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Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Telecom & Telco news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Nokia to build new OTN for China Mobile

    Nokia to build new OTN for China Mobile

    Nokia announced that it will be providing China Mobile with an optical transport network that will enable the operator to become 5G-ready.

    China Mobile is currently building a new optical transport network that will support improved data center interconnection, consumer broadband services and 4G backhaul. Looking ahead, the new optical backbone will be a key part of the next-generation mobile services, namely 5G.

    “We are very pleased to work closely with China Mobile to provide the optical technology for its most advanced networks today and in the future. We’ll continue to fulfill our mission by making people’s life easier as we create the technologies that connect the world,” said Yu Xiaohan, head of the China Mobile customer team at Nokia Shanghai Bell, in a press release.

    Nokia described its solution as a dynamic, programmable optical network that can support virtualization and cloud technologies associated with 5G.

    According to Kyle Hollasch, head of marketing for Nokia’s optical business, China is the fastest growing region in the optical market.

    “As the only non-Chinese vendor with significant market share in China, Nokia is thrilled to be part of this strategic build-out for China Mobile,” Hollasch said in a statement.

    Nokia’s aspirations in China are well known. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri highlighted the race to 5G, saying it’s a battle between the US and China in terms of who gets there first. Both China and the US will move fast and they will be well ahead of pretty much every other part of the world, he said.

    Nokia and China Mobile used the MWC event to announce that they had signed an agreement under which the companies are jointly investigating how China Mobile can extend its service offerings for vertical markets using 5G. Their research is focused on how industries can benefit from the growth of smart cities, smart transportation and intelligent video analytics.

    The companies also are jointly testing use cases using Nokia 5G Future X network architecture as well as NB-IoT and MEC, and they’re expanding an existing Car2X trial ecosystem in Wuzhen to advance the use of automated vehicles, as well as technologies that improve vehicle safety.

    Nokia’s Nuage Networks was chosen by China Mobile (Suzhou) Software Technical Company, a subsidiary of China Mobile, as the SDN platform for China Mobile’s public and private enterprise cloud services offering. The platform is based on the Nuage Networks VSP and includes cloud implementations on virtual machines, Kubernetes (K8S) containers and OpenStack Ironic-based bare metal servers.

    Last year, China Unicom said it would use the Nokia Flexi Zone portfolio to densify its network where it isn’t possible to add a macro base station due to space or cost constraints.

  • Rakuten receives confirmation for MNO launch

    Rakuten receives confirmation for MNO launch

    Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has secured government approval to deploy 4G mobile services in the 1.7-GHz frequency band, and now plans to launch as the nation’s fourth mobile operator in October.

    New subsidiary Rakuten Mobile Network plans to raise up to 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion) to pursue its mobile business, including through an up to 200 billion yen investment by its parent company.

    Rakuten announced its intention of entering the mobile market in December last year. Last month, the company signed agreements  with Chubu Electric Power, TEPCO Group and Kansai Electric Power Co to use the utility companies’ telecoms and transmissions towers and other infrastructure for the planned 4G deployment.

    The company is considering similar tie-ups with other electric utilities to support its goal of achieving nationwide service coverage.

    When announcing its intention to enter the mobile market, Rakuten said household spending on telecoms services in Japan is rising every year and reducing telecoms expenses is considered a major social issue.

    The current mobile market – which is dominated by NTT Docomo, KDDI and SoftBank – is also often criticized as a “coordinated oligopoly”, and the government is in the middle of a thorough industry review aimed at ensuring fair competition, the company added.

    Rakuten has been providing MVNO services under the Rakuten Mobile brand since October 2014, using NTT Docomo’s mobile network, and has racked up around 1.5 million customers.

    The company is targeting at least 15 million subscribers with its mobile operations, which compares to 39 million for third-ranked SoftBank. Rakuten’s foray into the mobile market was contingent on it securing 4G spectrum from the ministry of internal affairs and communications (MIC), which has now granted approval for Rakuten’s plan.

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  • NBTC backs down on financial relief for AIS, True

    NBTC backs down on financial relief for AIS, True

    Thai telecoms regulator NBTC has backed down on its recommendation of providing financial relief for mobile operators AIS and TrueMove in the face of criticism from academia and the public sector.

