Telecoms watch
New ITU standards to boost IMT-2000 (3G) mobile phone capabilities
A new ITU standard has been approved that will ensure worldwide compatibility, international roaming, and access to high-speed data services for third-generation (3G) IMT-2000 mobile phone systems. Recommendation ITU-R M.1850 identifies satellite radio interface specifications for IMT-2000 systems, which, by means of one or more radio links, provide access to a wide range of telecommunication services. ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré praised the timely endeavour of the ITU membership, including government and industry experts in developing these new standards. He noted that these advances will facilitate ITU’s concerted effort to promote broadband access in rural and remote areas around the world.
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Viva enables mobile subscribers in Dominican Republic to tweet with their voice
Viva, the fastest growing mobile carrier in Dominican Republic, announced that it has launched TwitVoz (Call-n-Tweet) service on its mobile network. The solution has been sourced from Kirusa, the world’s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value added services. With this launch, Viva DR mobile subscribers can update their status on Twitter through voice tweets. This provides a very convenient alternative to texting. The service is available to all Viva DR GSM and CDMA subscribers across Dominican Republic, whatever the mobile handset model is, they do not need a smart phone. Subscribers can sign up for the service at viva.com.do/vas or directly at the callntweet.com webportal, and need to just dial 8948 (TWIT) to speak and update their status on Twitter. A user can speak in any language.
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Deutsche Telekom cuts German brand name to 'T'
Deutsche Telekom AG said on 1st of March it will cut its brand name in Germany to a "T" as part of its efforts to integrate its fixed line and mobile operations in its home market, according Dow Jones Newswires. Deutsche Telekom made this announcement at a press conference in the run-up of CeBIT technology fair. Up to now Deutsche Telekom uses the T-Mobile brand for its mobile and the T-Home brand for its fixed line operations in Germany.
ZTE wins second European LTE deal, in Portugal
While Huawei has been creating a splash among European ClIniers in the past year, its compatliot and roen:e filial ZTE has had less success on the infrastructure siie. However, with 3G carriers looking to software programmable base stations to ease their mi9ration to LTE, ZTE believes it has a strong route into European 4G roM· outs. and has announced two deals in two weeks. The first was with Pannon in Hungary, part of the Telenor Group, which Is already worldng with Huawel in Norway and has now ctlOsen ZTE for its live netwon.; trial. It claims it is saving up to 50% by choosing Chinese vendors Over its inrumbent 3G suppliers Ericsson and Nokia Siemens. Now it has followed up with a deal at Portugars Optimus. already ZTE's closest European partner for smartphones.
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GSMA adopts One Voice Initiative Standard for 4G
The global mobile body has given the nod to the initiative to develop a single IMS-based LTE solution, ending speculation over the industry standard. Signification: the GSMA says that by adopting the work of the initiative it can advantage the creation of a global, next generation wireless ecosystem in long-term evolution (LTE).
HTC Unveils New Android Smartphones
HTC Corporation introduced an enhanced HTC Sense experience that will be available on two new smartphones that take Android to the next level, the HTC Legend and HTC Desire.
"At its essence, the mobile phone is the most personal item you have in your possession. HTC Sense was created to magnify your ability to create and define your own unique mobile experience," said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC Corporation. "HTC Legend and HTC Desire take Android to another level in both substance, with HTC Sense, and style, with HTC Legend’s revolutionary crafted aluminum unibody design."
Alliance of 15 Mobile Operators against Apple dominance
An agreement between 15 of the world’s largest mobile operators to combat the dominance of Apple in mobile applications dominated proceedings on Day 1 of the Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona.
Other highlights in Barcelona today included Microsoft’s latest attempt to build an attractive, user-friendly operating system for mobile phones and Ericsson’s entree into the already-crowded mobile applications space.
The Mobile World Congress itself was busy – much busier than the corresponding period last year – with an estimated 50,000 visitors braving a cold, wet February day in Barcelona.
