Telecompaper Africa/Asia articles from July 2010, page 3

Telecompaper Africa/Asia archives from July 2010

Japan - Yahoo! Japan signs search agreement with Google.
July 27, 2010... Yahoo! Japan reported revenues for the fiscal first quarter to 30 June up 4.2 percent from a year earlier to JPY 70.51 billion. Operating profit at the Softbank subsidiary improved 9.8 percent to JPY 37.6 billion thanks to a focus on lower...

Australia - Garmin-Asus launches A50 navigation smartphone with Optus.
July 27, 2010... Garmin-Asus, a co-branded alliance between Garmin and Asustek Computer, and Optus have launched a smartphone that provides mobile navigation service for Optus customers in Australia. The Garmin-Asus A50 brings together the power of the Android...

Kenya - Safaricom sues over 3G licence.
July 27, 2010... Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom has moved to court to challenge a decision by the Communications Commission of Kenya to charge it KES 135 million as licence fees. The company sued the CCK jointly with the minister for information and...

Middle East - Nokia launches Ramadan phone applications.
July 27, 2010... Nokia announced the launch of a new range of mobile applications and content tailored for Ramadan. The Ramadan applications for 2010 are available on the Ovi Store and can be downloaded on compatible Nokia devices for free. This year's Ramadan...

UAE - UAE regulator says no plan to stop BlackBerry services.
July 27, 2010... The UAE telecommunications regulator TRA does not have any plans to stop BlackBerry smartphone services in the country. Mohamed Gheyath, executive director of Technology Development Affairs at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, told Al...

Ghana - Vodafone Ghana set to retrench more employees.
July 27, 2010... Vodafone Ghana announced plans for the next round of lay-offs as the operator plans to downsize its operations. New CEO Kyle Whitehill told Joy Business that more than a 1,000 workers have been retrenched since Vodafone took over the operations...

Qatar - Qtel, Spanco ink deal to help small firms.
July 27, 2010... Qtel has signed an agreement with Spanco GKS designed to offer enhanced support for the small business sector. Under the agreement, Spanco GKS will work with Qtel to provide a range of services combining Qtel's infrastructure and technology,...

UAE - Etisalat to sponsor Shaabiyat Al Cartoon.
July 27, 2010... UAE-based operator Etisalat announced its official sponsorship of Shaabiyat Al Cartoon, an animated Arabic cartoon series which will premiere its fifth season on Sama Dubai TV in the Holy month of Ramadan. A new season of Shaabiyat Al Cartoon is...

Thailand - DTAC, Happy Ban Cartoon promote Tukky movie in Thailand.
July 27, 2010... Thai mobile operator DTAC, Happy Ban Cartoon and Sahamongkol Film are promoting Tukky - the movie via a game to answer Chain Quiz related to the film via SMS, theme and wallpaper downloading service. Players of the game can win a gold necklace...

South East Asia - Ruckus adds to Southeast Asian team.
July 27, 2010... WLAN equipment provider Ruckus Wireless has expanded its Asia Pacific operations with the appointment of five industry executives to its Southeast Asian team. Michael Lok has been appointed as regional sales manager for Singapore and Malaysia,...

Armenia - Orange Armenia launches tariff plan for Georgia tourists.
July 27, 2010... Orange has launched a tariff offering for Armenian tourists travelling to Georgia. Orange Armenia customers will be able to make local calls while travelling to Georgia for the price of AMD 90 per minute. Calls from Georgia to Orange Armenia...

Viet Nam - VNPT changes to one-member company.
July 27, 2010... VNPT has become a one-member company. The government has approved VNPTs restructure in a one-member company. Under a new law that has come into force on 1 July, state enterprises that have not yet been privatised must become one-member limited...

Nepal - Ncell blocks 15,000 UTL numbers over VoIP issues.
July 27, 2010... Nepalese mobile operator Ncell is blocking calls from rival UTL after it started receiving voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) calls from some of them. Ncell is blocking around 15,000 United Telecom numbers. VoIP calls are banned by the...