    The regulator will no longer support a plan to provide relief from the operators’ 900-MHz license payment obligations.

    The ultimate decision will be down to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the government, but the NBTC will not oppose a plan that would ease the financial burden of digital TV operators but leave 900-MHz license winners out.

    AIS and TrueMove both petitioned the NCPO in September requesting assistance in easing their license payment terms. The NBTC had drawn up a proposal to grant five year extensions for the payments of the final 900-MHz license payments, but the proposal was controversial.

    TrueMove noted that the winning prices of the 2015 900-MHz spectrum auction were six times higher than the reserve price and the highest in APAC, and has warned that without financial relief the company will have limited capital for investment in services including 5G and the IoT. The company could also be hampered in its participation in the upcoming 1800-MHz auction.

    AIS has likewise argued that relaxing the 900-MHz payment scheme would allow the company to invest in expanding and upgrading its mobile network, benefiting consumers.

  • Chunghwa Telecom upgrades video security framework

    Chunghwa Telecom upgrades video security framework

    Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom is upgrading its video security framework as it seeks to expand its multimedia-on-demand (MoD) service offering to include 4K ultra-high definition video streaming.

    The operator has upgraded to the latest generation of the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS), VCAS Ultra, to support new delivery models and next-generation streaming services for its MoD offering.

    VCAS Ultra is designed to allow operators to provide premium ultra-HD services and advanced hybrid network deployments. It includes enhanced content security profiles to meet the service requirements for UHD including multi-network video watermarking technology.

    “As we enter this exciting new domain of premium video delivery, we couldn’t be more pleased to already have such a deep level of confidence in our security framework and trust in Verimatrix to navigate us through the complex requirements associated with UHD/4K services,” Chunghwa Telecom deputy principal engineer Dr. Chih-Cheng Lo said.

    “Selecting VCAS Ultra was an easy decision, but we also know it is the optimal solution to support our future goals as we continue to evolve to stay ahead of the competition.”

    In October, Chunghwa Telecom announced plans to develop original video programming and films to drive growth and allow expansion overseas, in the face of growing competition from local cable TV companies.

    The operator announced an ambition to transition into a digital media company with both a telecoms and multimedia presence.

    But Chunghwa’s video on demand service has reportedly lost NT$30 billion ($1.02 billion) since launching 13 years ago.

  • AWS launches Aurora via Singapore cloud region

    AWS launches Aurora via Singapore cloud region

    Amazon Web Services has announced the availability of Amazon Aurora in the AWS Asia Pacific (Singapore) region.

    Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL compatible database engine for the Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) that aims to combine the speed and availability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases.

    Amazon Aurora provides up to five times better performance than the typical MySQL and is three times faster than standard PostgreSQL databases. Customers pay a simple hourly charge for each Amazon Aurora database instance they use and Amazon Aurora can automatically scale storage capacity with no downtime or performance degradation.

    “Historically, customers have had to choose between performance and price when evaluating database solutions. Our customers have consistently told us that they wished for an easier way to get the performance of commercial databases, at the price of open source engines,” said Nick Walton, Managing Director, ASEAN, AWS.

    “Amazon Aurora is a database engine that gives customers the best of both worlds – the performance and availability of the highest-grade commercial databases at a cost more commonly associated with open source.”

    Amazon Aurora automatically replicates data across multiple Availability Zones and continuously backs up data to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), which is designed for 99.999999999% durability without performance impact.

    Amazon Aurora is designed to offer greater than 99.99% availability, and to automatically detect and recover from most database failures in less than 60 seconds, without crash recovery or the need to rebuild database caches. Amazon Aurora continually monitors instance health and if there is a failure, it will automatically failover to a read replica without loss of data.

  • RCom gets court approval to sell wireless business

    RCom gets court approval to sell wireless business

    India’s Supreme Court has cleared Reliance Communications (RCom) to sell its wireless assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm for 250 billion rupees ($3.85 billion), vacating two stay orders on the sell-off.

    The court has vacated a stay on the sale of spectrum, media convergence nodes and real estate, and has directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to vacate the stay on the sale of the operator’s tower and fiber assets, RCom announced.