NDrive offers on board mobile navigation with free maps
Offering 7-days free GPS software for all the most popular phone models becomes a part of NDrive’s strategy to popularize on-board navigation. Just few days after announcing free 7-days navigation program for Android phones, NDrive officially presents the same solution for all Symbian and Windows Mobile phone users. Whereas iPhone and Android phones users are already well familiarized with advantages of using GPS navigation, the vast majority of Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and HTC owners have not even tried to use such software. For that reason, NDrive prepared on-board navigation with FREE 7-days maps - available for owners of Windows Mobile and Symbian mobile phones from over 70 countries.
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Music industry association supports “CeBIT Sounds!“
The new interdisciplinary music trade show "CeBIT Sounds!" will make its debut at CeBIT 2010 (2 to 6 March) in Hannover. The founding committee and Deutsche Messe AG have set themselves the goal of uniting the music industry and the IT sector at a central, international venue. The German music industry association BVMI has spoken out in favour of this new concept: "Without the right kind of content, sophisticated technology is practically useless. At the same time films, books and music are seeking out new routes to the customer. Against this background CeBIT Sounds! will showcase music-related content at one of the world’s largest technology shows," explains Stefan Michalk, Managing Director of the BVMI.
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Christopher Schläffer to leave Deutsche Telekom
Christopher Schläffer (40) is to leave the company on March 31, 2010 at his own request after nearly twelve years to take on new challenges, announced the company on December 17th. In his most recent position as Chief Product & Innovation Officer, Christopher Schläffer was responsible for the Group's product portfolio and the operational realization of strategic areas of innovation such as IPTV, mobile Internet and digital services. He was also in charge of research and development within the Group.
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TeliaSonera announces the First Commercial LTE Network
With less than three weeks left in the year, TeliaSonera moved up its first quarter 2010 plans to December 2009 and on December 14 announced the commercial launch of its LTE network in central parts of two cities - Stockholm and Oslo. The base stations are being provided by Ericsson (Stockholm) and Huawei (Oslo). This likely means just a small handful of base stations have been deployed to cover a total of about 450,000 people. Three large cities in Norway and 25 cities in Sweden will be deployed in 2010. Denmark is a possibility for launches in 2010 as well. 2010 CAPEX is expected to be around US$ 70 million for TeliaSonera's LTE rollout.
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Hamid Akhavan to leave Deutsche Telekom
Hamid Akhavan, Deutsche Telekom Chief Operating Officer (COO), has requested to leave the company in February next year. This is subject to the approval of the Deutsche Telekom AG Supervisory Board who will meet on December 17. After eight years with Deutsche Telekom in various senior positions based in Bonn, he will take on a new professional challenge in Germany. As Board member and COO of Deutsche Telekom Hamid Akhavan's Group-wide responsibilities include Products & Innovation, as well as the areas of Technology, IT, Procurement, International Sales and International Marketing. Until March 2009 he was responsible for mobile communications on the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom, having been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of T-Mobile International AG in December 2006.
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Deutsche Telekom to merge fixed, mobile units in Germany
Deutsche Telekom announced on 30 April plans to merge its fixed and mobile divisions in Germany into one business. CEO Rene Obermann will present the basic elements of the restructuring at the operator's shareholders' meeting in Cologne on 30 April. Subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, T-Mobile International will first be merged into Deutsche Telekom, making T-Mobile Deutschland a direct subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, according to TelecomPaper. (continuare)
More Internet on mobile phones via Vodafone
Vodafone Romania customers can enjoy an extended content offer, easier access to information and to the favourite websites, directly on the mobile phone, through Vodafone Internet pe mobil. Starting April 21st, Vodafone Romania customers will find in Vodafone live!, according to their feedback and suggestions, new sections and a new layout, to ensure an intuitive surfing and faster access to the information needed. The most popular sections in the portal and the mobile websites are now just one click away. (continuare)
Vodafone and DTAC sign strategic partnership
Vodafone and dtac, one of Thailand’s leading telecom operators, jointly announced on March 25 that they have signed a Partner Market agreement. The exclusive strategic partnership will help both companies to better serve the needs of their respective customers in Thailand. Under the terms of this agreement, dtac will have exclusive access to Vodafone’s range of products, devices and services in Thailand and will be able to draw on Vodafone’s experience in supply chain management, technology development, the acquisition of enterprise customers as well as improved inter-working between networks. (continuare)
