Europe’s mobile phone industry will today mount a last-ditch effort to ward off strict price caps on text messages and data downloads within the EU by warning that heavy regulation is cutting capital spending and profit margins.
With Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner, poised to propose a new round of price caps this month, mobile operators claim their capital spending has already slipped from 13% of revenues in 2005 to 11% last year - and could fall further.
The GSM Association - the global trade body representing more than 750 GSM mobile phone operators - citing data from a study by management consultants, says the industry’s return on capital employed was as low as 7% in 2007 or less than half that of other significant sectors such…
Mobile broadband connections around the world have increased tenfold in the past year, with 32 million subscribers connected now, up from 3 million at the end of March 2007, according to the GSM Association.
The Association, which represents operators of GSM and 3G networks, says providers across Europe, Asia and North America are all reporting huge increases in the uptake of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), with the uptake said to have increased by 44 per cent in the past 10 months.
It says the number of networks offering commercial mobile broadband services has risen sharply in the past year. Broadband on mobile phones is available in 73 countries from 166 operators, up from 96 networks commercially deployed in 3 countries.
Meanwhile the Global mobile Suppliers Association, which…
Tags: 3G networks, Asia, Broadband, end user equipment, Europe, GSM, GSM Association, mobile broadband services, mobile phones, North America, Suppliers Association.
AT&T is finally warming up to Google’s phone OS, Android. T-Mobile and Sprint and members of the Open Handset Alliance, which champions Google’s new Linux-based platform, and Verizon has promised to make its network open to any device, a move that likely had Android devices specifically in mind.
At the CTIA wireless show in Vegas AT&T Mobility chief, Ralph de la Vega said,
“I like it a lot more than I did before… It’s something we would want in our portfolio.”
His conversion on Android came after Google executives showed him that AT&T would be able to load its own applications on any Android handset it sold. Previously, the company had been fearful the handset would be geared too much towards the Google brand. Too be fair, however,…
Tags: AT&T, CDMA cellular technology, cellular technology, Google, GSM, Linux, mobile phones, Open Handset Alliance, Ralph de la Vega, Verizon, wireless show.
The number of mobile broadband subscribers using 3G HSPA has increased by 850% worldwide in the past year, according to the GSM Association. But carriers are also running the risk of becoming a victim of their own success, according to some analysts.
HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) is an advanced form of 3G deployed by cellular operators that use GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology. Worldwide, GSM is the most widely-used cellular technology; it is used by AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile in the U.S. HSPA currently offers speeds ranging from 1.8 Mbps to 7.2 Mbps.
There are now more than 32 million HSPA connections worldwide, compared with 3 million a year ago, according to the GSM Associaton.
Read the full report in ‘Computer World’ here.
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Vodafone to launch mobile phone money transfer service in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News
“This is really the early days, but when you see the low banking penetration in emerging markets, compared to rapidly growing mobile penetration, the potential is very big,” said James Moberly, senior manager for payment solutions at Vodafone on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress here.
The GSM Association, the global mobile phone industry body, estimates that about a dozen such schemes involving money transfer services are in operation throughout the world, with 10 million users.
Vodafone plans to launch cash transfer services soon in India and other African countries.
“You can send money, withdraw cash, pay your bills or your loan, and all this is within seconds,” said Aleeda Fazal, head of product development…
Tags: Afghanistan, Aleeda Fazal, cash transfer services, cellular telephone, dozen such schemes involving money transfer services, GSM, GSM Association, India, James Moberly, low banking penetration, payment solutions, Roshan, Vodafone, World Congress, Yahoo!.
Telecom sector to see funds bonanza, tariff cuts - Business News - News - MSN India - News
India’s booming mobile services market will see investments of over Rs 100,000 crore (around $24 billion) by 2010, the fastest investment ramp-up seen in any telecom market globally even as analysts predict a bruising battle that will see tariffs fall sharply.
The investments include between Rs 48,000 crore and 60,000 crore ($12 billion to $15 billion) from six new telecom players (including Reliance and Tatas’ proposed GSM mobile services) over 12 to 24 months to create capacity for 250 million more mobile subscribers.
This fresh investment will be over and above the estimated Rs 48,000 crore ($12 billion) being put in by incumbents like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Idea Cellular, Bharat…
Telecom Cook Islands Ltd, the sole provider of telecommunications in the Cook Islands, has completed commercial deployment of ADC’s UltraWave GSM softswitch. Telecom Cook Islands, which has been in operation since July 1991, is a private company owned by Telecom New Zealand Ltd. (60%) and the Cook Islands Government (40%).
The new softswitch - which upgrades Telecom Cook’s core wireless network to more efficient, IP-based technology in order to reduce costs and enable value-added services such as integrated SMS, voicemail, GPRS and pre-paid calling, has been in deployment since September 2007, and the final network cutover was accomplished last week. The UltraWave solution includes an overall expansion of the network’s capacity to 15,000 from 8,000 GSM subscribers.
Read the full story here.
