Telecompaper Africa/Asia articles from July 2010

Telecompaper Africa/Asia archives from July 2010

India - Indian mobile handset sales forecast up 18.5% in 2010.
July 30, 2010... Mobile device sales in India are forecast to reach 138.6 million this year, an increase of 18.5 percent over 2009 sales of 117 million units, according to a study by Gartner. The mobile handset market is expected to show steady growth through...

Mozambique - TDM restores services after cable fault.
July 30, 2010... Mozambique's publicly-owned telecommunications company TDM announced that its normal communications between the north and south of the country have returned to normal, despite the break in the TDM undersea cable. The cut in the cable occurred on...

Australia - Gen-i Australia restructures.
July 30, 2010... Gen-i Australia has finalised its organisational restructure and will in the future deliver two value propositions with different operating models. General manager Phil Varney will be leaving the company to return to the UK and will be replaced...

Swaziland - Chunghwa, SPTC collaborate on service offerings.
July 30, 2010... Chunghwa Telecom has signed a memorandum of understanding with Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications (SPTC) to jointly develop and enhance telecommunications service offerings in Swaziland. SPTC is a public corporation wholly-owned by the...

Australia - Telstra ups data on smartphone plans.
July 30, 2010... Telstra has boosted its included data for customers buying select smartphones and unveiled further pricing details for the Apple iPhone 4. Customers buying a iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, HTC Desire or Nokia N97 mini until 1 November will get between...

Australia - Telstra launches Prepaid Cap+ offer.
July 30, 2010... Telstra has launched a new prepaid offer called Prepaid Cap+. Recharges start at AUD 30 which includes AUD 30 in credit and AUD 170 in bonus credit and 50 MB of bonus data. The top-ups go up to AUD 100 which comes with AUD 100 in credit, AUD 900...

Bangladesh - BTRC consults on spectrum tariff changes.
July 30, 2010... The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has published revised tariffs for radio spectrum users. Comments can be lodged until 2 August. The revised tariffs relate to radio service licence fees, radio equipment importer...

Indonesia - Telkom grows H1 revenues, sees profits slip.
July 30, 2010... Indonesian carrier Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) saw its first half revenues rise 5 percent to IDR 99.05 trillion, from IDR 94.26 trillion a year earlier, due to a 18 percent rise in data, internet, and IT services revenues. Mobile revenues...

India - Qualcomm secures local investors for India LTE project.
July 30, 2010... Qualcomm has signed up local investors for its Indian wireless broadband venture. The US-based chipmaker won spectrum in four regions of India last month and plans to roll out a LTE network. Global Holding Corp and Tulip Telecom have now agreed...

Australia - Internode leads in customer satisfaction survey.
July 30, 2010... Australian ISP Internode again leads in customer satisfaction in a Roy Morgan survey in the six months to May. Some 93.4 percent of Internode customers were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their overall service. Iinet follows Internode with...

Malaysia - Maxis launches daily BlackBerry data plan.
July 30, 2010... Malaysian mobile operator Maxis has introduced a daily prepaid BlackBerry data plan for its Hotlink brand. The plan is priced at MYR 2.50 per day for 200 MB of data. In conjunction with the introduction of daily BlackBerry data plans, Maxis is...

Singapore - SingTel establishes Euro term notes programme.
July 30, 2010... Singapore Telecommunications' subsidiary SingTel Group Treasury has established a SGD 10 billion Guaranteed Euro Medium Term Note Programme, under which notes may be issued from time to time. SingTel will guarantee the Notes. The Hongkong and...

Australia - Australia finalises in-flight mobile licences.
July 30, 2010... The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has finalised radiocommunications licensing arrangements to facilitate mobile communication services on aircraft. The regulator has consulted closely with the Civil Aviation Safety...

Philippines - Meralco threatens to disconnect phone lines.
July 30, 2010... Filipino power company Manila Electric (Meralco) is threatening to disconnect phone lines from operators without a contract to use its poles. The company has warned that from 1 August it will exercise its right to disconnect from its electricity...

