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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.

  • Viettel revamps as it eyes to enter Cuba

    Viettel revamps as it eyes to enter Cuba

    Viettel Group, Vietnam’s largest mobile network operator, which is wholly owned and operated by the Ministry of Defense, has plans to expand to sister socialist countries Cuba and North Korea, both of which are in the early stages of building up mobile phone networks. Earlier plans to expand to Venezuela have been put on hold owing to the dismal economic state of the latter nation.

    According to Viettel executives, the company is seeking to hold negotiations with the two countries in order to gain a foothold in their underdeveloped wireless markets.

    In Cuba, the company is waiting for a decision by Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba, the state-owned telecom provider and operator of the sole mobile network Cubacel whether it would grant Viettel a license.

    In North Korea, where Koryolink, a joint venture between the North Korean state and Egypt’s Orascom Investment Holdings, has reached millions of subscribers since its 2008 launch, Viettel had sought permission to build a mobile network as early as in 2010 but is still waiting for sanctions to be lifted and for the country to open its market to foreign investors.

    Viettel in its international expansion has set sights on a number of otherwise overlooked destinations. It began its global expansion by setting up a joint venture in Laos in 2008 and became the largest mobile phone operator in Cambodia after launching operations there in 2009. Since that time Viettel has expanded its operations to Burundi, Cameroon, East Timor, Haiti, Mozambique, Peru, Tanzania and eventually Myanmar.

    Between 2015 and 2017, the company invested over $2.23 billion or its foreign expansion strategy and by 2017, Viettel’s international operations covered an area of more 350 million potential subscribers. The company has invested in heavily in infrastructure in Myanmar where it is seeking to double its five million-subscriber base by the end of this year.

    The company has said that it will stop investment in the African market where the company has struggled to make a profit due to poor economic growth. According to telecommunications industry insiders, Viettel is in talks to buy stakes in existing telecommunication firms in Indonesia and Malaysia and a 20% stake in an unnamed European mobile carrier. Plans are to expand further in Bangladesh, Nepal, Belarus and Ukraine in the near future.

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  • Huawei will end up among the globe’s top smartphone manufacturers this year

    Huawei will end up among the globe’s top smartphone manufacturers this year

    Back in 2015, the head of Huawei’s consumer products unit, Richard Yu, made a bold forecast. He said that in two to three years, Huawei would surpass Apple to become the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. He added that in five years, Huawei would top Samsung to become the world’s largest producer of smartphones. And sure enough, that is basically what happened. Huawei passed Apple and last year it finished second to Samsung. Earlier during the second quarter of this year, Huawei outshopped Samsung and for a brief period of time it was the top smartphone manufacturer on the planet.

    Despite meeting its goals for a short period of time, the long term outlook for the phone and networking equipment manufacturer is not good. That’s because the U.S., considering Huawei to be a national security threat, has made doing business difficult for the company. Last year, it placed Huawei on the Entity List preventing it from accessing its U.S. supply chain without permission from the Commerce Department. As a result, heavyweights like Micron and Google have stopped supplying memory chips and software to Huawei respectively.

    And the Trump administration aimed right at Huawei’s Achilles heel this year by adding new export rules that prevent foundries using American sourced technology from shipping chips to Huawei, The latter can’t even take delivery of cutting-edge chips that it designed itself. The U.S. actions against Huawei led it to sell its sub-brand Honor division for $15 billion. And even if President-elect Joe Biden, when he takes office in two-weeks, were to remove all sanctions against Huawei, the company will still see a sharp drop in shipments. Part of that will be due to Honor becoming a rival of Huawei instead of a sub-brand. Research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics estimated that in the first half of last year, Honor made up 28% and 38% of Huawei’s shipments respectively.

    So what is expected from Huawei this year? According to research firm TrendForce, Huawei will drop from its third-place finish last year to seventh place this year. That is a rather large fall for a company that has been considered one of the top smartphone manufacturers in the world. In 2018, Huawei delivered 208 million handsets. In 2020 that figure declined to 170 million and a further decline to 45 million is forecast for this year; that is a 73.5% decline for this year. The decline will also result in Huawei losing much of its share of the 5G market from 30% last year to 8% this year, also a 73.3% decline.