Australia - Optus secures digital TV satellite deals.
July 27, 2010... Optus has secured four multi-million dollar contracts for digital television signal transmission services. Optus has signed ten-year deals with the ABC, SBS, Southern Cross Media Group, and Imparja Television, the Australian writes. Optus will...

Australia - Telstra plans reorganisation to support media business.
July 27, 2010... Telstra is reorganising its technology and network operations to prepare for competition on the media market. The reorganisation will centralise Telstra's technical operations related to the media business in a new division called Architecture,...

China - Unicom drops iPhone prices.
July 27, 2010... Chinese operator China Unicom plans to lower the price for the Apple iPhone again, increasing speculation it will launch the iPhone 4 shortly. Unicom will cut the price of the 32 GB model to CNY 5,999 from the current price of CNY 6,999, the...

South Korea - SK Telecom sells 500,000 Galaxy S phones in 1 month.
July 27, 2010... Korean telecommunications provider SK Telecom has sold 500,000 Galaxy S smartphones by Samsung Electronics. SK Telecom launched the device a month ago. Samsung has been targeting enterprises with the smartphone, such as the SK Group, Posco, and...

Australia - Optus unveils iPhone 4 pricing.
July 27, 2010... Australian communications firm Optus is launching the Apple iPhone 4 on 30 July. Optus is offering four iPhone plans, under which the 16 GB model will be priced at AUD 8 per month on the AUD 49 plan and the 32 GB model at AUD 15 per month. The...

Australia - Primus connects first business customer to NBN.
July 27, 2010... Australian telecommunications provider Primus Telecom has connected its first business customer to the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Scottsdale, Tasmania. Primus is one of the first three internet providers signed up to provide internet...

India - Tech Mahindra's profits rise 10% in Q1.
July 27, 2010... Indian ICT services provider Tech Mahindra saw its revenues rise 1.9 percent in the first quarter ended 30 June to INR 11.34 billion from INR 11.13 billion in the year-ago period. Operating profit was INR 2.13 billion, down 24.2 percent...

India - MTS launches unlimited MBlaze offer.
July 27, 2010... Mobile operator MTS India has launched a mobile broadband offer with unlimited data to celebrate the company's milestone of reaching 5 million subscribers in 361 days. The 'Unlimited Blazer' package offers unlimited data access for thirty days...

New Zealand - Tuanz urges Telecom to declare hand on voluntary separation.
July 27, 2010... New Zealand's Telecommunications Users Association (Tuanz) is urging Telecom New Zealand to be more open about its plans for voluntary structural separation. Tuanz guardedly accepted some of the changes Telecom New Zealand is seeking to its...

Australia - Telstra to launch iPhone 4 on 30 July.
July 27, 2010... Australian carrier Telstra will launch the iPhone 4 on 30 July. The 16 GB model will be offered at no upfront cost on a AUD 79 cap plan or above, when signing up to a 24-month plan.

Sri Lanka - Dialog Axiata posts H1 profit of LKR 2.08 bln.
July 27, 2010... Sri Lankan telecommunications firm Dialog Axiata (formerly known as Dialog Telekom) moved to a net profit in the six month period ended 30 June. Net profit totalled LKR 2.08 billion, versus a net loss of LKR 9.54 billion in the year-ago period....

Philippines - Bayan provides services in Bonifacio Global City.
July 27, 2010... Filipino communications firm Bayan Telecommunications has signed a contract with the Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC) for telecommunications services in the Bonifacio Global City. As part of the agreement, Bayan Business will be one...

Australia - Entertainment industry union to be heard in iiNet case.
July 27, 2010... An Australian entertainment industry union will be heard as a 'friend of the court' in Afact's case against ISP iiNet. The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has asked the federal court to allow the union to be heard in the copyright...

South Africa - Aicent sees 300% surge in network traffic during World Cup.
July 27, 2010... Roaming services provider Aicent recorded a 300 percent surge in network traffic during the FIFA World Cup tournament compared to the weeks prior to the competition. Aicent observed that traffic correlated directly with the number of matches...

China - Baidu seeks to embed search on mobile phones.
July 27, 2010... Chinese search services provider Baidu is hoping to embed its search service on Android devices in China. Baidu is in talks with handset makers that use Android software as well as makers of other mobile operating systems to expand its search...

