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Category: Telecom

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.

  • NTT Com launches MVNO eSIM pilot in Japan

    NTT Com launches MVNO eSIM pilot in Japan

    Japan’s NTT Communications has launched the nation’s first pilot of embedded SIMs (eSIMs) for connection and remote provisioning for MVNOs.

    The operator said it has built an environment for remote SIM provisioning on its MVNO platform in Hong Kong supporting both M2M and consumer devices.

    NTT Com will now launch verification tests in Japan in light of the GSMA’s efforts to promote the standardization of eSIMs for M2M and consumer models.

    Embedded SIMs can be remotely rewritten or changed for specific purposes without needing to replace the card. This can support providing customers with access to preferred mobile networks while traveling overseas and reduce the influence of overseas communication restrictions such as permanent roaming prohibitions.

    Updates or overwrites can be sent over the air through an operator’s subscription manager server (the M2M model), or can be set up to download a profile on receiving a request from the consumer, such as after selecting a mobile service and plan (the consumer model).

    The trial will involve verification of both methods of remote provisioning, as well as the evaluation of embedded technologies that could be combined with eSIMs to enable functionalities including secure communications, NTT Com said.

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  • China Telecom expanding data center reach

    China Telecom expanding data center reach

    China Telecom is expanding its data center capacity in Hong Kong as part of the collaboration agreement with Global Switch signed in April.

    The company has added a new floor with its Shatin data center to increase server capacity, and has also arranged to build and operate the colocation areas for two of the new buildings from the in-construction Global Switch Tseung Kwan O (TKO) data center.

    The agreement with Global Switch is designed to allow China Telecom to tap into its partner’s extensive data center capacity outside of mainland China.

    The 45,000 square meter TKO data center will offer a power capacity of up to 70 mega-volt amps.

    It is expected to boast Tier 3 status and also provide access to local and international Tier 1 and Tier 2 carriers, and to boast connectivity to three subsea cables – the Asia-Pacific Gateway, the Asia-Submarine cable Express and the East Asia Crossing – due to its proximity to the TKO landing station.

    The facility is targeting LEED Gold and BEAM PLUS Gold energy efficiency ratings.

    China Telecom subsidiary China Telecom Americas has meanwhile expanded its network coverage in North America with three new PoPs, in Oregon and Illinois in the US and Quebec in Canada.

    The network expansion is aimed at bolstering the operator’s trans-Pacific proposition and helping the company stay ahead of growth in demand for bandwidth.

    “China Telecom is proud to be enhancing its Hong Kong data center portfolio with the expansion of its best-in-class Shatin facility and the addition of a new site at Tseung Kwan O in partnership with Global Switch,” China Telecom Americas President Joe Han said.

    “China Telecom’s latest investment in Hong Kong data centers and North America points of presence means our customers can expect reliable, low-latency, worldwide connectivity. This will enable them to deploy applications fast and flexibly.”

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  • SK Telecom making quantum random number generator

    SK Telecom making quantum random number generator

    SK Telecom has developed a prototype of an ultra-compact quantum random number generator (QRNG) chip configured with entropy source and a deterministic random bit generator (DRBG).

    A QRNG generates true random numbers without any kind of pattern, meaning that it is ideal for use in cryptography.

    However, so far, the cost and size of QRNGs currently on market have prevented widespread adoption.

    With the successful development of an ultra-small QRNG chip measuring 5mm by 5mm, SK Telecom expects that it will soon be able to embed QRNG to a wide variety of IoT products, including autonomous vehicles, drones and smart devices, to dramatically enhance the level of security for IoT services.

    Although the price of each QRNG chip has not been set yet, the company said that it will be the lowest price ever for a QRNG.

    Meanwhile, SK Telecom is also developing a QRNG in the form of USB and PCIe. While the QRNG chip has to be embedded from the beginning of the product development, QRNG in the form of USB or PCIe can be simply connected to any product already on market to provide genuine randomness.

    “Understanding the importance of data and data security, SK Telecom has focused on developing quantum cryptography technologies to guarantee secure transmission of data in areas including artificial intelligence (AI), IoT and autonomous driving,” said Park Jin-hyo, SVP and head of Network R&D Center of SK Telecom.

    “We will continue to work with partners, both home and abroad, to accelerate the popularization of quantum cryptography and strengthen our presence in the global market,” said Park.

