Wireless Asia articles from January 2007

Wireless Asia archives from January 2007

Learning curve.(UNWIRED)
January 1, 2007... There's nothing more difficult than trying to turn a government enterprise into a competitive business. It not just a telecom problem: government trophy firms ha passenger aviation, aerospace and toll roads that do not come to grief inevitably...

Chunghwa eyes bid for 3G licenses in China.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2007... Taiwan's top telecom carrier Chunghwa Telecom plans to make a historically unprecedented bid to enter Chinas new 3G market, if it can find a way around the daunting legal obstacles. China will raise the ceiling of foreign ownership in its...

Cellcos need WiMAX strategy.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
January 1, 2007... Mobile operators will have to prepare for the entry of WiMAX as it remains uncertain whether the technology will be a big competitor, a great ally or a minor factor when it enters the mainstream. An InStat report says a concrete strategy for...

WiMAX to cut energy opex.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
January 1, 2007... With energy costs now the third most significant operating expense for cellular operators, the integration of WiMAX and metro Wi-Fi with cellular technology, becomes a good option for mobile carriers. According to ABI Research, from a pure...

OTA music purchases remain sluggish.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
January 1, 2007... While almost 23.5 million mobile subscribers in the US have music players on their handsets, only about two million have downloaded full music tracks over the air as of the third quarter of 2006. According to Telephia, most subscribers load...

AMR to lead M2M market growth.(IN SIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
January 1, 2007... Wireless telemetry, or automated reading (AMR), will gain huge ground in the next three years revenue expected to more than double from $11.6 bill in 2006 to $25.3 billion by 2009, Juniper Research says. As businesss realize the operational...

New Year's traffic spikes stump operators.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2007... The first hours of every year in Japan give mobile network managers a huge headache as spikes force all networks to severely restrict traffic. One of the major causes of this traffic surge is that many Japanese visit their favorite shrine...

Mobile music market seen topping $32.2b.(METRICS : Inside the wireless data numbers)
January 1, 2007... Despite competition from digital music players and the challenge of delivering music services to the end-user, mobile music revenue is expected to reach $32.2 billion by 2010, more than double the 2007 revenue forecast of $13.7 billion....

Personalization drive pushes ringbacks.(METRICS : Inside the wireless data numbers)
January 1, 2007... As interest in ringtones starts to wane in Europe and the US, another music download is beginning to gain more ground--ringback tones. Research from M:Metrics shows that the rate of downloads for ringback tones has drastically grown in the US,...

The Virgin Group is in talks with Tata Teleservices to form an alliance and introduce the Virgin brand in India.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... The Virgin Group is in talks with Tata Teleservices to form an alliance and introduce the Virgin brand in India, with the possibility of Virgin Mobile acting as an MVNO.

Cellphone makers shipped 1.02 billion handsets for the first time in 2006.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... Cellphone makers shipped 1.02 billion handsets for the first time in 2006. Shipments last year rose 22.5% from the 2005 tally of 833 million units. IDC reported Q4 sales of a record 295 million devices.

Bharti and Ericsson announce investments totaling $2.5b in India's fast-growing telephone market.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... Bharti and Ericsson announce investments totaling $2.5b in India's fast-growing telephone market. Bharti Airtel invested $2b in the financial year 2006-07. Ericsson said it would invest $500m over the next five years in India, and possibly...

Motorola, NEC, Panasonic Mobile and Samsung Electronics, and carriers NTT Docomo and Vodafone officially announce a new foundation to push Linux standardization and adoption on mobile phones.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... Motorola, NEC, Panasonic Mobile and Samsung Electronics, and carriers NTT Docomo and Vodafone officially announce a new foundation to push Linux standardization and adoption on mobile phones. The non-profit Limo Foundation is open to any...

Nokia shares rally after the world's No. 1 mobile phone maker posted a 19% rise in fourth-quarter earnings on record sales.(Movements)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... Nokia shares rally after the world's No. 1 mobile phone maker posted a 19% rise in fourth-quarter earnings on record sales. But the closely watched the average selling price of Nokia phones continued to slump, driven by sales of low-end...

