Headlines for: 10 Oct 2008

Get CommsUpdate in your Inbox. Sign up here.

Mexico's state power company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) has signed twelve carrier-of-carriers contracts for telecommunications transport over its fibre-optic network since inking its first deal with Axtel in December 2007, BNamericas is report...

Brazilian mobile start-up Unicel, which trades under the banner aeiou, has selected managed hosting firm Alog Data Centers to host its switching centre and services platform, according to BNamericas citing a company statement. The newcomer was successful ...

Vodafone Australia’s AUD500 million (USD346 million) upgrade to its 3G network has been delayed after vendor Ericsson requested more time to finish the build, Australian IT is reporting. Vodafone had set a self-imposed deadline of December 2008 for the ...

Thailand’s largest provincial fixed line telco TT&T has suspended a THB50 billion (USD1.5 billion) investment plan due to the global financial crisis, in line with recent announcements by cellcos AIS and DTAC to scale back rollouts, reports the Bangkok ...

The French telecoms regulator Arcep has published its preliminary recommendations on how telcos should roll out their fibre-based next generation networks (NGNs). The watchdog’s proposals follow the passing of legislation in August this year which insti...

French-US equipment manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent says it has successfully deployed a broadband network for Hub Telecom, allowing the French operator to deliver high speed internet access and B2B services at major airports in France. Hub Telecom, a subsidia...

The European Commission (EC) has given the go-ahead for a joint Anglo-Irish government project to provide up to EUR30 million (USD41 million) of public funding to help deploy an international submarine telecoms connection to the North West of Ireland. Tel...

BNamericas is reporting that Dominican Republic start-up Espinal Technology Group (ETG) has launched its triple-play service, with the operator claiming that it is the first to offer internet services that are available through normal televisions. ‘Here...

South Korean wireline and broadband provider LG Dacom has announced that it has signed up more than one million subscribers to its VoIP service, according to Telecoms Korea. The operator claimed that the service, launched in June 2007, has attracted cust...

Alcatel-Lucent has announced in a press release that it has been contracted by Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), the largest telecoms service provider in Taiwan, to provide Ethernet/MPLS solutions for its nationwide fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) network expansion pr...

Telecompaper reports telco that Turk Telekom has selected Nortel's IP Powered Business communications service to provide carrier-grade voice and multimedia services to businesses and consumers throughout Turkey. Turk Telekom plans to use Nortel's technolo...

According to the Financial Times, Johan Bohman the secretive Swiss billionaire and shareholder in one of Switzerland’s most exclusive private banks, is behind the investment vehicle, Treco, which will finance XG Technology’s plan to build a mobile net...

Chile's government has launched a plan to help subsidise the construction of internet infrastructure requiring investment of some USD100 million, reports BNamericas citing telecoms regulator Subtel. The infrastructure is designed to help provide broadband...

According to itWire, the board of Australian WiMAX provider BigAir has unanimously rejected a takeover offer from rival wireless operator Clever Communications; the latter offered one Clever share for each BigAir share on 2 October 2008. According to BigA...

Rogers has discontinued its entry-level pre-WiMAX Portable Internet Basic service, offered over the nationwide Inukshuk wireless broadband network it built in partnership with Bell Canada. Rogers’ Portable Internet Basic previously offered a 256kbps/64k...

The South African government has approved an offer from Vodafone to buy a 15% stake in Vodacom from incumbent telco Telkom, to give the British group majority control of South Africa’s mobile market leader, reports Business Day. Vodacom is currently 50%...

Middle East business paper MEED, quoting a statement by Etisalat’s chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran, reports that the UAE incumbent will soon take a stake in Kurdish operator Korek Telecom. Last week it was reported that the firm was in the final stage of...

Further to yesterday’s story that Italian broadband operator Tiscali was unaware of a reduction of the stake of main shareholder and founder Renato Soru, the company has now confirmed that Soru has reduced his stake by 1.5% to 20%. Business daily MF had...

The Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel plans to hold a public consultation in Brasilia on 16 October to discuss proposed changes to the country's telecoms law, BNamericas writes citing a statement by the regulator. The country is looking to push through ...