CommsUpdate
TeleGeography's free daily email summary of the world’s top telecom news stories.
25 Apr 2017
WIRELESS
Airtel partners with ZTE for Nigerian 4G rollout
Airtel Nigeria has signed a strategic partnership deal with Chinese equipment vendor ZTE for the deployment of 4G LTE services, reports local newspaper The Guardian. The mobile operator, which is... more
ETECSA launches 3G pilot in Santiago de Cuba
Cuba’s state-owned telecoms operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (ETECSA) has launched a pilot 3G network in the city of Santiago de Cuba, as it gears up to extend the... more
MegaFon expands VoLTE availability
Russian cellco MegaFon has made voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) available to a wider range of smartphones including Apple iPhone 6/7/SE devices. VoLTE comes free of additional user charges and is available on... more
AIS enabling ‘700Mbps’ LTE speeds in May
Thai cellco Advanced Info Service (AIS) has announced in a press release that it will enable mobile data speeds of up to 700Mbps on its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) carrier aggregation (CA)... more
PEOPLEnet CDMA coverage reduced to just two regions
Ukrainian CDMA-based mobile operator PEOPLEnet is reducing its network coverage from four to two regions (oblasts), namely Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv, as it will shut down networks in Kiev and Zaporozhye... more
BROADBAND
velcom kicks off GPON rollout in Belarus
Belarusian telco Mobile Digital Communications (MDC, or velcom as it is more commonly known), working in partnership with sister company Atlant Telecom following Telekom Austria Group’s (TAG’s) acquisition of the... more
Verizon launches ‘Fios Gigabit Connection’ covering 8m premises
Verizon Communications has announced the launch of its ‘Fios Gigabit Connection’ service, in what it claims represents the country’s largest deployment of gigabit connectivity to date. Offering downlink speeds of... more
AT&T launches Fixed Wireless Internet in Georgia; expanding to 17 more states this year
AT&T has announced the availability of its new Fixed Wireless Internet service for rural and underserved locations in Georgia, in the first wave of its FCC Connect America Fund commitment... more
FPT Telecom launches 1Gbps broadband service
Third largest Vietnamese broadband operator by subscribers, FPT Telecom has launched a new 1Gbps internet service package for customers, which the company claims to be the fastest speed on offer... more
WIRELINE
NTT sets out stall to offer flat rate domestic calls from 2024
Japanese behemoth Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT Corp) has announced plans to introduce a flat rate for all domestic landline calls, starting in 2024. The Asahi Shimbun writes that... more
CORPORATE/FINANCIAL
Jio widens net loss, plans rollout of 100,000 new LTE sites
Despite claiming a total of 108.9 million subscribers at the end of March 2017, disruptive newcomer to the Indian mobile segment Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) has reported revenue of just... more
VivaCell-MTS changes company name to MTS Armenia
Armenian mobile network operator (MNO) VivaCell-MTS has formally announced that it has changed its registered company name from K-Telecom closed joint stock company (JSC) to MTS Armenia closed JSC, although... more
Mobily’s revenues, EBITDA decrease in 1Q17
Saudi Arabia’s mobile operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has published its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2017, reporting a 16.7% decrease in revenues year-on-year to SAR2.865 billion... more
UPC, Multimedia Polska decision delayed
UPC Poland, the country’s largest cable operator by subscribers, must wait until at least September before finding out if it can proceed with its proposed takeover of smaller rival Multimedia... more
GO Telecom reports a 23% improvement in revenues in FY2016/17
Saudi Arabian fixed line and broadband operator Etihad Atheeb Telecom (GO Telecom) has published its financial results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2017 (FY2016/17), announcing a net loss... more
MISCELLANEOUS
CEC Liquid Telecom refutes phone tapping allegations
Zambia’s CEC Liquid Telecom has issued a press release in which it says that it is ‘cooperating fully’ with local telecoms regulator the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA)... more