Wholesale VoIP: October 2012

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

NT’s new WiMAX service to offer 27Mbps connection

State-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is launching wireless broadband services based on WiMAX technology on 9 November, an ... http://bit.ly/RMVy3O

All three bidders cleared for 3G auction

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has announced that all three applicants ... http://bit.ly/RMVy3Q

Vimpelcom reorganises Ukraine assets; Kyivstar holds 100% of URS

Ukrainian mobile and fibre network operator Kyivstar has taken a direct 100% ownership stake in its sister company ... http://bit.ly/QQ6MTL

Monday, October 8, 2012

EU set to give UK’s rural broadband plan its blessing?

Following reports in July 2012 that the UK’s rural broadband rollout strategy had been placed on hold while Europ ... http://bit.ly/SHQOis

Altimo strikes back with Vimpelcom share purchase

Altimo, the telecoms arm of Russian financial and industrial conglomerate Alfa Group, has increased its voting stak ... http://bit.ly/VEtsuG

UK Broadband launches commercial LTE in Southwark, Reading

UK Broadband (UKB), Hong Kong-based PCCW’s British broadband unit, has announced that it has inaugurated commerci ... http://bit.ly/VEtwLd

Qtel raises Wataniya stake to 92.1%; Kuwaiti sovereign fund offloads entire interest

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has concluded a mandatory tender offer for additional shares in its Kuwait-based subsidiary Na ... http://bit.ly/POtSaQ

Airtel to curtail Kenyan investment after MTR deadlock

According to a report by AllAfrica, Shivan Bhargava, managing director of Airtel Kenya, has cast doubts over the ce ... http://bit.ly/VEtsLf

Kuwait licenses 4G services in 1800MHz band

The government of Kuwait has authorised the country’s mobile operators to begin offering services based on Long T ... http://bit.ly/POtWaH

Softbank leads Japan net adds for ninth straight month

The Japanese cellular operator Softbank has once again reported the highest monthly net subscriber additions, with ... http://bit.ly/SHQNLG

ACCC issues final access determination for non-NBN local bitstream access

Three months after having made a preliminary ruling, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ... http://bit.ly/POtVU9

Cubic Telecom signs deal with Woolworth Mobile

Irish mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Cubic Telecom has signed a deal worth ‘tens of millions of dollars ... http://bit.ly/VEttPr

China Mobile inks retail deal to promote home-grown 3G use

China Mobile has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with retail firm D.phone to jointly promote China Mobil ... http://bit.ly/SHQNex

Nepal’s regulator to draw up m-commerce legislation this year

National telecoms regulator the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) plans to prepare draft rules on the regula ... http://bit.ly/VEttPx

Genachowski: FCC is on track to free up 300MHz of frequencies by 2015

Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has promised that the watchdog is on t ... http://bit.ly/SHQNeF

ETECSA calls for subscribers to update fixed line contracts

Cuba’s state-owned telecoms monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (ETECSA) has given its residential fix ... http://bit.ly/POtR6X

Vivendi hiring advisers to review potential sale of Maroc Telecom

French conglomerate Vivendi has begun negotiations with bankers Lazard and Credit Agricole with a view to hiring ad ... http://bit.ly/SHQNeD

Govt sets 2 November date to launch MTS auction process

News agency BelTA reports that the government of Belarus will launch a presentation on the 2 November 2012 to launc ... http://bit.ly/SHQIHT

CAT needs another month to amend True contract

Thai state-run telco CAT Telecom has requested permission to postpone the deadline for amending its 3G network oper ... http://bit.ly/R9qIQh

Minister says seat on TeliaSonera board a possibility

Sweden's Minister for Financial Markets, Peter Norman, indicated last Thursday that the government could consider t ... http://bit.ly/VEttPp

StarHub unveils 100Mbps/150Mbps fibre service for heavy data users

Singapore’s second largest telecoms service provider by revenues StarHub has launched two ultra-high speed fibre ... http://bit.ly/POtSb0

Kuwait licences 4G services in 1800MHz band

The government of Kuwait has authorised the country’s mobile operators to begin offering services based on Long T ... http://bit.ly/VEtrXI

Friday, October 5, 2012

BSNL rolls out fibre infrastructure in TN

State-backed telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has announced plans to roll out 1,140km of optical fibre in the ... http://bit.ly/T5dkw1

Telekom Slovenije begins LTE preparations, USD3.2m budgeted this quarter

Telekom Slovenije has reported to the Slovenian stock exchange that its supervisory board has given the go-ahead to ... http://bit.ly/Umqnju