    In an interim order, the NCLAT has complied with the Supreme Court’s direction, but will require the proceeds from the tower and fiber asset sale to be deposited into an escrow account.

    Distribution of the proceeds will be subject to a final decision by the NCLAT expected next Wednesday.

    RCom arranged to sell off its wireless business to Reliance Jio Infocomm as part of a radical debt reduction program.

    But the tribunal issued an order prohibiting the sale of assets without court permission in response to an insolvency petition from Ericsson seeking a recovery of around $177.8 million in unpaid dues.

    According to RCom, minority investors are making a claim for part of the proceeds of the sale of its tower and fiber assets, a claim that the operator fully disputes. Based on legal advice, RCom estimates that this claim can be for at most 2 billion to 3 billion rupees worth of the proceeds.

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  • Operator capex to return to growth in 2018

    Operator capex to return to growth in 2018

    Global operator capex will to return to growth this year after two consecutive years of decline, research firm Dell’Oro predicts.

    The company is expecting a compound annual growth rate of 1% in constant currency terms between 2017 and 2020. This is an improvement on the company’s previous forecast for the period.

    The more optimistic projection is largely due to signs of improvement in both the US and Chinese markets, Dell’Oro carrier economics lead Stefan Pongratz said in a blog post.

    But total capex spend in China [Figure 1] is still expected to decline year-on-year in 2018 and stay flat in 2019 before returning to growth in 2020.

    Pongratz noted that constrained operator revenue growth is expected to be one of the primary inhibitors of further capex acceleration that could be expected with the introduction of 5G.

    Currency adjusted operator revenues are projected to remain flat between 2017 and 2020, with operators expected to struggle to find new revenue streams to offset slower smartphone revenue growth.

    Likewise, while the IoT has long-term revenue generation possibilities, there is expected to be limited benefit over the next few years. Dell’Oro estimates that carrier IoT revenues will account for just 2% of total mobile revenues by 2020. This could be even lower if current pricing trends prevail.

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  • Optus demos 5G during Commonwealth Games

    Optus demos 5G during Commonwealth Games

    Australian operator Optus is using the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast to showcase 5G use cases including 8K video streaming on its live 5G trial network.

    The showcase aims to provide visitors with a hands-on 5G experience in advance of a planned initial commercial rollout in 2019.

    The showcase will be open for the duration of the Games, which ends on Sunday. It includes demonstrations of technologies including a 5G and motion detection controlled robotic arm as well as a game of rock paper scissors with a robotic hand using the high speeds and low latency of 5G and machine learning to predict the player’s moves.

    Optus is also showcasing demonstrations of VR football, cycling and driving and 360 degree video streaming from the games themselves.

    Meanwhile Optus has demonstrated 8K video streaming in motion through a 5G van equipped with an 8K television and a prototype 5G device.

    “What we have here today is a spectacular simultaneous demonstration of 5G capability, powered by a live 5G network, rather than through simulations,” Optus managing director of networks Dennis Wong said.

    “For people to be able to walk off the street and interact with real 5G technology is an incredibly exciting development as we continue towards leading in the delivery of the first phase of 5G technology in 2019.”

    Optus subsidiary Optus Business was selected along with Cisco, to build the network for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The company is providing free Wi-Fi services for 6,600 athletes as part of the contract.

    Rival Telstra  recently launched 5G-enabled Wi-Fi hotspots on the Gold Coast as part of the 5G trials from its newly launched 5G innovation center in the city.

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  • China to capture 40% of 5G subs by 2025

    China to capture 40% of 5G subs by 2025

    China is expected to dominate the 5G market by 2025, accounting for 40% of all subscriptions, according to CCS Insight.

    South Korea, Japan and the US are expected to be first out of the blocks with 5G, with launches planned on a limited scale as early as late 2018. But China will quickly take over, achieving 100 million connections in 2021 and over 1 billion in 2025, the research firm forecasts.

    Globally, 5G subscriptions are on track to reach 280 million in 2021 and grow to 2.7 billion in 2025, with most markets having deployed 5G by this time.

    CCS Insight has meanwhile raised its estimates for total 5G connections in 2020 by more than 50% from its previous forecast in October to nearly 60 million. Its projection for 2021 has also been increased by 25%.