    TrendForce says that global smartphone shipments will rise 9% this year to 1.36 billion units, an anemic rebound from the 11% decline in smartphone production last year. The top six smartphone manufacturers this year could be, in order, Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Transsion. These six brands will make up 80% of global smartphone shipments this year. Transsion is a phone manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China and is popular in Africa. The researchers also say that the number of 5G phones produced will rise this year to 500 million units from the 240 million made in 2020. Chinese brands could make up as much as 60% of 5G phones produced in 2021.

    Huawei recently released its new Mate 40 flagship series and early next quarter we could see the unveiling of the photography-based P50 line. This year, Huawei could finish seventh with Honor right behind at number eight. Besides its one-time standing as a top global smartphone producer, the company is also the world’s top networking equipment manufacturer.

    The U.S. considers Huawei to be a national security threat because of its alleged ties to the Communist Chinese government.

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  • The World’s largest wireless carrier is removed by the New York Stock Exchange

    The World’s largest wireless carrier is removed by the New York Stock Exchange

    This past Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said that it would stop handling transactions involving the securities of China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The move by the securities exchange comes after U.S. President Donald Trump, back in November, banned American companies and consumers from investing in 31 outfits that Trump said are owned or controlled by the Chinese military.

    Among the three telecom firms mentioned by the NYSE last week, China Mobile is the world’s largest wireless provider. As of last October, the carrier had more than 946 million subscribers. Compare that figure with the 120 million+ subscribers that Verizon counted at the end of the last quarter; the latter is the largest mobile carrier in the states.

    As you might imagine, Chinese government officials are not pleased. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, “This kind of abuse of national security and state power to suppress Chinese firms does not comply with market rules and violates market logic. It not only harms the legal rights of Chinese companies but also damages the interests of investors in other countries, including the United States.” The Ministry not only said that it will take action to protect its firms, it also asked the U.S. to agree to a compromise over issues like trade and human rights. It isn’t clear exactly what actions China is considering against the U.S.

    Over the last two weeks the outgoing Administration has been even tougher on China than it has been. On January 20th at noon ET, the Biden era begins and China is hoping that the seating of the new U.S. president eases tensions between the two economic powers. Yesterday, China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi said that relations between China and the United States had reached a “new crossroads” and “a new window of hope” is on the way.

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  • Ooredoo welcomes Maldives to a new digital age with the roll out of 5G Services & 5G AirFibre

    Ooredoo welcomes Maldives to a new digital age with the roll out of 5G Services & 5G AirFibre

    Telecom giant Ooredoo announced the commercial launch of its 5G services in the Maldives, with the initial rollout covering a large percentage of the capital city of Male’, including key business hubs, hospitals, public spaces and more.

    At a special event held today to celebrate the kickstart of the 5G era for the company, Ooredoo Maldives also launched 5G AirFibre – the first 5G powered Home Broadband services in the Maldives providing speeds that are tenfold.

    The event was attended by the Minister of Communication, Science & Technology, Hon. Mohamed Maleeh Jamal who officially launched Ooredoo 5G services in the Maldives, the Minister of Economic Development, Uz. Fayyaz Ismail, Chief Executive of CAM, Ilyas Ahmed, Chief Technology Officer of Presidents Office, Mr. Hamid Shafeeu, as well as the Chairman of Ooredoo Maldives, Mr. Andrew Kvalseth, the Board of Directors and employees of Ooredoo Maldives who joined the event virtually to be part of this historic moment for the company.

    Speaking at the event, the Minister of Communication, Science & Technology, Hon. Mohamed Maleeh Jamal said: “5G technologies have the potential for extraordinary breakthroughs across industries, which is now being witnessed worldwide. As the role of internet connectivity continues to become more and more crucial for the country’s social and economic growth, the roll-out of 5G technologies in the Maldives creates a strong digital infrastructure on which creative new solutions can be built on for the betterment of our communities. I would like to thank the management and staff of Ooredoo Maldives for their strong commitment towards a Digital Maldives, by continuing to invest in creating a stronger and more capable network which can power new technologies and innovations, at a time when it is needed more than ever.”

