMC platform in Kazakhstan.
February 29, 2012... Kartel, the Vimpelcom subsidiary which operates under the brand name of Beeline, has selected to upgrade Swiss mobile software developer Sicap Device Management Centre (DMC) platform in order to enable faultless service availability for its...

Mozambique - Movitel connects schools to internet.
February 29, 2012... Mozambique operator Movitel has so far connected 205 state-owned schools to the internet. A statement from the ministry of education said the schools connected include secondary schools, teacher training colleges, technical and professional...

Nigeria - NCC estimates 14.55 mln multiple registrations.
February 29, 2012... The Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) announced multiple registrations of 14.45 million lines in the ongoing SIM card registration project across the country. The commission said with the project ending soon, it already has a combined...

Sierra Leone - Airtel Sierra Leone partners with Girl Guides.
February 29, 2012... Airtel Sierra Leone has partnered with Girl Guides during the celebrations to mark World Thinking Day. The celebrations carry the theme 'We can save our planet' and aim to raise awareness on the environment and also the impact lifestyles and...

Kenya - Safaricom recovers data service after cable cut.
February 29, 2012... Kenyan operator Safaricom announced partial restoration of data service for its customers, following a cut on the critical East African Marine Systems (TEAMS) undersea cable on 25 February. Maritime officials have confirmed that a shipping...

India - Sistema invokes treaty rights over MTS licences.
February 29, 2012... Russian company Sistema has called on the government of India to resolve the situation of the cancelled licences of its venture Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) within six months. SSTL, which operates under the MTS brand in India, was one of...

Pakistan - PTA issues details on 1.9, 3.5GHz bands auction.
February 29, 2012... The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has issued details of the planned award of frequencies in the 1.9GHz and 3.5GHz bands. Expressions of interest are due by 30 March, the PTA will announce qualified bidders on 11 April, and the auction is...

Africa - East Africa internet disrupted as subsea cables cut.
February 29, 2012... A ship at the Kenyan port of Mombasa cut off most of Kenya from the internet, cutting a crucial link for the bulk of internet and international voice traffic in the East Africa region. The incident happened on 25 February when the ship illegally...

UAE - Du says undersea cable repaired.
February 29, 2012... UAE operator Du announced that the FLAG undersea cable between Dubai and Oman, which was cut on 21 February, has been repaired. The operator said that its customers experienced very little service disruption during the period that the cable was...

Middle East - Noqoush joins Mobile Marketing Association.
February 29, 2012... Noqoush Mobile Media Group, an Arab company specialized in mobile advertising and mobile media monetization, has become a member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). Committed to driving and developing the mobile advertising industry in...

Middle East - Yahsat launches VSAT service.
February 29, 2012... Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) has launched a new VSAT service based on the iDirect Evolution Platform. The VSAT service, based on the iDirect Evolution Platform and Cisco's unified communication system, is launching on the...

UAE - Injazat Data inks MoU with HCT.
February 29, 2012... Injazat Data Systems has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Higher Colleges of Technology, the largest institution of higher learning in the UAE, in support of its long-term Emiratization strategy. Under the terms of the MOU, Injazat...

Philippines - Globe Telecom to embed Billing on BlackBerry App World.
February 29, 2012... Filipino communications provider Globe Telecom's BlackBerry smartphone customers will be able to apply application purchases from BlackBerry App World directly to their Globe Telecom postpaid or prepaid bill account. The billing service will...

Bahrain - Viva Bahrain launches new smart plans.
February 27, 2012... Viva Bahrain has launched three new Smartphone plans. Postpaid customers can choose from the postpaid 10 and 20 plans without having to buy any device, or from one of the new smart plans with a BlackBerry or Android device of their choice....

India - RCom, MTS, TTSL add CDMA subscribers in January.
February 27, 2012... Bharti airtel's CDMA subscriber base declined to 3.26 million in the month of January, from 3.32 million in December, according to figures from the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Auspi). RCom and RTL's fixed-line...

UAE - Regus launches Android app.
February 27, 2012... Regus has launched an android app aimed at aiding flexible work. The app allows users to search and map Regus locations globally and can also be used to book or inquire about Regus flexible workspace options such as meeting rooms, day offices or...

Kenya - Airtel Kenya launches 3.75G service.
February 27, 2012... Airtel Kenya has announced the launch of its 3.75G platform in the country. It said the service will enhance multimedia functionality, high speed mobile broadband and internet access, and will allow users to make video calls, watch live TV, send...

South Africa - FNB launches Facebook money transfer vouchers.
February 27, 2012... South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) has launched a service that allows its mobile phone banking customers to send money to their Facebook friends by purchasing vouchers, MyBroadband reported. FNB vouchers can only be sent to Facebook users...

