Telco Week Flash

Nokia sees Q2 profit drop 61pc

Nokia the finnish mobile phone giant has posted a 61 percent drop in net income for the second quarter on the back of restructuring costs and a slowing market. Net profit for the quarter came to EUR1.1 billion, compared with EUR2.8 billion last year. Analysts had been expecting profit of EUR1.3 billion. It must be said that profit for the second quarter in 2007 was boosted by a gain from the formation of Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), the Finnish giant's joint venture with Siemens, while this quarter's bottom line was affected by continuing restructuring costs at NSN and a EUR259 million charge from the closure of a manufacturing plant at Bochum, Germany.

Earnings per share for the quarter were EUR0.20, a 60 percent drop on the year-ago figure. Sales for the three-month period to end of June amounted to EUR13.2 billion, just a 4 percent increase on the year-ago figure of EUR12.6 billion. However, the figure was still ahead of analysts' estimates of EUR12.7 billion. NSN contributed EUR4.1 billion to the Nokia coffers, up 18 percent on the year-ago revenue figure of EUR3.4 billion. Nokia said it shipped 122 million mobile phones during the quarter, up 21 percent on the year-ago shipment figure of 100.8 million. According to Nokia it now holds 40 percent of the mobile phone market, up from the 38 percent market share it held in 2007.

In the second quarter Nokia saw a good momentum in the early stages of its services and software business, and believe that the next wave of growth will be driven by devices linked with services. On the infrastructure side, Nokia Siemens Networks delivered a second quarter with good net sales growth and improved profitability. The firm said the market share increase was driven primarily by strong share gains in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and a slight increase in North America. This growth offset a slacking off in the Middle East & Africa, Greater China and Europe.

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Consumer-electronics create wireless standard

The consumer-electronics heavyweights Sony and Samsung and other are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wireless from a single set-top box to screens around the home. The recent announcement is an important development in the race to create a definitive way to replace tangles of video cables, but doesn't end it both Sony and Samsung also are supporting a competing technology.

In the new consortium, Sony and Samsung Electronics, along with Motorola, Sharp and Hitachi, will develop an industry standard around technology from Amimon of Israel called WHDI, for Wireless Home Digital Interface. The message of WHDI is very simple if you have a TV in the home, that TV will be able to access any source in the home, whether it's a set-top box in the living room, or the PlayStation in the bedroom, or a DVD player in another bedroom. Amimon is already selling chips that fulfil part of that promise, but the creation of a broad industry group makes it more likely that consumers will be able to buy WHDI-enabled devices from different manufacturers and have them all work together. Amimon expects TVs with chips to reach stores next year, costing about $100 more than equivalent, non-wireless TVs.

Wireless streaming of high-definition video is a relatively tricky engineering problem that many companies are trying to tackle. It can be done with the fastest versions of Wi-Fi, a technology already in many homes, but that requires "compression," or reduction of the data rate, with picture quality degrading as a result. There's also a delay in transmission as chips on both ends of the link work to compress, and then decompress the image.

That's prompted much research into radio technologies that are faster, requiring less compression. A leading contender is WirelessHD, centered on technology from SiBEAM Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. It uses an open portion of the radio band, at 60Ghz, for ultrafast transmission of uncompressed video, but it could be years away from commercialization. Its range is limited, meaning that it would be used for in-room links rather than whole-house networking, like WHDI. Sony is part of the WirelessHD group as well, and is supporting WHDI to have "wider options," the company said in an official statement.

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IPTV worldwide user base doubles for second year

IPTV subscribers have more than doubled for the second year running, hitting 15.4 million at the end of March. According a report released by the Broadband Forum and Point Topic, Asia lead the growth with a 132% increase, with subs expanding to 2.6 million while Europe followed with a 117% growth rate and the largest IPTV user base - 8.42 million. Worldwide broadband subscribers have reached over 370 million, with DSL remaining the most dominant access technology with 65% of the world’s subscribers.

However, fiber subscriptions have risen by 33% since the beginning of 2007, with over 10 million people connected to a fiber network. This increase in fiber subscriptions may be attributed to the increased popularity of bandwidth hungry services such as IPTV. The leading technology delivering IPTV today is ADSL2plus, with 12,049,817 subscribers.

IPTV operators around the world have shown that systems are scalable and can handle rapid growth in subscriber numbers, however, developing and agreeing standards will help these operators deliver IPTV more simply and effectively over a variety of access technologies and help to drive higher up take in other markets.