Australia - Telstra still below average in customer satisfaction survey.
July 27, 2010... Virgin Mobile continues to lead in mobile customer satisfaction in Australia, with 79.2 percent of customers saying they were 'fairly' or 'very' satisfied with the service, according to a Roy Morgan Research survey. In the six months to May,...

Australia - NBN Co urges Willunga, Kiama residents to agree to NBN link.
July 27, 2010... Australia's government-owned company building the national broadband network, NBN Co, is urging residents and businesses within the Willunga and Kiama first release sites to sign-up and prepare their properties for high speed broadband as...

Saudi Arabia - Mobily launches postpaid promotion.
July 27, 2010... Saudi mobile operator Mobily has launched a promotion where new subscribers to postpaid bundles will get three months free of monthly fees, a vanity number, and 1GB of internet connectivity for three non-consecutive months. The promotion covers...

China - Sohu.com revenues rise 15 percent to USD 146.1 mln.
July 27, 2010... Chinese internet company Sohu.com saw its revenues for Q2 increase 15 percent year-on-year to USD 146.1 million from USD 127.1 million, exceeding the high end of the group's guidance by USD 2 million. Gross margin fell to 73 percent from 77...

Gabon - Gabon launches 3G licence tender.
July 27, 2010... Gabon's telecommunications regulator, Artel, has launched a tender for proposals to build and operate 3G networks using the IMT 2000 standard to deliver advanced mobile services in the country. The tender document was released on 23 July and can...

Bangladesh - Samsung launches new smartphones in Bangladesh.
July 27, 2010... Samsung Bangladesh has launched the Samsung Galaxy S and the Samsung Wave smartphones priced at BDT 46,900 and BDT 32,500 respectively. The Samsung Galaxy S features a 4 inch WVGA Super Amoled display with an Android 2.1 Eclair OS and has a 5...

India - India unveils portable computing device costing USD 35.
July 27, 2010... A prototype of a low-cost computing device was unveiled in India on 22 July. The device, which is no bigger than a conventional laptop, will have all the elementary features, including internet browsing. The expected price of the showcased model...

India - MTNL expects INR 2.8 bln in revenues from roaming deal.
July 27, 2010... India's state-owned operator MTNL has said that it expects its annual revenue to be about INR 2.8 billion largely due to roaming agreement with other telecommunication companies for 3G services, reports PTI citing MTNL CMD Kuldeep Singh. MTNL...

India - India's CVC opens investigation on dual licences.
July 27, 2010... India's Central Vigilance Commission has opened an investigation into all key decisions taken by telecommunication minister A Raja on lincences, reports the Economic Times. The anti-corruption body has told the telecommunication department that...

Qatar - Vodafone Qatar says ready for numbering change.
July 27, 2010... Vodafone Qatar announced that it is fully prepared for the new national numbering plan. The new plan effective on 28 July will see mobile and fixed line numbers in Qatar automatically gain an extra digit. During the cutover, Vodafone's core...

South Africa - FNB introduces mobile wage payments service.
July 27, 2010... South African bank FNB announced a new payment service, Pay Wallet, which will enable employers to pay their un-banked employees' funds into a mobile phone account. Pay Wallet enables FNB Corporate, Commercial and Public Sector clients to...

UAE - Network International launches e-voucher services for Du.
July 27, 2010... Network International (NI) has signed a contract to be a provider of electronic voucher services for UAE mobile operator Du. Network's e-voucher service will enable merchants to generate recharge PINs using Network Credit Card terminals for...

Nigeria - NCC tells CDMA operators to explore consolidation.
July 27, 2010... The Nigerian Communications Commission has urged CDMA operators to consider mergers and acquisitions as a way out of their ongoing financial quagmire. NCC Executive Director Bashir Gwandu noted that consolidation must be embraced by the four...

Kenya - Orange Kenya launches on-net unlimited calls promotion.
July 27, 2010... Orange Kenya has introduced the Bunda free calls promotion for Orange mobile customers to make free calls to all subscribers on Orange mobile, Orange Wireless or Telkom Fixed from 10.00hrs to 17:00hrs daily until 31 August. After these hours,...