    Najib Khan, Managing Director and CEO, Ooredoo Maldives said: “Over the past year, we have seen a huge shift towards digital across industries, from healthcare, education, communication, governance, e-commerce and more. Despite the challenges faced by the pandemic, our team has prioritized the roll-out of 5G services, understanding its unparalleled capabilities to unlock the full power of a connected society – something that is of pivotal importance in the new normal. We are equally proud to launch the first 5G broadband services in the Maldives, which overcomes the challenges faced in installation of fibre optic cables in congested areas such as Male’. A flexible alternative which offers comparable internet speeds to fiber broadband, 5G AirFibre services will accelerate fiberisation through airwaves of Ooredoo 5G. Today, we welcome a new digital age in the Maldives, enabling endless possibilities and innovative new digital services for people and businesses. We reaffirm our commitment to the people of Maldives, ensuring our support in transforming their digital lifestyles to achieve the full benefits of the digital world.”

    5G technology not only promises a fundamental boost in speed, but offers significantly lower latencies, increased capacities and is much more reliable. Paired with IoT Technologies, this unlocks a wave of advances such as intelligent homes, smart cars, drone deliveries and much more than can transform life as we know it and power healthcare services, education and even entertainment such as sporting events & gaming.

    Available for both prepaid and postpaid customers, Ooredoo 5G covers a large percentage of the capital city, on certified handsets. With the official launch of 5G, we are working with global operators to certify the network on additional handsets as soon as possible. The coverage map for Ooredoo 5G is available on Ooredoo Maldives website.

    In addition to 5G mobile services, customers in the capital city can also experience the superfast speeds of 5G via 5G AirFibre Home Broadband. The enhanced connectivity with 5G AirFibre will provide incredibly high speeds which is extremely positive news for local communities and businesses; especially for small and medium business working remotely or working from homes. Customers in Male’ can now check the eligibility of their area and pre-book their 5G AirFibre devices via Ooredoo Maldives website.

    Ooredoo Maldives also announced 5G Experience zones, for customers who are curious to test out 5G and 5G AirFibre services. This includes the first 5G powered VR Café’ in the Maldives and Ooredoo Club Premier Lounge.

    Ooredoo was the first operator in the world to have launched a live commercial 5G network in Qatar in early 2018 which marked a major technological breakthrough for Ooredoo and the global telecommunications industry. Following its vision to create communities powered by digital services, the company continuously made investments in North Africa, the Arabian Gulf to Southeast Asia to enhance customers’ digital experiences. Ooredoo Maldives will continue to enhance its network across the nation in order to connect customers to the best technologies and services that the digital world has to offer.

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  • Singtel to Expand Mobile Financial Services Offerings

    Singtel to Expand Mobile Financial Services Offerings

    The robo-adviser, in partnership with UOB Asset Management, is expected to launch by the first half of 2021.

    Singtel and UOB Asset Management have signed an agreement to launch a robo-advisor to make digital investments more accessible to users of Singtel’s Dash mobile wallet, according to a joint announcement on Monday.

    The partnership paves the way for Dash to make its foray into wealth management and furthers its goals of digital and financial inclusion by expanding the app’s range of mobile financial services offerings, the announcement said. Dash customers will be able to invest in a portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), managed funds and/or other asset classes within the Dash app.

    The two sides will also explore opportunities to offer robo-advisory and other investment solutions through Singtel’s associates in the region, given the extensive presence of both companies in Asia including Indonesia and Thailand.

    We aim to democratize access to digital investments for our customers who value simplicity, affordability and convenience when managing their finances on a digital platform, Arthur Lang, Singtel International Group CEO, who noted the growing interest in online investing among its users.