Regional IPTV subscriber growth worldwide, first quarter 2007 and 2008

Region Q1 2007 Q1 2008

Europe 3,875,266

Asia-Pacific 1,129,355 2,619,035

North America 850,601 2,258,601

South and East Asia 1,353,000 2,086,000

Latin America 2,300 11,183

Middle East and Africa 10,000 10,000

TOTAL 7,220,522 15,410,189

Source: Data provided for the Broadband Forum by Point Topic

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Written: by LuisB

Broadband subs rise, DSL outpaces cable

Business & Industry Watch

Broadband subs rise, DSL outpaces cable

U.S. broadband subscriptions jumped 33% last year to 50.2 million lines, according to the FCC. DSL outpaced cable among new subscribers, and cable's market share fell 3.5 percentage points to 57.5%.

Telcos' new high-speed Internet hookups exceeded new high-speed cable modem sign-ups for the first time in FCC memory, although cable still leads in total lines by a wide margin. That's according to a new biannual FCC report, which also found that total high-speed connections to the Internet were up 33% over 2005 to 50.2 million. Broadband deployment growth in the second half of 2005 was at a rate of 18% (from 42.4 million), which was up from a 12% growth rate for the first half of 2005 (from 37.9 million at the end of 2004).

The yearly growth rate of 33% was about on par with 2004's 34%. High-speed DSL hook-ups increased by 5.7 million vs. only 4.2 million for cable modem service in 2005, with more DSL hook-ups in the second half of the year vs. the first, but actually fewer cable hookups in the last six months than in the first six. But cable still had the most market share, with 57.5% of those 50.2 million lines (almost 29 million) vs. DSL's share of 40.5% (about 20 million). The broadband hookup measurement is used to gauge the success of government policy and industry efforts to build out the country's advanced communications network.

The speed, or lack of it, of the rollout of broadband has been a driving force behind government efforts to streamline the video franchise process for telcos like Verizon and AT&T. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said speeding rollout is a priority, but he also has argued that broadband deployment is advancing under the FCC's watch. According to the study, 78% of local phone customers had access to high-speed DSL, while 93% of cable customers could get high-speed modem service.

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Technology Trends

YouTube chief: Full-length not part of new "clip culture"

YouTube has no plans to mess with its short-form success by adding long-form movies or entertainment to its lineup of short videos, said company CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley. "We are not trying to stream full-length programming," he said at an industry panel discussion. "We have developed a new clip culture."

Read: YouTube strategy sticks to clips
Source: Mercury News

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Weak Wireless Weighs on Alcatel 2Q

Alcatel's Q2 earnings fall: Alcatel reported a $226.6 million profit for the second quarter, down 8% from the same period a year earlier. The company said its earnings were hit by shrinking margins in its wireless infrastructure operations.

Read: Weak Wireless Weighs on Alcatel 2Q
Source: MSN Money /Associated Press

Telco Week Flash, 3.10.06

Bandwidth – Africa

Will EASSy make African bandwidth affordable?
Africa currently pays for some of the most expensive bandwidth in the world. The region has only one major international fibre cable (SAT3) that connects countries in West and Southern Africa but East Africa has no fibre connection. Fibre connections usually mean cheaper prices than satellite for volume traffic but because of the monopoly structure of the SAT3 consortium, its operators have kept prices high.

Many in Africa are pinning hopes of a change in the status quo on the proposed East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) cable which will connect countries on the eastern side of the continent. The hope is that the EASSy cable will offer new capacity and drive down prices for bandwidth in Africa.

There are many observers, however, that have expressed doubt that the EASSy cable will deliver on the objective of affordable bandwidth. Weeks ago at the FOSSFA meeting in Kenya EASSy cable looked likely to head down the same road as the SAT3 'cartel'.

Now the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has launched a new website - Fibre-for-Africa - to promote understanding of bandwidth issues in Africa. APC will also be hosting a consultative meeting on March 10 in Kenya with 80 key stakeholders from all over Eastern and Southern Africa to ensure that access to EASSy - which will serve eight coastal and eleven land-locked countries - is 'easy', affordable and open. The one-day event is convened by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Balancing Act, Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANET).

Barrier
The price of international bandwidth is still a significant barrier to the region's development because it makes it more expensive to do business on the continent.
For example, it is harder for new call centers to compete with their global competitors and there are many areas where cheap international access would give East African citizens, professionals, students and decision-makers access to knowledge, expertise and involvement in regional and global discussions.

The cost of international bandwidth almost certainly directly affects how Africa works; whether through the high cost of international calls - particularly to other African countries - or through the cost and speed of the continent's internet connection.

EASSy
The EASSy consortium has been set up to build a fibre route that will connect countries on the east coast of Africa its governance and the terms under which access to the new capacity will be available have not yet been set. The project is now at a crossroads: it can either follow the monopoly practices of its predecessor SAT3 or offer an open access regime that will increase competition and lower prices, and give consideration to development needs.

