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Tag: communication

  • LG U+ CEO says Huawei gear is not a risk

    LG U+ CEO says Huawei gear is not a risk

    LG U+ CEO and Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hwoi has made it clear that the carrier does not think there are any security threats related to its use of Huawei equipment in its 5G infrastructure. Ha made the statement during a year-end press briefing on Wednesday in Yongsan District, central Seoul, rebuffing claims by some lawmakers that there is a risk of security leaks through the use of the Chinese tech giant’s equipment in the network. LG U+ currently partners with Huawei as well as Samsung Electronics, Ericsson and Nokia for its 5G infrastructure.

    According to Ha, the Chinese IT company has already applied for security certification of its 5G network equipment from an international certifying body in Spain. The CEO added the public will be able to see how secure the equipment is once the evaluations are complete next year.

    “Security concerns apply to every equipment vendor we partner with, not only Huawei, and we need to thoroughly verify all the equipment [we use] is secure,” Ha said. “There are roughly 170 countries that are already using Huawei’s network equipment, and there hasn’t been any security problems reported so far.”

    Locally, Huawei has set up equipment that abides by over 70 security guidelines set by the Korea Internet & Security Agency, according to LG U+.

    The main reason for the carrier taking the risk of using the controversial equipment is because 5G infrastructure needs to be built in conjunction with the existing network equipment for 4G long term evolution (LTE), some of which LG U+ also bought from Huawei. Ha said price, technological competitiveness and the ability to deliver the equipment in a timely manner were also considered when choosing the vendor.

    LG U+ has built 5,500 base stations to service the next-generation 5G network as of Wednesday, while its local competitors have reportedly established less than 1,000 5G base stations.

    On why the mobile carrier is rushing to establish its 5G infrastructure, Ha said, “It is important to have a head start to have a competitive edge in [5G] services considering the quality tests we need to go through before March [when the high-speed network is commercialized for smartphones].”

    Ha said the company invested roughly 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) to set up its 5G infrastructure, including at 5G spectrum auctions.

    The company said it hopes to take up a larger share of the market, which is dominated by SK Telecom, with 50 percent, and KT, with 30 percent.

    “In July 2011, when we first began the LTE service, our local market share was 17.7 percent, but the share increased to 21.2 percent over time as of the end of October,” LG U+ said in statement. “We think next year could be the best time to shake up the competing structure.”

    The carrier is preparing a 5G-based smart factory service with its affiliates LG Electronics and IT service company LG CNS, targeting enterprise customers. For individual customers, LG U+ is focusing on augmented reality and virtual reality content that can offer an immersive experience of watching sports games and K-pop concerts at home.

    The CEO also commented on speculations that the carrier will acquire paid TV service operator CJ Hello. Ha said it has opened up its options to cable TV operators other than CJ Hello and plans to finalize the deal within the first half of next year. Industry sources, however, still say negotiations between the two parties have nearly come to a close and final results are likely to come out around March.

  • Ted Baker CEO and founder Ray Kelvin to take leave of absence

    Ted Baker CEO and founder Ray Kelvin to take leave of absence

    Ted Baker chief executive and founder Ray Kelvin has taken a voluntary leave of absence after “further serious allegations” around his conduct were brought to light. These allegations were brought to the attention of an independent committee of non-executive directors created to investigate harassment claims made by multiple anonymous staff members that Kelvin had expected them to hug him and sit on his lap when he would visit stores.

    The committee appointed Herbert Smith Freehills LLP to conduct an independent external investigation into the claims.

    Kelvin agreed it would be best for the business, and the people who work in it, if he were to take a voluntary leave of absence for the duration of the investigation.

    Chief operating officer Lindsay Page has been appointed acting chief executive with immediate effect.

    Ted Baker non-executive chairman David Bernstein noted the business remains in a strong position to deliver on its strategy, despite the negative media reports.

    The investigation stems from a petition created on website Organise, through which multiple Ted Baker employees made workplace harassment claims about the founder.

    “Together our pressure exposed what was happening at the highest level. Now, over 100 anonymised reports of harassment are sat with Ted Baker’s board,” Organise said in a blog post about the matter.

    Kelvin said that he grew up with such practices, and that it was “good old-fashioned stuff”.

  • Vietnamese network providers ready for 5G rollout

    Vietnamese network providers ready for 5G rollout

    Vietnamese telecom firms are seeking a head start in the 5G race as the country becomes an early adopter of the technology. State-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) recently signed a deal with Finnish telecom firm Nokia to develop 5G solutions and technology for the Internet of Things. The three-year deal is worth $15 million.