(Background info: This group of islands…
Tags: ADC, Britain, Central Intelligence Agency, Cook Islands, Cook Islands Government, GPRS, GSM, Hawaii, integrated SMS, IP-based technology, New Zealand, Of GSM Softswitch Telecom Cook Islands Ltd, pre-paid calling, SMS, South Pacific Ocean, Telecom Cook, Telecom Cook Islands, Telecom New Zealand Ltd., telecommunications, voicemail, Wireless Network.
While the likes of Reliance and Tata are racing to add national GSM-based services to their existing CDMA portfolio, BSNL is doing other way around by planning the launch of CDMA networks across all major Indian cities.
“After our application for a full-fledged CDMA mobility licence is approved, we plan to roll out CDMA services in all major cities and towns. The initial investment will be about $500 million,” BSNL managing director Kuldeep Goyal said. Read more.
Interestingly, Telus of Canada is spending $500 million to migrate from CDMA to GSM early this year. Calling CDMA technology the “Betamax of wireless” the Toronto Star gives details.
Click on the links to see the full articles covering LIRNEasia’s book, ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks.
‘BSNL’s monopoly over infrastructure a hindrance to growth’ - Financial Express (India)
Rural connectivity is now the focus of every telecommunication player in the country. Almost all stakeholders, from handset manufacturers to service providers, believe that the next wave of growth is in the rural areas.”However, India’s roll out (of telecom services) in rural areas has been slow. BSNL has the backbone infrastructure but is not yet ready to share it with private players,” he added.
Tags: access networks, Ashok Jhujhunwala, Asia, ATM, Ayesha Zainudeen, backbone infrastructure, Bangladesh, cellular telephone, Chennai, Department of Telecommunications, Financial Express, GSM, Harsha de Silva, IDRC, India, Jhunjhunwala, LIRNE asia, Madras, mobile phones, Pakistan, Rohan Samarajiva, rural telephony, Social Science Research Council, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, telecom services, telephony, Yahoo Tech Group.
Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) has launched per-second billing on its GSM network.
In a press briefing at its Kabul headquarters, AWCC Managing Director, Amin Ramin said: ” We have ensured Microwave connectivity, widest coverage in the country, simple call rates, amazing call quality, superb connectivity even on highways, and today we are announcing the Per Second Billing PLUS for the entire Afghan Wireless family.”
Afghan Wireless is the largest private investor in Afghanistan. It is also the country’s largest employer, having nearly 3,000 people directly in the payroll and another 30,000 indirectly.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Chennai Telephones has launched ‘TV on mobile’ (through GSM mobile handsets).
At present, NDTV, Aajtak, CNBC, Cartoon Network, Times Now, Zoom, Bindass and CNN-Mobile were among the channels available. More channels would be available soon, a press release said.
To avail themselves of this service, customers using GPRS-enabled handsets need to send the text message ‘MYTV’ to 55447 and follow the response.
Watching one channel for 24 hours would cost Rs. 10 a day. For a month Rs.50 a channel would be charged and Rs. 150 a month for watching all the channels.
As an introductory offer, the service would be provided free of cost for a month from Thursday, the release said.
Report in ‘The Hindu’
Both panel sessions at the Government Programme of the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, November 13, 2007 were moderated by LIRNEasia: the session on public and private objectives by Executive Director Rohan Samarajiva and the session on mobile broadband by Senior Policy Fellow Abu Saeed Khan.
The slides used by Rohan Samarajiva are here: gsm-asiafinal.ppt
In yet another blow to the existing GSM operators, the Communication Ministry has decided to auction spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile services and wireless broadband services through technologies such as Wi-Max.
The auction will be open to new companies wanting to foray into the telecom sector as well as established foreign telecom players. The existing operators had wanted the auction for 3G services to be limited to the licence holders.
The Ministry’s decision to open up the bidding to all players is also a move away from the telecom regulator’s recommendations that it be restricted to existing operators. The move gives a chance to the likes of Deutsche Telecom, AT&T and new Indian players such as Unitech and Hindujas, which may not get spectrum in the…
Tags: 2G services, 3G, 3G services, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Communication Ministry, Deutsche Telecom, GSM, Vodafone Essar, wireless broadband, wireless broadband services.
The simmering tension over spectrum allocation among Indian telecom companies has erupted into a public spat with warring mobile phone operators leaving no stone unturned in their battle to acquire more air waves.
The fight is so intense that Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin too jumped in, dashing off letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and communications minister A Raja, complaining against the stiffer spectrum allocation norms proposed by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre, an arm of the department of telecommunications.
Reliance Communications chief Anil Ambani, whose company uses CDMA technology, too wrote to the Prime Minister. He accused some “large GSM players”, a reference to Vodafone and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Telecom, of spreading “misleading and false propaganda” to block fresh competition in telecom, hoard spectrum and indulge…
Tags: Ambani, Anil Ambani, Arun Sarin, Business Standard, CDMA technology, cellular telephone, GSM, India, Manmohan Singh, Sunil Mittal\'s Bharti Telecom, Telecommunication Engineering Centre, telecommunications, The Times, Times of India, Vodafone.
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