New Zealand - Vector establishes credit facilities.
July 30, 2010... New Zealand energy and fibre company Vector has established a new NZD 50 million senior credit facility and new NZD 125 million working capital facility. These facilities will expire in August 2013 and December 2013, respectively and will be...

Taiwan - Taiwan changes fixed-to-mobile pricing.
July 30, 2010... The Taiwanese communications regulator has shifted pricing rights for fixed-to-mobile calls to the fixed-line carriers, the Digitimes reports. Currently, the mobile operators set the prices for voice calls and pay interconnection fees to the...

New Zealand - Telecom launches smartphone data add-on.
July 30, 2010... Telecom New Zealand has launched a new smartphone add-on, called Smartphone Extra. The company is promoting the option with double data for three months for new customers. The plan includes 500 MB of data and is priced at NZD 38 per month and...

South Korea - KT, ABS signs multi-transponder condosat agreement.
July 30, 2010... Korea's KT and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) have signed a multi-million dollar deal for multiple C and Ku-band transponders on ABS' satellites, including the new ABS-2 satellite scheduled to be operational by Q1 2013. This will mark the third...

Japan - Docomo posts flat revenues, drop in profits.
July 30, 2010... Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo posted flat revenues for the first quarter ended 30 June while net income dropped over 3 percent. Revenues totalled JPY 1.09 trillion, up just 0.4 percent from JPY 1.08 trillion in the year-ago quarter. Mobile...

UAE - Du launches Ad Sports package for football fans.
July 30, 2010... UAE operator Du introduced the Ad Sports package to bring complete coverage of the Barclays Premier League. The package costs AED 31 per month. It begins airing from 14 August and includes full coverage of the event, during which 20 English...

Tanzania - Vodacom Tanzania launches TZS 300 voucher.
July 30, 2010... Vodacom Tanzania has introduced the lowest prepaid recharge card of TZS 300, called 'Jiti Tatu'. Vodacom subscribers can recharge their mobile phones with the new top-up cards.

India - Essar, Vodafone mull IPO of joint venture.
July 30, 2010... India's Essar Group is in talks with Vodafone about an initial public offering for their joint venture, Vodafone Essar. The discussions are in a preliminary stage, the Wall Street Journal reports citing Essar Group chief executive Prashant Ruia....

Kenya - Orange Kenya H1 revenue falls to 9.4%.
July 30, 2010... Orange Kenya posted a 9.4 percent drop in revenues for the six months ended 30 June to EUR 48 million (KES 4.5 billion) from EUR 53 million over the same period last year. The results were released by Orange Kenya's parent company France...

Ghana - MTN Ghana donates GHC 30 mln for GNA refurbishment.
July 30, 2010... MTN Ghana has donated GHC 30 million toward the refurbishment of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) newsroom to boost the morale of journalists to serve the nation's information needs. The project includes the provision of new desks for all staff of...

South Africa - Neotel opens second data centre in Cape Town.
July 30, 2010... South African fixed-line operator Neotel has increased its portfolio of data centre facilities with the launch of a second Tier 3 data centre in Cape Town. Neotel's first data centre was launched in June 2009 at the Neotel premises in Midrand,...

Australia - Virgin Mobile Australia unveils iPhone 4 plans.
July 30, 2010... Australian mobile operator Virgin Mobile has unveiled new iPhone 4 plans. The plans come in two flavours: Easy Caps with unlimited voice calls and SMS messages to other Virgin Mobile users and Smart Caps with extra included data. The Easy Caps...

Japan - Softbank's Q1 sales boosted by mobile unit.
July 30, 2010... Japanese communications provider Softbank saw its first quarter net sales grow over 5 percent while income dropped almost 30 percent. Net sales in the three months to June totalled JPY 700.84 billion, up 5.2 percent from JPY 666.33 billion in...

Japan - Docomo unveils LTE brand, corporate vision.
July 30, 2010... Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo has unveiled a new brand and logo for its upcoming LTE services and a new corporate vision. The LTE brand name is written "Xi" and read as "crossy." Docomo says the The 'X' denotes both 'connection' and...