The aim of the Mombasa meeting and the Fibre-for-Africa website is to promote transparency and the notion that internet backbone needs to be regulated as a public good. To date, the investors in the cable have been less than open about how they are going to run it.

If SAT3 and the EASSy cable carry on being run as a club consortium the cost of international bandwidth will be kept high. This approach would continue to deprive Africa of the advantages of being cheaply connected to the international internet - a platform for multiple forms of collaboration, cultural, economic and political.

Inflated costs, the high costs of the SAT3 cable have set a bad precedent for the EASSy project to follow. Rates on SAT3 have been as high as US$25.000 per mbps per month but are now around US$10-15.000. The actual cost to the operator is around US$2.000. These are very large margins.

High prices mean that there are a significant number of countries where the full capacity of the cable has not been used. Fiber cables last for 25 years and are therefore a wasting asset from day one unless a large part of their capacity is used. EASSy needs to produce prices and terms of access that will ensure this.

Time has come for Africa's internet community to take their futures -and livelihoods- into their own hands. For too long Africa has been dependent on overseas infrastructure and facilities to provide inter-country -and sometimes intra-country- connectivity.
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Unified Communications – Alerting

MessageOne sets to notifying people in emergencies
Among the many lessons that Sept. 11 taught us was the absolutely critical need for an ability to notify people in an emergency situation. For example, being able to notify employees quickly about emergency situations can get them out of harm's way, or keep them from getting in a difficult situation in the first place.

MessageOne has just announced AlertFind, a system designed to notify large numbers of people quickly during an emergency situation and to solicit information from them if necessary. AlertFind's database of contacts is built through a regular synchronization with a variety of external sources, including enterprise directories, human resources directories and other sources.

When an emergency situation arises, authorized users can send a communication to any group of contacts in the database via the predetermined communications devices that have been specified, which includes cell phones, BlackBerries, home telephones, etc.
AlertFind will continue to attempt contact with each person on all of the devices specified in the database until each contact has been reached. AlertFind can also request responses from recipients, set up live audio conference bridges between them and conduct polls. The system also allows administrators to obtain real-time reports on who has been contacted and other information.

AlertFind is already in use by organizations charged with emergency management tasks. For example, the Town of Vernon in Connecticut has deployed AlertFind to replace its unreliable and time-consuming call-tree system for emergency notification.
While AlertFind will be used to notify responders quickly during an emergency situation, the system can also be used to warn school administrators of school closures due to snow, for example. The Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) has also deployed AlertFind. Shortly after deploying the system, ILEAS was able to mobilize 150 volunteers in one day to respond to the State of Louisiana's call for assistance following Hurricane Katrina.

Emergency notification is an increasingly important component of a good messaging management system, particularly for geographically distributed organizations and in places that are susceptible to hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, riots or other emergencies. AlertFind is among several products in this category, with others offered by 3n Online and WiredRed and deserves a look if you need to notify people quickly and efficiently.
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Telecommunications – Brazil

Brazil no starting 3G until 2008
Brazilian mobile operators are expected to launch true 3G services in 2008. Suppliers do have 3G equipment developed and in some parts of the world 3G services are a reality, but there is no market for it in Brazil yet. In Europe, 3G is only now becoming a mass-market service, some five years after first appearing.
Nevertheless, rival supplier Ericsson chose this week, the week of Brazil's Telexpo trade show, to present its Capacity Growth solution, which helps GSM network operators prepare for migration to WCDMA or true 3G. It is an incentive for operators to migrate to 3G sooner, however, migration to 3G depends on the go-ahead from Brazil's telecoms regulator Anatel.

In the meantime, the suppliers still have their work cut out; Siemens Brasil aims to grow exports to 20% of revenues this year compared to 10% before.
Siemens will have to focus on exporting equipment for switching gear, radio base stations, ADSL modems and software, since it is no longer in the handset production business, which it sold off to Taiwan's BenQ. At its height handset sales represented 40% of Siemens Brasil's telecoms revenues, pulling in 1.4bn reais (US$642mn). The 3.5bn reais that Siemens Brasil's telecoms unit generated in 2005 represented roughly 50% of the group's entire Brazilian revenues.