    With over 1 million registered users, Dash is among the largest non-bank mobile wallets in Singapore. Since its launch in 2014, the app has expanded beyond payments and mobile remittance to include lifestyle services like restaurant bookings and insurance.

    Singtel, as part of a consortium with Grab, is one of two recipients of a full digital bank license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The consortium aims to formally launch the digital bank in early 2022.

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  • Data from Qualcomm suggests that Apple could produce 176 million 5G iPhone units this year

    Data from Qualcomm suggests that Apple could produce 176 million 5G iPhone units this year

    With a little bit of math and plenty of fingers and toes, Sina Finance has calculated that Apple purchased approximately 176 million 5G modems from Qualcomm for this year. This calculation dovetails with estimates calling for Apple to produce 5G and non-5G iPhone models in the neighborhood of 190-200 million units for 2020. On the other hand, another report written by Taiwan’s Appledaily calls for Apple to roll out 120 million 5G iPhones this year indicating that the higher figures overestimate reality. Another possibility is that Apple expects strong sales for the iPhone 12 series this year and next year. One other option is that Apple ordered more modem chips than they needed because the company plans on using them on some future Apple devices. There has been talking about a 5G iPad tablet in the future and Apple might have ordered enough chips for such a device.

    Each 12-inch wafer that TSMC ships to Qualcomm can yield 2,211 modem chips for Apple; with 80,000 wafers shipped, we can estimate that Apple received 176 million 5G modem chips. This tells us that Apple expects to deliver 176 million 5G handsets this year. You might recall that Apple and Qualcomm were the Silicon Valley equivalent of the Hatfields and McCoys in 2019 with both firms taking each other to court for various patent infringements. Apple was frantically trying to find a source for 5G modem chips. On April 16th, 2019, just after Apple concluded its opening statement in a court battle with Qualcomm, a settlement between the two companies was announced. In return for a large sack of cash from Apple (estimated to be $4.5 billion), the chip designer gave Apple a six-year licensing agreement with an option for an additional two years. The settlement also included a supply agreement that covers the purchase by Apple of Qualcomm’s 5G modem chips. All legal action filed by both companies against the other was dropped.

    In more news related to this subject, Qualcomm is now TSMC’s largest customer for chips made used the 7nm process node. The process node is based on the number of transistors that fit in a square mm. TSMC’s 7nm process node sports 96.5 million transistors in that little space compared to 171.3 million with the latest 3nm process node. The larger the number of transistors inside a chip, the more powerful and energy-efficient it is. The 7nm process is used to manufacture the Snapdragon X55 modem chip and the current flagship Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 865+ chipsets.

    Apple does not ever want to be in the position again where it needs a specific component from a third-party supplier. So it has been working on developing its own modem chip. This would be dome similar to how Apple designs its own chipsets and has it built by a contract foundry such as TSMC or Samsung. Last year, Apple spent $1 billion to acquire most of Intel’s smartphone modem chip business. 2,200 Intel employees joined Apple with the transaction. Apple hopes to start using its own 5G modem chips perhaps by 2023. This could save Apple some money which in turn might allow the firm to cut pricing on future 5G enabled devices.

    That Apple went ahead and purchased Intel’s smartphone modem business suggests how strongly it wants to design its own chips. A $1 billion acquisition is unusual for Apple which usually involves itself in smaller transactions covering niche components that it plans on using for the iPhone or other devices within the next year or two. The largest acquisition made by Apple was its purchase of Beats Audio for $3 billion in 2014.

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  • Vietnamese telcos begin testing 5G services in earnest

    Vietnamese telcos begin testing 5G services in earnest

    Vietnam’s three major telecom companies are racing to test 5G services to achieve the government’s goal of making the country one of the earliest to adopt the technology.

    State-owned Vinaphone last week became the first to conduct 5G commercial tests in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

    In Hanoi, VnExpress reporters using 5G devices were able to reach download speeds of 721 megabit per second (Mbps), or 10 times higher than 4G speeds. In HCMC, it reached 1,000 Mbps, with downloading a 1.16 gigabyte (GB) app taking around 34 seconds.