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  • ZTE, Intel developing vEPC application

    ZTE, Intel developing vEPC application

    ZTE and Intel have released a white paper covering an NFV reference design for a containerized vEPC application as part of the two companies’ joint research into virtualization of telecoms networks.

    The two companies are jointly researching cloud native and NFV technologies. Intel is helping ZTE develop virtual evolved packet core applications based on cloud native architecture.

    The white paper highlights that such vEPC applications are compatible with and open to cloud platforms based on open source container technology. The vEPC application uses s microservice design to achieve network function atomization to speed delivery of new services.

    Each microservice is also run, upgraded and deployed separately to improve flexibility, the companies said.

    A vEPC microservice adopts a stateless design to achieve 99.999% carrier-grade reliability in commercial off the shelf hardware.

    The vEPC solution is expected to be fully compatible with 5G, with guaranteed upper layer service continuity for future wireless network evolution and upgrades.

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  • Australians prefer biometrics to PINs for payments

    Australians prefer biometrics to PINs for payments

    More than half of Australians prefer fingerprints, voice or retina scans in place of PINs when authorizing, according to research commissioned by Visa.

    The research also indicates that 29% of Australians are ready to use an internet-connected device, like a smart home virtual assistant or connected fridge to make payments on their behalf.

    “Australian shoppers are at the forefront of the global evolution of commerce, providing a big opportunity to merchants and financial services providers to similarly lead their international counterparts in innovation,” Visa group country manager for  Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Stephen Karpin said.

    “As the Internet of Things and biometric capabilities become integrated into our everyday experiences, we’ll experience a significant shift in how payments are made. In our lifetime, we will see infinitely more choice in how Australians pay, from watches, fridges and mobile phones, to eyes and fingers. And we’ll experience personalization that we never thought possible, powered by artificial intelligence.”

    Visa estimates over three billion of its cards are circulating globally with about 44 million merchants accepting the Visa card as payment. The card company predicts that with the introduction of connected devices and the continued growth of digital commerce, those numbers will expand 30 billion different ways of paying and 400 million physical and digital acceptance points.

    According to Futurist Anders Sorman-Nilsson, ease of use will drive consumers to adopt new patment and commerce experiences. “Connected, AI enabled devices ready to pay will only be pervasive if the experience is easy, seamless and secure,” he added.

    Many of the new payment methods currently using smartphones rely on biometrics for authentication. More than half of respondents surveyed by YouGov (56%) said they are comfortable using their thumbprint, voice or retina for payment. According to the research, the appeal of biometrics is that it is more secure (45%) and the need to not have to remember a pin/password (40%) is driving consumer adoption and readiness.

    But while consumers are keen to embrace biometric authentication, less than half (39%) of respondents were willing to share their personal information in exchange for convenience in payments.

    Karpin attributes this hesitation to prevailing privacy concerns.

  • Philippines may lift foreign ownership caps on telcos

    Philippines may lift foreign ownership caps on telcos

    The Philippines government is considering lifting foreign ownership restrictions on local telecoms companies and other utilities to help stimulate the industry.

    The government has proposed to raise the current cap limiting foreign direct ownership to 40% of a utility company up to 70%. While the economic planning ministry believes the change could be implemented with the passing of a new law, the 40% cap is enshrined in the constitution and some analysts believe lifting the cap would require a constitutional amendment, which would be very difficult to pass.

    The Philippines’ duopoly of telecoms operators are both part owned by foreign investors. PLDT is around 25% owned by Hong Kong based First Pacific and Globe Telecom is 20% owned by Singtel and operated as a joint venture with Ayala Group.

    Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has been firmly calling or the telecoms industry to improve services for Filipinos, and has threatened to bring in new competition to improve competition and quality. He has also asserted that foreign investment is needed to improve the Philippines’ telecoms sector.

    Duterte is scheduled to deliver his second State of the Nation Address today.

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  • 3 Hong Kong launches new global roaming packages

    3 Hong Kong launches new global roaming packages

    3 Hong Kong, the mobile arm of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings (HTHKH), has launched today a new data roaming service, called Roam-in-Command, providing discounted data roaming plans for mobile subscribers traveling 21 countries in three continents.