    The country’s third largest mobile service provider is seeking permission from the Ministry of Information and Communications for its Vinaphone network to beta test 5G, chairman Tran Manh Hung said at a conference last month.

    He said the test would help VNPT master the technology and prepare to produce 5G equipment, adding Vinaphone is ready to provide 5G services as soon as it gets the ministry green light.

    Military-run Viettel Group has also announced it is ready to beta test 5G next year. Its deputy director, Tao Duc Thang, said its installation of infrastructure for 4G even in remote areas allows Viettel to be ready for the new network.

    5G is said to offer speeds 100 times faster than 4G, primarily used for smartphones and other similar devices. The former is also expected to support new applications like remote medical procedures and autonomous driving.

    Thang said Viettel, the country’s largest mobile service provider, is working with partners to manufacture 5G equipment.

    “I think Vietnamese operators are ready for 5G with the existing infrastructure. When the market, equipment and users are ready, developing 5G will be possible.”

    The company, which has been working on 5G plans since 2015, will start installing infrastructure early next year and introduce the service first in big cities like Hanoi and HCMC.

    The country’s second biggest mobile service provider, MobiFone, which trailed its competitors in deploying 4G, earlier this year signed an agreement with Samsung Electronics for engineering and commercial cooperation on 4G and 5G networks.

    Vietnamobile, a joint venture between Hanoi Telecom and Hongkong-based Hutchison Asia Telecommunications, has also announced its interest in offering 5G services.

    VNPT, Viettel, MobiFone, and Vietnamobile are expected to receive 5G testing licenses in January.

    Last month Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said at a conference that Vietnam should test 5G next year and ensure nationwide coverage by 2020.

    “Vietnam should be one of the first to launch the network, at least in Hanoi and HCMC.” The country had been one of the last in Southeast Asia to roll out 4G.

    This time Vietnam would be able to produce the required equipment before it launches the network, whereas for 4G the country had to wait for eight years before being able to do so, and for 2G and 3G all the equipment had to be imported, he said.

    “5G is not only an opportunity for connection services and going up the telecommunications ladder, but also an opportunity for developing the country’s information and communications technology industry.”

    The International Telecommunication Union last year ranked Vietnam 115th out of 193 economies in terms of mobile teledensity, but Hung wants the country to have 100 percent subscription by 2020 and be among top 30-50 countries in the world in data spending per capita.

    Vietnam’s telecom market was estimated at more than $16 billion in 2016, with the three state-owned providers, Viettel, MobiFone, and VNPT, accounting for 95 percent of the market.

    Viettel had the largest share with 46.7 percent, followed by MobiFone with 26.1 percent and VNPT with 22.2 percent.

    While MobiFone and VNPT are on the list of state-owned companies slated for privatization by 2020, Viettel will remain in government hands.

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  • Telenor Group CEO meets Prime Minister to discusses digitalisation and socioeconomic development

    Telenor Group CEO meets Prime Minister to discusses digitalisation and socioeconomic development

    SigveBrekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group, along with IrfanWahab Khan, CEO of Telenor Pakistan and Petter-Børre Furberg, Executive Vice President Telenor Group met the Honorable Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan Imran Khan to discuss the growing and evolving digital ecosystem in the country and Telenor Group’s longstanding commitment to the country.

    During the meeting, Brekke shared Telenor Groups journey to becoming one of the largest telecom and digital services provider in Pakistan. SigveBrekke thanked the Government of Pakistan for its continued support for the telecom sector and for encouraging foreign direct investments into the country.In addition,theydiscussed possible collaborations to bringcontinued socioeconomic development and digitalisation for all. Brekke also highlighted Telenor’s commitment towards financial inclusion and informed the Prime Minister of incoming investment of USD 140mnas a result of the recently announcedpartnership with Ant Financial.

    The Prime Minister appreciated Telenor’s contribution in the telecom sector and said that the Government aims to develop a knowledge based economy in Pakistan and value Telenor as an important partner in developing the ecosystem that supports the Government’s development agenda.

    The Prime Minister reiterated that the Government is committed to transparency and facilitate investors and enable them take full advantage of huge potential existing in the growing economy of the country.