    Vinaphone also unveiled its 5G routers developed in partnership with Finland’s Nokia.

    The device collects 5G waves and broadcasts it as wifi signals, enabling Internet use in households without the need for fiber-optic cables.

    Military-run Viettel commercially tested its 5G broadcast in Hanoi on November 30, achieving 10 times the download speeds of 4G when the user is in one place and five times when traveling in a vehicle.

    Viettel has put up 100 base stations in the city’s three downtown districts, and users with 5G devices can start experiencing the technology without the need to change their sim cards.

    Of the 100 stations, it produced 15 in-house and bought the rest from Sweden’s Ericsson.

    The company plans to expand to Da Nang and HCMC soon.

    Le Dang Dung, the chairman of the company, said when 5G transmission is stable it could help doctors perform surgeries through the Internet and factories could be completely automated.

    Another state-owned telecom firm, MobiFone, began commercially testing 5G services in HCMC on November 27, achieving average speeds of 600-800 Mbps, going up to 1,500 Mbps.

    The company plans to install 50 stations in the city this month.

    But it will take time for smartphone makers and networks to perfect 5G operations.

    Some Huawei, Xiaomi, Asus, Nokia, and Oppo devices can use 5G, but Samsung devices have to wait until the end of the year at least, and it is unclear when iPhone devices will be able to connect in Vietnam.

    The subscription rate is a concern among users. Currently, operators are providing free data to promote the new technology, but it is unclear what the tariffs will be.

    During the commercial test period, the Ministry of Information and Communications has limited the rates to the same level as for 4G, but operators can later change them.

    Pham Ngoc Tu, head of Vinaphone’s services research and development department, said it is still too early to determine 5G rates, and the company needs to establish around 50,000 stations to calculate prices.

    Communications minister Nguyen Manh Hung said in 2018 that Vietnam would be one of the first countries in the world to launch 5G services.

    It was seven or eight years behind in adopting 3G and 4G technologies, but not with 5G, he promised last month, adding that it would be widely available in the country from next year.

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  • Huawei, Qualcomm, and Oppo are arguably the three most innovative firms in wireless technology

    Huawei, Qualcomm, and Oppo are arguably the three most innovative firms in wireless technology

    This might not come as a surprise to some people living in China, or to those who make a living by following the goings on of the wireless world, but there is a good case for calling Huawei the most innovative outfit in this realm. The company’s Mate series phones are traditionally one of the top technologically based smartphones in the world each year. However, the powerful 5nm chips it designed for this year’s Mate 40 line can no longer be shipped to the company because of a new U.S. export rule. The rule bans foundries like TSMC from shipping cutting-edge chips to Huawei without a license if said chips were produced using American technology.

    An industry report cited by the South China Morning Post states that from the beginning of this year through the end of October, Huawei filed 8,607 patent applications related to wireless technology. That put the firm at the top of the pack, well ahead of San Diego, California based chip designer Qualcomm; the latter sought 5,807 patents during the same January to October time period. Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo was third with 5,353 patent applications. Database provider incoPat, headquartered in Beijing, is responsible for the data used to compile the list.

    According to incoPat, both China and the U.S. led the way with each making up 32% of the patents filed from January through October. Japan was next with 15% followed by the 7% submitted by South Korea. IncoPat says that the information it uses comes from patent filings available to the public in the field of wireless communications. This includes patents filed to protect inventions related to 5G technology. The report issued by incoPat notes “As a key area of modern communications, wireless communication network technology has always been a very important part in the 5G research and development process. With the new technological competition and new globalisation situation, wireless communication network technology is becoming an important strategic choice for enterprises to face international competition.”

    5G is the next generation of wireless connectivity and the countries that control 5G will have an advantage economically. That is why, seeing how innovative Huawei is and not wanting to be left behind, back in June the U.S. Commerce Department amended the entity list ruling that prevents Huawei from working and doing business with U.S. based firms. Now, American tech companies are allowed to work alongside Huawei to help create global 5G standards. The U.S. feared that being left out of the meetings attended by Huawei would hold the U.S. back in terms of the development of 5G.