Australia - Telecom NZ sells part of AAPT, stake in Macquarie Telecom.
July 30, 2010... Telecom New Zealand will sell the consumer division of Australian unit AAPT to Australian ISP iiNet for AUD 60 million. The transaction is subject to iiNet shareholder and customary regulatory approvals. Telecom currently estimates the...

Nepal - Nepal Telecom to launch NPR 15 bln CDMA tender.
July 30, 2010... Nepal's government has approved Nepal Telecom's plan to launch a NPR 15 billion tender for CDMA network equipment. The tender also includes a convergent billing project of NPR 1 billion. The operator plans to expand its CDMA network across the...

Egypt - Samsung Egypt sees 62% growth rate in H1 2009.
July 30, 2010... Samsung Electronics' growth rate in Egypt for the mobile phone division grew 62 percent in H1 2009 from 2008 levels. Samsung anticipates even better results in 2010 with growth projected at above 70 percent. This is in line with the company's...

Asia - Tinet adds low latency route between Hong Kong, Europe.
July 30, 2010... Tinet, formerly the carrier arm of Tiscali Group, has added a new terrestrial route to its IP and Ethernet backbone between Hong Kong and Europe. The new low latency route runs over the Transit Europe-Asia cable system, extending over a...

Armenia - Orange extends mobile network coverage in Armenia.
July 30, 2010... Orange Armenia is expanding its mobile network coverage, to make its voice and data services available to remote communities and touristic resorts. Customers living in or travelling to Jermuk, Garni, Agarak, Zangezur, Stepanavan, Vayots Dzor,...

Armenia - VivaCell-MTS supports anti-hail stations.
July 30, 2010... Armenian mobile operator VivaCell-MTS is supporting a project for the deployment of anti-hail stations in seven villages of the Armavir region. The weather stations are expected to help local farmers protect their crops from rain damage. The...

Egypt - Egypt schools to deploy 10,000 AMD-based PCs.
July 30, 2010... About 10,000 PCs running on AMD processors will be deployed to schools in Egypt, in part of a tender for the government's computer literacy program. The tender will equip 1,400 public elementary schools across all 29 governorates in the country...

Bahrain - Bahrain ISPs deliver close to advertised broadband speeds.
July 30, 2010... Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has published its first report on the quality of broadband services in the country, which shows that broadband subscribers are generally getting the download connection speed that they pay for....

Kenya - Google announces developer events in Kenya, Uganda.
July 30, 2010... Google has announced the G-Uganda and G-Kenya events to showcase its tools and services across the two countries. The Uganda event will be held in Kampala start on 1 September and ending the following day. G-Kenya will start four days later at...

Uganda - Uganda operators defy regulatory interconnection rates.
July 30, 2010... Telecom operators in Uganda have defied a Uganda Communications Commission directive to implement uniform interconnection tariffs. According to the Monitor newspaper, the operators say the move needs further consultation. UCC early this year...

India - India amends licences for network equipment security checks.
July 30, 2010... The Indian government has issued changes to telecom operator licences requiring them to address security concenrs among their foreign network equipment suppliers. According to a report from the Economic Times, the government can impose penalties...

Egypt - El Araby picks NEC to build IT infrastructure.
July 30, 2010... El Araby Group has selected NEC to provide the entire IT infrastructure for a call centre for 150 users, several new office buildings and its hospital in Egypt. The project consists of four fully loaded Flexpower blade solutions, installed in...

South Korea - KT to spend KRW 5.1 trln on fixed, mobile networks.
July 30, 2010... Korean operator KT is planning KRW 5.1 trillion in capital expenditures on its fixed and mobile networks, which include Wi-Fi, WiBro and WCDMA. KT plans to spend the amount over the next five years, until 2014. The capex plan is to prepare for...

Nigeria - Multi-Links Telkom rolls out DWDM.
July 30, 2010... Nigeria's Multi-Links Telkom has completed its Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) project, which is designed to provide greater redundancy on its fibre network, limiting downtime resulting from fibre cuts. This allows the operator to...

