Qatar to fine Qtel over Virgin launch: regulator

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Qatar Telecom QTEL.QA (Qtel) faces an unspecified fine and possible further legal action over violations during its launch of Virgin Mobile services into the Gulf state, telecoms regulator ictQATAR said.

“Qtel should be compelled to pay an appropriate fine for its unlawful actions during the period from 13 to 18 May 2010 and has referred this matter to the Office of the Attorney General for assessment of an appropriate penalty,” the regulator said in a ruling made public on Sunday.

Rivals Vodafone Qatar VFQS.QA and Qtel on Saturday both welcomed a ruling by regulators in a dispute over Virgin Mobile’s entry to the local market in May, but there were signs the battle may have further to run.

“Furthermore, it has been suggested that Qtel”s actions during this period may constitute violations of laws other than the Telecommunications Law,” said ictQATAR.

The ruling asked for changes in Virgin Mobile’s launch by Qtel, but said that Virgin would not be a third operator.

In May, Virgin Group VA.UL signed a partnership with Qtel to launch Virgin Mobile Qatar in a brand licensing agreement to offer a prepaid mobile phone service.

Vodafone Qatar had said it saw Virgin Mobile’s entry as a violation of the conditions to its license, which cost shareholders 7.7 billion riyals ($2.12 billion), and the telecoms law in Qatar. It had said Virgin represented a third service provider.

“Vodafone Qatar is currently reviewing ictQATAR’s determination and considering its options for further legal recourse in relation to this matter,” a Vodafone statement said on Sunday.

Vodafone won the bid for Qatar’s second mobile telephone license in 2007 to break the monopoly of Qtel in the small Gulf Arab state, which is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas exporter.

($1=3.638 riyals)

(Reporting by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Jason Neely)

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UPDATE 1-Thailand’s True to spend up to 30 bln baht on 3.9G

June 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 25 (Reuters) – True Move, a subsidiary of Thailand’s True Corp TRUE.BK, plans to invest 25 billion-30 billion baht ($772-$926 million) in a 3.9G network in the first two years after if it gets a licence, its chief executive said.

The budget excluded licensing fees and the company has enough funds to finance the investment in the initial stage, Chief Executive Supachai Chearavanont told reporters on the sidelines of a public hearing on 3.9 generation mobile services.

“We have cash of about 10 billion baht this year and we also set aside a budget on a network of about 7-8 billion baht a year,” Supachai said on Friday.

The True group might consider several options to raise funds for network expansion in the subsequent stage and options included seeking a partner, he said.

The telecoms regulator plans to issue licences in September for 3.9G mobile services, bypassing 3G services, which have never got off the ground in Thailand because auctions for licences have been repeatedly delayed over the past five years.

Unlisted True Move operates Thailand’s third largest mobile phone network and aims for one third of new mobile subscribers this year. True group competes with market leader Advanced Info Service (ADVA.BK) and the number two, Total Access Communication DTAC.BK (TACC.SI).

At 0845 GMT, True Corp shares were down 1.3 percent at 3.12 baht, while the main Thai index .SETI was 0.07 percent lower. ($1=32.40 Baht) (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by robert Birsel)

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Mobile Banking Usage to Double in the Next Three Years Reaching 400M People by 2013, Says New Juniper Research Report

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

HAMPSHIRE, UK, Jun 22 (MARKET WIRE) —
The number of mobile subscribers who use their phones for mobile banking
will exceed 400m globally by 2013, according to a new in depth study by
Juniper Research. This equates to double the number of users this year.

The results of Juniper’s detailed Mobile Banking Technology Strategies
Survey showed that banks are laying the foundations for this rapid user
take-up by rolling out services using SMS, mobile web and apps to provide
additional channel choices for their customers.

Report author Howard Wilcox explained: “Our survey concluded that banks
in all regions are becoming increasingly innovative in their service
offerings and provide impetus for user growth. Mobile is becoming a ‘must
have’ channel for banks.”

The Juniper report, however, stressed that some banks are limiting their
options by offering insufficient mobile channel options for users, whilst
others have yet to deploy mobile services at all. On the other hand,
there are many banks in Europe, North America and the Far East that are
actively delivering and promoting their services by significant above the
line marketing campaigns.

Further findings included:

– Over 80% of banks currently offer some form of mobile banking;
– Far East and China will be the region with the highest number of users
in 2015;
– Demand for on-the-move bank balance enquiries and advanced alerts will
fuel SMS messaging growth.

