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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.

  • Vodafone said to consider merger for Indian unit

    Vodafone said to consider merger for Indian unit

    Vodafone is reportedly considering pursuing a merger of its Indian mobile business with a rival operator to help better compete in the intensively competitive market and survive the price war triggered by the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm.

    The operator is looking into a potential merger with either Jio or major rival Idea Cellular, sources told.

    Vodafone has also put on hold plans to float Vodafone India on the Bombay Stock Exchange until the price war triggered by Jio’s entry is over, the sources said.

    Reliance Jio launched a pan-India 4G network on September 5 last year, offering effectively unlimited data, voice and SMS services as an initial promotion. The operator recently extended this free services promotion until March 31.

    This aggressive pricing strategy has helped the operator sign up over 58 million customers since launch – including 19.6 million in October, its first full month of operation – data from regulator Trai indicates.

    Besides incentivizing major operators such as Vodafone to pursue consolidation, smaller operators including Telenor India and Tata DoCoMo have been offering themselves for sale to the incumbents in response to the destructive price war, the report adds.

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  • Thai telcos bracing for a challenging 2017

    Thai telcos bracing for a challenging 2017

    After a rough 2016 there is no respite in sight for Thailand’s telecoms sector, with operators still dealing with heavy costs accrued from recent 4G auctions, strict competition and OTT challengers.

    AIS CEO Somchai Lertsuthivong as stating that he has never seen as challenging a year for the mobile sector as 2016, after nearly three decades of experience.

    AIS and DTAC, which together have a revenue market share of around 80%, have both cut their financial forecasts for 2016 as a result of these challenges.

    AIS expects to report an eibtda margin decline of between 37% and 38% in 2016 from 45.6% in 2015 due to the rising costs as well as one-off expenses related to the shutdown of its 2G network. Dtac expects its ebitda margin to decline to 27% to 30% compared to 31.8% in 2015.

    Operators expect 2017 to be just as challenging. As well as high spectrum costs, operators have had to grapple with a surge in operating costs as they offered heavy subsidies including free 4G handsets to lure customers.

    The sector will also have to deal with surging data consumption as 4G take-up increases. According to the report, Dtac plans to transition away from competing on price with heavy subsidies, and instead compete by offering a superior customer experience.

    AIS is meanwhile responding to the OTT threat by pursuing more digital partnerships with local content providers and businesses. Operators are also exploring partnering with cable providers to offer triple-play services bundling internet, telephone and TV.

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  • Ericsson, Cisco to launch joint Wi-Fi solutions

    Ericsson, Cisco to launch joint Wi-Fi solutions

    Ericsson and Cisco have announced an expanded partnership covering the delivery of a new Wi-Fi solution for mobile, cable and other industries’ customers.

    The new Evolved Wi-Fi Networks (EWN) offering combines Ericsson’s 3GPP access and core network technologies with Cisco’s Wi-Fi portfolio.

    The offering will cover pre-integrated solutions including indoor small cells and operator Wi-Fi over Ericsson outdoor access networks and Ciso WLAN.

    Integrating Cisco WLAN with Ericsson macro or indoor access networks will also allow operators to steer users between mobile and Wi-Fi access networks to ensure a superior end-user experience.

    In addition, core network integration will allow operators to offer all their core network services over Wi-Fi for multi-mode devices.

    Design and deployment of new products based on the offering will be handled by Ericsson’s services organization, and the solutions will be bundled with Ericsson managed services as well as customer support, design and deployment services.

    “Our strategic partnership brings together the capabilities of two leading players in networking, mobility and cloud, creating the best end-to-end solutions and opportunities for our customers,”

    Ericsson Head of Region North America Rima Qureshi said.

    “By adding Wi-Fi solutions into the partnership, we will enable our customers to offer best-in-class Wi-Fi in their networks, complemented by our leading 3GPP portfolio and services organization.”

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  • Idea may offer unlimited free 4G data

    Idea may offer unlimited free 4G data

    India’s Idea Cellular is reportedly considering launching its own unlimited free 4G data offer to compete against disruptive new market entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm.

    Idea is considering offering unlimited data in certain plans with a validity of 1 to 1.5 years, potentially only for 4G customers, citing sources.

    According to the report, Idea may also introduce free incoming calls for international roaming and new loyalty plans for existing customers.

    The entry of pan-Indian 4G operator Reliance Jio has shaken up India’s telecoms market, due in part to the operator’s decision to offer free services for customers for its first six months of operation, ending in March 31.