Siemens used to be Brazil's number one telecoms supplier, ahead of Motorola and Ericsson, but with the sale of its handset unit it is likely to fall to second or third place. Another big area in Siemens Brasil's telecoms business is services, which accounted for 35% of telecoms revenues. Byrro expects this area to grow at 25% a year, eventually topping out at 50% of Siemens Brasil's telecoms revenues. Siemens does not plan to be absent as telcos introduce triple play services, and is working on IPTV and WiMax solutions to facilitate this. Carriers Embratel and Brasil Telecom are testing Siemens solutions for triple play.
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Financial – Singapore

Vodafone Australia no Due Diligence From Optus
Singapore Telecommunications's Australian unit, Optus, hasn't conducted due diligence on Vodafone Group's Australian network assets, a spokesman for Vodafone said Thursday.
His comments came after the Australian newspaper said that Optus was in talks to buy Vodafone's Australian infrastructure and had due diligence teams looking at the assets.
“There is no truth to (the) assertion that due diligence teams are in Vodafone doing any investigation into the network assets. That is not happening," the Vodafone spokesman said.
"As far as the sentiments about due diligence and network sell-up, that's not the case," he said. The unsourced report in the Australian said Optus Chief Executive Paul O'Sullivan wanted to buy Vodafone's network assets to strip cost out of his business and take out a competitor.
The newspaper said the talks cover wider issues, with the pair in the midst of deploying Australia's 3G mobile network at a cost of about A$700 million. An Optus spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment.
Source: Reuter
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Financial - Tunisia

Six companies bid to acquire 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom
Six companies have placed a bid to acquire a 35% stake in Tunisia's largest telecommunications carrier Tunisie Telecom, the Tunisian Communication Ministry said Wednesday evening. The partial privatisation of Tunisie Telecom estimated at around EUR1.5 billion has attracted bids from French companies France Telecom and Vivendi Universal; South African group Mobil Telephone Networks; United Arab Emirates' Etisalat and Tecom Co. - all of whom have put in separate offers. Telecom Italia and Saudi Oger Ltd. have made a common offer. Financial offers will be examined in the second half of March in the presence of all the bidders but the name of the winner will only be known in about three months. There could also be an auction if the offers are within 10% of each other.
The Tunisian government was originally planning to seal a deal by Dec. 13 but has constantly delayed the bidding deadline.
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Headsets – Russia

Sales of cell phones in Russia seen slowing down in 2006
In all likelihood, 2005 was the last boom year for mobile handset sales in Russia. The government crackdown on illegal imports of handsets and lower demand are likely to result in slower sales although the average price of phones is likely to increase, analysts said.

Mobile handset sales in Russia rose to 33.5 million units in 2005 from 30 million units in 2004 and are expected to increase to 36.1 million units in 2006, according to J'son & Partners' estimates. Analysts at Mobile Research Group (MRG) expect sales to increase to 36-39 million units this year.

The average price of sold handsets rose to U.S. $165 in 2005 from $146 in 2004. Analysts expect that the average price will grow further in 2006 as credit becomes available to more consumers.

Russia’s largest mobile handset retailer Euroset estimated the average price of handsets bought on credit to be about $70 higher than the price of handsets bought for cash. About 15% of phones sold in 2005 were purchased on credit, Euroset said in its research in late January.

In 2005, Samsung accounted for 23.58% of total handset supplies on the Russian market, while Nokia accounted for 21.79%, according to MRG. Motorola accounted for 19.80%, Siemens for 12.6% and Sony Ericsson for 11.11%. Smaller producers accounted for the rest of the market. Analysts said that the market leaders are likely to continue fighting for the top market position in 2006.

The two companies (Samsung and Nokia) will compete for the first place on the Russian market in 2006, with Nokia having advantages in the struggle, Samsung has a poorer range of models, especially of smart phone models.

Nokia gained leadership in October-December 2005, mostly thanks to the position of Euroset, which had, and still has, a directive to primarily sell Nokia before all other brands. Euroset said in its recent report that in December 2005 Nokia accounted for 33% of Euroset's total sales, while Samsung accounted for only 5%, attributing the fact to Samsung's distribution policy, which "neglects the market reality”.

Euroset is Russia's largest mobile handset retailer with 2,854 outlets in Russia as of January 1 and 2005 sales revenue standing at U.S. $2.574 billion.

The relationship between mobile handset producers and retailers may play an even more important role in the future, as the largest retailers continue to expand their market share. According to Sotovik research agency, the top 10 Russian mobile handset retailers accounted for 20% of the market in December 2003, 45% in December 2004, and for 72% in December 2005. In December, 48% of the market was controlled by the top three companies.

In 2006 the top 10 companies will control 83%-85% of the market by the end of the year.
Analysts said that the police and custom service’s attacks on illegal importers of handsets last year had a positive impact on the market. The retail market has consolidated in the last few months as many small regional companies were unable to import merchandise on their own and were bought out or signed franchise agreements with larger market players.

The customs service has eliminated all channels of illegal imports through Moscow terminals, where companies set too low a price for imported merchandise. However, the same channels remained untouched in St. Petersburg,

Most mobile handsets were imported illegally in the previous years but the trend was broken by police in mid-2005. Now major retailers sell more phones imported legally, analysts said adding that this has pushed the average price further up.