    3 HK’s new Roam-in-Command service comes with four packages. Each pack provides customers with up to 14 days discounted data roaming service in six European countries and 10 countries throughout Asia Pacific. One package combines the US and Canada, while another pack targets travelers to three Greater China destinations – mainland China, Taiwan and Macau.

    The service offers four 200MB (at HK$78) or 1GB (HK$198) options  to serve customers roaming in Europe, Asia Pacific, the US, Canada and Greater China.

    Customers can also get an extra 1GB roaming data capacity if they subscribe to the 1GB service during the promotional period, from tomorrow to 30 September.

    Kenny Koo, 3 Hong Kong’s director of roaming and service development, said the company is drawing on its advantage of close ties with the 3 Group, NTT Docomo, the Conexus Mobile Alliance and Vodafone to tailor “value-for-money” roaming packages that offer extensive overseas coverage.

    “The upshot is our customers can wave goodbye to the hassle of changing SIM cards or carrying Wi-Fi devices just to stay connected with friends and family while abroad,” the executive said at a media briefing Thursday.

    The new service launch comes at a time when Hong Kong mobile carriers are seeing decline in roaming revenues, thanks to increasing competition from OTT messaging applications like Whatsapp, Line and Wechat.

    Hutchison Telecom reported HK$3.9 billion of mobile service revenue in 2016, down 3.9% from a year earlier, largely due to the decline in roaming revenue – which slumped 13% from HK$831 million in 2015 to HK$722 million last year. The company will report its 2017 interim financial results next week.

    Koo said the data roaming market is changing rapidly, and that he expects that the new service, together with other data roaming plans currently offered by the company, will help drive roaming traffic.

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  • Huawei to help drive Singapore’s digital economy push

    Huawei to help drive Singapore’s digital economy push

    Huawei has entered a strategic partnership with Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to accelerate the nation’s digital economy thrust.

    The company has likewise entered agreements with Keppel Data Centres, and Ascent Solutions also related to Singapore’s digital economy future for a Smart Nation.

    The partnerships aim to enhance industry collaboration, enable local companies to scale globally, empower the workforce with skills relevant for the digital economy as well as equipping companies with the technology and knowledge to build strong digital capabilities in a sustainable manner.

    Huawei, IMDA, and Keppel Data Centres will focus on a two-year strategic collaboration to explore the technical feasibility of a first-of-its-kind high-rise green data center building.

    Huawei and IMDA will also collaborate to accelerate the growth of local SMEs by leveraging Huawei’s technical expertise and facilities, go-to-market opportunities and global business network.

    Further, Huawei will support Ascent Solutions as its technology enabler, allowing the local company to tap Huawei’s global business network and explore overseas opportunities.

    In addition, IMDA and Huawei will jointly promote deeper talent and capability building among local ICT students.

    This initiative will include 45 overseas training stints and internship opportunities for students to explore new capabilities in technology areas critical to the future such as the IoT, 5G, and cybersecurity.

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  • Airtel accuses Jio of engineering monopoly

    Airtel accuses Jio of engineering monopoly

    India’s largest operator by subscribers Bharti Airtel has accused disruptive new market entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm of attempting to distort competition and create a monopoly with its proposal to scrap the current interconnect usage charge (IUC).

    At an industry consultation held by telecoms regulator Trai to discuss the future direction of India’s planned new national telecoms policy, Jio called for the current 0.14 rupee IUC to be abolished and replaced with a “bill and keep” regime.

    But the proposal was strongly opposed by incumbent operators including Airtel, with the operator’s chief regulatory officer accusing Jio of attempting to “build its business by getting a free ride on the highways built by Airtel and other operators.”

    He said Jio appears to be attempting to engineer a monopoly situation by unduly burdening the existing operators.

    While Jio accused Airtel of earning excess revenue from the current IUC, Airtel has insisted it is in fact losing 5.5 billion rupees ($85.4 million) per month interconnecting the large volume of calls coming from Jio’s network.

    Jio burst on to the scene last year with a cutthroat promotional offer involving providing free services for a six month period to customers porting to its network. The company now charges for data but plans to keep voice calls free in perpetuity.

    Some Indian MPs, consumer activists and Reliance Jio partner Reliance Communications have also called for the IUC to be scrapped, whereas top operators Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular want the charge to be raised.