    Rival operators have been pressed to respond with their own offers to attract and retain customers. Bharti Airtel recently introduced an offer for 3GB of extra data per month until December this year.

    In line with this development, Vodafone India has introduced a new prepaid plan offering unlimited 3G or 4G data roaming for an hour for just 16 rupees ($0.235). The company will also offer unlimited in-network local voice calls for an hour for 7 rupees. Vodafone’s 2G customers will be able to buy an hour of unlimited data for 5 rupees.

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  • Vodafone India hands Nokia managed services deal

    Vodafone India hands Nokia managed services deal

    Vodafone India has reportedly handed Nokia a multi-year contract extension worth €200 million ($210.5 million) covering the delivery of managed services in multiple telecoms circles.

    The scope of the contract has been expanded to cover managed services for 14 of India’s 22 telecoms circles, and field operations in the remaining eight, citing a person familiar with the matter.

    The source also said the contract has been expanded to cover the core as well as radio network.

    As part of the contract, Nokia will provide managed services, maintenance, system integration and other services. It represents a significant win for Nokia’s Indian operations, which cover the management of around 200,000 base stations across the country.

    Vodafone also recently awarded Huawei a three-year managed services contract worth between $180 million and $220 million covering three circles, as well as network operations in two circles, the report adds. In February, the operator contracted Ericsson to manage its fiber assets in 10 circles.

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  • Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise restructures for growth

    Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise restructures for growth

    Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is forming four regional sales organizations to better serve its partners, customers and their markets.

    Each of the four regions will have its own dedicated sales staff supporting its defined industry-specific sales strategy, cloud sales strategy and channel strategy, with a complementary sales enablement and services delivery.

    With the restructuring the vendor aims to place a focus on specific market segments for growth and accelerate the shift to new business models.

    Expanded teams will focus on cloud-based services and offers to deliver innovative technology and business models that simplify IT and enable new digital business environments.

    Regional strategy better serves customers and channel partners with focus on local trends, according to the company.

    Matthieu Destot will head up the APAC region until a new leader is announced. He will be leading the formation of the new go-to-market strategy for APAC (including the former APAC and Greater China regions).

    Amit Raj Bathla will continue to lead the combined APAC Marketing team. He will report to James Taylor, Global Head of Marketing.

    These appointments are effective January 1, 2017.

  • Indian telcos square off over interconnection rates

    Indian telcos square off over interconnection rates

    Indian operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are squaring off with Reliance Jio Infocomm and Tata Teleservices in court over regulator Trai’s recent decision to fix interconnection rates.

    Trai recently set interconnection rates at zero for landline to wireless calls and 14 paise ($0.002) per minute for wireless to wireless calls. Airtel and Vodafone subsequently filed a court challenge to this decision.

    Now Reliance Jio and Tata Teleservices have filed court briefs opposing this legal challenge, The Telegraph India reported.

    Incumbent operators Airtel and Vodafone are opposing the order on the grounds that it unfairly penalises larger players. In Vodafone’s court filing in November, the operator said the regulations are illegal, arbitrary and beyond the functions of Trai to implement.

    The operators have also argued that the order is unfair because they should be compensated for rival operators using their infrastructure. Airtel is meanwhile calling on Trai to fix termination rates on a cost-based and work-done basis.

    Reliance Jio is a disruptive newcomer to the market, currently offering services for free as a promotional offer to lure customers from rival networks, while Tata Teleservices is one of the market’s smaller operators.

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  • Equinix deploys Facebook-designed optical switches

    Equinix deploys Facebook-designed optical switches

    Equinix is collaborating with Facebook and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to deploy and test Voyager, the Facebook-designed packet optical switches, inside two of its IBX data centers.

    As part of the TIP “Open Optical Packet Transport” project group, Equinix is working closely with Facebook to field-test this next-generation packet optical networking technology.

    Voyager is the first step in Facebook and Equinix’s goal of developing the next-generation network ecosystem for hardware and software.

    Equinix said it will continue to work with Facebook and other vendors to include TIP-based hardware and software in their architectures as they deploy inside Equinix and develop the TIP ecosystem.

    By working as part of TIP, Equinix is helping to define the deployment, operational and support models for the new disaggregated and virtual networking infrastructure.

    Initial testing of the Voyager open packet-optical switch took place in Equinix’s SV3 and SV8 IBX data centers in Silicon Valley. Voyager is a combination of compute, switch, router and DWDM transport technologies. Preliminary results showed zero packet loss and significant overall cost savings due to this disaggregated hardware and software networking model.