Analysts said that the consolidation of the mobile handset retail market is likely to continue.
The customs service said in late 2005 that 3.1 million mobile handsets were imported to Russia in October 2005, up from 1.8 million units in August 2005. The total value of mobile handsets declared at customs rose to $436 million in October from $43 million in August, the service said, adding that the average price of a mobile handset at customs clearance rose to $135 in October from $24 in August.

That continuing gray imports include a wide range of models produced specifically for the Russian market but also models produced for other markets or those that were introduced on other markets earlier than in Russia. As many Russians are ready to pay a higher price to get new models that are not yet sold in Russia, this becomes a major factor in increased demand for illegal imports. But this year producers may start importing phones themselves, market sources said adding that this will help decrease illegal imports and push prices up.
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Zapping TechBizz

Wireless & Voice

AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corporation announced that AT&T will acquire BellSouth. The merger will streamline the ownership and operations of Cingular Wireless, which is jointly owned by AT&T and BellSouth. The new company will provide benefits to customers by combining the Cingular, BellSouth and AT&T networks into a single fully integrated wireless and wireline Internet Protocol network offering a full range of advanced solutions.

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Unified Communications

Avaya and Microsoft Corp. announced the intent to develop open standards, SIP-based interoperability between Avaya MultiVantage Communications Applications and Microsoft Office Communicator, the UC client for Microsoft Office LCS 2005.
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Cisco Systems and Microsoft Corp. announced they are working together to provide collaborative real-time capabilities for businesses through the integration of Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 and the open SIP-based Microsoft Office LCS 2005 with the new SIP-based Cisco Unified Communications system.
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Cisco Systems, Inc. announced the Cisco Unified Communications system, a new suite of voice, data and video products and applications specifically designed to help organizations of all sizes to communicate more effectively.
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Vantis Credit Union has deployed the Expert Anywhere Contact Solution from Nortel, to allow members to interact with service representatives through video kiosks at ATM sites.
IKEA in the UK has deployed technology from Nortel to speed the resolution of customer requests across telephone, email and Web multimedia applications.
Instant messaging
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AOL announced the creation of a new Open AIM initiative. AOL is inviting developers, and online communities, sites and services of every kind to build new plugins and custom communications clients based on the popular AIM platform
Security
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Cloudmark Inc. has upgraded its Server Edition solution for corporate environments that use Microsoft's Exchange Server, adding new mobile e-mail messaging protection against spam, phishing and virus attacks as well as actionable data reporting.
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Senforce Technologies Inc. launched Senforce intelligent Network Access Control (iNAC), an extension of its endpoint security products, Senforce iNAC adds critical network protections that ensure all PCs are policy-compliant and threat-free before they can obtain access to the network.
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Elemental Security, Inc. announced the general availability of the Elemental Security Platform (ESP) v2.0, the next-generation release of its policy and risk management solution.
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Mix

Cisco Systems announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held SyPixx Networks, Inc., which offers network-centric video surveillance software and hardware that enable existing analog video surveillance systems to operate as part of an open IP network.


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Novell announced its next-generation enterprise Linux desktop, delivering technology and design improvements that establish the Linux desktop as a benchmark for basic office productivity and usability.
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Beceem Communications, a provider of chipsets for Mobile WiMAX technology, announced that it has received a substantial investment from Intel Capital, the venture capital investment arm for Intel Corporation.
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Atempo Inc. announced that it has acquired privately-held Storactive Inc. a provider of continuous data protection (CDP) software.
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Telco Week Flash

WI-FI – ASIA MARKET

Public WI-Fi in Asia migration to value added service as hotspot build slows
The public access WLAN services in Asia are now largely provided by telcos and mobile operators, and in North Asia, increasingly perceived as a value add for subscriber customers. As build-out of hotspots slows, the market positioning of public Wi-Fi is beginning to shift.

The, Wi-Fi in Asia, changes in pricing over the last six months which reveal several significant changes appear to be in play in this market sector. Identify major factors including prices continuing to trend down, and a sudden growth in the volume of subscription based monthly price plans.

One of the most significant changes is that a convergence is taking place in price levels for different time bands offered. Average prices for one-month subscriptions are now less than USD 10. Australia and New Zealand remain the exception, being the most expensive for public Wi-Fi in the region.

The total market picture must not exclude individual cases of successful companies, and government backed initiatives such as the development of M Taiwan. However the possibility of building Wi-Fi businesses on the back of local consumerist demand does not seem to have borne fruit. Against a backdrop of the launch of WiMAX, EDGE and 3G in many of the broadband intensive economies in the region, public Wi-Fi appears to be migrating to a value-add service for telcos and mobile service operators.

