Headlines for: 7 Sep 2007

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Argentina's telecoms ministry SeCom has published Resolution 151/2007 which allows fixed line incumbents Telecom Argentina and Telefonica de Argentina (TdA) to offer fixed-wireless telephony in rural areas. The resolution stipulates the telcos can only of...

In a blow to the campaign for the introduction of so-called ‘net neutrality’ rules in the United States, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has aligned itself with the country’s telecoms operators, warning that such a move would block carriers from ...

Singaporean mobile operator MobileOne Asia (M1) is reportedly planning to offer customers access to a fibre-optic network offering broadband speeds 30 times higher than it currently offers. The Strait Times reports that the broadband war is hotting up in ...

Softbank Mobile’s aggressive marketing campaigns paid off in August as it beat larger rivals NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp to the punch in terms of signing up new users, according to data published by Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association. Softba...

Ericsson has announced that it has signed a turnkey contract valued at USD1.3 billion to supply GSM and W-CDMA/HSPA equipment and related telecom services to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). Under the agreement Ericsson will be responsible for the expansi...

According to BNamericas, the Chilean telecoms watchdog Subtel has presented the antimonopoly commission TDLC with a technical report on its plan to launch an auction for 3G spectrum. In June Subtel asked the TDLC to determine whether existing mobile conce...

Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile operator by subscribers, this morning won a tender for the country's first 3G licence, after offering EUR321 million (USD440 million) for the licence as the sole bidder in a live televised auction. The cellco initially bi...

Belarus’ Ministry of Communications and Informatisation (MoC) is re-launching a tender to license internet service providers (ISPs) wishing to offer internet access at cybercafes. The MoC launched its first attempt on 22 May this year but postponed the ...

Russian telco Comstar UTS, part of the Sistema Group, has posted revenues of USD379.2 million in Q2 2007, up by 32% from the same period of last year. Comstar UTS’s consumer broadband unit Comstar-Direct reported a 42% year-on-year rise in residential h...

RomTelecom has announced that it will raise the download and upload speeds of its ADSL broadband services for existing users this month, with the maximum downlink of its consumer packages rising from 4Mbps to 6Mbps. The telco is also currently running a h...

Argentine investment group Grupo Werthein, the second largest shareholder in fixed line incumbent Telecom Argentina, would consider acquiring Telecom Italia's (TI) stake in Telecom Argentina reports BNamericas, quoting local daily Infobae. However, anothe...

Pure Telecom, the Irish business telecoms provider started by Paul O'Connell and Alan McGonnell in 2002, says it has paid EUR900,000 (USD1.23 million) for rival telco NewTel Communications, with a deferred payment of EUR200,000 to follow. The move will se...

Filipino telecoms company Globe Telecom says it is rebranding all its operations under the Globe name in a bid to ‘better align its services’ for business and residential users. All mobile and broadband products will change to carry the unified Globe ...

The Indian government has decided to put proposals for the merger of BSNL and MTNL on hold. The government has been considering the restructuring of the two telcos with the aim of achieving higher synergies in their operations. It had appointed a consorti...

Ukraine’s government has pushed back the sale of a 37.86% stake in the country’s former monopoly fixed line operator Ukrtelecom to next year, according to Finance Minister Mykola Azarov. The State Property Fund (SPF) failed in a plan to sell a 5% stak...

A consortium of Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), Belgium's Telenet, and 21Net has won a contract to install broadband internet technology on high speed trains operated by Thalys, the companies said in a joint statement. Thalys plans to start offering wireles...