CommsUpdate
TeleGeography's free daily email summary of the world’s top telecom news stories.
1 Mar 2013
WIRELESS
Telkom Indonesia throws hat into Myanmar ring
The Jakarta Globe reports that Indonesia’s largest telecoms operator by subscribers and revenues, PT Telkomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), has joined the growing list of companies and groups interested in seeking investment... more
DTAC contracts Ericsson for 3G rollout and managed services
DTAC, Thailand's second largest mobile operator, has signed a contract with Ericsson for 3G W-CDMA/HSPA network rollout and managed services, and says it is also preparing for upgrades to 4G... more
Gabon Telecom (Libertis) launching Mobi Cash
Gabon Telecom has partnered mobile financial solutions provider Mahindra Comviva to introduce ‘Mobi Cash’ mobile money services and ‘mobiquity’ mobile financial applications enabling domestic remittances, salary disbursements and last mile... more
Quartet fined for breaching ban on promotions
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has handed fines totaling NGN22 million (USD137,000) to four GSM operators for contravening the regulator’s ban on promotions and lotteries. Local newspaper Leadership reports that... more
Viettel in talks with Argentina over investment opportunities
Argentina’s Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services has held a meeting with Vietnamese telecoms company Viettel Group to discuss investment and strategic partnership opportunities in the country’s telecoms... more
The Eagle has landed; incumbent swoops into 3G sector
Eagle Mobile, the wireless arm of fixed line incumbent Albtelecom, has launched 3G services, the company announced yesterday, activating the nation’s first Dual Carrier (DC) HSPA+ network in Tirana, Tirana... more
Uninor signs up Alca-Lu for managed services
Norwegian-backed cellco Uninor, which will soon relaunch in the Indian wireless market as Telewings Communications, has selected French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent to provide managed services in the Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra... more
SFR to close 150 stores according to report
According to French newspaper Les Echos, SFR plans to close 150 stores before the end of 2014. The cellco, which currently has around 850 stores and points of sale, has... more
Wataniya taps Huawei for 4G deployment
Wataniya Telecom, Kuwait’s second largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, has announced that it has enlisted Chinese telecoms vendor Huawei to upgrade its nationwide 2G and 3G networks, as... more
MegaFon targets one million LTE subscribers by end-2013
Russian mobile giant MegaFon expects to reach one million Long Term Evolution (LTE) users by the end of 2013, up from 130,000 at 31 December 2012. The figures were revealed... more
Vainakh sees regional ruckus over Siberian LTE equipment
Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment jointly developed and manufactured by Finland’s Nokia Siemens Network (NSN) and Micran, a company based in Tomsk, Siberia is not considered ‘Russian-made’, according to local... more
BROADBAND
CAT develops on-demand IPTV content with Digital Rapids
Thai telco CAT Telecom has selected a range of video encoders from Canadian firm Digital Rapids to power linear and on-demand content on its new IPTV platform ‘e-Entertainment’, IPTV News... more
Datagroup deploys 100G, new international links
Ukrainian fixed line and data services operator Datagroup has selected Ekinops' 100Gbps systems for deployment across its domestic long-distance transmission network. Datagroup said it was seeking a solution that offered... more
Zeop to launch first residential fibre-optic network in Saint-Gilles
Reunion-based fibre-optic services provider Zeop, through its subsidiary Reunicable, has announced plans to launch fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services for residential users in the area of Saint-Gilles from April 2013. Online news... more
‘Declare’ if you dare, NICTA tells minister after submarine showdown
Papua New Guinea telecoms regulator the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) has announced that it has made a recommendation to Minister for Information and Communications Jimmy Miringtoro, that... more
Vanuatu’s domain name under discussion
Vanuatu has started public discussions on the fate of its country code Top Level Domain name (ccTLD) as the Telecommunication & Radiocommunication Regulator (TRR) bids to take control of the... more
CORPORATE/FINANCIAL
BSkyB snaps up O2 broadband business
British alternative fixed line voice and broadband provider BSkyB has agreed to purchase the fixed line business of Telefonica’s UK subsidiary O2 for up to GBP200 million (USD303.4 million) Reuters... more
Belgacom FY EBITDA falls 6.7%, further drop expected in 2013
Belgacom reported total group revenue of EUR6.4 billion (USD8.5 billion) for the year ended 31 December 2012, an increase of 0.9% year-on-year and slightly exceeding the company’s guidance. EBITDA was... more
MarCap offloads 10.7% Rostelecom stake to Rotenberg affiliate
Investment fund Marshall Capital (MarCap), which is owned by Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, has announced that it is selling its 10.7% stake in national operator Rostelecom to a firm affiliated... more
True Corp’s revenue climbs 8.9%
Thai quadruple-play operator True Corp’s consolidated 2012 service revenues grew by 8.9% to THB61.9 billion (USD2.1 billion), driven by strong growth in all key business segments. EBITDA declined marginally year-on-year... more
Telekom Slovenije’s annual revenues fall 3.8%
Slovenia’s Telekom Slovenije has reported that it generated EUR793.1 million (USD1.038 billion) in consolidated revenues in 2012, a decrease of 3.8% compared with 2011, while its annual operating profit (EBIT)... more
Slovak Telekom posts 9.4% EBITDA drop on 6.7% revenue decline
Slovak Telekom has reported that its consolidated EBITDA fell by 9.4% to EUR352.3 million (USD462.2 million) in 2012 on full-year revenues which slumped by 6.7% to EUR837.4 million. Fixed broadband... more
OTE’s EBITDA slumps 7.8% on 7.1% revenue drop
Greek full-service telco OTE has reported that its group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 7.8% to EUR1.53 billion (USD2.00 billion) in 2012, on a 7.1%... more
T-Mobile CR reports fall in revenues, operating profit in 2012
T-Mobile’s Czech mobile operation has reported a 2.5% fall in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to CZK12.2 billion (USD624.6 million) for full-year 2012, on revenues that dipped... more
MakTel’s Q4 revenues dip 16.6% to HUF15.8bn
Incumbent fixed and mobile operator Makedonski Telekom (MakTel) has reported a 16.6% decline in revenues to HUF15.830 billion (USD70.3 million) in Q4 2012, as a sharp drop in sales of... more
Etisalat, Du negotiate royalty fee payments
The United Arab Emirates’ two telecoms operators, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) and Du, are reportedly in talks with the Ministry of Finance over royalty fee payments. Zawya Dow Jones cites... more
Telefonica scraps LatAm IPO
Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica has cancelled plans to sell a stake in its LatAm unit, a move originally mooted as part of plans to trim the group’s debt. ‘There is... more
CWC pinpoints Cuba, DomRep, Puerto Rico for expansion
UK-based Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) intends to seek out growth opportunities in the Caribbean once the ongoing sale of its ‘Monaco & Islands’ division to Bahrain’s Batelco is complete.... more
MISCELLANEOUS
Batelco signs three-year network services support agreement with Ericsson
Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) has extended its long standing partnership with Sweden’s Ericsson by signing a three-year service support agreement aimed at ensuring high quality network performance and customer experience... more