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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.

  • Thai PM grants regulator total immunity when censoring

    Thai PM grants regulator total immunity when censoring

    Thailand’s Prime Minister and head of the ruling Junta General Prayut has used Article 44 of the interim constitution, commonly known as the absolute power clause, granting total indemnity for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission when engaging in censorship for national security.

    Article 44 order 97/2557 grants the NBTC commissioners, NBTC secretary-general, NBTC staff and anyone appointed by the NBTC total indemnity from any criminal, civil or disciplinary action resulting from their actions when acting in good faith against those who are engaged in sedition, are a threat to national security, are disturbing the peace or those who are acting against the good morals of the country. However, an affected third party may still seek monetary compensation through the courts.

    The order came days after the NBTC lost a court case when it tried to silence a TV station that was loyal to the former regime of Thaksin Shinawatra.

    Meanwhile, Thailand’s state enterprise policy commission has agreed with the plans put forth by the ICT Ministry and ordered the two state telcos – CAT Telecom and TOT Corporation – to merge their data operations and transfer staff to three new companies within a year.

    Transmission and fiber networks will be under the National Broadband Network Company, Internet gateway and submarine networks will be merged under the Neutral Gateway Company and data centers will be merged under the IDC Company.

    This has not gone down well with the unions.

    CAT Union chairman Thaworn Poomtieng held a rally at CAT’s headquarters yesterday and issued a statement that the plan was drawn up only by the ICT Ministry and Deloitte without any input from CAT management and condemned the order to split up the state telco as dictatorial.

    Thaworn questioned whether the plan was actually to strengthen the state enterprise or if it was simply to sell it off.

    CAT acting President Surapan Meknavin said that he has not yet received any details of the plan from the State Enterprise Policy Commission and that in the past he has only had some high-level talks about reorganisation without going into any detail.

    The move has only added to a groundswell amongst Thailand’s netizens with many fearing the merged Neutral Gateway is simply the first step towards the rebranding of the much hated Single Gateway mass-surveillance project.

    ICT Ministry spokesperson Chatchai Khunpitiluck issued a statement that anyone still talking about the Single Gateway probably either had some misunderstandings or that they were purposefully distorting the issue in order to damage the country.

    Earlier Prime Minister and junta leader General Prayut Chanocha dismissed the numerous Prime Ministerial orders published on the Cabinet website referring to the Single Gateway mass surveillance project as a clerical error by someone who simply got his notes wrong.

  • Nepal Telecom revs up rollout of new services

    Nepal Telecom revs up rollout of new services

    Nepal Telecom chose Tecnotree to supply its Agility Mediation and Interconnect system, which will enable the rapid rollout of new services for the telco’s 14 million subscriber base.

    The Tecnotree Agility Mediation and Interconnect system will replace Nepal Telecom’s existing systems for GSM and other networks – and supports mobile, fixed line and broadband lines of business as well as future services.

    The solution will be delivered as a turnkey project, including complete hardware and third party software implementation.

    “By enabling the integration of new and legacy network components we are pleased to help Nepal Telecom to execute its convergence strategy and achieve its objective of complete optimized Business Support Systems,” said Padma Ravichander, CEO of Tecnotree.

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  • IIJ to sell prepaid data roaming SIMs in Taiwan

    IIJ to sell prepaid data roaming SIMs in Taiwan

    ISP and MVNO Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) has arranged to sell a prepaid SIM card for Taiwanese visitors planning to visit Japan at all Taiwan 7-Eleven locations.

    The ready-to-use, data only Japan Travel SIM offers 1GB of data for 30 days for TW$780 ($24), with additional data packs purchasable at select locations in Japan.

    The service is being offered over NTT DoCoMo’s LTE and 3G networks, which offers download speeds of up to 375Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps in certain coverage areas.

    IIJ said Taiwan ranks third after China and South Korea in terms of the number of visitors to Japan. Total Taiwanese travelers to Japan increased 30% in 2015 to a record 3.67 million.

    Meanwhile 7-Eleven is the largest convenience store chain in Taiwan, with 5,045 locations as of April.

    Japan Travel SIMs will go on sale at Taiwanese 7-Eleven stores from July 18.

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  • Dtac profit tumbles 90% to $4m in Q2

    Dtac profit tumbles 90% to $4m in Q2

    Thailand’s Dtac has reported a record 90% slump in net profit for the second quarter of the year, due to a steep decline in prepaid subscribers as well as high capex and other costs.