8ta jumps on the LTE bandwagon with free Gauteng trial

Telkom Mobile (8ta) has become the latest South African mobile operator to confirm its intentions to launch Long Te ... http://bit.ly/T5dlA2

Clearwire may delay network buildout; Comcast converts stake ahead of potential sale

Dow Jones Newswires reports that Clearwire is considering delaying the rollout of its Time Division Long Term Evolu ... http://bit.ly/T5dljE

MTS mulls selling CDMA network

Ukraine’s second largest cellular operator by subscribers, MTS, is considering selling or leasing its CDMA-450 wi ... http://bit.ly/Umqn3c

PLDT and GMA agree to end acquisition talks

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and GMA Network Inc yesterday announced that talks over the forme ... http://bit.ly/T5djZ8

Court rejects Bharti Airtel plea to set aside Econet compensation award

Econet Wireless has announced in a press release on its website that the High Court in Lagos has dismissed an appli ... http://bit.ly/SO4X8s

MP sale off the books

Shareholders in Polish cableco Multimedia Polska (MP) have decided to retain their investment in the company, follo ... http://bit.ly/UmqlrT

Slovak Telekom enters Cloud space

Slovak Telekom has announced the pilot launch of commercial cloud computing services for all business customers. Us ... http://bit.ly/UmqoEh

FT-Orange bucks trend with plan to hire 4,000 staff by 2015

France Telecom-Orange (FT-Orange) has revealed it is looking to take on an additional 4,000 full time employees by ... http://bit.ly/Umqj3h

Viettel Global buys 65% stake in Tanzania’s EGOTEL

Viettel Global Investment (Viettel Global) has purchased a 65% stake in Tanzanian firm Epocha Golden Ocean (EGOTEL ... http://bit.ly/T5dl31

NICTA issues retail price determination

Papua New Guinea’s National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NITCA) has published a retail se ... http://bit.ly/Umqhsq

Telenor renews drive to sell off Uninor assets

Norwegian-backed telco Telenor has appealed to the Delhi High Court to set aside the decision of the Company Law Bo ... http://bit.ly/T5dkfu

MTel inks long-term deal with Spacecom for DTH services

Hungary’s Magyar Telekom (MTel) has signed a USD7 million long-term agreement with Spacecom, the operator of the ... http://bit.ly/T5dl38

Sprint seeks to hijack T-Mobile, MetroPCS merger

Sprint Nextel is in the early stages of evaluating a rival bid for MetroPCS Communications, with a view to counteri ... http://bit.ly/T5dl35

Paltel and HOT cooperate to bring fibre to Gaza

Israelis and Palestinians have reportedly ceased hostilities for a couple of days in order to work together in the ... http://bit.ly/SO4Zgv

Thursday, October 4, 2012

FT-Orange sees 4G as vital to improving ARPU

France Telecom-Orange (FT-Orange) chief executive Stephane Richard has revealed that he sees the launch of 4G mobil ... http://bit.ly/SJ2V9q

Ministry urged to speed up 4G licensing

A delay in issuing licences for 4G services could cause problems for the country’s mobile users when it comes to ... http://bit.ly/SJ2RXo

Infosat Telecom allowed to trial Super Wi-Fi

The French communications operator Infosat Telecom has been given permission by the country’s industry regulator ... http://bit.ly/SJ2QTo

EE confirms LTE launch date

Hot on the heels of the announcement of a deal between the UK’s mobile network operators which regulator Ofcom he ... http://bit.ly/Qv0Dw1

Alaska Communications to launch LTE in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau

According to the Alaska Journal, Alaska Communications (ACS) is poised to inaugurate its Long Term Evolution (LTE) ... http://bit.ly/SJ2R9L

Viettel/Vox tie-up plans back on the agenda?

According to unconfirmed local press reports Viettel Corporation, the telecoms company backed by the Vietnamese mil ... http://bit.ly/St2o0N

Vodafone, KPN wade into Orange-Hutchison merger debate

UK-based Vodafone Group and KPN of the Netherlands have criticised European Union (EU) antitrust regulators who are ... http://bit.ly/St2kya

Seven companies interested in new licences, including ICE and Xinwei

Orlando Castillo, the head of Nicaraguan telecoms regulator Telcor, has confirmed that a total of seven companies h ... http://bit.ly/SJ2Qmj

TeliaSonera launches internal investigation into Uzbek allegations

Sweden’s TeliaSonera has appointed lawyers to investigate allegations of wrongdoing relating to its purchase of o ... http://bit.ly/St2mWR