    “This emerging world of disaggregated optical networking will need a physical aggregation point where all the hardware and software can come together,” Equinix CTO Ihab Tarazi said.

    Facebook director of engineering Hans-Juergen Schmidtkeat added that the Voyager ecosystem will serve as a first ever white box for switching, routing and DWDM in the wide area networks to exemplify a new way of open collaboration and innovation and has been contributed to the TIP community.

  • Apple to invest $1b in SoftBank tech fund

    Apple to invest $1b in SoftBank tech fund

    Apple has revealed plans to invest $1 billion in Japanese telecom behemoth SoftBank’s $100 billion technology venture capital fund.

    Apple will join a list of investors that are also expected to include Foxconn Technology Group and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison. Companies including Qualcomm have already committed to the fund.

    The $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund will invest in strategic technology areas such as the IoT and AI as part of efforts by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son to help the company capitalize on emerging opportunities.

    The report quotes a market analyst as stating that that the investment could be aimed at helping Apple’s core smartphone business stay competitive as the IoT market expands, and could also reflect the company’s increasing interest in partnering with other companies for growth.

    Apple does not have a track record of investing in venture capital funds, but the company has been changing its investment strategy recently to reflect evolving market dynamics.

    This change in strategy and growing interest in partnerships was reflected by the company’s $1 billion investment in China’s home-grown Uber alternative Didi Chuxing last year.

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  • Nokia, Vodafone trial cloud-based RAN

    Nokia, Vodafone trial cloud-based RAN

    Vodafone has teamed up with Nokia to trial cloud-based radio access network (RAN) technology to see how it will stack up for the transition from 4G to 5G networks.

    During the trial, which occurred at the operator’s testing facility in Italy, Vodafone used Nokia’s AirScale Cloud RAN running on its AirFrame network functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure.

    By combining cloud RAN with NFV, Vodafone was able to split baseband processing functionality between real-time and non-real-time functions allowing for time-critical functions to be performed close to the edge of the network.

    Non-time critical functions were then centralized and virtualized in the NFV infrastructure platform at the end of the RAN. Ethernet-based fronthaul was used to provide connectivity to the virtualized functions.

    The trial looked at peak data rates as well as download and upload speeds during a variety of different scenarios on the macro network using high-powered macrocells.

    According to Vodafone, the test demonstrated that a cloud RAN-based architecture can provide the same level of service as a conventional LTE network. In addition, the cloud RAN met the operator’s criteria for throughput, capacity, and resiliency while also providing additional flexibility and scalability.

    Santiago Tenorio, head of networks, Vodafone Group, said: “Working with Nokia on this trial we have seen how the application of Cloud RAN architecture can help the network react to changing demands quickly. It speeds up the delivery of services and will help with the transition to 5G.”

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  • Taiwan’s NCC urges 2G users to upgrade by June

    Taiwan’s NCC urges 2G users to upgrade by June

    Taiwan’s National Communications Commission has launched a new awareness campaign urging the nation’s remaining 2G subscribers to migrate to 3G or 4G before the 2G licenses expire on June 30.

    The regulator has produced two TV commercials to spread awareness of the advantages of 4G and the necessity of migrating.

    As of November there were around 430,000 remaining 2G subscribers, with 290,000 of these being Chunghwa Telecom customers and the remainder divided between Taiwan Mobile and Far EastTone.

    While all Taiwan’s 2G licenses are set to expire on June 30, triggering the sunsetting of the technology, the regulator has decided to provide a six-month grace period after this date. This will allow any remaining 2G hold-outs to migrate to the newer standards before losing services.

    The three operators are meanwhile offering low-price options to entice 2G users to upgrade.

    Chunghwa Telecom, for example, is offering a special rate of NT$88 ($2.73) per month for customers upgrading from 2G to 4G, which includes 1.5GB of data, 30 minutes of intra-network calls and 5 minutes of cross-network calls.

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  • Nepal Telecom launches 4G services

    Nepal Telecom launches 4G services

    State-owned operator Nepal Telecom has launched 4G services over the 1800-MHz band in the Kathmandu and Pokhara areas. The operator has upgraded 308 base stations in the Kathmandu area and 25 in Pokhara to support 4G services.

    Currently Nepal Telecom is only able to provide 4G using 5 MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum, limiting peak data speeds to 32.4Mbps. But the operator has asked regulator NTA for another 5 MHz, which will allow a speed increase to 100 Mbps.

