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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.

  • Arm cuts ties with Huawei

    Arm cuts ties with Huawei

    In the latest development in the ever-churning Huawei news cycle, chipmaker Arm is suspending business with the Chinese vendor to comply with the US restrictions.

    The BBC reported Wednesday that Arm sent out a company memo that said its employees must discontinue “all active contracts, and any pending engagements” with Huawei and its subsidiaries. The memo also said that Arm’s designs contained “U.S. origin technology,” which it believes is affected by the Trump administration’s ban.

    Losing Arm’s technology would be a big blow to Huawei in the smartphone sector. Huawei, currently the second-largest smartphone vendor behind Samsung, uses Arm’s mobile device processors as the key element of its smartphones.

    “Arm is complying with the latest restrictions set forth by the US government and is having ongoing conversations with the appropriate US government agencies to ensure we remain compliant,” according to Arm’s statement.

    “Arm values its relationship with our longtime partner HiSilicon (Huawei’s chip arm), and we are hopeful for a swift resolution on this matter.”

    Last week, the Trump administration blocked Huawei from buying goods made from 25% or more of U.S.-originated technologies or materials, and previously accused the world’s largest telecommunications vendor of being a spy for the Chinese government via backdoors in its telecom gear.

    On Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced it would allow some companies to continue to do business with Huawei under specific conditions. The BIS said it would issue a temporary general license (TGL) to Huawei and its 68 affiliates to authorize some U.S. telecom companies to continue to engage in export transactions with Huawei for the next 90 days, which took some of the immediate heat off of Huawei.

    Google had announced that it would no longer allow access to software updates for its Android operating system and apps that are used in Huawei’s smartphones and tablets, but reversed course after the BIS decision was announced.

    In other Huawei news, Panasonic said on Wednesday that it would stop shipments to Huawei of some of its components, but that won’t have as big an impact as losing Arm.

    Huawei said its own operating system for smartphones and tablets would be operational this fall, but would only use it if the company no longer has access to Google’s Android and Microsoft Windows’ operating systems.

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  • U Mobile contracts Nokia for Single RAN deployment

    U Mobile contracts Nokia for Single RAN deployment

    Malaysia’s U Mobile has contracted Nokia to help the operator expand the delivery of mobile data services across the nation.

    Under the three year agreement, U Mobile will deploy a Nokia Single RAN network at greenfield locations across Malaysia, as well as microwave and IP-based mobile transport technologies.

    The deployment will enable U Mobile to end its reliance on RAN sharing agreements by extending its own footprint across Malaysia.

    Both companies also plan to collaborate on a live 5G network trial later this year aimed at demonstrating enhanced mobile broadband capabilities, as well as 5G use cases such as VR streaming and e-sports.

    “U Mobile has been aggressively expanding our network across Malaysia in our drive to bring our customers a superior experience. We are delighted to be able to leverage on Nokia’s expertise in our network expansion journey,” U Mobile CTO Woon Ooi Yuen said.

    “We are of course also looking forward to working with Nokia as part of our Road To 5G Strategy. We have in our plan to conduct several 5G live trials with Nokia later this year for various use cases. Currently, we already have in place Nokia’s AirScale base stations which are 5G-ready and hence, ready for trials.”

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  • Mislatel cleared to receive congressional franchise

    Mislatel cleared to receive congressional franchise

    China Telecom backed joint venture Mislatel Corporation has been cleared to secure a congressional franchise to become the Philippines’ third mobile player.

    Mislatel, the joint venture established with businesses owned by Philippines tycoon Dennis Uy, has received congressional approval to acquire the franchise owned by Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co.

    The National Telecommunications Commission will now make preparations to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity and an allocation of spectrum for the operator. The allocation is expected to be complete by mid-June.

    But Mislatel will first be required to pay a 25.7 billion peso bond, which it will need to forfeit if it does not meet its rollout and other commitments to the government.

    These commitments include achieving 84% population coverage within five years, and reaching a minimum average internet speed of 27Mbps within the first year of operations, increasing to 55Mbps after this time.

    Mislatel won the selection process to become the market’s third major player in November last year. But the company was recently forced to postpone its planned launch date in early 2021 due to delays receiving the congressional franchise.

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  • Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger due to close in June

    Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger due to close in June

    The mega-merger between Indian operator Bharti Airtel’s infrastructure company Bharti Infratel and independent tower company Indus Towers is reportedly now expected to close in June.

    The planned merger, which has been in the making for around a year, is at an advanced stage of completion, according to the prospective parent companies of the merged company Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Group.