    Huawei is also the leader in helping the 3GPP develop standards for 5G. 3GPP (the 3rd Generation Partnership Project) is a term that covers standards organizations that help create protocols for mobile telecom. After Huawei, Ericsson and Qualcomm provide the most contributions to 3GPP for 5G standards. According to SCMP, this year 3GPP completed its next set of standards for 5G which include possible applications for 5G such as autonomous driving, smart factories, and remote surgery.

    Earlier this month, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said that the country has built nearly 700,000 base stations in 2020 topping its original target of 500,000 for the whole year. As the world’s leading provider of networking equipment, Huawei is also an important supplier of 5G base stations. In fact, published reports indicate that Huawei will replace Ericsson this year to become number one in 5G base stations. Ericsson is expected to see its market share decline from 30% last year to 26.5% in 2020. Huawei, on the other hand, should see its 5G base station share rise from 27.5% last year to a leading 28.5% in 2020. That is, along as it can find enough 5nm Kirin 9000 chipsets to power these base stations. As we mentioned earlier in this article, the U.S. is preventing Huawei from receiving cutting-edge chips from TSMC.

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  • Singapore and Philippines to Boost Data Connectivity

    Singapore and Philippines to Boost Data Connectivity

    Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have agreed to promote the adoption and implementation of policies to aggregate, store, process, and transmit data across borders for banks and non-bank financial institutions.

    While the increasing use of data in financial services and the increasing use of technology to supply financial services offer a range of benefits, they also pose new and complex risks for markets and challenges for policymakers and regulators, the two sides said in a joint announcement on Monday.

    Data mobility in financial services supports economic growth and the development of innovative financial services, and benefits risk management and compliance programs, by enabling stronger supervision of cross-border money laundering, terrorist financing patterns, and proliferation financing while strengthening defense against cyberattacks and allowing the regulators to manage and assess risk on a global basis, the statement noted.

    The two regulators said that covered institutions should be allowed to transfer data, including personal information, across borders by electronic means to facilitate business activities, and the location where covered institutions can store and process their data should not be restricted as long as BSP and MAS have full and timely access to the data necessary to fulfill their regulatory and supervisory mandate.

  • SK Telecom’s 11Street to let shoppers buy from Amazon

    SK Telecom’s 11Street to let shoppers buy from Amazon

    SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, said Monday it is partnering with Amazon.com, Inc. to allow South Koreans to have easier access to products on the U.S. e-commerce giant’s platform.

    The carrier said users of its e-commerce unit 11Street Co. can directly purchase the U.S. company’s products on its platform. It did not provide a specific time frame for the service’s launch.

    SK Telecom said it has also made an agreement with Amazon so that the U.S. tech giant has the right to acquire a stake in 11Street based on the South Korean e-commerce company’s progress in the local market.

    The announcement comes as SK Telecom is currently planning an initial public offering (IPO) for 11Street.

    The carrier said in its third-quarter conference call that the e-commerce unit is among its list of subsidiaries, such as new mobility spinoff T map Mobility Co., that will pursue IPOs.

    The e-commerce unit’s sales reached 135.7 billion won (US$122.7 million) in the third quarter, up 8 percent from a year earlier, according to SK Telecom.

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  • Vietnamese startup acquires US mobile testing platform

    Vietnamese startup acquires US mobile testing platform

    Vietnamese tech startup Kobiton has acquired U.S.-based mobile testing platform Mobile Labs Inc after raising $14 million for the purpose. Kobiton, which provides a platform for app developers to test their products, said in a statement that the acquisition would help customers deliver apps of higher quality faster by utilizing artificial intelligence.

    The acquisition was funded by U.S.-based investment funds BIP Capital and Fulcrum Equity Partners.

    Ha Ngoc Vinh Du, director of Kobiton in Vietnam, said that the acquisition was also positive news for the Vietnam tech industry as it confirms the talent of Vietnamese tech engineers among the global tech community.