T-Mobile, MetroPCS sign definitive USD1.5bn merger agreement

Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Texas-based MetroPCS Communications have announced that they have signed a definitive agr ... http://bit.ly/Qv0Gb6

Telecom eyes DC-HSPA+ launch by year-end

Telecom Mobile, the mobile arm of former fixed line monopoly operator Telecom New Zealand, plans to upgrade parts o ... http://bit.ly/St2ju9

DoCoMo Pacific launches LTE on Guam

DoCoMo Pacific, a subsidiary of Japanese telecoms company NTT DoCoMo, has announced the launch of 4G Long Term Evol ... http://bit.ly/St2iX9

Craig Wireless lifts Woosh stake to 75%

California-based telecoms firm Craig Wireless Systems has announced that it has increased its interest in Woosh Wir ... http://bit.ly/St2jKP

Delhi court upholds Bharti complaints on 3G roaming

The Delhi High Court has granted Bharti Airtel’s request for a stay order halting a direction from the Department ... http://bit.ly/Qv0FnM

90% of pre-paid subscribers behind on phone registration

Colombian telecoms watchdog the Communication Regulation Commission (CRC) has reported that 90% of pre-paid subscri ... http://bit.ly/St2mGv

MTS Belarus launches new smartphones and unlimited internet offer

Belarus’ leading mobile operator by subscribers, MTS Belarus, has announced the launch of two own-brand smartphon ... http://bit.ly/Qv0EQL

Philippines passes new cybercrime prevention act

President Aquino of the Philippines signed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 into law on 12 September, sparking ... http://bit.ly/St2jdD

Vodafone Greece launches 3G in the 900MHz band

Vodafone Greece has begun using spectrum in the 900MHz band for the provision of 3G services, becoming the first Gr ... http://bit.ly/St2lC9

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

UPC takes the 150Mbps plunge in Cluj, Bucharest, Timisoara, Ploiesti

According to the Romanian Business Review, cableco UPC Romania has introduced improved ‘Fiber Power’ downlink t ... http://bit.ly/VfP3tc

Deutsche Telekom, MetroPCS confirm merger negotiations

Deutsche Telekom (DT) is close to a deal to merge its T-Mobile USA unit with Texas-based MetroPCS, Bloomberg report ... http://bit.ly/VfP0Ob

KDN seeks strategic investor to provide cash injection

Kenya Data Networks (KDN) has revealed that it hopes to offload a significant equity stake to a strategic investor ... http://bit.ly/QXj9wf

UK cellcos reach agreement on 4G, as Ofcom speeds up spectrum clearance

Just a few weeks after the UK government stepped in to broker a ‘stand-still agreement’ ensuring no legal actio ... http://bit.ly/QXjajJ

First-round bids received for E-Plus towers, report says

The mobile phone towers of German wireless operator E-Plus have drawn first-round bids from infrastructure investor ... http://bit.ly/VfOYG3

Zain Iraq aims for stock market float by early 2013

According to Reuters, mobile operator Zain Iraq plans to go ahead with its long-delayed bourse listing in Baghdad b ... http://bit.ly/VfP3cQ

Sonitel union seeks end to duplicate fibre rollouts

The union of Niger’s state-owned national PTO Societe Nigerienne des Telecommunications (Sonitel) and its mobile ... http://bit.ly/QXjbUM

BSNL sets sights on INR300bn revenues

State-backed telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is aiming to book total revenues of INR300 billion (USD5.735 bil ... http://bit.ly/VfOYFS

XL Axiata poised to sell 8,000 telecoms towers, report says

Investment news portal Kontan.id quotes Hasnul Suhaimi, the president and CEO of Indonesian mobile operator XL Axia ... http://bit.ly/PWdPtT

Oi SA rolls out LTE network in Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian telco Oi SA, formed through the restructuring of Telemar Participacoes’ former operating divisions Bras ... http://bit.ly/QXj5wt

Robin Hood regulator stops telcos overcharging the poor

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has set a ceiling on processing fees levied on pre-paid vouchers, ... http://bit.ly/VfOYFU

DTAC expects to spend USD1.3bn on 3G

DTAC has revealed that it expects to spend THB40 billion (USD1.3 billion) on 3G during the next three years, assumi ... http://bit.ly/QXj8s3

Play looks to close national roaming deal with PTC

Polish cellco P4, which operates under the ‘Play’ banner, is finalising a national roaming agreement with Polsk ... http://bit.ly/QXj8s9

TU SR launches tenders for FWA concessions

The Telecommunications Office of the Slovak Republic (TU SR) has launched tenders for the allocation of frequencies ... http://bit.ly/SxJGmU