    In a stock exchange filing, the companies also announced that they have proposed to appoint current Indus Towers CEO Bimal Dayal and CFO Hemant Ruia to the posts of CEO and CFO respectively of the combined company.

    Merging Bharti Infratel with Indus Towers will create a pan-India tower company with over 163,000 towers in operation and a valuation of around $10 billion.

    The combined company will continue to serve Indian operators on a non-discriminatory basis and help support the expansion of 4G and 5G wireless broadband services across India.

    Indus Towers was established in 2007 as a joint venture between Bharti Airtel and what is now Vodafone Idea. Prior to the in-progress merger, the company was around 53% owned by Vodafone Idea, 42% owned by Bharti Infratel and 5% owned by Providence Equity Partners.

    “The Shareholder groups look forward to early completion of the merger and move towards successful integration,” the joint statement reads.

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  • Sprint/T-Mobile deal may get FCC approval

    Sprint/T-Mobile deal may get FCC approval

    In a move that was looking increasingly unlikely over the past few months, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has signaled that he will recommend that Sprint/T-Mobile merger be approved. The $26.5 billion mergers aren’t necessarily out of the woods yet as no vote has been taken and the other four commissioners have not been heard from yet and there is still the DOJ to persuade. But nevertheless, the deal has crossed a threshold and may now be back on track to close in the coming months.

    In order to get past the FCC’s concerns, Sprint and T-Mobile had to make a few concessions. The Boost prepaid business will be sold off, a 5G network will be built out over 3 years, and pricing will not be raised during that construction. Promises were made to ensure ‘robust’ infrastructure in rural areas and to work on in-home broadband offerings.

    The markets liked the move, and all four US wireless giants saw their stocks surge in response, Sprint and T-Mobile for obvious reasons and Verizon and AT&T due to the prospect of a reduction in the competition overall. Infrastructure providers, however, saw the opposite given the consolidation synergies that will inevitably come at their expense.

    The news comes just over a year since the deal was announced after years of dancing. I think we’re all tired of the dance at this point. I wonder though if a tweet will send things the other way in the next 24 hours.

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  • App development industry facing massive disruption

    App development industry facing massive disruption

    OutSystems has published its sixth annual research report on the state of application development and the challenges faced by development and delivery teams.

    The State of Application Development, 2019: Is IT Ready for Disruption report unveils detailed survey results from over 3,300 IT professionals in all industries across the world, 17% of which are from Asia Pacific (APAC).

    “Our 2019 survey shows that many IT departments are facing a multitude of disruptive forces when it comes to digital transformation and application development,” said Steve Rotter, CMO for OutSystems.

    “The threat of digital disruption and the need for digital transformation has been a driver of IT strategy for years. Add to that the current uncertain global economic outlook, and it becomes obvious why business leaders are so concerned about agility today.”

    The new research report provides in-depth insights from IT managers, enterprise architects, and developers addressing a wide range of issues. Digital transformation dominates business strategy today, which is why web and mobile development demand is booming. Moreover, speed and agility are more important than ever before, Rotter explained.

    This OutSystems report explores the priorities and challenges of application development and delivery, and the strategies that IT teams are using to try to speed up delivery.

    Six key findings that impact every IT professional:

    • Demand for app dev soars: The number of applications slated for delivery in 2019 has increased 60%, according to respondents globally, 38% of whom plan to deliver 25 or more apps this year. In APAC, 69% of respondents planned to deliver 10 or more applications in 2019, with 52% of APAC respondents targeting to deliver 50 or more applications in the year ahead.
    • Steep development time: 46% of respondents in APAC said the average time to deliver a web or mobile application is five months or more.
    • Backlogs remain: 63% of IT professionals in APAC said they have an app dev backlog, with 16% of these respondents having a backlog of more than 10 applications.
    • Development talent hard to find and keep: Most respondents have hired developers, 75% of respondents globally described app dev talent as scarce, and only 36% of organizations in APAC have larger app dev teams than a year ago. The numbers appear to show retention of app dev talent is an equally grave concern.
    • Agile practices are still slow to mature: 69% of organizations in APAC have invested in agile tools and services in the past year. However, the average agile-maturity score was a lackluster 2.76 out of 5, meaning most organizations in the region are still in the process of defining agile processes.
    • Customer-centricity continues to rise: Over 69% of organizations in APAC have invested in customer-centric practices in the past year, including customer journey mapping, design thinking, and lean UX. For the new apps slated for development in 2019, those that will be used directly by customers or business partners were identified as most important.