    Jim Douglass, the partner at Fulcrum Equity Partners, said that companies are increasingly reliant on their mobile channels to improve revenues, and they need new ways to test their apps on real devices without sacrificing quality.

    Kobiton, with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Atlanta, U.S., was founded by Vietnam-based KMS Technology in 2016. It has over 50 IT engineers and developers in its employ. Its platform is used by over 60,000 developers worldwide.

  • Viettel, MobiFone licensed to commercially test 5G

    Viettel, MobiFone licensed to commercially test 5G

    Telecom giants Viettel and Mobifone have received licenses to commercially test 5G broadcast in Vietnam’s two largest cities.

    Military-owned Viettel has been allowed to test in Hanoi with a maximum of 140 base transceiver stations while state company MobiFone can do so in Ho Chi Minh City with 50 stations.

    The tests will help the companies evaluate their technology and market size before beginning commercial operations.

    The companies need to follow cybersecurity safety and privacy regulations while running the tests, the ministry said.

    The first 5G phone call in the country was made on January 17 using equipment manufactured by Viettel, which has been conducting non-commercial tests and installing equipment since last year.

    The number of 5G subscriptions could hit 6.3 million by 2025 or 6 percent of total mobile subscriptions, technology conglomerate Cisco has forecast.

    5G is said to offer speeds 100 times faster than 4G and support new applications like remote medical procedures and autonomous driving.

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  • Vietnam to close 2G services by 2022

    Vietnam to close 2G services by 2022

    Vietnam plans to bring the number of 2G subscribers to under 5 percent by 2022 so that it can stop this service and push the development of higher-technology cellular networks.

    There are 24 million 2G subscribers in the country or 18.5 percent of the total, and the Ministry of Information and Communications aims to bring the figure down to 5-7 million, or around 5 percent by early 2022 towards stopping the 2G service by then.

    Closing 2G will leave more bandwidth for 3G, 4G, and the upcoming 5G network and help accelerate the establishment of a digital economy, the ministry said.

    It is working to boost the sales of low-cost smartphones so more people will be familiar with 3G and higher networks, it added.

    Among 24 million 2G subscribers, 12.4 million are using feature phones. Hoang Minh Cuong, head of the telecommunications department under the ministry, said these are the users that telecom operators need to help transition to smartphones.

    The number of 2G subscribers has dropped by 6 million since last year, showing that the goal to bring the ratio to under 5 percent is possible, he added.

    The telecommunications department plans to lower the rates of regular phone calls, which will reduce their revenues to telecom operators and urge them to rely more on data calls.

    It also plans to require all smartphones produced or imported into Vietnam to support 3G network or higher.

    There are 630,000 2G subscribers age 70 or more, and some say this group of people lack the tech-savvy needed to use smartphones.

    However, Cuong said Vietnamese companies were capable of making 4G feature phones for around VND600,000, and these would serve this user group.

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  • Huawei’s breakthrough Petal Search app helps users install content banned by the U.S.

    Huawei’s breakthrough Petal Search app helps users install content banned by the U.S.

    You might remember that back in May, we told you about Huawei’s plan to work around the manufacturer’s inclusion on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List. The U.S. put the company on this list because it considers the firm to be a national security threat. Placed on the Entity List, Huawei is not allowed to access its U.S. supply chain which means that it cannot license the Google Mobile Services version of Android. It also means that Google’s Android apps like Search, Maps, YouTube, the Play Store, Drive, and Gmail can not be installed on a Huawei phone. Most of Google’s apps are banned in China anyway, so only the international variant of the company’s phones are impacted.

    The Entity List placement also means that Huawei cannot work with U.S. firms including app developers. So Huawei’s phones, both inside and outside China, do not give users a selection of popular U.S. based apps to use. For example, in Huawei’s own AppGallery Android app distribution platform, you won’t find apps like Amazon, Snapchat, Speedtest.net, and AccuWeather. But as we pointed out in May, Huawei developed a new search engine called Petal Search. Petal Search will not only list “daily weather forecasts and top news; live sports scores and schedules; video, image, and music searches; and financial news and stock market updates.” When it comes to travel, it will “search millions of hotels worldwide and book rooms; and check flights and travel info for top global destinations.” Petal Search will also “look up local services and businesses with comprehensive directories.” But that isn’t the exciting cool feature.