Vodafone and Tango sign strategic partnership in Luxembourg
Vodafone and Tango, one of the leading Telecom operators in Luxembourg, announced on March 20 that they have signed a Partner Market agreement. This partnership further strengthens the existing relationship between Vodafone and Belgacom, Tango’s parent company. Under the terms of this Agreement, Tango will have access to specific Vodafone knowledge and expertise in supply chain management, benefit from the acquisition of enterprise customers from multi-national companies, and gain from superior inter-working between networks together with technology development. (continuare)
Vodafone launches standard global performance guarantees for multinational customers
Vodafone Global Enterprise – the division of Vodafone which manages the communications needs of the largest multinational companies worldwide – is launching on March 18 a standard global Service Level Agreement (SLA) to guarantee performance levels across the globe. As the economic downturn makes multinational enterprises even more reliant on effective communications, the global SLA is designed to give managers greater transparency and predictability. (continuare)
IDATE: Mobile World Market 2009
The global Mobile market to exceed 900 billion USD in 2008: 80% for Mobile services, 15% for Mobile terminals and 5% for Mobile infrastructure, according to a new report by IDATE. IDATE provides regular analyses of the world mobile markets' main trends - networks, terminals and services. On the occasion of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (16-19 February 2009), IDATE and ENTER have teamed up to publish the third edition of the special white paper: Mobile 2009: Markets & Trends taken from several IDATE market reports.
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Vodafone ramps up HSPA+ to deliver peak speeds in excess of 20Mbps in trials
Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, with approximately 289 million proportionate customers worldwide as of 31 December 2008, achieved one of the fastest 3G data connections currently possible during field trials of the HSPA+ MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology on Vodafone Spain's network in southern Spain and Madrid city centre. The trials were carried out using technology supplied by Ericsson, Huawei and Qualcomm Inc. (continuare)
GSMA's Leadership Summit: Industry leaders call for governments to focus on mobile broadband stimulus
Industry leaders call for governments to focus on mobile broadband stimulus. At the GSMA's Leadership Summit which opened the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on February 16, 2009, bringing together 400 CEOs, government ministers and officials, industry leaders stressed the unique role that broadband, specifically mobile broadband, can play as an economic stimulus. Those leaders called for governments to support the rollout of mobile broadband services to drive economic growth.
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Mobile World Celebrates Four Billion Connections
The GSMA announced on February 11th that the mobile world has celebrated its four billionth connection, according to Wireless Intelligence, the GSMA’s market intelligence unit. This milestone underscores the continued strong growth of the mobile industry and puts the global market on the path to reach a staggering six billion connections by 2013. The growth is driven by two primary sources: the integration of mobile into previously unconnected devices and subscriber additions in emerging markets. At Mobile World Congress, the world’s leading mobile communications industry event, taking place from 16th – 19th February in Barcelona, the industry will be exploring ways of sustaining this growth.(continuare)
Vodafone completes acquisition of stake in Polkomtel
Further to the announcement of 29 October 2008, Vodafone announces on 18th December that it has completed the acquisition of an additional 4.8% stake in Polkomtel S.A. ("Polkomtel") for a total consideration of €177m. The acquisition increases Vodafone’s stake in Polkomtel from 19.6% to 24.4%, enhancing its exposure to the attractive Polish market.
Huawei Cancels Sale of Mobile Phone Manufacturing Division
Huawei has decided to cancel the long-planned sale of a large stake in its mobile phone manufacturing division - citing the ongoing financial turmoil, according to Cellular News (on 9th October). The company said that it might renew the sales process if the economic problems resolve themselves. "Given the current global market conditions and prevailing economic uncertainty the interests of the company are best served by postponing the sale process," Huawei said in a statement. The company had been expected to announce the winning partner this week - out of a shortlist believed to be made up of private equity groups, Bain Capital and Silver Lake. (continuare)
Arun Sarin is retiring as CEO Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc today announces on 27 May that, after five years in the role, Arun Sarin will be retiring as Chief Executive at the end of the Company's AGM on 29th July 2008. He will be succeeded by Deputy Chief Executive Vittorio Colao. (continuare)