    Low-code has become mainstream

    Another key research finding was that low-code is no longer just for innovators and early adopters.

    43% of APAC respondents said that their organization was already using a low-code platform, and a further 12% said that their organization was planning to start using one soon.

    The analysis in the report identified that organizations using low-code are:

    • 26% more likely to describe their organization as satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the speed of application development
    • 11% more likely to deliver web applications in four months or less
    • 15% more likely to deliver mobile applications in four months or less
    • 20% more likely to score their agile maturity as level 3, 4 or 5
    • 12% more likely to say that their app dev backlog has improved since last year
    • Reporting a 16% higher self-assessment score for digital transformation maturity

    “Our findings in the 2019 State of Application Development Report crystallize a trend we have been observing in recent years – the uptake of low-code development platforms supporting innovation, continuous delivery, and better talent resource management in enterprises,” said Mark Weaser, Regional Vice-President, APAC, OutSystems.

    “No longer reserved for innovators and early adopters, low-code development platforms have definitely crossed the chasm and are well on the way to widespread adoption in Asia Pacific by the early majority.”

  • Thaicom to offer 5G satellite backhaul

    Thaicom to offer 5G satellite backhaul

    Thai satellite operator Thaicom aims to carve out a new revenue stream by offering satellite backhaul capacity to the nation’s operators for their upcoming 5G networks.

    Thaicom chief commercial officer Patompob Suwansiri said that satellite will be critical to the future of 5G networks.

    According to the executive, Thaicom is currently working with operator AIS, an affiliate of its parent company InTouch Holdings, to prepare for the transition. The company already provides transponder capacity for backhaul for AIS, as well as TrueMove and operators in several other Asian nations.

    The company is looking to replace the revenue that will be lost as a result of the exit of seven Thai digital TV channels in August.

    Thaicom’s concession to operate three of its five satellites will also expire in 2021, but the company is planning to bid to obtain the operating rights to the satellite under a public-private partnership model for after the rights expire.

    While satellite will not be able to deliver the low latencies expected for 5G networks, Patompob said around 80% of data traffic usage in the 5G era will be from applications that do not require low latency and will, therefore, be suited to satellite backhaul.

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  • Optus expanding 5G fixed wireless service

    Optus expanding 5G fixed wireless service

    Australia’s Optus has announced plans to expand its 5G fixed wireless service to more areas of the country by the end of the month.

    The wholly-owned Singtel subsidiary announced that by the end of the month, it will deploy 5G in three more communities in the state of New South Wales, one in the Australian Capital Territory and one in Brisbane.

    One of Optus’ early 5G fixed wireless areas, in a suburb of New South Wales capital Sydney, has recorded peak download speeds of 295Mbps and is achieving average speeds of 100Mbps, Optus said. This is an improvement on the 170Mbps peak speed achieved during a launch in January.

    The operator currently has more than 70 5G-ready sites nationwide and has earmarked the first of its planned 30 5G sites in the state of Victoria, which will be switched on within the next few months.

    Optus Networks managing director Dennis Wong said the early adopters of its 5G service are providing insights into the initially expected use cases for 5G. Analysis shows that customers are currently using 5G fixed wireless for traditional purposes.

    “Our first customers are currently using 5G for video downloads, internet connectivity and browsing, but we see exciting 5G consumer applications in the future including a much richer AR and VR gaming experience and improved in-home device connectivity,” he said.

    “Despite being in its infancy, we are already gaining valuable insights into the new 5G technology [including] a better understanding of how to best tune the technology to improve performance. We are also gaining valuable insights around how to adjust our network and its technical features to support interoperability of multiple devices.”

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  • Rajeev Sethi takes helm at Ooredoo Myanmar

    Rajeev Sethi takes helm at Ooredoo Myanmar

    Qatar-based Ooredoo Group has appointed Rajeev Sethi (pictured) as chief executive officer of Ooredoo Myanmar.

    He succeeds Vikram Sinha, who continues to stay on as a member of the company’s board.

    Sethi joins Ooredoo Myanmar from Airtel Africa, where he served most recently as chief commercial officer.

    He comes with over 24 years of work experience, of which 15 have been in the telecoms industry, holding leadership roles in multinational companies including Grameenphone in Bangladesh, Uninor India, Vodafone India, Hewlett Packard and Hutchison Telecom.

    Equinix has appointed Yee May Leong as managing director of South Asia to lead the company’s business strategy in Singapore and Indonesia.

    Leong is based in Singapore and reports directly to Samuel Lee, president of Equinix Asia-Pacific.