The new Juniper report features the Juniper Mobile Banking
Technology Strategies Survey of 77 banks across all regions which
determined the popularity of SMS, mobile browser, smartphone apps
including iPhone and Android and other apps such as Java. Additionally
the Juniper study presents insight from its unique Global Mobile Banking
Vendor Positioning Matrix of some 21 vendors.

The report provides forecasts of user take-up, user-level messaging
traffic, user-level transaction volumes and gross transaction values for
Mobile Banking Information Services, and Transactional Services.

Mobile Banking Whitepaper and further details of the study, Mobile
Banking Strategies: Applications, Opportunities & Markets 2010-2015′ can
be downloaded from www.juniperresearch.com. Alternatively please contact
John Levett at john.levett@juniperresearch.com, telephone +44(0)1256
830002.

Note for Editors
This report refers to additive banking which adds
further choices or distribution channels for banks to serve their
customers or make the banking experience more convenient for existing
customers.

John Levett
john.levett@juniperresearch.com
telephone +44(0)1256 830002

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Tieto Oyj: Tieto to update Aktia’s web services

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Tieto Corporation Press Release 22 June 2010 at 10.00 am EET

Tieto and Aktia Group have signed a co-operation agreement on the development of web
services. The Group’s entire web portal will be updated in stages. This will provide
Aktia’s customers with modern and more flexible online banking services.

The development of Aktia’s web services is based on Tieto’s eBanking Suite solution
which offers tools, for example, for implementing internet and mobile services alongside
the current basic banking services. With the updated web portal, Aktia can create a
personal channel for its customers for managing their financial matters. Customers can
also easily take care of their banking, regardless of time and location.

“For many customers, web services are currently the principal channel for transactions.
Therefore, functionality, user-friendliness and scope of the services are the critical
conditions for successful banking today. Tieto offers Aktia a good foundation and the
required support services for implementing the update project,” says Juha Volotinen,
responsible for Aktia’s web services.

“Self services in Nordic banks have already for a long time been the most widely used
web services in the world. They were initially implemented primarily due to structural
changes in banks, which can currently also be seen on the Central European financial
market. We are delighted to be able to carry out truly unique and state-of-the-art web
services for Aktia’s customers,” says Jussi Grönholm, Vice President, Financial
Services, Tieto Finland.

Tieto’s financial services offering
http://www.tieto.com/default.asp?path=1,93,16080,123 includes everything from banking
services, internet banking and payment, card and capital market services to development,
application management and outsourcing.

For further information, please contact:
Jussi Grönholm, Tieto Finland, Financial Services, Vice President, tel. +358 506 4542

Juha Volotinen, Aktia, Director, Internet Services, tel.+358 44 906 0880

TIETO CORPORATION

DISTRIBUTION
Principal media

Tieto is an IT service company providing IT, R&D and consulting services. With
approximately 17 000 experts, we are among the leading IT service companies in Northern
Europe and the global leader in selected segments. We specialize in areas where we have
the deepest understanding of our customers’ businesses and needs. Our superior customer
centricity and expertise in digital services set us apart from our competitors.
www.tieto.com http://www.tieto.com

Aktia is a Finnish financial group offering its customers high quality banking,
insurance and real estate services on the internet and in approximately 70 branch
offices around Finland. www.aktia.fi http://www.aktia.fi/

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QAim: iPhone the most used device in Finland

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

QAim: Explosive growth in mobile phone services

iPhone the most used device in Finland

QAim Oy, a Finnish company that specialises in analysing mobile services and improving
user experiences, used its CEM4Mobile Metrics solution to analyse over 20 million page
loads made via mobile devices during the period from 1 January to 30 April 2010. Based
on the findings from this survey, the Apple iPhone has become far and away the most
popular mobile phone model in Finland for browser-based services. Nearly one in every
three page loads, views, or unique visitors were from users of iPhones.

According to information released in May based on research conducted at Aalto University
in Finland, the most common mobile phone model in Finland is the Nokia 2760. According
to the study, 4.7 per cent of all mobile phones in Finland in 2009 were Nokia 2760
models.

In browser-based services, Nokia accounted for a 60.7 per cent share of all page loads,
meaning that Nokia’s dominance in mobile services is still unassailable. These page
loads originated on 199 different phone models.