Qatar - 20:20 Mobile, Starlik partner on recycling scheme.
July 30, 2010... Europe-based mobile phone distributor 20:20 Mobile has partnered with Qatar retailer and distributor Starlink to fulfil the company's new in-store mobile phone recycling service. The recycling scheme, which will be launched in Starlink's Qatar...

India - RIM agrees to address India's security concerns.
July 30, 2010... Research in Motion has given an assurance to the Indian government on soon addressing its security concerns, reports PTI, citing the special security (internal security) head in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Utthan Kumar Bansal. The government...

Kazakhstan - Beeline Kazakhstan cuts rates of USB modems.
July 30, 2010... Kazakhstani mobile operator Kar-Tel, working under the Beeline Kazakhstan brand, announced that it has cut prices on its USB modems. Packages including the USB modem, a Sim with the Click tariff and 50 MB of traffic are offered for KZT 7,500. A...

India - Tata Tele Maharashtra revenues up 10% to INR 5.6 bln.
July 30, 2010... Indian operator Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) revenues grew 10 percent to INR 5.6 billion for the fiscal Q1 ended 30 June. Focus on wireless broadband service, Photon+ with VAS and data services increased data revenues to 18.5 percent of total...

South Korea - LG U+, Microsoft sign MoU to deliver cloud services in Korea.
July 30, 2010... Microsoft and LG Uplus have signed a memorandum of understanding that will bring to market a range of cloud services for LG U+ customers in Korea. Under the terms of the alliance, LG U+ will use Microsoft's software platforms and cloud offerings...

South Africa - Former DoC head sues over sacking.
July 30, 2010... The former director general of South Africa's department of communication, Mamodupi Mohlala has filed papers at the Johannesburg High Court challenging her dismissal, the SABC reported. Mohlala told the broadcaster that she was challenging the...

Iraq - Asiacell implements e-recruitment system.
July 30, 2010... Iraqi operator Asiacell has implemented an enterprise e-recruitment system to attract, engage and hire exceptional telecom professionals. The system implemented in partnership with Hiring Solutions includes features built specifically for the...

South Korea - KT selects Boingo for global Wi-Fi access.
July 30, 2010... Wi-Fi service provider Boingo Wireless and South Korean carrier KT have signed an agreement that gives KT customers access to more than 125,000 Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide. KT owns and operates 27,000 hotspots in South Korea and provides Wi-Fi...

Kuwait - Wataniya Telecom offers Wnet with free USB modem.
July 30, 2010... Kuwait operator Wataniya Telecom presented a new mobile internet offer with a free USB modem or a discounted router with the Wnet package for KWD 21 per month. The Wnet router is available at the discounted price of KWD 20 with the connection...

Singapore - Equinix to expand second IBX data centre in Singapore.
July 29, 2010... Data centre operator Equinix will expand its second International Business Exchange data centre in Singapore, SG2. This third expansion phase within the SG2 IBX data centre will add 850 new cabinet equivalents when completed in mid-2011. Equinix...

Kenya - Orange Kenya inks dealership deal with Mobicom.
July 29, 2010... Orange Kenya has entered into a national partnership with the country's biggest mobile dealer, Mobicom Group. The partnership will see Orange grow its footprint by tapping into Mobicom's vast distribution network of 42 outlets across the country...

Malaysia - Acer Malaysia launches four smartphones.
July 29, 2010... Acer Sales & Services has launched four smartphone models and has target to sell about 72,000 units in the first year with revenues of MYR 60 million, reports Bernama. Four Android-powered smartphones, the Acer Liquid E Ferrari Edition, Acer...

South Korea - SK Telecom revenues up 0.7%, net profit grows to KRW 364 bln.
July 29, 2010... Korean carrier SK Telecom's revenues for the second quarter rose 0.7 percent to KRW 3.089 trillion, backed by growth in total subscriber numbers including flat rate calling plan subscribers. Wireless internet sales improved 6.4 percent to KRW...

New Zealand - 2degrees offers microSims.
July 29, 2010... As of 30 July, New Zealand new mobile operator 2degrees customers will be able to swap their current Sim cards for one of the new 2degrees microSims. A Sim-swap is the transfer of all the customer's account details, including their current...