Tougher competition and complications from its $11.6b merger hit Alcatel-Lucent's revenue and wiped out its fourth-quarter profit.(Movements)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... Tougher competition and complications from its $11.6b merger hit Alcatel-Lucent's revenue and wiped out its fourth-quarter profit, the telecom equipment maker warns, sending its shares plummeting less than two months after the company's...

Sony Ericsson says its net profit more than tripled in the fourth quarter, as record sales of its music and camera handsets helped it gain market share.(Movements)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... Sony Ericsson says its net profit more than tripled in the fourth quarter, as record sales of its music and camera handsets helped it gain market share. Net profit hit 447m euros ($579m) in the three months ending December 31, up from 144m...

Motorola signs a deal to use customized chips from Texas Instruments.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... Motorola signs a deal to use customized chips from Texas Instruments for its upcoming 3G handsets that would be available as early as 2008.

Cingular Wireless, the largest cellphone provider in the US, says its fourth-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, boosted by customer growth during the holidays.(Movements)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... Cingular Wireless, the largest cellphone provider in the US, says its fourth-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, boosted by customer growth during the holidays. Cingular earned $782m during the fourth quarter, compared with $204m in the same...

Motorola is cutting 3,500 jobs and taking other steps to reduce costs.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... Motorola is cutting 3,500 jobs and taking other steps to reduce costs after misjudgments on pricing and sales forecasts for its high-end phones contributed to its least profitable quarter since 2004.

A US federal jury rules that Broadcom did not infringe on two of rival semiconductor maker Qualcomm's patents for video compression technology.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... A US federal jury rules that Broadcom did not infringe on two of rival semiconductor maker Qualcomm's patents for video compression technology. The nine-day trial, the latest turn in a long-running legal battle between the two companies,...

Texas Instruments predicts that global sales of mobile phones are expected to grow to between 1.1b and 1.2b units in 2007.(Movements)
January 1, 2007... Texas Instruments predicts that global sales of mobile phones are expected to grow to between 1.1b and 1.2b units in 2007, up as much as 20% from about lb units sold last year.

China launches the world's first fourth-generation standard, even before 3G can take off in the country.(BEIJING)
January 1, 2007... China launches the world's first fourth-generation standard, even before 3G can take off in the country. A group of 10 "leading domestic institutions" called the "FUTURE Project" rolled out what they called 4G in Shanghai last month.

China Mobile makes its first oversea acquisition by buying an 88.86% stake in Paktel, Pakistan's fifth largest mobile carrier from Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular.(BEIJING)
January 1, 2007... China Mobile makes its first oversea acquisition by buying an 88.86% stake in Paktel, Pakistan's fifth largest mobile carrier from Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular. The deal values Paktel at $460m.

Entertainment and Warner Music Group partner with a joint-venture operating in China that develops technology for distributing music downloads and other content to mobile phones.(BEIJING)
January 1, 2007... Entertainment and Warner Music Group partner with a joint-venture operating in China that develops technology for distributing music downloads and other content to mobile phones. The music companies declined to disclose how much each had...

TOT gives an ultimatum to DTAC and True Move to confirm payment of access charges.(BANGKOK)
January 1, 2007... TOT gives an ultimatum to DTAC and True Move to confirm payment of access charges or find their three million new mobile phone numbers blocked from connecting to its fixed-line network.

Shin Satellite denies the interim government's allegations of phone bugging via satellite, saying it does not have the technology to facilitate such an act.(BANGKOK)
January 1, 2007... Shin Satellite denies the interim government's allegations of phone bugging via satellite, saying it does not have the technology to facilitate such an act. However, tapping of satellite phones could be possible if a device was installed in the...

AIS signs an interconnection-rate agreement with True Move, similar to one it signed with DTAC in November.(BANGKOK)
January 1, 2007... AIS signs an interconnection-rate agreement with True Move, similar to one it signed with DTAC in November. The rates are expected to apply from early this month, although they have no impact on the charges that customers pay.