Apple’s 33.9 per cent share of page loads was achieved with just two different devices:
the iPhone and the iPod Touch music player, which uses wireless local networks.

“The fragmentation of the market for mobile devices creates a huge headache for
developers of mobile services. The Android-based devices already on the market, as well
as many more probably still to come, will have a major impact on both Apple and Nokia’s
market shares in the use of mobile services. We are keeping a close eye on this trend,”
said Janne Aalto, CEO and founder of QAim.

In the sample surveyed, the CEM4Mobile Metrics solution collected over 20 million page
loads made with 623 different mobile phone models, most of which include a broad range
of features that influence service usage.

“In order to ensure market coverage, service providers and developers end up having to
develop several different versions of their browser- or app-based services to cope with
different operating systems or display sizes. We believe that with good phone
compatibility for various content services will have a greater influence on consumer
purchasing choices,” Janne Aalto explained.

The Nokia 2760, reported to be the most popular mobile phone model in Finland, was
ranked 69th on the list according to number of page loads in browser-based services. Of
the page loads collected by the CEM4Mobile Metrics solution, only 0.12 per cent were
generated using this model of mobile phone.

Manufacturer Phone model Percentage of page loads Apple iPhone 30.24% Nokia E71 9.25% Nokia N97 4.98% Nokia E75 4.82% Nokia E90 4.24% Nokia E51 4.23% Apple iPod Touch 3.66% Nokia N97 mini 3.19%

Manufacturer Phone model Percentage of page loads
Apple iPhone 30.24%
Nokia E71 9.25%
Nokia N97 4.98%
Nokia E75 4.82%
Nokia E90 4.24%
Nokia E51 4.23%
Apple iPod Touch 3.66%
Nokia N97 mini 3.19%

N97 mini

3.19%

The CEM4Mobile family of products (www.cem4mobile.com http://www.cem4mobile.com/ ),
which is based on the Software as a Service (SaaS) concept, focuses on analysing mobile
services and improving user experiences. With international reach, CEM4Mobile Analytics
has achieved an impressive list of client references in a short time as one of the most
accurate analytical solutions for mobile services. CEM4Mobile Ranking is used to
standardise mobile audience measurement on national level and has been adopted as the
survey system of choice by the IAB for Finland. CEM4Mobile Metrics helps the customer to
understand the insights of the market trends, end-user behaviour and their device
capabilities as well as benchmark his own mobile service against the market median.

Since its commercial launch in autumn 2009, the CEM4Mobile system has analysed over 160
million mobile transactions in 208 countries, on 569 operator networks and over 4,100
different phone models.

For additional information:

CEO Janne Aalto, tel. +358 (0)40 822 3223, janne.aalto@qaimgroup.com
mailto:janne.aalto@qaimgroup.com , www.cem4mobile.com http://www.cem4mobile.com

HUG#1423759

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UPDATE 1-Thai mobile firm AIS may raise 3G investment budget

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 15 (Reuters) – Advanced Info Service ADVA.BK (AIS), Thailand’s top mobile phone operator, said on Tuesday it may raise its investment budget for third-generation mobile services due to the advanced technology now required for new licences. The telecoms regulator plans to issue licences in September for 3.9 generation mobile services, bypassing 3G services, which have never got off the ground in Thailand because auctions for licences have been repeatedly delayed for at least five years.

“We have to look at terms and conditions for the 3.9G licences to be fixed by the regulator,” AIS Chief Executive Wichian Mektrakarn told reporters. “We are ready for the auction because we have long prepared for this.”

AIS, 21.4 percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (STEL.SI), had planned to invest about 50 billion baht ($1.5 billion) on a 3G network in the three years after it receives a licence.

However, that may have to be increased now the licences will be for 3.9G services, which require more advanced technology than the 3G standard but will be based on the same 2.1 GHz spectrum.

On June 9, the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) published draft terms for licences of the 3.9G service and it is expected to hold a public hearing on June 25.

Under the new draft, the NTC plans to issue three licences and raise reserve prices for the auction to 10 billion baht from the previous draft’s 5.2 billion baht.

The licensing of 3G is a crucial step to reform the $4.7 billion sector because it should lead to changes in the way companies pay licensing fees to the government, analysts say.