Hotspot build has dropped by around more than 14% in the first half of this year, compared to the previous six months of 2004, while 78% of all hotspots in the region are concentrated in Japan and Korea. Few operators have indicated plans to extend build-out further of any significance, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand.

The implications of these changes have yet to be played out given the advent of other new services and technologies.


MOBILE PHONE – IRELAND

New agreements in Vodafone Ireland
Mobile phone operator Vodafone has finalised agreements with ESB Telecoms and e-net, the managed services entity for the State’s regional broadband infrastructure, to allow Vodafone Ireland access to the fibre optic networks offered by the two companies. The agreements will involve an investment of more than €10m by Vodafone. The agreements, which will run for a 10-year period, will give Vodafone Ireland access to the ESB Telecoms and e-net fibre optic networks to carry voice and data traffic travelling over the Vodafone network. E-net manages the Metropolitan Area Network on behalf of the state, providing access to all registered telecom operators. The MAN provides broadband in 20 cities and towns around Ireland and it is to be extended to 100 other centres over the next 18 months.


IP MARKET – INDONESIA

Telecom Italia Sparkle and Telkom Indonesia form collaborative agreement
Telecom Italia Sparkle and PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), Indonesia’s main telecommunications provider, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of voice services, Internet Protocol (IP), and technology transfer. The two carriers are currently completing the interconnection process in order to terminate each other’s international voice traffic on a “preferred supplier” basis and, according to the MoU, they will jointly cooperate in the development of pre-paid calling card services in selected countries and of international toll-free and mobile services in Indonesia. TIS will provide global IP connectivity to Telkom, and the two companies will together extend the provision of advanced international services, such as IP-VPN and Frame Relay, to their respective corporate customers. The MoU also calls for an extensive know-how transfer programme in such areas as the Operating and Business Support Systems (OSS and BSS), broadband applications and multimedia content.





CRM – TURKEY

Borusan telecom
The Turkish altnet has entered a business partnership with T-Systems. The company focuses on large enterprise customers that operate internationally. The company also operates its own data centre with a server capacity of more than 2000.


MOBILE MARKET – UK

Mobile cost review
Ofcom, the UK regulator, has recently concluded the preliminary stage consultation of a review of mobile wholesale. It intends to conduct a further review of the markets for wholesale mobile voice call termination before the new charge controls, which are being proposed in the Charge Control Consultation, expire in March 2007. It has conducted an analysis of the costs of terminating voice calls on 2G networks, to inform the proposals in its Charge Control Consultation. This analysis has included an updating of the LRIC model used to determine the level of the charge control imposed in June 2004. The model has been updated to reflect changes to a number of factors including demand, equipment costs and cost of capital. Ofcom has also modelled a range of different assumptions about the impact of traffic migrations from 2G to 3G voice call termination, as 3G phones start to become more widely used. Further analysis will be carried out before the further market review is concluded in 2007. Ofcom is also commissioning a detailed analysis of 3G costs with a view to informing the wider debate, and expects to receive output from that study during 2006.


MOBILE SERVICES – SOUTH AFRICA

Clickatell messaging from Africa to rest of the world
Clickatell, a global messaging enablement company based in South Africa, has launched Clickatell Wholesale, a new service that offers SMS delivery around the world at wholesale rates. The service allows mobile aggregators, resellers and content providers to jumpstart their mobile messaging business with instant access to quality global bulk SMS delivery at competitive wholesale rates. Customers will immediately get access to the Clickatell's extensive network of interconnections around the world. Clickatell Wholesale covers over 184 networks in 99 countries. SMS rates are offered from 0.015 to 0.025 per credit (generally 1 SMS message costs 1 SMS credit. In some instances however, the destination network may charge 2 or more credits to deliver the message).


TELCO CARRIERS – CROATIA

T-Croation Telecom / Ascade
As a means of enhancing its international carrier business operations and improve business performance, T-Croatian Telecom (a part of Deutsche Telekom) has selected Ascade's Carrier Cockpit(TM) Suite for telecom carriers trading and exchanging international voice traffic. The deal will add to Ascade's position in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) market. The solution will allow T-Croatian Telecom to handle the end-to-end carrier supply chain of buying, routing and selling international voice traffic including automated integration to their Ericsson AXE switches for seamless implementation of optimised routing plans.


BROADBAND MARKET – INDIA

Railtel India broadband market strategies
Railtel Corporation of India, a public sector unit under Railways, plans to build high-speed optical fibre cable network using technologies on 42,000 km route of railway tracks by March 31, 2008. Fibre cable has already been laid on 27,560 km route of railway tracks of which 23,398-route km has been commissioned. Railtel plans to provide cyber cafes and Internet kiosks at railways stations.