The Vietnam Posts and Telecom Group (VNPT) reports that revenues for 2006 increased 15% to 38.33b dong ($2.4b) over the previous year.(HANOI)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... The Vietnam Posts and Telecom Group (VNPT) reports that revenues for 2006 increased 15% to 38.33b dong ($2.4b) over the previous year. VNPT signed up 4.5m new subscribers, up 30% year-on-year, including 1.22m landline telephone subscribers and...

Telkomsel plans to expand its mobile network by adding 5,000 base transceiver stations this year at a cost of about $1.5b.(JAKARTA)
January 1, 2007... Telkomsel plans to expand its mobile network by adding 5,000 base transceiver stations this year at a cost of about $1.5b. Telkomsel aims to penetrate every sub-district on Kalimantan island and up to 70% of all sub-districts on Sulawesi.

The South Korean government fines SK Telecom 582m won ($619,000) for violating telecom regulations.(SEOUL)
January 1, 2007... The South Korean government fines SK Telecom 582m won ($619,000) for violating telecom regulations. SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile carrier by revenue, denied KT access to its messaging systems, according to the Ministry of Information...

Chunghwa Telecom plans to spend nearly $4b over the next five years to upgrade networks and build a new undersea cable system.(TAIPEI)
January 1, 2007... Chunghwa Telecom plans to spend nearly $4b over the next five years to upgrade networks and build a new undersea cable system. The spending plans were in place before an earthquake off Taiwan's southern coast damaged data transmission cables,...

KDDI posts 1.7% dip in profit in the October-December period due increased operating costs tied to an expansion of its subscriber base.(TOKYO)(Financial report)
January 1, 2007... KDDI posts 1.7% dip in profit in the October-December period due increased operating costs tied to an expansion of its subscriber base. Group profit fell to 55b yen ($457m) for the quarter, from 56.57b yen the previous year.

Mitsubishi Electric is considering demanding that Sanyo Electric pay compensation for financial damage caused by defective Sanyo battery packs used in Mitsubishi mobile phone handsets.(TOKYO)
January 1, 2007... Mitsubishi Electric is considering demanding that Sanyo Electric pay compensation for financial damage caused by defective Sanyo battery packs used in Mitsubishi mobile phone handsets. If Mitsubishi does make a large claim it could deal a...

DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank confirm that radio frequency energy from mobile phone base stations does not cause damage to human cells.(TOKYO)
January 1, 2007... DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank confirm that radio frequency energy from mobile phone base stations does not cause damage to human cells. Since November 2002, the companies have been collaborating to examine the effects of radio waves.

SingTel Optus plans to spend up to A$800m ($618m) extending its 3G mobile network to cover 96% of Australia's population.(SYDNEY)
January 1, 2007... SingTel Optus plans to spend up to A$800m ($618m) extending its 3G mobile network to cover 96% of Australia's population, taking the total spent on 3G networks over the past five years near A$5b ($3.9b).

Telecom New Zealand makes a A$320m ($248m) bid.(WELLINGTON)
January 1, 2007... Telecom New Zealand makes a A$320m ($248m) bid for Australian telecom company PowerTel.

A Singaporean teenager who illegally tapped into a neighbor's wireless Internet network was placed on 18 months' probation by a district court.(SINGAPORE)
January 1, 2007... A Singaporean teenager who illegally tapped into a neighbor's wireless Internet network was placed on 18 months' probation by a district court. The court also ordered the 17-year-old to carry out 80 hours of community service after he admitted...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority slashes tariffs for national roaming on mobile networks by up tp 56%.(NEW DELHI)
January 1, 2007... The Telecom Regulatory Authority slashes tariffs for national roaming on mobile networks by up tp 56%. The new charges, effective from February 15, are applicable for both the GsM and CDMA networks.