As existing operating contracts expire over the next few years, Thai telecoms operators want to receive 3G licences on the new 2.1 GHz spectrum, which analysts said should help reduce regulatory costs for operators.

Thailand has about 60 million mobile users with a penetration rate of nearly 100 percent, obliging operators to offer new services to boost growth.

At the midsession break, AIS shares were down 1.2 percent at 83.75 baht, while the broader Thai market .SETI was 0.06 percent higher. The stock has risen 12 percent in the past month on optimism surrounding the new licences. ($1=32.38 Baht) (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Alan Raybould)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thai mobile firm AIS may raise 3G investment budget

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 15 (Reuters) – Advanced Info Service ADVA.BK, Thailand’s top mobile phone operator, said on Tuesday it may raise its investment budget for third generation mobile services due to the advanced technology required for new licences. “We have to look at terms and conditions for the 3.9G licences to be fixed by the regulator,” Chief Executive Wichian Mektrakarn told reporters.

Telecommuncations Services

AIS, 21.4 percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd STEL.BK, had planned to invest about 50 billion baht ($1.54 billion) on a 3G network in the three years after it receives a licence.

However, the telecoms regulator has now said it planned to issue new licences in September for 3.9G services, a more advanced technology than the 3G standard. ($1=32.38 Baht) (Reporting by Pisit Changplayngam; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Alan Raybould)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cellular South Sets Milestone with Plans to Offer Android-Powered Smartphone from Motorola with the World`s Thinnest QWERTY Keyboard

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Advanced Touchscreen Device Features Latest Android 2.1 Mobile Operating System,
Largest High-Resolution Screen and Powerful, Built-in Google Mobile Services

Milestone First of Several Hot, New Android-Based Smartphones Wireless Carrier
Plans to Unveil This Year
RIDGELAND, Miss.–(Business Wire)–
Cellular South, the nation`s largest privately held wireless communications
provider, announced plans today to offer one of the world`s most advanced
Android-powered touchscreen smartphones – the Motorola Milestone. The Milestone
is the first of several new Android-based smartphones the carrier plans to
launch this year.

Featuring high-speed web browsing, access to thousands of applications from
Android Market, voice-activated search and a 3.7″ widescreen display over one of
the best 3G networks, the Android-powered Motorola Milestone from Cellular South
sets a new standard for speed, performance and reliability.

The Milestone features the best of both worlds with a full QWERTY keyboard, the
thinnest in the world, and advanced touchscreen navigation integrated with
built-in Google mobile services, including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail,
YouTube and Google Maps Navigation BETA with voice-aided turn-by-turn
directions.

“We`re looking forward to bringing the benefits of the Motorola Milestone and
other Android devices to our customers,” said Kevin Hankins, chief operating
officer of Cellular South. “This phone delivers one of the richest consumer
experiences on the market today and pairs it with a very advanced keyboard to
satisfy a range of users. This device takes full advantage of Cellular South`s
advanced 3G high-speed mobile broadband data network, the best in the industry.”

Following on the heels of Cellular South`s record-breaking introduction of its
first Android-powered touchscreen smartphone, the Motorola Milestone is one of
several new Android-powered touchscreen smartphone devices the carrier plans to
offer its customers this year. Cellular South was one of the first U.S. carriers
to introduce an Andriod-powered smartphone with the launch of the HTC Hero last
November.

Highlights:

* Powered by Android 2.1 mobile operating system from Google with pinch to zoom,
Live Wallpapers and a full HTML web browser
* Superior call quality with CrystalTalk Plus that filters out background noise
and enhances voice quality
* 3.7″ high resolution (16:9 widescreen) screen display with 854 pixel width and
more than 400,000 total pixels so you can see more of the web, e-mail, and more
* Access to thousands of apps available through Android Market. Navigate
seamlessly back and forth and keep up to six applications open and running at a
time. Android Market currently has over 50,000 applications available for
download and about 65 percent of them are free of charge.
* Full suite of Google applications including: Google Maps, Gmail, Google Talk,
and YouTube
* Google Maps Navigation BETA, which provides turn-by-turn voice directions as a
free feature of Google Maps along with live traffic, Street View and satellite
imagery

* 5 megapixel digital camera with dual-LED flash, AutoFocus and image
stabilization and DVD-broadcast quality advanced video record and playback (30
fps) in 16 million colors with easy 3G or Wi-Fi YouTube uploads