BROADBAND MARKET – BAHAMAS

Bahamas optical fibre continue to improve
Cable Bahamas Ltd, is reported to be considering expansion of its operation into Jamaica and possibly other areas of the Caribbean with the launch of its first fibre optic cable linking the island to its larger neighbour in the south. The company has recently applied to public utilities regulators in both The Bahamas and Jamaica for its wholly owned subsidiary Caribbean Crossings to extend the company's current submarine fibre optic network to the southern Bahamas and Jamaica. The company currently has a submarine fibre optic network (The Bahamas Internet Cable System) connecting the mainland of Florida to Grand Bahama.





















FIBRE OPTICAL MARKET – PAKISTAN

Investment in optical fibre in Pakistan
Wateen Telecom, a subsidiary of UAE-based Al Warid Telecom, has launched a US$75 million project to lay an optic fibre optic backbone across Pakistan. The first segment of the project of 800 kilometres would stretch from Karachi to Rahimyar Khan and would be further linked with the rest of the country up to Peshawar through 63 cities. The nationwide network will total 5,000 kilometres. The fibre optic backbone will have a self healing ring configuration for redundancy and a hybrid of G652D fibres is being used to meet the expected growth in bandwidth demand in the country.

Telco Daily Flash

Sources Say Cingular to Offer iPod Phone
Sources indicate that Cingular Wireless will sell the Motorola Apple iPod wireless phone. Representatives from all three companies declined to confirm or deny the report. The device would include iTunes software allowing users to transfer songs from a personal computer to the phone, and then listen to the songs through headphones. Music on wireless phones is expected to be the "next big thing" for the wireless industry. Many of the national carriers currently or plan to offer phones allowing users to download full songs wirelessly.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times

Sprint Nextel Closing Deals on Two More Affiliates
Sprint Nextel is reportedly close to buying two of its wireless affiliates. IWO Holdings, a wireless carrier with 237,000 subscribers, would be bought for approximately $400 million. This deal values the company at 8.5 times estimated 2006 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Gulf Coast Wireless, serving 93,000 customers, would be bought for $288 million. This deal is valued at 8.1 times estimated 2006 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Sprint Nextel, which has 11 affiliated companies, recently paid $1.3 billion for affiliate U.S. Unwired. A dispute continues with affiliate Nextel Partners.
Source: The Wall Street Journal

Service Disrupted Because of Hurricane
Flooding and power loss caused by Hurricane Katrina disrupted wireless and long-distance service in parts of the Gulf Coast. Wireless carriers reported that although no wireless towers were knocked down, some stopped operating because of power loss or became disconnected from the network due to flooding and wiring disruptions. Because of these situations, wireless customers trying to place calls likely received busy signals or recordings informing them that all circuits are busy. As soon as conditions are safe, carriers will move into the areas with generators, fuel and manpower to begin restoring service.
Source: Associated Press

Privacy Group Wants Tougher Protections for Customer Data
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is expected to ask to Federal Communications Commission to toughen rules governing how and when telecommunications companies release customer information. EPIC is concerned by the proliferating Internet sale of customer call records and other information. Wireless carriers have a number of measures in place to protect customers' information and aggressively guard against the sale or release of records.
Source: The Washington Post

Carriers Help Customers with Billing Confusion
In response to criticism, telecommunications providers are making efforts to help customers understand their billing statements. Wireless carriers, which are subject to the Federal Communications Commission's truth in billing rules, encourage their customers to talk with customer service reps to understand plans and charges. Additionally, some carriers offer potential customers an estimate of their first bills, including fees and taxes. However, this job of helping customers understand their statements is made more difficult by the hundreds of taxes and governmental bodies carriers must work with.
Source: The New York Times

Wireless Carriers Offer Competitive Overseas Rates
Wireless carriers are lowering their international calling rates in order to compete with landline and VoIP providers that traditionally had lower international rates. Many of the national wireless carriers are offering two types of overseas calling options: a standard plan with no extra monthly fees and discount plans that offer a monthly fee for a set price per minute call. In choosing which type of plan works best for them, consumers should consider where they call and how frequently.
Source: The Wall Street Journal

Samsung Considers Entry-Level Phone Market
Recognizing that its wireless business may slow, Samsung is planning to enter the low-price or entry-level phone market. Samsung has traditionally shied away from the low-end market, concentrating on mid- to high-priced wireless phones, which yield bigger profit margins. However, with developing markets in India, Brazil and China and 60% of the wireless phone market made up of entry-level phones, the company has realized it needs to diversify its products. Samsung, the third-largest phone manufacturer, expects the global wireless phone market to expand 6-7% next year, compared to approximate growth of 55% in 2004.
Source: Dow Jones Newswire