    Net profit for the quarter fell to 141 million baht ($4 million), in a result the operator also attributed on higher depreciation and amortization costs and lower ebitda, as well as a one-time 394 million baht restructuring cost.

    The company’s total subscriber base shrank by 524,000 to 25 million, with prepaid subscribers falling by 715,000. By contrast, postpaid net additions increased by 77% to 191,000.

    In its quarterly report, Dtac blamed the weak prepaid performance on “competitors’ aggressive subscriber acquisition activities through heavy handset subsidization and strong distribution channels.”

    To address the decline, Dtac has reintroduced prepaid handset subsidies and launched new Dtac prepaid branded SIMs targeting data-oriented users.

    Dtac’s 4G userbase meanwhile increased from 2.9 million in Q1 to 3.5 million in the second quarter, and the operator aims to grow this to 6 million by the end of the year.

    Blended ARPU for the second quarter grew 7% year-on-year to 211 baht as a result of the lower prepaid subscriber base, but declined 2.6% quarter on quarter as growth in data revenue failed to fully compensate for declining voice revenue.

    Capex meanwhile grew to reach 4.29 billion, or 22% of total revenue, as Dtac spent heavily on network rollouts. Network opex increased 3.9% year-on-year to 1.49 billion baht.

    For the full year, Dtac warned it expects intense market competition to continue into the second half. As a result, the company expects service revenues to slightly decline from the previous year, and plans to maintain capex at the same level as last year, which was around 20 billion baht.

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  • NTT Com launches high-speed broadband in Myanmar

    NTT Com launches high-speed broadband in Myanmar

    Japan’s NTT Communications has launched high-speed internet services for enterprises in Myanmar, starting with the Yangon area.

    The company has secured a network service license from Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, and has started offering the new Digi-Path Premier service in the market.

    The service provides dedicated, fully managed circuits from 1Mbps to connect enterprises with NTT Com’s global network, with 24/7 monitoring of circuits. Delivery of circuits can require as little as one month.

    NTT Com is also providing optional services including global IP address, web hosting, mail hosting, rental routers, managed firewalls, internet VPN and file transfers.

    NTT Com, along with NEC and Sumitomo, jointly deployed a 30Gbps core optical network between three major Myanmar cities in 2013, under contract from the Myanmar government. The operator established an office in the nation in October 2012, the first in the country from a foreign operator.

    The operator said it is now providing internet connections to enterprises globally including in seven Southeast Asian countries – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as Myanmar.

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  • Fujitsu, Oracle form cloud alliance in Japan

    Fujitsu, Oracle form cloud alliance in Japan

    Fujitsu and Oracle are forming a new alliance to deliver cloud services to customers in Japan and their international subsidiaries.

    Under the alliance, Oracle’s Cloud Application and Platform services – such as Oracle Database Cloud Service and Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud – will be powered by Fujitsu’s datacenters in Japan. Under the new strategic alliance, Fujitsu will work to drive sales of robust cloud offerings to companies in Japan and their subsidiaries around the world.

    Fujitsu will install the Oracle Cloud services in its data centers in Japan and connect them to its K5 cloud service in order to deliver enterprise-grade cloud services.

    The first Oracle application that will be offered to Fujitsu customers under the joint offering is Oracle HCM Cloud. As part of the agreement, Fujitsu will implement Oracle HCM Cloud to gain insight into its workforce throughout the company’s worldwide network of offices.

    The combination of these solutions including Oracle Database Cloud Service, Oracle HCM Cloud, and K5, will enable Fujitsu and Oracle to deliver mission critical systems over a cloud environment within Fujitsu’s data centers while maintaining the high levels of performance and reliability that had previously been achieved in on-premise environments.

    “We at Fujitsu support the digital transformation of our customers, and aim to contribute to optimized customer systems and business growth with the roll out of our Digital Business Platform MetaArc,” said Shingo Kagawa, SEVP, head of digital services business & CTO, Fujitsu Limited.

    “In particular, we offer the core cloud service on MetaArc, K5, which addresses systems of engagement (SoE) and systems of record (SoR). Oracle is a leader in Japan’s database market segment and possesses strong capabilities in the SoR domain. Now, as we look to strengthen MetaArc and K5, taking part in this strategic alliance with Oracle will work to meet the cloud needs of our customers.”