Kazakhstan - IBA opens office in Kazakhstan.
July 27, 2010... Global IT services provider IBA has opened an office in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana. Kazakhstan thus becomes the eighth country where the IBA Group has a permanent presence. Since 1996, IBA has been working in Kazakhstan and other countries...

Oman - Nawras reports strong demand for new broadband services.
July 27, 2010... Oman operator Nawras said over 10,000 customers inquired about its new services fixed-line services during the first week of sales, including many pre-registered customers who picked up their new home broadband modems. Nawras is offering an...

South Korea - KT sees iPhone 4 launch by September.
July 27, 2010... KT expects to launch the Apple iPhone 4 in September, Pyo Hyun-myung, the president of KT's mobile division, said in a Twitter posting. The Korean company earlier announced a delay in the phone's launch from the initial plan of a July launch,...

India - BSNL, UBI partner for bill payment, mobile top-up.
July 27, 2010... State-owned Indian operator BSNL has nationally launched its service of BSNL bill payment and mobile top-up through mobile/Union Bank of India (UBI) ATMs. The scheme enables UBI account holders, after one time registration of BSNL mobile number...

Singapore - StarHub adopts smartphone signalling product from Huawei.
July 27, 2010... Singaporean firm StarHub has adopted a smartphone signalling product provided by Huawei, after completion of tests of the product on its advanced HSPA+ 3G network. Test results have shown that the product optimises StarHub's smartphone mobile...

Oman - Nawras sponsors Oman racing champion.
July 27, 2010... Nawras has signed a sponsorship agreement with international driver Ahmad Al Harthy. With less than three weeks remaining until the start of the second half of the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship in the UK, 28-year-old Al Harthy...

UAE - Etisalat launches English premier league package.
July 27, 2010... Etisalat announced the launch of its Abu Dhabi Sports Package on eLife and E-Vision. Football fans can catch the live broadcasts of all 380 matches played in the upcoming Barclays Premier League in full HD. The league is scheduled to begin on 14...

Bahrain - Zain Bahrain signs retail deal with Blueberry.
July 27, 2010... Zain Bahrain has entered into an agreement with retail company Blueberry to open a series of shops branded as Zain outlets and managed by a trained outsourced team from the operator's distributor. Zain said the first Blueberry-managed Zain Shop...

Saudi Arabia - Saudi Babtain mulls buying LeBlanc's 49% stake.
July 27, 2010... Saudi's Al Babtain Power and Telecommunications Company said its board has approved the initiation of talks with LeBlanc to acquire the remaining stake in its unit Babtain LeBlanc Telecommunications. Al Babtain, which currently holds 51 percent...

UAE - E-Vision launches summer promotion.
July 26, 2010... E-Vision, a UAE cable TV provider and part of Etisalat, announced a summer promotion. New customers subscribing to E-Vision packages will get free installation, decoder and maintenance. The promotion which runs until 15 September will allow new...

Bahrain - Zain Bahrain promotes postpaid plans.
July 26, 2010... Zain Bahrain has introduced promotions for its Hewar postpaid service. The Hewar packages come with a bundle of 110, 330 or 990 minutes per month. A Hewar990 customer can either benefit from 2900 additional local minutes or a BHD 10 discount on...

Qatar - Qtel, ADMC sign English Premier League deal.
July 26, 2010... Qtel and Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) have signed an agreement to enable the operator's customers to watch every match of the English Premier League (EPL) football which will be available exclusively on Mozaic TV+ from August. The offer will...

South Africa - South Africa govt drops communications dept head.
July 26, 2010... South Africa's Department of Communications (DoC) has confirmed that its Director-General (DG) Mamodupi Mohlala has been released from her position effective immediately. DoC said in a statement while it has been facing a number of challenges...

Hong Kong - PCCW Global, Altech KDN ink global MPLS deal.
July 26, 2010... Hong Kong-based PCCW Global and Altech Kenya Data Networks (Altech KDN) have signed an MPLS Inter-Carrier Interconnection (ICI) agreement to mutually extend their international coverage to more than 110 countries and 1,300 cities worldwide. PCCW...