Japan - NXP to create NFC Radio Controller interoperable with FeliCa.
February 27, 2012... NXP Semiconductors and Japan's FeliCa Networks will collaborate to enable interoperability between NXP's family of NFC radio controller services and the Japan infrastructure compliant to FeliCa (NFC-F). Based on a single NFC radio controller...

Tanzania - Tanzanian minister hails benefits of digital switchover.
February 27, 2012... The transition to digital from analogue broadcasting will bring economic benefits, the Daily News reported online, citing Tanzania's Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Makame Mbarawa. He said mobile phone users will be able to...

Kenya - ITU helps Kenyan watchdog set up central cybercrime desk.
February 27, 2012... The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) signed an agreement with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva on 16 February to create a central desk to handle cybercrimes, Business Daily reported online. The Kenya National...

Tanzania - Microsoft releases Swahili language pack for Office 2010.
February 27, 2012... Microsoft has released a Kiswahili version of its Office 2010 productivity suite, Tanzania's Daily News reported online. The Microsoft Office 2010 Kiswahili Local Language Pack is also backward-compatible with previous versions of the suite and...

Africa - Bintel selects SAS Analytics software.
February 27, 2012... Bintel, operating in Africa under the Azur brand, has selected SAS Analytics software to improve its marketing campaigns. SAS Marketing Automation includes a set of analytics and data mining tools that enable the company create, test, modify and...

Japan - NTT Docomo to unveil voice-agent app for Android smartphones.
February 27, 2012... Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo to launch a voice-agent application, called Shabette Concier that enables customers to obtain a range of information and perform diverse tasks by speaking into their Docomo smartphones on 1 March. Shabette...

Australia - ACCC declares bitstream access service.
February 27, 2012... The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has made a decision to declare and regulate the local bitstream access service. This declaration is intended to cover the 'last mile' of fibre to residences and small businesses on...

Australia - NewSat's profits jump 194% in H1.
February 27, 2012... Australian satellite operator NewSat saw its profit surge 194 in the first half ended 31 December. Profit totalled AUD 500,000 versus AUD 300,000 in the year-ago period. Revenues went up 15 percent to AUD 17.1 million from AUD 15 million and...

Australia - Vodafone launches Nokia Lumia 800.
February 27, 2012... Vodafone Australia will begin selling the Nokia Lumia 800 from 29 February. Customers can get the phone for AUD 0 upfront with a 49 per month plan on a 24-month contract. The Nokia Lumia 800 runs on Windows Phone 7 and features a 3.7-inch...

Australia - NextDC posts H1 loss of AUD 3.3 mln.
February 27, 2012... New Australian data centre company NextDC has posted a loss before income tax of AUD 3.3 million for the first half ended 31 December. Net cash outflow from operating activities totalled AUD 3 million, net investment was AUD 51.1 million, and...

New Zealand - Telecom NZ to lease laptops to schools.
February 27, 2012... Telecom Rentals, Telecom New Zealand's technology finance subsidiary, has won a multimillion dollar contract to provide leased laptops to primary and secondary schools across New Zealand. The three-year deal with the Ministry of Education will...

Australia - Vita Group sees profit slump 85%.
February 27, 2012... Australia's Vita Group, owner of telecommunications retail chains, reported an EBITDA of AUD 6.9 million for the first half ended 31 December, down 46 percent from AUD 12.7 million a year earlier. However, underlying EBITDA, which excludes...

Australia - M2's H1 profit rises 45%.
February 27, 2012... Australian telecommunications services group M2 Telecommunications posted profits for the first half ended 31 December of AUD 16.7 million, up 45 percent from AUD 11.5 million. Underlying profit (which includes an add-back of a non-cash cost)...

Australia - Amaysim adds 13, 18 numbers to unlimited plan.
February 27, 2012... Australian MVNO Amaysim has added 13 and 18 numbers within Australia to its Unlimited plan. The plan, which costs AUD 39 per month, offers unlimited standard calls and text, 4G of data, and now also calls to 13 and 18 numbers.

Australia - VHA to focus on HSPA+ before LTE.
February 27, 2012... Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) will concentrate on offering '4G-like' speeds using HSPA+ technology before launching any LTE services. Vodafone is currently upgrading its network with single radio access network (RAN) equipment from Huawei...

Australia - M2 buys Time Telecom assets.
February 27, 2012... Southern Cross Telco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian business and wholesale communications provider M2 Telecommunications, has executed an agreement with Time Telecom which will allow M2 to acquire Time's business assets. The move will...