    “In order to realize the full business potential of cloud computing, organizations need secure, reliable and high-performing cloud solutions,” said Edward Screven, Chief Corporate Architect, Oracle.

    “Oracle’s new strategic alliance with Fujitsu will allow companies in Japan to take advantage of an integrated cloud offering to support their transition to the cloud.

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  • Thai PM details Thailand 4.0 policy

    Thai PM details Thailand 4.0 policy

    The Thailand 4.0 policy will chart the country’s new direction, according to prime minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

    During his recent national address on the program “Return Happiness to the People”, the prime minister said Thailand 4.0 is a new economic model to develop Thailand into a valued-based economy.

    It is envisioned to change the country’s traditional farming to smart farming, traditional SMEs to smart enterprises, and traditional services to high-value services.

    The policy also seeks to promote creativity, innovation, and the application of technology in various economic activities, the objective of which is to create equilibrium between the environment and society.

    The report in the government website said Thailand has passed through three economic development models – Thailand 1.0, which emphasized agricultural development; Thailand 2.0, which focused on light industries and helped upgrade the country’s economy from the low-income to middle-income status; and the third model, Thailand 3.0, which emphasized heavy industries for continued economic growth.

    In Thailand 4.0, the country needs to pull itself out of the middle-income trap and deal effectively with disparities and the imbalance between the environment and society.

    “This model will be carried out along with the 20-year national strategy and economic reform through the mechanism of “public-private-people partnership.” It will transform Thailand’s comparative advantage into a competitive advantage. In this regard, new engines of growth will be introduced,” the report noted.

    The Prime Minister was also quoted as saying that 10 target industrial groups will become new engines of growth. “Thailand 4.0 also consists of seven industries that are considered the backbone of the digital economy,” the report added.

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  • Optus to compensate customers after regulatory probe

    Optus to compensate customers after regulatory probe

    Australia’s Optus has been ordered to pay around A$2.4 million ($1.8 million) in compensation to mobile customers after an investigation found that some users were overcharged or mislead while signing up for mobile phone insurance.

    Regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has instructed Optus to refund around 175,000 Optus mobile customers and write to around 500,000 customers who may have been affected.

    Optus self-reported breaches including a failure to provide some mobile insurance customers with a required product disclosure statement and financial services guide, which may have prevented many customers from being aware of key features and limitations of the insurance they purchase.

    The operator also disclosed that some customers did not receive the one month free insurance they were entitled to under a promotional offer, were incorrectly charged a premium during a rain-check period and in some cases were issued the wrong cover.

    Inadequate training, monitoring and supervision of staff were some of the factors to blame for the oversights, the investigation showed.

    Optus will pay compensation including interest in the form of direct credit to customers’ accounts. The operator is also proposing to donate the compensation owing to former customers who cannot be located to a charity aiding with financial literacy.

    Optus has also taken steps to address the cause of the issue, including providing additional training for sales staff and appointing an independent company to conduct a thorough review of its regulatory compliance functions.

  • Airtel cleared to buy 4G spectrum from Aircel

    Airtel cleared to buy 4G spectrum from Aircel

    India’s Bharti Airtel has received approval for its 35 billion rupee ($521.2 million) acquisition of 4G spectrum from Maxis-owned Aircel.

    The Telecom Ministry has agreed to allow Bharti Airtel to acquire 20 MHz of 2300-MHz spectrum in eight of India’s 22 telecoms circles.

    Airtel announced in a stock exhange filing that it has now concluded the acquisition in six of the eight circles – Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam and North End.

    The operator announced it will issue a new market update once the transactions are closed for the remaining two circles of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

    Airtel was required to surrender 1.2 MHz of spectrum in one circle as the acquisition would have left the company is breach of regulations limiting operators from holding more than 25% of the total spectrum allocated in a single circle, sources told Press Trust of India.

    But Maxis, which owns 74% of Aircel, is facing legal action from an activist lawyer over proposed deals with Airtel and RCom. The lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, had called for the spectrum.

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  • Smart commences enhanced Wi-Fi project

    Smart commences enhanced Wi-Fi project

    Smart Communications is rolling out enhanced WiFi to the Philippines’ major transportation hubs, government offices and key business establishments.