* An 8 GB memory card included (up to 32 GB capable) for storage of your
favorite music, pictures and video
* When placed in its multi-media station, the Milestone transforms into a
multi-media hub for movies, music, pictures and can even act as your bedside
alarm clock.
* Use stereo Bluetooth to take calls and listen to music hands-free
* Plug your favorite headphones into the 3.5mm headset jack and kick back to
your favorite music or movies

Pricing and Availability

* The Motorola Milestone is expected to be available for sale online at
www.cellularsouth.com and in Cellular South retail stores soon. For more
information or to sign up to be among the first to receive the Android-powered
Motorola advanced touchscreen smartphone, visit
www.cellularsouth.com/DiscoverCenter/phones-apps/android/coming-soon.jsp. No
final retail price has been set yet for the device.
* To make owning the Milestone an even better experience, Cellular South has the
industry`s best value for smartphones with its Smartphone Unlimited plan – the
only one of its kind in the nation – that makes the enriched user experience
more accessible to individuals, families and businesses. For only $59.98 a month
per line for two lines, customers can talk, text, access the Web, and e-mail on
the smartest network for smartphones without worrying about counting minutes,
megabtyes or surprise bills.
* With better coverage, fewer dropped calls and more 3G high-speed data services
than its competitors, Cellular South is the smartest place to get Android
smartphones and offers the best mobile broadband experience for the Motorola
Milestone.

Motorola and the Stylized M logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. Android, Google, Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube and Android
are trademarks of Google, Inc. HTC Hero is a trademark of HTC Corporation.

About Cellular South

Cellular South is a privately-owned diversified mobile communications company
passionately committed to helping customers get the most out of their wireless
devices and services. The nation`s largest privately owned wireless
communications carrier accomplishes this goal by providing the most reliable and
advanced 3G nationwide wireless voice and data network, offering
industry-leading smartphone devices and accessible flat rate plans, and through
its online and in-store Discover Centers, which give customers easy, simple and
convenient tools, tips, advice and information to get the most out of their
mobile phone. For more information about Cellular South and its products and
services, as well as its ground-breaking Cellular South Original user generated
programming, visit www.cellularsouth.com. This news release and other
announcements are available at http://www.cellularsouth.com/news/.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6317465〈=en

Cellular South
Dave Miller, 601-974-7725
dnmiller@cellularsouth.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Telenor India unit expands to five more zones

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – Telenor’s (TEL.OL) India unit expanded mobile services to five more telecoms zones in the country, giving it a footprint in some of the most lucrative regions in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market.

Telecommuncations Services

The company, which operates under Uninor brand name, said in a statement on Tuesday it launched mobile services in the Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, Gujarat, Kolkata and West Bengal zones.

With the expansion, Uninor is now present in 13 of India’s 22 telecoms zones and holds licences for the remainder.

The company, which started India services in December, had about 5 million mobile subscribers as of end-April. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Naxal areas top priority for installing mobile towers: Sachin Pilot

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

With the lack of adequate communications facilities in the Maoist-hit areas becoming a major handicap for the security forces fighting the Naxals, the government is redoubling its efforts to install more mobile towers in these regions despite the fact that such infrastructure are one of the prime targets of the Naxals. Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said that increasing the spread of mobile network in the Naxal-affected areas was being given the top-most priority by his department.

Only a few days back, on a visit to Bihar and Jharkhand, he had approved the installation of hundreds of new mobile towers in the Maoist-hit areas of these two states.

“We are aware how important mobile services are for the security forces fighting the Naxalites and for bringing the people in these areas into the mainstream. In the coming months, the thrust would be on installing as many mobile towers as possible in these areas,” Pilot told The Indian Express.

“We know mobile towers are vulnerable targets and are often destroyed by the Maoists. But our job is to erect them and spread the mobile network. Every additional village in the network is an asset,” he said.

The absence of mobile network has been a severe handicap for the security forces fighting in these areas, especially when there is a need to attend to a crisis like sending reinforcements during an operation. Even in the two big Maoist attacks in Dantewada in the last one month-and-a-half, the lack of mobile connectivity meant that news about the ambush could be relayed back to the nearest town or city after a significant gap of time.

Pilot said his department had started out with Bihar and Jharkhand as these were relatively easier to deal with. In due course, the work for erecting more mobile towers in the worst affected districts of Chhattisgarh would also be taken up.