PLDT to spend PHP560m to triple internet gateway

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is spending an additional PHP560 million (USD13.5 million) to tri ... http://bit.ly/PWdPtZ

Local access prices not as unpredictable as they seem

Data from TeleGeography’s new Local Access Pricing Service reveal that local access prices do not follow the same ... http://bit.ly/VfOUWW

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Leap, T-Mobile complete AWS spectrum swap

US mobile operator Leap Wireless has announced that it has completed an exchange of radio spectrum in various marke ... http://bit.ly/U60vbu

MakTel cuts telephony fees for business users by 40%, paper says

Macedonian incumbent Makedonski Telekom (MakTel) has cut the cost of its standard monthly subscription fees for tel ... http://bit.ly/U60xQI

Vodafone Ireland’s Complete purchase will expand enterprise reach

The Irish Times writes that Vodafone’s Irish subsidiary has concluded the acquisition of fellow telco Complete Te ... http://bit.ly/R9o51c

Ownership deadlock rumbles on; Telenor confirms stake deal, but Vimpelcom postpones share registration

Norway’s Telenor Group has completed its purchase of an increased stake in Russia's Vimpelcom in the face of oppo ... http://bit.ly/SklIxc

EcoCash attracts 1.7m users in first year

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has confirmed that it now has over 1.7 million users of its mobile payment service EcoCash ... http://bit.ly/SyYKgw

Entel Movil achieves coverage of all 339 municipal capitals

Bolivian president Evo Morales has announced that Entel Movil, the wireless arm of the country's former monopoly do ... http://bit.ly/UDz6bz

Bharti challenges DoT on 3G roaming

Indian cellco Bharti Airtel has resumed its fight with regulators over the right to provide 3G services outside of ... http://bit.ly/SklC8X

BTC ‘4G’ leads to 800% increase in data use

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), the archipelago’s monopoly wireless provider, has reported a jump i ... http://bit.ly/UDz57w

Stormy weather ahead? LightSquared suggests weather balloon scheme to get LTE project back on track

Much-maligned open-access Long Term Evolution (LTE) venture LightSquared is hoping to use weather balloon spectrum ... http://bit.ly/SyYI89

Oi SA sets out BRL1bn investment plan for 4G expansion

Brazilian telco Oi SA has revealed it is looking to spend BRL1 billion (USD494.3 million) on the development of its ... http://bit.ly/UDz4R9

MCMC publishes review of access pricing

Malaysian telecoms operators may be required to review prices for those wholesale services currently regulated by t ... http://bit.ly/SklIgE

GP Investments to pay USD250m for 2,000 mobile towers

Brazilian private equity group GP Investments is buying approximately 2,000 mobile telephone towers from an as yet ... http://bit.ly/U60xQR

Consolidation in Japan as Softbank moves for eAccess

Japan’s third largest cellular operator by subscribers, Softbank Mobile, has made a move to acquire smaller rival ... http://bit.ly/SyYKgn

Tele2 agrees EUR74 million loan for Norwegian network expansion

Sweden’s Tele2 has announced that it has inked a EUR74 million (USD95 million) loan agreement with Nordic Investm ... http://bit.ly/U60y7n

MetroPCS sizes up DISH, T-Mobile and Sprint as potential partners

Texas-based mobile carrier MetroPCS has embarked on a renewed attempt to secure a partner for a potential merger, D ... http://bit.ly/SyYJZT

Hondutel share sale deadline looms large

With the 15 October deadline for the sale of 49% of government-owned national PTO Hondutel fast approaching, state ... http://bit.ly/UDz5EK

Globe launches ‘Tattoo Black’ LTE service; unveils 4G smartphones

Filipino operator Globe Telecom has unveiled its new Long Term Evolution (LTE) service, ‘Tattoo Black’, at a pr ... http://bit.ly/UDz5o4

Rogers expands LTE network

Canada’s largest cellco by subscribers, Rogers, announced yesterday that it has extended its Long Term Evolution ... http://bit.ly/SklDK5

NBTC may offer 1800MHz spectrum for 2G and 4G after 3G auction

According to The Nation newspaper, the subcommittee preparing for the approaching end of two 1800MHz operating conc ... http://bit.ly/SklBln

NTC gives green light to Globe-Bayan, Smart-Digitel tie-ups

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of the Philippines has given the green light to Globe Telecom and ... http://bit.ly/UDz4R5

Millicom confirms closure of Cablevision deal

Millicom International Cellular (MIC) has announced that it has now received all necessary documentation to complet ... http://bit.ly/UDz4Ax