CommsUpdate
TeleGeography's free daily email summary of the world’s top telecom news stories.
3 Feb 2012
WIRELESS
Sprint grants LightSquared second extension to achieve FCC clearance
US giant Sprint Nextel has reportedly granted billionaire Philip Falcone's struggling open-access Long Term Evolution (LTE) venture LightSquared a new six-week extension within which to gain Federal Communications Commission (FCC)... more
No King Street blues as US Cellular joins LTE royalty
Chicago-based mobile operator US Cellular has announced that it is poised to launch its long-rumoured Long Term Evolution (LTE) network next month, in association with wholly-owned subsidiary King Street Wireless.... more
Alcatel-Lucent wins LTE deal with Claro Puerto Rico as part of Latin American contract
Mexican telecoms giant America Movil has awarded a contract to Alcatel-Lucent to provide infrastructure for its Puerto Rican unit’s 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband network, which is set... more
Rise of the machines: Telekom Austria confirms 19 ‘high volume’ M2M projects are in the pipeline
Telekom Austria Group has announced that it has ‘successfully concluded’ the first operating quarter since the September 2011 launch of its new machine-to-machine (M2M) division, confirming that it has acquired... more
ANCOM announces new MTRs for fixed, mobile operators
Romanian telecoms regulator the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has announced that it has finalised its new mobile termination rates for the coming year. As of... more
Airtel plots money transfer service in Kenya, Tanzania
Indian telco Bharti Airtel has confirmed that plans are underway to initiate mobile money transfer services for its Airtel units in Kenya and Tanzania, to complement its recently launched cash... more
BROADBAND
Flow to increase spending to USD350m over next five years
Flow Jamaica has announced plans to invest USD350 million over the next five years to upgrade its infrastructure and offer new services. According to Jamaica Gleaner, the cableco, a subsidiary... more
CORPORATE/FINANCIAL
Cost-cutting helps lift BT profits despite sales decline
BT has posted revenue of GBP4.77 billion (USD7.55 billion) for its fiscal third quarter ending 31 December 2011, a fall of 5% on the back of sales declines at each... more
StarHub books rise in Q4 and FY2011 profit
Singaporean fixed and mobile operator StarHub has announced its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 December 2011, showing solid gains for the group both in terms... more
Rostelecom acquires 75% minus one share stake in Armenia’s GNC-ALFA
Russian national telecoms operator Rostelecom yesterday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Teleset Networks, has invested RUB682 million (USD22.5 million) to take a 75% minus one share stake in GNC-ALFA, the... more
TDC revenue up 0.5% in 2011; initiates share buy-back
Danish telecoms company TDC has announced that it generated revenue of DKK26.304 billion (USD4.65 billion) in the twelve months ended 31 December 2011, an increase of 0.5% compared to the... more
Q4 net profit down 61% at SK Telecom
South Korea’s SK Telecom has posted a 61% year-on-year fall in net profit in the fourth quarter of 2011, and a 10.4% decrease in the bottom line for the full... more
FPT Telecom posts 42% rise in revenue
Vietnamese telecommunications and software company the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology (FPT) posted revenue of VND26.0 trillion (USD1.23 billion) in the twelve months ended 31 December 2011, an increase... more
Orange seals EUR1.4bn deal with Hutchison for Austria sale
France Telecom-Orange has announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with its co-shareholder Mid Europa Partners (MEP) for the sale of their combined 100% stake in Orange Austria... more
Elisa FY2011 revenues reach EUR1.53bn
Finnish telco Elisa Corporation has reported that it generated revenues of EUR1.53 billion (USD2.01 million) during the twelve months ended 31 December 2011, up from EUR1.46 billion in 2010. EBITDA... more
MISCELLANEOUS
Subtel establishes price comparison service
Hot on the heels of the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) Chile’s telecoms regulator the Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones (Subtel) has completed an initiative to further encourage competition in the... more
Digital TV migration to take four years
Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has announced that it hopes to see digital TV trials start this year, beginning a switchover process to digital broadcasting which will take... more