India - India reaches 671.7 mln telephone users in June.
July 26, 2010... The number of telephone subscribers in India in June increased 2.72 percent to 671.69 million from 653.92 million in May, according to data from Indian regulator Trai. Teledensity reached 56.83 percent from 55.38 percent in the previous month....

UAE - UAE says BlackBerry poses security risk.
July 26, 2010... The BlackBerry, made by Research In Motion, is open to misuse that poses security risks to the UAE, state-run WAM news agency reported. BlackBerry is operating beyond the jurisdiction of national legislation, the UAE's Telecommunications...

Japan - DoCoMo to increase Sony Xperia supply by 200,000 units.
July 26, 2010... NTT DoCoMo will increase the supply of its Xperia smartphone by 200,000 units by the end of this month, the Nikkei reports. Since its debut in April, sales of the handset made by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications have totalled over 300,000...

Gabon - Mobile coverage meets expectations in Gabon's cities.
July 26, 2010... Mobile coverage in Gabon's capital, Libreville, and 'oil city' Port Gentil is on par with other Central African capitals and coverage in Libreville is comparable to that of European capitals, according to a six-week mobile coverage and quality...

Jordan - Kulacom launches Nokia N6 handset promotion.
July 26, 2010... Kulacom Jordan announced a promotion in conjunction with the release of the Nokia X6 Comes with Music edition, offering customers bundled packages with benefits that include a year of unlimited access to the Ovi Music catalog and unlimited...

Qatar - Vodafone Qatar considers further legal action over Virgin.
July 26, 2010... Vodafone Qatar has welcomed the ruling by IctQatar, the country's telecommunications regulator, in response to the operator's complaint against Qatar Telecom's introduction of Virgin Mobile in Qatar in May. IctQatar ordered Qtel to change...

Egypt - Vodafone Egypt adds 1.2 mln customers in Q2.
July 26, 2010... TThe number of mobile subscribers in Egypt declined to 58.3 million in May, the first monthly drop in seven months, according to government figures. Vodafone Egypt gained almost 1.2 million during the second quarter, for a total 25.79 million at...

Africa - Seacom repairs successfully completed.
July 26, 2010... Seacom announced that it has successfully restored and tested its submarine cable which has been down since 5 July. Seacom said with the entire network now fully operational, its technical teams will continue to work closely with customers to...

Ghana - Globacom says not pulling out of Ghana.
July 26, 2010... Nigerian operator Globacom says it's not pulling out of Ghana. Group COO Mohammed Jameel said the operator has invested so much in its Ghanaian operations that it was not ready to leave, despite challenges encountered. Globacom had in May been...

Saudi Arabia - Mobily makes broadband accessible to 92% of population.
July 26, 2010... Saudi mobile operator Mobily has made its broadband service accessible to 92 percent of the country's population. Broadband connectivity allows users fast internet and value-added services such as video telephony and mobile television. Mobily...

Japan - KDDI's net income slumps 17% in Q1.
July 26, 2010... Japanese communications firm KDDI saw its net income slip by 17 percent in the first quarter ended 30 June while revenues inched up by less than 2 percent. Operating revenues were JPY 866 billion, up 1.4 percent from JPY 853.7 billion in the...

India - Ericsson objects to Indian network equipment security norms.
July 26, 2010... Ericsson has objected to the India's security clearance norms of telecommunication network equipment, reports the Economic Times. The company said that it is not in favour of obligations such as escrowing of source code unlimited liability,...

Africa - Bharti shortlists 5 firms for outsource in Africa - report.
July 26, 2010... Indian operator Bharti Airtel has shortlisted three MNC's and two Indian IT majors for its billion dollar plus IT outsourcing contract in Africa, reports the Economic Times, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter. IBM, which...

Thailand - Govt panel needs over 1 month to review 3G licensing.
July 26, 2010... The Thai government committee studying the conversion of concession contracts to licences will need at least one month to study the current legal agreements before operators can launch 3G services. The comment was made by prime minister Abhisit...