  • Viettel’s overseas pre-tax profit hits US$41.2 million

    Viettel’s overseas pre-tax profit hits US$41.2 million

    Military-run telecom group Viettel, one of Vietnam’s three largest mobile service providers, recorded a pre-tax profit of VND1 trillion (US$41.2 million) from its overseas investments in the first half of 2017, a 156 percent year-on-year increase, according to Viettel’s latest report.

    The report, which reviews the business results of Viettel’s overseas investments in nine markets, showed that in H1, Viettel’s revenue rose by 25 percent compared to the same period last year, to VND14 trillion ($600 million). Particularly, revenue in Peru posted the highest growth rate of 82 percent, following by Burundi at 38 percent, East Timor at 29 percent and Haiti at 15 percent.

    The positive results came from revenue generated by mobile phone telecommunication services, especially new services such as 4G, e-wallet and large information technology projects for governments and businesses.

    The projects include the line connecting East Timor, Laos population management system, transmission channel for the Mozambique Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and a tax payment system for Burundi.

    Viettel also received positive signs from Lao market, with its Unitel brand maintaining its leading position with four million subscribers. Its Telemor brand in East Timor has been granted a new frequency to expand its network, thus bringing in a revenue of several million US dollars.

    The favorable exchange rate in Viettel’s overseas markets also contributed towards good business results.

    The achievements are expected to be a pre-condition for a higher growth rate for the group this year. Viettel has targeted a strong growth rate of 35 percent, with around 50 million subscribers, in 2017. Revenue from overseas investment has been set at VND32 trillion ($1.4 billion) and its growth rate at 29 percent this year.

    The group plans to complete building network infrastructure in its tenth market, Myanmar, this year, as well as create modern broadband infrastructure for 4G in these markets.

    Viettel currently has operations in 9 overseas markets including Laos, Cambodia, East Timor, Cameroon, Haiti, Mozambique, Burundi, Peru, and Tanzania, with operations in Myanmar expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

    Viettel earned VND226.5 trillion in revenue in 2016, equal to 100 percent of its annual plan, while pre-tax profit was VND43.2 trillion, or 101 percent of its annual plan.  The military-run company had 7.4 million new subscribers as at the end of 2016, bringing its total to 90 million.

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  • M1 1H profit falls 17.6%

    M1 1H profit falls 17.6%

    Singapore’s M1 has reported a 17.6% slump in net profit for the first half of the year to S$68.8 million ($50.3 million) as a result of flat revenue and higher depreciation and interest expenses.

    Service revenue stayed at $406.2 million despite a 22.3% year-on-year increase in fixed service revenue to S$61.2 million.

    Mobile revenue by contrast fell 2.9% to S$317.1 million, and international call services revenue declined 9.6% to S$28 million.

    M1’s total customer base grew 4.5% during the six-month period to 2.2 million, including 176,000 fiber customers.

    On the mobile front, postpaid customers grew 3.7% to 1.3 million with prepaid customers up 2.5% to 777,000. But the shutdown of the operator’s 2G network during Singapore’s 2G switch-off led to a slight decline in total mobile customers to 2.04 million.

    M1 also announced an increase in average postpaid smartphone data usage to 3.9GB per month, up from 3.3GB a year ago. Mobile data’s contribution to total service revenue meanwhile increased 1.5 percentage points to 55.5%.

    Based on the first-half results and the current economic outlook, M1 said it is forecasting an overall decline in net profit for the full year, but CEO Karen Kooi said the company is positioned for long term growth.

    “M1 is well positioned to capture new opportunities presented by the digital economy. We have been investing in NB-IoT network and digital solutions, and expanded our offerings to include managed infrastructure services, cyber security, business solutions and analytics,” she said.

    “This would enable us to better serve our customers and generate new revenue streams for future growth.”

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  • Hawaiki commissions cable landing station in New Zealand

    Hawaiki commissions cable landing station in New Zealand

    Hawaiki Submarine Cable, the company building a subsea cable between Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the mainland US, has commissioned the construction of the New Zealand cable landing station.

    New Zealand electrical engineering and construction company McKay has been commissioned to construct a landing station at Mangawhai Heads on New Zealand’s North Island.

    The multi-million dollar contract covers the complete civil, building and electrical work, including standby generation and uninterruptible power supply systems.

    “This contract represents a key step forward for Hawaiki system deployment in New Zealand,” Hawaiki CEO Remi Galasso said.