China - Zoom unveils Leimone 3G phone with China Telecom.
July 29, 2010... China-based mobile phones manufacturer Zoom Technologies unveiled the Leimone E33, its third in a series of 3G " Leimone " brand multimedia phones in China with China Telecom. The E33 3G mobile phone is coming to market in September and is...

Viet Nam - VTF, Intel bring internet to rural areas in Vietnam.
July 29, 2010... Vietnam Public Telecom Fund and Intel Vietnam has signed the memorandum of understanding recently in cooperation to expand PC and internet service for the inhabitants in the rural and remote areas. This MOU valid for five years from June this...

Uzbekistan - MTS launches commercial LTE network in Uzbekistan.
July 29, 2010... Mobile TeleSystems has commercially launched a network based on LTE technology in Uzbekistan. The network operates in the 2.5-2.7 GHz band and covers the downtown area of Tashkent. MTS plans to expand coverage significantly in future, using the...

Cambodia - VNPT Hanoi provides MetroNet convergence service.
July 29, 2010... VNPT Hanoi just launched the MetroNet service with the connection charge of VND 5 million/channel/time/connection point which including CPE equipment from beginning of July. MetroNet is super speed transmission line up to 10.000 Mbps for many...

Japan - E-book industry group formed in Japan.
July 29, 2010... An industry association for facilitating cooperation among those in the e-book business was established on 27 July, headed by Dai Nippon Printing and Toppan Printing, reports the Nikkei. The Association for E-publishing Business Solution, or...

Cambodia - Mobitel's mobile money service to need oversight.
July 29, 2010... Cambodian mobile operator Mobitel will need approval from the National Bank of Cambodia to launch its planned mobile money transfer service. Earlier, the company said the service, which is to be launched in the next eight weeks, is not subject...

Australia - Iinet to buy AAPT's retail business - report.
July 29, 2010... Australian ISP iiNet is thought to be the preferred buyer of AAPT's retail unit, after rival TPG Telecom failed to acquire the whole business. Iinet entered a trading halt on 29 June as it is preparing an announcement. Telecom New Zealand has...

Thailand - Thailand plans 3G auction for end-September.
July 29, 2010... The Thai telecommunications regulator plans hold a 3G licence auction in the last week of September. The board of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has approved the time frame. The NTC plans to auction off three 3G licences in the...

Australia - Greens seek uncensored documents on data retention plans.
July 29, 2010... The Australian Greens party is seeking documents relating to the government's controversial data retention plan, without any parts censored. The party is hoping to use the upcoming senate inquiry into internet privacy to expose the documents....

Uzbekistan - Ucell launches international calls promo.
July 29, 2010... Uzbek mobile operator Ucell has launched an international call offer. Until 6 August, the operator offers discounts on international calls. From the third minute of the call, the charges will be two times lower than the normal charge, and from...

Pakistan - Qubee Pakistan expands Wimax coverage.
July 29, 2010... Wireless broadband company Augere is expanding its coverage in Pakistan. The company already offered Wimax services under the brand name Qubee to over 20,000 customers in its launch city of Karachi. Qubee Pakistan has recently launched services...

Thailand - Asia Pacific Wire & Cable secures contracts in Thailand.
July 29, 2010... Asia Pacific Wire & Cable has seen its Thai subsidiary Siam Fiber Optics sign several major contracts with local companies and state-owned telecommunication companies. The total value of the contracts is THB 592 million. The contracts...

China - Huawei, ZTE, Datang win big in China Mobile tender - report.
July 29, 2010... Chinese equipment suppliers Huawei, ZTE and Datang are reported to be the biggest winners in China Mobile's fourth 3G network tender. The three suppliers have won as much as 70 percent of the value of the contract in the TD-SCDMA tender,...

Tajikistan - MLT expands network in mountainous region.
July 29, 2010... Tajikistan mobile operator MLT announced that it has expanded its network in the mountainous Badakhshan autonomous region, launching 12 new base stations there. The operator currently operates more than 580 base stations across the country.