Camera Phones Support Digital Camera Sales
Research from IDC suggests camera phones are creating growth in the digital camera market because they introduce users to digital photography. The research firm suggests that more than 30% of camera phone owners plan to purchase digital cameras because they learned about digital photography through camera phones. Four billion pictures were taken with camera phones in the U.S. in 2004 and approximately 7.5 billion will be taken in 2005. Digital camera pictures will increase to 40 billion this year from 28 billion last year, according to IDC.
Source: Reuters

Spanish Content Available Through U.S. Cellular
U.S. Cellular and Univision Movil are partnering to offer Spanish multimedia content and wireless services to Hispanic wireless customers. The new Spanish content is available through the "En Espanol" section of U. S. Cellular's easyedge platform and can be downloaded directly to consumers' wireless devices. Consumers have a choice of ringtones, images, wallpaper and interactive games for a yearly fee of $9.95.
Source: PC World

Hutchison Plans Investments in India, Vietnam, Indonesia
Hutchinson Telecommunications International will invest more than $500 million in order to build out India's wireless phone network. The company has immediate plans to expand into 10 additional service areas with its Indian partner, Essar Group. Additionally, the company wants to acquire an Essar unit that applied for new wireless licenses in seven areas where Hutchinson does not offer service. Hutchinson also plans to invest significantly in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Source: Dow Jones Newswire

No Vote Expected on Portland Wireless Tax
Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman shelved a tax on wireless phone service until the tax gains more support from the rest of the council. However, his chief of staff said Saltzman is unlikely to push the tax next year, as he'll be busy with his re-election campaign. Other commissioners and the city's mayor also said they will not bring the tax up for a vote. The wireless industry has contributed significant resources to fighting the proposed tax, which was estimated to cost wireless consumers up to $33 million over the next three years.
Source: The Oregonian

Verizon Wireless Lowers Broadband Prices 25%
Verizon Wireless is lowering the price of its wireless broadband service from $79.99 a month to $59.99 a month. Additionally, the company is adding seven markets to the service and expects to serve more than half of the U.S. population by the end of 2005. Verizon Wireless' EV-DO service enables Internet access at speeds faster than dial-up. Consumers can use it on wireless phones or on cards that plug into laptops.
Source: The Wall Street Journal

Africans Experience Banking For the First Time, Thanks to Wireless
Africa's Standard Bank partnered with wireless carrier MTN Group to bring mobile banking to parts of Africa that previously did not have access to or could not afford banking services. The banking system requires only a wireless phone call and a government-issued identity number to subscribe. With nearly 80 million Africans owning wireless phones, the wireless phone banking system is expected to bring millions of poor South Africans into the official economy for the first time.
Source: USA Today

Latin Ringtones Arrive for Growing Hispanic Population
Wireless companies are planning to introduce Latin music ringtones, appealing to the growing Hispanic population in the U.S. Until this point, the majority of ringtones available in the U.S. have been hip-hop/R&B music, consumed primarily by 15 to 25 year olds. However, with Hispanics expected to be the largest teen minority by the close of 2005 and spending $10 more per month on their wireless bills, companies are looking to offer them more desirable wireless content.
Source: Reuters

Debate Begins on Wireless Etiquette Underground
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's decision to install a wireless network in 277 of New York City's underground subway stations is creating a debate on whether or not wireless phones underground will be an annoyance to commuters. Some commuters are excited by the prospect of wireless service in the stations, as it will enable them to keep in touch with their children or finish business. Other riders are worried about loud, non-essential conversations proliferating underground.
Source: The New York Times

VoIP 911 Deadline Extended
The Federal Communications Commission granted VoIP providers an additional 30 days to receive customer notification of potential 911 problems, before providers will turn off service. The Commission said the providers had demonstrated significant efforts to comply with the notification requirement and extended the deadline to September 28.
Source: The Wall Street Journal

Nokia To Receive Payment After Telsim Sale
Nokia reached a deal with the Turkish government to recover money it loaned to wireless operator Telsim. According to the terms of the deal, Nokia will receive payment following the sale of Telsim. The amount of payment will depend on how much the company is sold for. Both Nokia and Motorola loaned billions of dollars to Telsim to build its wireless network in 2000. Since that time, Telsim defaulted on loan repayments and was forced to relinquish control and management to Turkish Savings and Deposit Insurance Fund.
Source: Dow Jones Newswire

Andrew Corp. Buys Nortel Location Systems
Equipment manufacturer Andrew Corp bought from Nortel Networks systems that process and calculates the position of wireless phones. The technology is used by corporations to track shipments, trucks and ships. Additionally, the technology can help emergency services locate stranded motorists, children or pets. Andrew will use the systems with its Geometrix business to manufacture mobile location center products.
Source: Reuters