    Leong brings to the table with over 30 years of experience in the ICT sector.

    Prior to joining Equinix, Leong served as vice president of the communications sector for IBM in Asia-Pacific, overseeing the company’s strategic business development in ASEAN, Australia, India, Korea and New Zealand.

    Prior to that, she has also held senior management positions in leading technology companies including IBM, Lotus, F5 Networks and Orange Business Services.

  • HKT wins smart parking system contracts

    HKT wins smart parking system contracts

    Hong Kong operator HKT has secured HK$680 million ($86.6 million) worth of contracts to design, deploy and manage a new-generation smart parking meter system in Hong Kong.

    The two contracts with the HKSAR government’s Transport Department will see HKT deploy a mobile app-enabled parking meter system as part of the government’s Smart Mobility initiative.

    The system will use vehicle sensors to detect the occupancy of parking spaces and provide real-time information on parking vacancy for motorists. It will also allow users to pay parking fees with multiple payment methods, including credit that can be topped up to the app remotely.

    In addition, data from the system will be collected ad provided to the Transport Department to conduct parking analysis. The new parking meters will gradually replace existing meters in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories by early 2022.

    HKT’s contract includes the design, development and implementation of the new parking meters, as well as management, operation and maintenance of the system.

    “At HKT, we are very committed to helping accelerate Hong Kong to become a smarter city and empowering digital transformation for enterprises,” HKT Commercial Group managing director Tom Chan said.

    “We have been investing on advanced ICT and digital solutions in the last five years. We will continue with our dedication to develop innovations with latest technologies to empower the development of Hong Kong.”

  • SKT showcases potential of 5G in VR streaming

    SKT showcases potential of 5G in VR streaming

    SK Telecom is demonstrating the potential of 5G to enable virtual reality video streaming by developing exclusive VR content for a popular reality TV series.

    The company is offering 100 exclusive VR clips related to the Produce X 101 idol audition program on the oksuku OTT video service.

    The new content, added to a dedicated menu within the SKT-5GX section of the streaming app, will be provided to SK Telecom customers free of charge. The company is currently offering around 400 VR video clips on this section of the streaming app.

    SK Telecom said it has utilized 5G technologies for the planning, filming and delivery phases of the project. The company used 3D ultra-high definition video cameras to film joint performances, and applied video distortion correction technology to produce realistic and natural 3D video.

    “SK Telecom is witnessing a dramatic rise in the use of VR video contents on ‘oksusu’ since the launch of its 5G service,” the company’s 5GX VP and head of service business group Yang Maeng-seog said.

    “SK Telecom will continue to provide customers with a differentiated 5G experience by rapidly expanding dedicated services and contents on diverse themes.”

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  • Telstra to launch HTC 5G Hub next week

    Telstra to launch HTC 5G Hub next week

    Australian operator Telstra has is taking pre-orders for what it is calling the country’s first 5G mobile device. The HTC 5G Hub will be available in Telstra stores from next Tuesday.

    The HTC 5G hub is a 5G and 4GX (LTE-Advanced) media hotspot designed for both enterprise and consumer use.

    The hotspot can support up to 20 Wi-Fi enabled devices as well as a gigabit Ethernet connection and provides an all-day battery life.

    For corporate customers, the device offers corporate VPN authentication and remote wipe capability. For the consumer segment, the device offers a voice-activated remote control for other home smart devices and media hub capabilities.

    Telstra CEO Andy Penn said the launch of the device was an important milestone in the operator’s transition to 5G.

    “Our launch of the HTC 5G Hub is the moment 5G becomes a reality for Australian consumers. Since 2016, we have been working with some of the world’s leading technology brands to ensure Australians are among the first in the world to be able to access 5G,” he said.

    “HTC has been a key partner for Telstra, innovating new technologies and driving greater connectivity for our customers. This launch of Australia’s first 5G mobile device is a testament to that partnership and we are proud to be launching it today”.

    At launch, customers will be able to access 5G in selected areas of Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Towoomba, he said.

    “This is just the start. The roll out of 5G coverage is ongoing and, as 5G develops, there will be more devices and more technologies to come. But this is an important step we take today, as the first Australian network to offer mobile 5G”.

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  • Google to ban Huawei’s access to Android

    Google to ban Huawei’s access to Android

    Huawei’s consumer business has been dealt a potentially devastating blow to its future prospects after US president Donald Trump formally added the vendor to a list of companies that American companies cannot trade with if they don’t obtain a license.

