CommsUpdate
TeleGeography's free daily email summary of the world’s top telecom news stories.
19 Feb 2013
WIRELESS
DoCoMo passes LTE milestone
Japanese mobile giant NTT DoCoMo has revealed that its Long Term Evolution (LTE) service has passed the ten million subscribers milestone. Since August 2012 the number of subscribers to the... more
MegaFon reports meteoric progress for network repairs
According to the Prime-Tass business news agency, cellular networks belonging to Russian mobile giant MegaFon that were damaged by a meteor shower near the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals... more
Globe Telecom extends LTE footprint to Metro Manila and environs
Globe Telecom of the Philippines says it has increased its operational footprint for Long Term Evolution (LTE) coverage in the country, by rolling out 4G networks in major cities in... more
Vodafone Hutchison Australia kicks off LTE trials in Sydney
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) has confirmed that it has launched trials of LTE technology in Sydney. The operator has revealed that, using 10MHz of 1800MHz spectrum in the suburbs of... more
Cosmote Romania targets April LTE launch
Cosmote Romania has revealed that it will initiate Long Term Evolution (LTE) services on a commercial basis by the end of April 2013, with coverage of several cities at launch,... more
Claro to launch 4G within weeks
Claro Chile is planning to launch 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services within the next few weeks, the cellco’s parent company America Movil (AM) said in its fourth quarter report.... more
DoCoMo Pacific selects NSN for Guam LTE network
DoCoMo Pacific, a subsidiary of Japanese telecoms company NTT DoCoMo, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as the sole supplier for an end-to-end 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in... more
TOT’s national 3G service launches on 22 February; 4G trial going ahead
Thai state-owned telco TOT has set 22 February 2013 as the official commercial launch date for its nationwide 3G mobile service. TOT has belatedly finished an expansion of its 2100MHz... more
BROADBAND
BWA providers to be allowed to offer voice
Indian wireless broadband providers will be allowed to offer voice services if they pay an additional INR16.58 billion (USD304.63 million) Reuters cites Rajeev Chandrashekhar, a senior telecoms ministry official as... more
Progress reported for French Guiana fibre link
French Guiana’s long-awaited cross-border fibre-optic link to Brazil is expected to be up and running by the end of March 2013, according to Dom-Tom ADSL, a website focusing on telecoms... more
SRR Reunion: marks third anniversary with ‘Cinema TV’ launch
SRR Reunion, a 100% owned unit of French operator Societe Francaise du Radiotelephone (SFR) which is itself majority owned by Vivendi, has marked its third anniversary of operations in the... more
CHT and Thuraya gain approval to offer mobile satellite services in Taiwan
Taiwanese multi-service operator Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) and Dubai-based Thuraya Telecommunications have reportedly gained licensing approval from Taiwan’s telecoms regulator, the National Communications Commission (NCC) for the provisioning of the latter’s... more
TM completes deployment of private cable system
Malaysian fixed line incumbent Telekom Malaysia (TM) has announced that its first private international cable system, Cahaya Malaysia, has been completed. The link will service connections between Malaysia and Hong... more
GTH finalises Med Cable purchase
Global Telecom Holding (GTH), formerly known as Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), part of the Vimpelcom group, has reportedly completed the purchase of Med Cable, which operates a submarine cable connecting... more
WIRELINE
Ukrtelecom takes over number resources, equipment of Krymtel
Ukraine’s dominant fixed line operator Ukrtelecom has reported that it has taken over the telephone number resources for 22,800 lines from indebted regional telco Krymtel in Simferopol, following regulatory permission... more
CORPORATE/FINANCIAL
EE sees service revenue fall in 2012 following MTR, roaming cuts
EE, the UK’s largest mobile network operator in terms of subscribers, recorded 2.6% year-on-year decline in service revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012, although excluding the impact of... more
Prominent MetroPCS shareholder objects to T-Mobile takeover
Paulson & Co, one of the largest shareholders of US cellco MetroPCS Communications, has indicated that it may oppose the wireless carrier’s merger with Deutsche Telekom’s T- Mobile USA unit... more
Citic bond sale to fund CTM takeover
Chinese state-backed, Hong Kong-based telco Citic Telecom International is planning a US dollar-denominated bond sale to help pay for its takeover of a controlling stake in Macau’s monopoly fixed line... more
Du sees Q4 net profit more than double
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (Du) has announced its financial results for the full year and the fourth quarter of 2012. The Dubai-based telco recorded net profit after royalty of AED994... more
Kabel Deutschland’s Tele Columbus remedy package deemed ‘insufficient’
Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has informed Kabel Deutschland that the remedy package offered by the cableco for its planned acquisition of smaller rival Tele Columbus is not sufficient enough... more
SmarTone’s EBITDA climbs 9.2% on 16% revenue rise
Hong Kong cellco SmarTone, a subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties, has posted its financial results for its fiscal first six months ended 31 December 2012, recording a 3% drop... more
MISCELLANEOUS
Batelco, Ericsson seek expanded partnership
Bahrain’s Batelco has been talking to Swedish vendor Ericsson with the aim of strengthening worldwide cooperation, Gulf Daily News reports. Batelco hosted a senior delegation from Ericsson at its head... more