Reliance Communications begins lobbying the government for a chance to bid for rival Hutchison Essar.(NEW DELHI)
January 1, 2007... Reliance Communications begins lobbying the government for a chance to bid for rival Hutchison Essar, a day after Vodafone again expressed its interest in buying a controlling stake in the company.

India adds close to 74m new mobile subscribers last year, making it one of the most attractive markets for mobile operators and wireless equipment vendors.(NEW DELHI)
January 1, 2007... India adds close to 74m new mobile subscribers last year, making it one of the most attractive markets for mobile operators and wireless equipment vendors. The number of mobile subscribers grew 97% from 75.94m at the end of December 2005 to...

Data rescues mobile; with global subscriber growth in decline, operators have long looked to data to fill the void. Despite disappointments, industry insiders say operators are finally positioned to benefit from investments in high-speed networks that give them more control over content and the user experience.(Cover story)
January 1, 2007... Compared to their landline brethren, mobile network carriers have led a charmed existence during the last few years. Landline carriers are losing customers around the world to wireless providers, and wireless growth has surged in both developed...

IMS readies for prime time: despite standards debates and fundamentally different approaches by wireless and fixed-line carriers, proponents believe the technology will break out this year.(WIRELESS TECH)
January 1, 2007... After years of uncertainty over standards and compatibilities, IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) technology has come to a crossroads, its acceptance spurred by carriers that want to cut costs and embrace the promise of next-generation networks,...

Mobile IM gains traction; mobile IM is gaining ground in both consumer and enterprise sectors. But to make mobile IM a mainstream service, analysts point out that cellcos must open up their networks to Internet IM service providers.(WIRELESS APPS)
January 1, 2007... Mobile instant messaging is about to hit the big time. IM, which has gained its popularity from the Internet as a free application, is now penetrating quickly into the mobile space, thanks to the growing demand from both enterprises and mobile...

Upwardly mobile in Vietnam.(INDUSTRY VIEW)
January 1, 2007... Vietnam's recent admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO) signifies a country that is poised for economic growth. Hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Summit gave world leaders a glimpse of the new promise of Vietnam. Macroeconomic issues...

SoftBank makes waves.(WIRELESS FORUM)
January 1, 2007... A year ago we published our views on the impact of new competition in Japan's mobile market. Then we rated SoftBank as the principal disruptive force, with Vodafone the hardest hit. Vodafone soon after exited the market, with SoftBank acquiring...

DRM-protected full-track downloads.(tools)
January 1, 2007... Beijing Digital Telecom (BDT), one of Chinas largest resellers of mobile handsets and a subsidiary of China Telecom, has contracted Siemens Networks to commercially deploy what it claims is the first DRM-protected Chinese full-track mobile...

Personalized Mobile investment tools.(tools)
January 1, 2007... SmarTone-Vodafone has released PLUS, a suite of personalized mobile investment tools to help users play the stock market via handsets. The suite's "My Watch List" tool allows customers to keep a close eye on their own portfolio of up to 10 Hong...

Marketplace for content creators.(tools)
January 1, 2007... New Zealand-based Voeveo is giving mobile content producers a place where they can sell and communicate directly with buyers. Via voeveo.com creators can upload content on the site while buyers can shop for content online. On the site,...

Mobile apps development tool.(tools)
January 1, 2007... MobiForms has released MobiForms 3.1, a tool that includes a new Deployment Wizard for Pocket PC, Windows CE and Windows Mobile. With the Deployment Wizard a user can manage the development of a mobile application from design to deployment on...

Mobile phone-cum-massager.(out now)
January 1, 2007... Zindell Technologies' Mobizex has developed Wellness Vibes, an application that turns an ordinary mobile phone into a handy massage tool. Using the technology, users can customize the vibration of their handsets to match their personal...

Pocket newspapers.(out now)
January 1, 2007... Verkata's MobileCatcher transforms a mobile handset into a pocket newspaper, aggregating news from major news sources using RSS technology. Offered as a free download, the application allows users to customize the news they wish to receive....