Another important project, of extending mobile coverage on the Amarnath yatra route, has been completed and pilgrims to this holy shrine in Jammu and Kashmir would be able to take advantage of the mobile services from this year.

“The entire route to the Amarnath cave shrine has been brought under mobile network. The services would begin from July 1 this year and would benefit the lakhs of pilgrims who visit the shrine every year,” Pilot said.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sachin Pilot promises mobile services for Amarnath pilgrims

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 19 (ANI): Minister of State for Communications and IT, Sachin Pilot has said that the mobile connectivity to Amarnath pilgrims at the height of 13,500 ft. will be provided before June 30.

He said that it has been the endeavor of the BSNL to provide telephone services throughout the country, including rural, remote, inhospitable and geographically difficult areas.

“Amarnath ji Dham is a religious and tourist destination of supreme importance for people of all faiths. This will help over four lakh pilgrims visiting the shrine every year specially old and infirm and others wanting to stay in touch with their families,” he added.

Installation of nine mobile towers – at Baltal-I, Baltal-II, Domail, Barari, Sangam/Holi Cave, Panchtarni, Mahagunastop, Sheshnag and Chandanwari – of which four are on motorable road and the rest are on pony track will immensely help pilgrims, local residents, administration and security forces.

Connectivity will enable them to stay in touch with each other and facilitate people living in and visiting the area.

At present, no other telephone operator provides service in that area. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reliance Communications to distribute official ICC World Twenty20 mobile content

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dubai, Apr. 19 (ANI): With two weeks to go before the West Indian party begins at the ICC World Twenty20 2010, ICC global partner Reliance Communications is set to bring the unique atmosphere of world-class cricket from the Caribbean directly to your mobile handset.

The official ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 mobile services will include live audio commentary, match action video clips, wallpapers, ring tone, caller ring-back tune, score updates and other features. It will be available for a wide range of mobile devices including the iPhone and BlackBerry.

To extend the reach of the official services, Reliance Communications is keen to tie up with established mobile operators in key cricket territories so that fans located in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Pakistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies can enjoy the action and excitement of international Twenty20 cricket.

Qualified and interested third parties seeking further information regarding this commercial opportunity are invited to contact Sujai.Srivastava@relianceada.com. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nokia to launch music download service in China

April 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BEIJING, April 8 (Reuters) – Nokia (NOK1V.HE) will launch its music download service in China, the world’s largest mobile market, looking to emerging markets to invigorate the struggling service that competes with Apple’s (AAPL.O) iTunes.

Stocks | Technology

The world’s top cell phone maker will offer music from major labels and a number of independents as part of the China launch for its “Comes with Music” service, tailored for downloads to cell phones and PCs, the company said on Thursday.

In late 2008, Nokia unveiled the service in Britain — seen as the acid test market for new mobile services in Europe — but it has lacked operator support and gained little traction in developed markets since then.

Earlier this year, Niklas Savander, head of Nokia services, told Reuters the offering would focus increasingly on emerging markets. [ID:nLDE61E289]

With more than 700 million subscribers, China is the world’s biggest mobile market by users, but rampant piracy in the country has kept most major music labels and movie makers from realising significant revenue there, despite the market’s huge potential.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Airtel Talkies brings movie content on mobiles pre-release

April 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) Movie buffs will soon be able to access movie content on their mobile phones much before the release of the film with Bharti Airtel Monday launching a new service – Airtel Talkies.

Airtel Talkies offers both upcoming new releases and all time classic movies in five languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

‘We have been in mobile communication for sometime. The effort is always to try and see what are the adjoining areas that we can get into — mobile entertainment is one such area where we got into and brought things — which are relevant to our customers from a customer need perspective,’ Shashi Arora, CEO, Bharti Airtel Limited, (Mobile Services), Delhi NCR told IANS.

‘Therefore we had music, which was available to customers on demand. So we thought that we should also get into other spaces something like we launched with Airtel Talkies where we can get previews and trailers of movies which are yet to come. In a larger sense it is a device, which is available to you round the clock.’

When asked whether people with only high end phones will be able to access this service, Arora informed: This is audio, anybody with an ordinary phone too can access it.’