Viet Nam - Viettel, VinaPhone sell 15,000 iPhone 3G devices.
July 26, 2010... Viettel and VinaPhone have sold nearly 15,000 iPhone 3G devices in four months. Viettel sold over 10,000 iPhone 3G devices and is now sold out, while VinaPhone sold nearly 5,000 devices and is sold out as well, the VietNamNet Bridge reports...

Guam - GTA claims FCC reports shows no unserved areas in Guam.
July 26, 2010... Guam-based carrier GTA TeleGuam said that a new Federal Communications Commission report shows that no areas in Guam are unserved. The comments follow a dispute between GTA TeleGuam and rival IT&E over the latter's request of broadband...

Australia - Telstra drops BigPond broadband prices.
July 26, 2010... Telstra has changed its BigPond broadband pricing and data allowances. On top of the reduced prices, customers can get up to AUD 20 off their broadband monthly access fee when they combine a new 24 month broadband plan with a Telstra full...

Nepal - Nepal Telecom, Ncell launch corporate tariffs.
July 26, 2010... Nepalese mobile operators Nepal Telecom and Ncell have launched tariff plans for corporate users. Nepal Telecom's plan offers a 10 percent discount between a group of ten postpaid subscribers in a corporation. Ncell launched a similar plan and...

Indonesia - Indonesian govt to auction revoked Wimax licences.
July 26, 2010... The Indonesian government plans to open a new round of bidding for Wimax licences as three of the eight licensed operators have failed to meet licence requirements. The ICT ministry has revoked the licences of three companies that did not meet...

Cambodia - Nokia to open office in Cambodia.
July 26, 2010... Nokia plans to open its first office in Cambodia to 'bring it closer' to the Cambodian market after sales declined in the second quarter. The new office will be located in Phnom Penh and is aimed at building brand and market awareness, the Phnom...

South Korea - SK Telecom to buy back 1.25 mln own shares.
July 26, 2010... South Korean communications firm SK Telecom is planning to buy back 1.25 million own shares, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The company is planning the share buy back, worth KRW 201.9 billion, to boost its share price. The buyback will be...

Thailand - TrueMove lowers BlackBerry prices, offers instalment plan.
July 26, 2010... Thai mobile operator TrueMove has lowered the prices of the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry Curve and launched an instalment plan. The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is now offered at THB 17,500 and the BlackBerry Curve 8520 is offered at THB 10,500....

Guam - IT&E targets Filipinos with Kababayan Sim package.
July 26, 2010... Guam telecommunications firm IT&E has launched a service for Filipino expats. The 'Kababayan' Sim package offers special rates to Globe and Touch mobile numbers in the Philippines of USD 0.22 per minute and SMS messages for USD 0.06, the...

Asia - Keppel posts 36.4% higher profits in Q2.
July 26, 2010... Asian network engineering and communications services provider Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation saw its profits rise in the second quarter on the back of lower revenues. Revenues were down 6.7 percent to SGD 27.21 million from SGD...

Australia - Vodafone Australia offers X10 Mini Pro.
July 26, 2010... Mobile operator Vodafone Australia has introduced the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro. The X10 Mini Pro is a touch-screen mobile phone with the same features as its predecessor, the X10 Mini. However, the X10 Pro Mini has a sliding Qwerty keyboard....

Azerbaijan - Azercell expands roaming in India.
July 26, 2010... Azerbaijani mobile operator Azercell has signed a roaming agreement with Indian mobile operator Vodafone Essar. This is Azercell's 24th roaming agreement with Indian mobile operators. The operator has 398 roaming agreements in total with...

Taiwan - Sony Ericsson launches Zylo with FET.
July 26, 2010... Sony Ericsson has launched its Zylo phone in Taiwan through operator Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), which will target young customers with the handset, the Digitimes reports. The Sony Ericsson Zylo features Sony Ericsson Walkman music...

China - Taiwan telecom assn to visit China to discuss cooperation.
July 26, 2010... The Taiwan Telecommunication Industry Development Association (TTIDA) is planning to visit its counterpart in China to discuss substantial cooperation, the Digitimes reports citing TTIDA president Lu Shyue-ching. The TTIDA was established by the...