Motorola forges pact with Warner.(deals)
January 1, 2007... Motorola and Warner Music have entered into global strategic partnership to create music-based content and products for the mobile platform. Through the deal, Motorola plans to offer consumers content such as pre-loaded and over-the-air...

MediaCorp to digitize archives.(deals)
January 1, 2007... Singapore's MediaCorp will digitize its content archives to allow users to download content to mobile phones or via broadband just minutes after a program is aired. According to the company, it has inked a memorandum of understanding with the...

COAI chooses fastmobile and Jataayu.(deals)
January 1, 2007... The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has selected fastmobile and Jataayu to provide a range of services that will enable its nine operators to activate and sustain mobile communities. The deal is the first major deployment of IM...

SMS-based temple donations.(out now)
January 1, 2007... India's Airtel has launched "Temple Offering," a service that allows subscribers to make donations to temples via SMS. A successfully sent SMS will reflect in temple records, showing the amount donated, time, date and the number from which the...

Instant director, superstar.(out now)
January 1, 2007... Singapore's M1 has unveiled MeTV which enables users to upload their video clips through MMS. M1 will then pay the owners of these clips S$0.05 ($0.03) every time someone views and downloads their clips. Customers have to earn S$10 ($6.50), the...

Sony BMG, Warner Music invest in ACCESS China.(deals)
January 1, 2007... Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment have both made strategic investment in ACCESS China Media Solutions, which develops music-based mobile platforms for wireless carriers and handset manufacturers. According to Sony BMG, the...

Acme mobile to distribute THQ content.(deals)
January 1, 2007... THQ Wireless and Singapore's Acme Mobile have forged an agreement that will see the latter distributing popular THQ Wireless titles to nearly 160 million mobile subscribers across Southeast Asia. Under the deal, Acme Mobile's Amob.com...

Nexgen, MNC launch online game.(out now)
January 1, 2007... Singapore's Nexgen Studio and Malaysia's MNC Wireless have jointly unveiled "Elven Legends," one of the first real-time cross-platform multiplayer online games in the world. Nexgen Studio says it will continue to upgrade the game with new...

MTV Mobile goes 'Bananas'.(out now)
January 1, 2007... MTV has launched Bananas, its first branded mobile content subscription service, which is a direct-to-consumer offering that features exclusive content from MTV, MTV2 and mtvU. The service offers two tiers of cross-carrier service, each...

Adult user-generated content.(out now)
January 1, 2007... Adult production company Relish Films and adult chat provider Candywall have launched user-generated-content (UGC) services using "momo," Activefone's white label UGC and social networking community platform. Relish Films signed a long-term...

Stream, stream a song ...(this month's model)
January 1, 2007... PCCW Mobile has launched the mobile version of its Moov music service, and is the latest indication that streaming rather than downloading may be the ticket for taking mobile music to the mass market. Moov On Mobile offers 4,000 minutes of...

The iPhone conundrum.(STREET WISE)
January 1, 2007... It looks like a little device named the iPhone (Apple's, not Cisco's) will now become the bane of reporters for the wireless industry in the year to come. From the initial publicity that it has generated, and the unprecedented allure that it...

The one that got away.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
January 1, 2007... Verizon Wireless passed up a chance to be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone almost two years ago, according to USA Today. The No. 2 US mobile operator rejected Apple's demands for a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, control over...

Don't answer that!(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
January 1, 2007... Mobile phone retailer Dial-a-Phone reports that 24% of women would rather give up sex than their mobile phone for a month while zero men would make such a sacrifice. According to an online survey, 30% of men and 42.5% of women would consider...

Sticker shock.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
January 1, 2007... Mobile TV may be all the rage across much of the world. But anyone thinking of enjoying their leisure time in this way should take heed of the experience of a customer in the UK. As was reported widely before Christmas, Michael Schaefer...

Pick up that phone.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
January 1, 2007... What is claimed to be the loudest ringing telephone in the UK was launched recently. The appropriately named Noisyphone has a ringtone volume of 83 dB--far higher than any other phone. and the volume via the earpiece is also the highest in the...