A subscriber can avail this service at Rs.30 per month for four movies with 30 days validity or Rs.10 per week for one movie with seven days validity.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , ,

PREVIEW-Billion dollar bids seen at India spectrum auction

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

* What: 3G and wireless broadband spectrum auctions

Stocks | Telecommuncations Services

* When: From April 9

* Nine firms bidding for a maximum of four 3G slots

* 3G licence seen costing up to $2 bln for national cover

* Pick up of 3G services may be slow, tough for firms

By Devidutta Tripathy

NEW DELHI, April 2 (Reuters) – Nine firms will compete in a widely watched airwaves auction in India starting next week that would pave way for the introduction of high-speed third-generation mobile services in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market.

In what could be one of the world’s biggest such auctions over the past few years, the Indian government hopes to net revenues of nearly $8 billion from 3G and a near simultaneous auction of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.

The 3G auction starts from April 9 and two days after it closes, the BWA spectrum auction will begin. India’s top six private telecoms operators are bidding for 3G spectrum across all 22 zones, while three others including Etisalat’s (ETEL.AD) Indian telecoms venture will bid in select zones.

Due to limited number of slots for 3G — three each in most of India’s 22 telecoms zones and four in some — and high competition for the scarce spectrum, analysts expect each winning bid to be more than $1 billion for a pan-India licence, or even touch $2 billion, compared with a base price of $780 million. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a list of bidders, see [ID:nSGE62I0FU]

For a graphic on India’s mobile market, see

r.reuters.com/cuv25j

For details of the auction process, see

r.reuters.com/cux72j ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The auction also comes at a time when operators have intensified a 2G price war, with per-second charges falling to around 1/50th of a U.S. cent, eating into cashflows and margins.

Heavy investments on licences and then on building networks could further stretch the winning firms’ financials.

“Definitely bidding would be aggressive,” said Kunal Bajaj, managing director at telecoms consulting firm BDA Connect, which has local and international firms as clients.

“There is sufficient competition in place. And very clearly, there’s high risk of losing your high-end, high-ARPU (average revenue per user) subscribers if you don’t get 3G spectrum,” said Bajaj.

He sees market leader Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO), Vodfone Essar (VOD.L) and Tata Teleservices [TATASL.UL], which is backed by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo (9437.T), winning spectrum in a majority of the zones.

Eleven firms, including U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm QCOM.BO, will bid for BWA spectrum, for which two slots in each of the 22 zones are up for grabs. The base price for a national BWA licence has been set at around $390 million.

India is a late adapter of 3G and is the biggest economy to not have these premium services in wide scale yet, though the state-run telecoms firms have 3G services in some zones. China, the world’s biggest telecoms market, took a long-delayed 3G plunge last year by awarding licences to the country’s top-three phone operators.

Among others, the UK raised more than $35 billion from a spectrum auction in 2000, while the U.S. government got about $19 billion by selling spectrum in 2008.

SLOW PICK UP SEEN

Winning operators have to deposit the money within 10 days of the auction, but they will be awarded spectrum only in September, meaning there is no immediate opportunity to make money out of new services such as faster Internet on mobile phones and video calling that 3G would facilitate.

Also, some argue in a market like India, which is built on a low-price, high-volume model, there may not be many takers for luxury services and it would be limited to metros and big cities. Currently operators make only a tenth of their total revenue from data services.

A study by telecoms researcher Wireless Intelligence estimates India will have 60 million 3G users by 2013, which is less than 10 percent of consultancy Gartner’s forecast of 771 million total mobile phone users by then. (Editing by Aradhana Aravindan and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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Pak Telecom authority denies planning to snoop on all phone calls, e-mails, sms’

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep.9 (ANI): The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has rejected reports regarding it forming a regulation committee to monitor telecom traffic including phones calls, e-mails and text messages, The Daily Times reports.

Commenting on the reports regarding the PTA’s plans of having a monitoring cell to keep tab of all telecommunication traffic, a PTA spokesperson said monitoring cyber and telecom traffic does not come under the authority’s mandate.

The spokesperson, however, said the PTA has installed latest filters to check illegal telecommunication traffic coming into the country.

Earlier, it was reported that the PTA has drafted a plan to monitor all telecommunication traffic, including landlines, mobile services and emails.

It was also reported that the PTA has already prepared a code of conduct for monitoring. (ANI)

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EGoM fixes reserve price of 3G spectrum, WiMax

August 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug 27(ANI): An ‘Empowered Group of Ministers’ (EGoM), constituted by the Government to supervise the spectrum for 3G telephony, on Thursday fixed the reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum at Rs 3,500 crore.