    When you open up Petal Search and tap in the name of an app, the search engine looks for the one that you have in mind. If it finds the title in the AppGallery, it will be installed on your Huawei handset. If Petal Search can’t find a listing, it will search for it on third-party app stores. If it finds the app, a simple tap of the Install button will handle the task of downloading it on your phone.

    When we first heard about Petal Search, we told you that the idea behind it was to help Huawei customers find and install apps that are blocked due to the U.S. ban. These include Google’s own Android apps and U.S. developed social media and entertainment apps. And now, according to Forbes, Petal Search has become a full-service search engine as well. Petal even got some promotion during last week’s unveiling of the new flagship Mate 40 series.

    With the U.S. continuing to be offended by Huawei’s will to survive, the company could end up having to leave the smartphone industry and concentrate on providing an ecosystem to other phone manufacturers. Huawei created its own Mobile Services ecosystem that has over 700 million users, a 32% annual gain from last year. More importantly, the number of app developers registered by Huawei has risen 76% year-over-year to 1.6 million. This is of major importance because the larger the number of developers working on content for HMS, the more of a challenge Huawei becomes to other phone manufacturers.

    The main challenge that Huawei has at the current time is finding a foundry that can produce cutting-edge chips without using American-made technology. Back in May, the U.S. Commerce Department changed its export rules preventing foundries like TSMC from shipping chips to Huawei without a special license issued by the U.S. Recently it was discovered that the Chinese manufacturer ordered 15 million units of its 5nm Kirin 9000 chipset but received only 8.8 million of them. The new export rule started to take effect on September 15th.

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  • NASA awards Nokia a $14.1 million contract to build a 4G LTE network on the Moon

    NASA awards Nokia a $14.1 million contract to build a 4G LTE network on the Moon

    If you’re planning on taking a trip to the Moon in the near future to escape the madness of this planet, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Nokia has been awarded a $14.1 million contract from NASA to build the first 4G network on the Moon. The bad news is that for now, the Moon will not have 5G service. NASA’s current plans call for a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin, and a company named Dynetics will develop the human landers that will deliver humans to the Moon.

    In late 2022, Nokia Bell Labs will “build and deploy the first ultra-compact, low-power, space-hardened, end-to-end LTE solution on the lunar surface.” Nokia will integrate the network into Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander and when deployed, the network will self-configure to produce the first LTE system on the Moon. The network isn’t being made just so astronauts can use TikTok. Nokia says, “The network will provide critical communication capabilities for many different data transmission applications, including vital command and control functions, remote control of lunar rovers, real-time navigation and streaming of high definition video. These communication applications are all vital to long-term human presence on the lunar surface.”

    Nokia says that its LTE network is perfect for any activity that astronauts might need it for including “voice and video communications capabilities, telemetry and biometric data exchange, and deployment and control of robotic and sensor payloads.” The lunar LTE network is designed to survive the harsh conditions of the launch and the landing on the moon. NASA says that “the system could support lunar surface communications at greater distances, increased speeds, and provide more reliability than current standards.”

    If you’re bummed out that connectivity on the Moon is limited to 4G, don’t fret. Nokia says that it will work on developing space applications for 5G connectivity. Imagine how fast you’ll be able to download Apollo 13 on your 5G handset to prepare for your space flight to the Moon. The manufacturer is the second-largest networking equipment supplier to Huawei.

    In its blog post, Nokia says “As a market leader in end-to-end communication technologies for service provider and enterprise customers globally, Nokia develops and provides mission-critical networks adopted by airports, factories, industrial, first-responders, and the harshest mining operations on Earth, for automation, data collection and reliable communications. By deploying its technologies in the most extreme environments, Nokia Bell Labs will validate the solution’s performance and technology readiness level, and further, optimize it for future terrestrial and space applications.”