    “The industry might be struggling to establish the business models for investment in 5G, but this isn’t stopping leading operators battling for bragging rights to launch the first networks,” CCS Insight principal analyst for operators Kester Mann said.

    “Competitive forces and the need for capacity are the leading drivers of early deployment, although we caution this could set unrealistic expectations for initial network capability.”

    Meanwhile the first 5G smartphones are expected to emerge in 2019, but there will be relatively few by this time, the company said. The real ramp up is expected in 2021, by which time over 350 million 5G handsets will be sold worldwide.

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  • Construction begins on Japan-Guam-Australia cable

    Construction begins on Japan-Guam-Australia cable

    A consortium led by RTI Connectivity has commenced construction of a new subsea cable linking Japan, Australia and the US territory of Guam.

    The Japan-Guam-Australia Cable System (JGA) is being built by a consortium consisting of RTI Connectivity, Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) and Google. It is being supplied by Alcatel Submarine Networks and NEC.

    The 9,500km subsea cable system will have a design capacity of over 36Tbps. It is expected to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of next year.

    At Guam, the JGA will interconnect to the SEA-US cable, which is operated by a consortium that includes RTI Connectivity, as well as the upcoming HK-G Hong Kong-Guam.

    The JGA will contribute to the expansion of communications networks from Japan and Australia to Asia and the US and expand onboard connectivity options in Guam.

    The cable is being built in two sections also linking in Guam, with JGA South being funded by AARNet, Google and RTI Connectivity, while JGA North will be wholly-owned by RTI Connectivity.

    “Hyperscale cloud providers and enterprise companies are fuelling exponential data-growth between Asia, Australia, and the United States. These customers require alternative paths, enhanced quality of service, and cost-effective bandwidth solutions,” RTI Connectivity CEO Russ Matulich said.

    “By adding JGA to our existing cable investments, RTI is well positioned to serve these massive data-growth needs. JGA’s unique design will also improve latency between Tokyo-Sydney, while greatly reducing provisioning timeframes.”

  • Japan’s Rakuten teams with electric utilities for MNO business

    Japan’s Rakuten teams with electric utilities for MNO business

    As part of its plan to become the country’s fourth mobile carrier, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is teaming up with a handful of local electric utilities to leverage the latter’s infrastructure and facilities to build its own 4G mobile network in Japan.

    The e-commerce firm signed an agreement last week with Kansai Electric Power Co that enable Rakuten to utilize the utility firm’s transmission towers, utility poles, telecoms towers and other facilities and equipment for its planned 4G network.

    At present, Rakuten operates as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) leasing network capacity from market leader NTT Docomo. The company announced last December its intention to enter the mobile network operator (MNO) business and has applied to Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for a mobile license to build its own 4G network operating on the 1.7-GHz and 3.4-GHz bands.

    If the frequency band allocation is granted, Rakuten said, it plans to make use of Kansai Electric Power’s transmission towers, utility poles, telecoms towers and other infrastructure in and around Japan’s Kansai region for its base station locations.

    As well as Kansai Electric Power, Rakuten also signed similar agreements with Chubu Electric Power Co and TEPCO Group in March, in a bid to build its mobile network in the most efficient way.

    Rakuten, which plan to invest up to ¥600 billion ($5.6 billion) to build the mobile network, said it will also consider similar tie-ups with other electricity utilities to achieve nationwide service coverage, as it prepares for entry into the MNO business.

    Rakuten launched its MVNO business under the Rakuten Mobile brand in October 2014.  As of January 2018, Rakuten Mobile has over 1.5 million MVNO subscribers.

  • Teletalk to launch 4G in August

    Teletalk to launch 4G in August

    Bangladeshi state-owned operator Teletalk has announced plans to launch 4G services in August, six months after its private rivals.

    The company will initially limit its rollout to major cities.

    Teletalk has faced parliamentary criticism for its plans to invest just 2 billion taka ($23.8 million) of its own funds to deploy 4G services.

    According to the report, since inception  incumbent Grameenphone has invested 390 billion taka, Robi has invested 290 billion taka and Banglalink 192 billion taka, while Teletalk has only invested 38.4 billion taka.