It also decided to allow only five operators to offer the high-speed mobile services in the first phase, where one existing operator – BSNL or MTNL – in their respective circles will be given the spectrum along with four new operators.

While addressing the media, Union Minister for Communications and IT A Raja said that the government will complete the auction of 3G spectrum within three months and expects to raise Rs 25,000 crore.

The EGoM has also fixed the reserve price of Rs 1,750 crore for the WiMax services.

Earlier, government had decided to auction 3G spectrum at a reserve price of Rs 4,040 crore to at least six private operators besides state-owned MTNL and BSNL, but the EGoM went for its own pricing after representations from the private operators to slightly lower it.

The meeting of the EGoM was lead by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, other ministers in the panel were P Chidambaram, A K Antony, Veerappa Moily, Sharad Pawar, A Raja, Ambika Soni, Prithviraj Chavan and Montek Sigh Ahluwalia. (ANI)

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Gangtok to have 3 G services

June 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Gangtok, June 23 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot has said that the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is to launch 3 G services in Gangtok by August 15.

Announcing the extension of 3 G services to other three districts within 100 days, the Minister said, BSNL would increase its broadband strength to 30 GB PPS to improve services in Sikkim. All the 26 blocks in the State would be covered by broadband services within 100 days.

After a review meeting with BSNL, Postal Department and State I and T in Gangtok, he said, traffic congestion in mobile services in twenty one sectors of the State would be removed by August 15 this year through improved quality of service by BSNL.

Underlying the importance of Sikkim, Pilot said that special measures have been taken to improve the quality of services in North East through communication and information technology, with specific emphasis on Sikkim.

“It is a difficult terrain and the ministry would support the efforts to improve information and technology in Sikkim, as it would increase opportunities for the talented youth,” he added. (ANI)

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Pakistanis world-over celebrate Twenty20 glory amid gloom of bloody unrest

June 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, June 22 (ANI): As Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the finals of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup on Sunday, Pakistanis seized the moment of triumph amid the gloom of the country’s bloody unrest to call and text their loved ones to congratulate each other.

Mobile services remained clogged long after the match, as everyone was calling relatives and friends to share their happiness, the Daily Times reports.

Pakistanis living abroad also celebrated the victory by calling their relatives in Pakistan.

As Pakistan scored the winning run with Shahid Afridi at the crease, people danced with joy, lit firecrackers and celebrated by distributing sweets.

Former captain Ramiz Raja said the win would help lift the gloom besetting the war-torn country.

“This is the greatest moment in Pakistan cricket, greater than 1992 because people (are now) in gloom and previously had nothing to cheer about,” said Raja, a member of 1992 team that beat England in the Melbourne final.

Earlier this month a suicide bomb blast killed over dozen people in Peshawar, some 30km from Mardan, the hometown of captain Younus Khan.

Hundreds of people gathered outside captain Younus Khan’s home Saturday night to watch the game and celebrate the win.

“We lost so many people in the blasts recently. The military is fighting a war in Swat but we forgot all the gloom with this cricket win,” said Abdullah Khan.

People also thronged pacer Umar Gul’s house in Peshawar.

“We have a tradition of hosting our guests and Sunday’s final was watched by hundreds of people outside our house,” said Mairaj, Gul’s elder brother. (ANI)

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IBM | IT major IBM to enter mobile application segment

June 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) Targeting users of business and smart phones, computer services major IBM Wednesday announced a $100-million investment in the mobile services space globally, including India.

“IBM is investing to create technology in its labs that brings simple, easy-to-use services to the millions of people who have bypassed the personal computer as their primary method of accessing the Internet, and instead use their mobile devices for conducting financial transactions, entertainment, shopping and more,” IBM said in a statement.

The company, however, did not specify the investment earmarked for India, where it has offices in 14 cities. “We do not divulge investments for individual countries,” an IBM India spokesperson told IANS.

After 130 years of existence that saw IBM manufacturing diverse products ranging from guns to calculators, the latest decision marks its entry into the growing mobile applications market.

Although smart phones have been available for several years, mobile software and services are still in their infancy.

“In today’s inter-connected world, mobile device are gradually becoming ubiquitous and helping us transcend many boundaries – geographical, economic and social,” said Guruduth Banavar, global leader of IBM research mobile communication initiative.

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