    According to the report, the company is currently providing 4G data services at 3G rates – a base rate of 1 rupee ($0.0091) per megabyte – but plans to reduce the tariff shortly.

    The network is at present only available for Nepal Telecom’s GSM postpaid customers. The operator is also yet to make a deal with Apple to allow the use of iOS devices on its 4G network

    Nepal Telecom secured a 4G operating license in October, after the NTA approved the operator’s 4G application the previous month. The operator plans to progressively roll out 4G nationwide.

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  • Airtel close to deal to buy Telenor India

    Airtel close to deal to buy Telenor India

    Bharti Airtel is reportedly in advanced negotiations to buy out Telenor’s Indian operations through a debt acquisition deal. Airtel is planning to take on debt of around 15 billion rupees ($219.6 million) from Telenor by way of payment for the purchase.

    Russian telecoms group Telenor is seeking to exit the Indian market through the deal. According to the source, third-ranked Idea baulked at a deal because the operator did not want to take on additional debt, and had offered equity instead. Telenor had also approached various other operators including Vodafone but had been unable to clinch an agreement.

    While Airtel is reluctant to increase its existing $12.23 billion debt burden, the operator was lured in  by Telenor’s 4G spectrum holdings in seven of India’s 22 telecoms circles.

    The acquisition won’t cover all Telenor’s Indian debts, and the company will have to cover the remainder, the report states.

    Telenor has been considering exiting the Indian market for some time. The operator’s efforts to establish a competitive foothold in the market were dealt a serious blow by the cancellation of its 2G licenses in 2012 as part of a supreme court decision revoking 122 licenses issued under a former telecoms minister’s regime. Telenor India never fully recovered from this setback despite purchasing new licenses in seven circles.

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  • Submarine internet link completed

    Submarine internet link completed

    The Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) submarine fiber optic cable line has been put into operation after four years under construction.

    The APG, funded by VNPT, Viettel, FPT and CMC, aims to boost Vietnamese Internet speed.

    The operation of the network aims to reduce dependence on the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) as the AAG faced incidents three times last year, which affected not only individual users but also enterprises.

    The APG boasts a capacity of 54 Tbps, the highest of any network in Asia. With a total length of approximately 10,400km, the cable line connects mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Việt Nam.

    Initiated in 2009, the APG is a partnership between Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan-China), China Telecom (China), China Unicom (China), KT Corporation (RoK), NTT Communications (Japan), PLDT (the Philippines), Telekom Malaysia (Malaysia) and VNPT (Việt Nam).

    Viettel has also been investing in an Asia Africa Euro-1 (AAE-1) cable system, connecting countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. The cable line is expected to operate this year.

  • Huawei expects to report growth slowdown for 2016

    Huawei expects to report growth slowdown for 2016

    Huawei has revealed it expects to report a 32% revenue growth for 2016 to 520 billion yuan – a slowdown compared to the 35% growth recorded in 2015, but still a solid performance in a tight market.

    In a new year message, rotating CEO Eric Xu attributed the slower growth to the “flock of black swans – both political and economic” that swept across the globe during the year.

    This year is expected to bring even greater political and economic uncertainties and continued impact from the transformation of the ICT industry, he said. As a result, Huawei plans to take a series of measures to address the critical issues it could be facing.

    These measures will include business transformation and organizational restructuring efforts to position Huawei to better serve carrier customers.

    “Moving forward, we will work to enable carriers’ networks to support more connections; help them position video as a basic service and achieve business success; lead the transformation of their IT systems towards cloud architecture; and assist them in building digital operations that deliver a real-time, on-demand, all-online, do-it-yourself, and social (ROADS) user experience,” Xu said.

    “Where we stand now, Huawei must maintain a global view and adopt a wider perspective of the industry as we help carriers to transform and thrive with more revenue streams. This is a clear strategic decision for us in this new era.”

    The vendor will also strive for greater operational efficiency, develop a contingency plan to deal with financial crises and develop an oversight and accountability system for the company’s consumer business, among numerous other changes.

    “We are in an era of change, and change is opportunity. We must have strategic confidence and enhance our ability to adapt. Don’t cling to what has worked or what we’ve gained previously. Past success is not a reliable indicator of the future, and a long list of accomplishments might end up nothing more than an epitaph,” Xu concluded.

    “Moving forward, we need to hone our skills, step up to the plate, and aim for the stars. As long as we remain practical and stay focused, we will definitely be able to seize the opportunities before us and become an enabler of the intelligent world.”