    “We are proud to participate to the economic development of the Northland region and are confident that McKay will deliver this critical piece of infrastructure in the most efficient and timely manner.”

    The Hawaiki cable is scheduled to be ready for service by June next year. As well as the main route, the cable will have options to branch to several islands in the South Pacific, including Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and American Samoa.

    The cable will have a design capacity of 42Tbps, making it the highest cross-sectional capacity link between Australia, New Zealand and the US.

    In May, Hawaiki announced that manufacturing of the 14,000km cable is nearing completion.

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  • SoftBank forms joint venture with WeWork

    SoftBank forms joint venture with WeWork

    Japan’s SoftBank has forged a joint venture with WeWork Companies to bring WeWork’s novel workspace as a service offering to Japan.

    The two companies will each own 50% of the joint venture, which will operate under the name of WeWork Japan.

    By entering Japan, WeWork will expand its global community and connect its more than 130,000 members to the innovative and growing Japanese market.

    “WeWork is disrupting preconceived notions of work styles and opening up myriad opportunities for the next generation of creators around the world by taking a scientific approach that fully utilizes the latest technologies,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group.

    WeWork, a platform for creators, has created an extensive global network of shared workspaces. The company provides an entirely new way to work by offering flexible space, services, and a connected community network to creators, entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses, and multinational companies.

    WeWork’s “space as a service” solution enables companies of all sizes to enter and exit markets opportunistically, grow and shrink office footprints according to their needs, and pursue new business lines and ideas in a way that best suits their particular needs.

    In offering its services in Japan, WeWork hopes to build connections between non-Japanese members of WeWork’s global network and the creators and businesses that drive the world’s third largest economy.

    WeWork has diversified its product offering to better accommodate the needs of enterprise companies, and more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies are members with WeWork.

    WeWork plans to launch its first location in Tokyo in early 2018. To oversee this launch and scale its Japanese operations, WeWork has appointed Chris Hill to serve as the CEO of WeWork Japan.

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  • ZTE unveils NB-IoT based intelligent energy management system

    ZTE unveils NB-IoT based intelligent energy management system

    ZTE has released an intelligent energy management system designed to operate over Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network, which has been installed as a pilot project in Zhangjiang Intelligent Park.

    The system leverages IoT technologies for energy-saving and emission reduction management.

    For technology enterprises, laboratory equipment accounts for a high percentage of electricity consumption to ensure efficient operations. However, equipment often remains idle outside of office hours.

    With ZTE’s NB-IoT Intelligent Energy Management System, enterprises can leverage its energy-saving control function to effectively reduce energy consumption during research and production.

    With the use of NB-IoT technologies, this system comes with lower investment costs and higher rate of returns, featuring wider coverage, shorter construction lead time and ease of operations, ZTE said.

    A built-in chip module developed by ZTE also makes remote control and strategy customization feasible, enabling users and enterprise management to easily implement personalized management for each device, and minimize energy consumption.

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  • Cisco Jasper launches multi-tier IoT platform

    Cisco Jasper launches multi-tier IoT platform

    Cisco Jasper has unveiled “Control Center,” a new expanded model to bring the benefits of its IoT connectivity platform to a broader audience.

    Control Center 7.0 addresses business’ needs for greater flexibility with a new multi-tiered IoT platform that gives companies various options to meet their specific needs, regardless of their stage of IoT implementation.

    This new platform is also paired with a new set of premium services that address previously unmet needs in the industry related to IoT monetization and security.

    “What we’ve learned from enabling IoT success for our 11,000 customers is that companies have different needs at different stages of their IoT journey,” said Jahangir Mohammed, general manager of IoT at Cisco.

    “We’re introducing the biggest evolution of our Control Center IoT platform ever, providing a flexible model and new premium services that help meet the needs of customers at any phase,” said Mohammed.

    With Control Center 7.0, Cisco Jasper is introducing a unique approach to IoT solutions unmatched in the industry, giving customers and service provider partners the flexibility to select and customize the capabilities and services that are right for their deployment, while also providing an easy path for growth as their IoT businesses scale.

    AT&T, a Cisco Jasper service provider, is integrating these additional capabilities to meet IoT needs for a broad range of industries. The platform will be called AT&T Control Center-Advanced, and will be paired with additional premium services.