    The PLDT subsidiary has earmarked close to 1 billion pesos ($21.2 million) for the service expansion. The investment forms part of PLDT’s 43 billion pesos in capital expenditure for 2016.

    Smart said its free WiFi public hotspots are currently undergoing upgrades in all the four terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City; Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao; Iloilo International Airport; Bacolod-Silay International Airport in Negros Occidental; and Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport in Negros Oriental.

    It  has also been expanded to cover more public areas such as city halls, schools, and establishments such as malls, restaurants, and coffee shops, and  terminals of major bus companies.

    Eric R. Alberto, Executive Vice President at PLDT and Smart, and ePLDT President and CEO, the aggressive rollout of the Smart Wifi footprint was made possible through key partnerships with government institutions and business establishments.

    Users of the service can avail of free connectivity for an initial number of minutes just to be able to check essential services such as email, after which they may purchase credits.

    Beyond providing internet access to as many people as possible, Smart WiFi is also designed as an essential tool for small and medium enterprises and institutions.

    “WiFi connectivity has been proven to contribute to business growth by equipping SMEs and various organizations with an indispensable tool to engage customers, build loyalty, and gather significant information that will help them understand customer needs,” said Alberto.

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  • HGC launches cloud backup service

    HGC launches cloud backup service

    Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) has launched a one-stop enterprise-grade cloud backup service to augment its cloud portfolio.

    The Backup-as-a-Service offering is designed to allow enterprises to back up files, operating systems and applications at he Wong Chuk Hang data center run by HGC GlobalCentre (HGCGC).

    HGC Cloud Backup supports a wide range of brands, operating systems, applications and cloud platforms. It is designed to allow companies to restore and retrieve specific stores of data without the need to recover the entire content of a backup.

    The service is being offered under a pay-as-you-go model and is supported by an online self-service portal.

    HGCGC data centers are designed to meet ISO information security standards, and customers can opt for a private leased line to further improve security.

    In order to enhance the service, HGC has also revealed plans to introduce data backup replication by the end of the year. Backup data will be stored at Kwai Chung as well as the Wong Chuk Hang data centers.

    “Launch of HGC Cloud Backup greatly enriches our portfolio of cloud services,”HTHKH COO Jennifer Tan commented.

    “This new Backup-as-a-Service capability – plus the planned dual data center backup and replication solution – will minimize the worrying risks associated with data storage. Customers will therefore be in a much better position to protect their digital assets and recover critical information during disaster incidents, thereby ensuring robust business continuity.”

  • Telenor Myanmar launches 4G services

    Telenor Myanmar launches 4G services

    Telenor Myanmar has officially launched 4G services, starting in capital city Nay Pyi Taw.

    With the launch the operator has become Myanmar’s second mobile operator to launch LTE services, following Ooredoo Myamar’s debut in May.

    Telenor Myanamr CEO Petter Furberg said in addition to the debut in the capital, the company is continuing to test 4G in other cities, and will progressively roll out the technology nationwide.

    “While Telenor users in Nay Pyi Taw now can enjoy 4G services we aim to expand the service to other cities gradually. To provide high speed 4G services all over the country Telenor will need more spectrum,” he said.

    “Telenor is looking forward to participating in the spectrum auctions planned by the Union Government later this year. Due to explosive growth of data and increasing data demand by the Myanmar people we believe it is urgently required to expand our services to 4G all over Myanmar.”

    He noted that 60% of the operator’s 16 million customers are now data users, and that Telenor has Myanmar’s largest internet network with more than 5,800 towers across the country in all states and regions.

    “Myanmar is experiencing an extensive growth of mobile subscriptions and we are also witnessing higher demand for mobile data,” Petter said. “Our 4G service is one more important step in the rapid development of the Myanmar telecom sector.”

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  • AIS introduces self-service at contact centers

    AIS introduces self-service at contact centers

    Thailand’s AIS has upgraded its customer contact center system in a bid to provide a consistent, enhanced and personalized customer experience for its growing subscriber base.

    The new system now routes up to 70% of all customer calls to a self-service system.

    The self-service capacity allows subscribers to gain access to services such as activating their SIM card, subscribing to roaming services or selecting rewards, without dealing with long queues.

    Leveraging Avaya’s Self-Service solution, AIS’ Advanced Contact Centers (ACC) have streamlined customer care and enhanced personalized live agent support at its contact centers located in Bangkok and Korat.