    The operator has a minimal presence outside of capital city Dhaka, and parliamentarians have expressed concerns that it won’t be able to increase its presence and compete effectively without substantial investment.

    Teletalk has so far only revealed plans to upgrade around a quarter of its network sites to 4G. But the company insists it aims to ensure 4G coverage to 98% of the country’s geographical area by 2020, including every upazila (sub-district) by 2019.

    The operator also expects to be able to improve its active customer base from the current 4 million to 10 million by 2020.

    Teletalk secured a 4G license in February along with its larger rivals, but faced delays rolling out services due to a lack of funds.

  • Anant Kaewruamvongs to take helm at Thaicom

    Anant Kaewruamvongs to take helm at Thaicom

    Asian satellite operator Thaicom Public Company Limited (Thaicom) has appointed Anant Kaewruamvongs as chief executive officer and director of the board, effective May 1.

    Anant takes over from Paiboon Panuwattanawong, who resigns from his positions as director, member of the executive committee and CEO, after severing Thaicom for over 25 years.

    Commenting on the appointment, Thaicom chairman Prasert Bunsumpun said [PDF] Anant “is the right person to lead and move Thaicom forward.”

    “The Thaicom board of directors and I welcome Anant Kaewruamvongs as new CEO. We believe his extensive experience makes him the ideal candidate to lead the company as we navigate through the next stage of growth and diversification of our business,” said Prasert, who took over as chairman at Thaicom in March.

    He said Paiboon’s contributions and dedication to Thaicom and the Thai satellite industry have been “immeasurable”.

    “We would like to thank Mr. Paiboon for taking on the challenge as CEO and for steering the company to new horizons. He and his leadership team have successfully embarked on a difficult restructuring process of our business and organization during difficult times for the satellite industry and Thaicom,” Prasert said.

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  • Vodafone India completes tower sale to ATC

    Vodafone India completes tower sale to ATC

    Vodafone India has taken another step towards the closure of its planned merger with Idea Cellular, after the company completed Tuesday the sale of its standalone tower business to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited (ATC) for 38.5 billion rupees ($592.9 million).

    The company announced in November 2017 that it plans to sell its tower business along with Idea Cellular’s to ATC for a combined $1.2 billion, as part of its plan to merge with Idea Cellular to form the largest mobile player in India.

    With the completion of the sale of Vodafone’s tower business, a similar announcement is expected from Idea Cellular in the coming months, Vodafone said in a company statement.

    “In the Vodafone India / Idea merger announcement of 20 March 2017, both parties announced their intention to sell their individual standalone tower businesses to strengthen the combined financial position of the merged entity. The merger is expected to complete in the first half of the current calendar year,” Vodafone added.

    “Completion of Idea’s sale of its standalone tower business to ATC is also expected in the first half of this calendar year.”

    In addition, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have also announced a new executive team to lead the merged entity, which will come into effect after the Vodafone India / Idea merger has been completed.

    Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive chairman of the merged Vodafone-Idea entity, while Vodafone India COO Balesh Sharma has been named CEO, Idea’s Akshaya Moondra CFO and his colleague Ambrish Jain COO, Vodafone said in a company statement released late March.

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  • True taps Comarch for loyalty management

    True taps Comarch for loyalty management

    Thailand’s True Corporation has selected Comarch to help the operator overhaul its loyalty management services.

    True – parent company of mobile operator TrueMove H, ISP True Internet and cable TV provider TrueVisions – will use Comarch’s solution to replace its legacy in-house application True You.

    True You Loyalty is one of the most successful loyalty programs on the Thai market with around 11 million members. The operator has decided to replace its present application with a more future oriented and expandable solution to enhance flexibility and help support further growth.

    Comarch plans to complete the deployment in stages, with the first of these expected to be operational in the fourth quarter.

    In addition, the solution will be expandable in the future to allow for upgrades including gamification, business intelligence or managed hosting services.

    True You Loyalty is a unit of True Corporation’s digital arm True Digital and Media Company. Other units under this umbrella include True Mobile Applications and True Digital Content Business.

    Comarch is a Polish IT business solutions provider with employees in 30 countries. The company was founded in 1993.