Nigeria - Starcomms picks SEGway for IP transition.
July 29, 2010... Nigerian CDMA operator Starcomms has selected SEGway's Signalling Solution to upgrade its network in Nigeria. Starcomms is transitioning its network to a complete IP architecture. The carrier designed a hierarchical network topology using PT's...

India - India's IB asks DoT to stop Nokia's e-mail service.
July 29, 2010... India's Intelligence Bureau has asked the telecommunication department to stop Nokia's messaging services in India until they can be monitored, reports the Economic Times. The security agency has written to the DoT that it is against Nokia's...

Indonesia - RIM launches BlackBerry Pearl 3G in Indonesia.
July 29, 2010... Research In Motion has launched the BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone in Indonesia. The phone provides supports for 3G and offers a numeric keypad, a touch-sensitive optical trackpad, a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi. The device has an optical...

Oman - Oman telecom revenues grow 8.2% to OMR 635 million in 2009.
July 29, 2010... Oman's telecom sector revenues jumped 8.2 percent to OMR 635.1 million during 2009. According to statistics compiled by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), mobile services contributed the bulk of revenues generated by the...

Mali - Sotelma adds over half million mobile subscribers in Q2.
July 29, 2010... Mail operator Sotelma had 1.464 million mobile customers at the end of June, up from 911,000 three months earlier. The operator also had more than 72,000 fixed-line customers and around 14,000 internet customers. The operations in Mali generated...

Ghana - Ghana's mobile customer growth to slow in 2010.
July 29, 2010... Ghana's mobile subscriber growth is set to drop by 5 to 10 percent this year, according to a Business Monitor International (BMI) report. The market researcher expects that the introduction of Sim registration by the National Communication...

India - Airtel owes INR 1.52 bln to govt for spectrum, licence fees.
July 29, 2010... Indian operator Bharti Airtel owes the government INR 1.527 billion, the highest outstanding among all operators, towards spectrum charges and licence fees, reports PTI citing minister of state for telecom and IT Sachin Pilot's written reply in...

India - Nokia launches Easy EMI scheme in India.
July 29, 2010... Nokia has launched its Easy EMI scheme in India. This scheme will allow Nokia buyers to buy Nokia handset and accessories of their choice and pay for it in three equal monthly installments at zero percent interest. Customers can purchase a Nokia...

India - Vodafone to launch 3G service by year-end in India.
July 29, 2010... Vodafone Essar aims to launch 3G mobile services by end of this year, reports PTI citing CEO and managing director Marten Pieters. Broader services of 3G will be available by the first quarter of next year, he added. Pieters said that the...

Nigeria - Visafone launches IVR customer care service.
July 29, 2010... Nigerian operator Visafone has launched the Multi Language Interactive Voice Recorder (IVR) Customer Care Service to enhance its customer care hotlines and give more subscribers the opportunity to communicate effectively in their languages. The...

Australia - Alcatel-Lucent University to build new campus in UTS Sydney.
July 29, 2010... Alcatel-Lucent University, the company's organisation for learning and professional development, is building a new campus within University of Technology's, Blackfriars, City Campus in Sydney. The new campus which is scheduled to open in August,...

Asia - Alcatel-Lucent names Aris as marketing head in APAC.
July 29, 2010... Alcatel-Lucent has appointed Elizabeth Aris as head of marketing, strategy and public affairs for Asia Pacific, effective immediately. Aris will be based in Shanghai and report to Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent in the APAC...

Qatar - Qtel launches standalone Mozaic TV service.
July 29, 2010... Qtel is launching its Mozaic TV service im a standalone subscription for customers who require only TV service. Available for QAR 150 a month, the plan comes in addition to Qtel's Mozaic TV+, which offers television, telephone and internet...

Qatar - Vodafone Qatar launches iPhone, data offer.
July 29, 2010... Vodafone Qatar has introduced a new offer called Ajeeb. Valid until 30 September, the offer provides a 50 percent discount on Vodafone Star numbers, QAR 200 discount off an iPhone and a one-off free mobile internet bundle offering 75MB on Red or...