    The centers currently employ 3,300 customer service employees, serving 40 million subscribers nationwide.

    Smartphone users in Thailand are expected to reach 20 million in 2016 and this is expected to soar further with the introduction of 4G commercial services this year. Demand for more sophisticated, seamless and highly reliable broadband connectivity from business is also expected to escalate as Thailand’s digital economy accelerates.

    ACC saw the digital transformation of its contact center as a critical enabler in the new economy. The new self service system will ensure a consistent customer experience for AIS’s 11 million calls it receives through its contact centers every month.

    In the past, each customer call routed to a live agent can cost between 50 to 100 baht ($1.42 to $2.84), depending on the competency level of the agent. In contrast, the new system means that each call costs only 1 baht for ACC.

    The new system also provides capabilities for ACC to identify and categorize AIS’s customer calls and the services they require before matching them with the right agents trained to help specific service requests or customer types.

  • Globe defends need for 700-MHz to ISOC

    Globe defends need for 700-MHz to ISOC

    Globe Telecom has challenged the Internet Society-Philippines Chapter (ISOC) move to oppose Globe and PLDT’s proposed joint acquisition of San Miguel Corporation’s telecoms assets, including its 700-MHz spectrum holdings.

    ISOC recently wrote to the Philippine Competition Commission opposing the planned acquisition on grounds including the argument that there is nothing special about the 700-MHz band in particular.

    Globe chief technology and information officer Gil B. Genio has written his own letter to the society to clarify what the company called “erroneous facts” presented in the society’s objections.

    He said the 700-MHz band would allow the operator to expand its LTE footprint to areas that were previously unserved even by 3G.

    “The 700-MHz provides an additional capacity layer over existing 3G and LTE capacity layers using frequencies on the 1800-MHz, 2100-MHz band and the 2500-MHz bands. As a result of this layer, customers at the cell edge coverage of the high frequency capacity layers are served by the 700 MHz providing better experience to these customers,” he said.

    “As an off-shoot of these, the 3G and 4G layers using high frequency band are offloaded, providing additional capacity for better mobile data experience of our customers. Aside from its ability to carry information, the use of the 700-MHz band provides better coverage versus higher frequency bands (such as 2300 or 2600), and therefore mobile service providers can support more high speed users using the same tower or cell site footprint that currently exists today.”

    In response to ISOC’s argument that it is possible to deliver strong wireline connectivity without specturm assets, Genio said Globe has been seeking to aggressively roll out fiber in key cities.

    But he added that these efforts have been hampered by bureaucratic red tape as well as the challenges of providing effective backhaul to an archipelagic country.

    “We want to underscore the fact there has been a history of underinvestment in fixed broadband infrastructure in this country, which is why we are on catch up mode to lay down as much fiber optic cables in our primary cities and key development areas as we can,” he said.

    “Our situation in the Philippines is different compared to others as our primary means of broadband access remains wireless (mobile) broadband for now. In using wireless technology, it is more pervasive, however over the long term, it will have difficulty in matching the throughput rates or speed of fixed broadband network. Hence our desire to build more infrastructure as fast as we can.”

  • Singtel launches Singapore’s first OTT video portal app

    Singtel launches Singapore’s first OTT video portal app

    Singtel has expanded its media content portfolio with the launch of Singapore’s first OTT video portal app, open to the operator’s postpaid mobile customers.

    The operator’s new Cast portal will offer content from major providers including Viu and Nickelodeon, delivered over Singtel’s nationwide 4G network.

    Cast offers a choice of four content packs – premium, kids, Asian hits and Hallyu – with each priced at S$4.90 ($3.63) per month for a 12-month contract or S$6.90 per month contract-free. Customers can choose to pay an additional S$3 per month for an add-on pack including 1GB of data

    The premium pack offers a range of Korean and Japanese dramas, while the kids pack includes programming from the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr pay TV channels.

    Asian hits include popular movies from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, while Hallyu offers the most popular Korean entertainment.

    “Our customers are huge fans of entertainment on-the-go and we know that they want greater flexibility with what they watch and also when and how they watch it,” Singtel managing director of home consumer Singapore Goh Seow Eng said.

    “We are forging ahead in the OTT space through more strategic partnerships with strong content providers such as Viu and Nickelodeon. We look forward to partnering more top content providers to offer an ever-growing selection on Cast that will give our customers greater choice and the best entertainment experience.”

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