    Huawei was added to the entity list of banned companies covered by the national emergency Trump declared last week, which gave him the power to regulate commerce to ostensibly protect national security.

    In the wake of Huawei being added to the list, Google has barred Huawei from receiving some updates to Android, announcing that it is “complying with the order and reviewing the implications”.

    US Chipmakers including Intel, Qualcomm, and Broadcom also reportedly told employees that they will cease supplying Huawei until further notice.

    But the US Commerce Department has subsequently issued a three-month exemption allowing Huawei to continue to purchase and access American products in order to maintain existing networks and provide software updates to existing devices.

    The exemption will not Huawei to purchase US components for new products. On the bright side for Huawei, the Commerce Department has announced it may extend the exemption further than the initial 90 days.

    In various communications including one sent to Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Huawei has pledged to continue providing security updates and after-sales services for its devices.

    Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei has meanwhile taken a bullish stance over the impact of the ban, telling Japanese media that the company’s growth “may slow, but only slightly.”

    The vendor had been anticipating the ban for some time, and has been investing in producing homegrown chips and further developing its own operating system in preparation.

    Ren has rejected the prospect of building manufacturing facilities in the US – even if the government asks Huawei to.

     

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  • Cisco expects 5G windfalls in the future

    Cisco expects 5G windfalls in the future

    Cisco is primarily known for its switches and routers for service providers and enterprises. It has not been a big competitor in the radio access networking space against vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia. But on its fiscal third-quarter 2019 earnings call this week, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins mentioned “wired and wireless” networking a few times.

    “We are moving into an era of truly immersive and pervasive wireless connectivity, which generates demand for high density, low latency performance, for real-time experiences over both wired and wireless networks,” said Robbins, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “Our guys like to say behind every great wireless network is a great wired network,”

    In fact, the company has been hired by Rakuten to help it build its new greenfield mobile network in Japan. Cisco is building Rakuten’s network functions virtualization infrastructure (NFVi) with 4,000 edge nodes. In addition to software, Cisco is delivering routing and switching hardware. And Cisco is also the primary systems integrator for Rakuten’s virtualized telco cloud.

    On its earnings call, Robbins said, “With our newest Catalyst 9000 family additions, we have completed the most comprehensive enterprise networking portfolio refresh in our history. We have rebuilt our entire access portfolio with intent-based networking across wired and wireless.”

    Robbins also mentioned 5G, saying Cisco is helping telcos build out their core networks ahead of large-scale 5G rollouts. Although Cisco is already selling packet core technology to carriers for their new 5G networks, “the big play for us is when they begin to evolve their networks to accommodate the traffic,” he said. “And we’ve always said we felt like that would be sometime in calendar 2020.”

    Carriers are leveraging their existing core networks to run the early trials on 5G. “We believe that sometime in the future when the number of connections increases and the capacity gets to a point, then they’re obviously going to begin to build out these new backbones dedicated to the 5G infrastructure, where we will generally come into play,” he said.

    Although Robbins focused on telcos’ core networks in the earnings call, the company has investments in Altiostar, a startup that has developed RAN virtualization technology. Altiostar is also working with Rakuten.

    Finally, Robbins talked a bit on the earnings call about Wi-Fi 6. Cisco recently announced new Wi-Fi 6 access points across its Catalyst and Meraki portfolios, as well as the Catalyst 9600 core switch family.

    “Wi-Fi 6 is effectively what used to be called 802.11ax,” said Robbins. “And, what’s happening now is when you get these high-performance access points into the organizations and you get the low latency immersive experience possibilities, then it’s also going to drive the need to upgrade the backbones.”

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  • DoT aims to issue trial 5G spectrum in June

    DoT aims to issue trial 5G spectrum in June

    India’s Department of Telecom has reportedly put facilitating 5G technology trials at the top of the agenda within its 100-day action plan for whichever party wins the upcoming Lok Sabha (lower house) elections.

    The allocation of 5G trial licenses could take place as soon as the new government takes over, which could be in June.

    The 100-day action plan also includes developing policy on trial spectrum and technology testing, standardization, regulatory policy and the establishment of use case labs, the report states.

    Areas of focus include simplifying the process of obtaining experimental licenses as well as approvals for experimental products and services.

    Depending on their readiness, operators could commence 5G network trials in June. The telecom ministry has recommended that the trial run for a three month period, with options to expand this to up to a year if operators need more time to prepare.

    Samsung, Nokia and Ericsson have been approved to participate in the trials with incumbent operators Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The government has not yet decided whether to allow the participation of Chinese vendors including Huawei.

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