    “Pakistan is a key market for Telenor Group and we remain committed to empowering this nation by connecting our customers to what matters most,” said SigveBrekke, President & CEO Telenor Group, while sharing his thoughts. “We hope that the government will not only encouragebusiness-friendly policies, but will also introduce new reforms to enhance access to life-changing digital services and solutions for all.”

    “Through Telenor Pakistan’s industry-first initiatives in areas of digital products & services, financial inclusion, agriculture, health, and digital entrepreneurship, we are empowering Pakistan through robust ICT solutions,” said IrfanWahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan. “We have 13 successful years to proudly look back to and aim to serve the people of Pakistan even better with all the learning we have gathered during this time. I thank Prime Minister Imran Khan for his time and am confident that his government will extend the needed support to help us materialise our shared vision of a digital Pakistan.”

    During his visit, SigveBrekke also called upon Mr. Asad Umar, Minister of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairsand Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister and extended his appreciation to the Government for ensuring positive outlook and improving economic indicators that are instrumental towards attracting investment in the country. Brekke also discussed the role of telecom sector in socioeconomic uplift of the country by bringing widespread connectivity to the people of Pakistan.

    Telenor Group has been operating in Pakistan since 2005 and has made a significant impact on the socioeconomic uplift of the country. The Group has invested over USD 3.5bn, contributed over USD 2.5bn to the national exchequer since 2005 and created over 5,000 direct jobs, in addition tohundreds of thousands of indirect jobs.

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  • SK’s Chey says group is committed to U.S. society

    SK’s Chey says group is committed to U.S. society

    The chairman of Korea’s SK Group was in Washington on last Wednesday, vowing to make a commitment not only to the U.S. market but also its people and society. Chey Tae-won, who heads Korea’s third-largest conglomerate by assets, formally opened the Washington office of chipmaker SK Hynix in the presence of dozens of American dignitaries, including former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

    What was initially meant to be an opening ceremony was expanded under the name “SK Night” to provide a platform for Chey to explain the group’s current operations and investment plans in the United States, group officials said.

    “Past years, every different SK subsidiary … opened up their branches in the East Coast and West Coast, Texas … but they never actually [had] real communication with society,” Chey said in a speech.

    “Well this time, we will be investing in the U.S. about more than $7 billion here and there,” he said, citing as an example the planned construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in Jackson County, Georgia.

    “That’s going to be a $1.6 billion investment, and we’re going to hire right now more than 1,400 people,” he added to applause. “But within five years and if the market allows us, then we can expand [investment to] $5 billion and hire more than 6,000 employees there.”

    The plant is to be built by the group’s energy-chemical business, SK Innovation. On Monday, SK Biopharmaceuticals said it has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to win approval for sales of a newly-developed epilepsy treatment drug.

    Chey has pushed to expand SK’s presence in North America this year to add to business networks in China, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. During his stay here, he met with American business partners and local subsidiaries to help expand their presence on the continent.

    “[By opening up] the Washington office, I’m trying to show our commitment not only [to the] business side but also social value and commitment to society,” Chey said, adding that the group’s target is to “grow together” with U.S. society.

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  • KT subscribers jump ship after fire accident

    KT subscribers jump ship after fire accident

    KT’s week has taken yet another turn for the worse as the fire that caused major telecommunications disruptions in Seoul and the surrounding area has likely left the company with a hefty compensation bill and subscribers looking to take their business elsewhere.

    According to data from the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association on Tuesday, the number of KT’s mobile service subscribers has been shrinking since a fire broke out at the carrier’s Ahyeon telecommunications switching center in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Saturday.

    On Saturday, the total number of subscribers to the country’s second-largest mobile carrier fell by 828 people compared to the previous day. This means that the number of people that left KT was larger than those who newly subscribed to the carrier that day.

    On the contrary, subscribers to SK Telecom increased by 246 people and LG U+ 582 people on the day of the accident.

    On Monday, the number of KT subscribers again dropped by 678 people. During the two operating days, KT lost a net 1,506 subscribers.

    Before the accident, the number of KT subscribers was on the rise. On Thursday, KT’s pool of subscribers increased by 69 people and by 83 people on Friday, but that trend was reversed after the fire.

    The troubled company said most fire-affected services have returned to normal on Tuesday, but analyst Kim Hyun-yong from eBest Investment & Securities said, “KT’s sales and brand image can be damaged if the situation is not fixed quickly considering the long hours and broad scope of disruptions [caused by the accident,]” in a report.

    SK Telecom also suffered from problems in its mobile communications services in April and LG U+ last year, but disruptions were resolved in a matter of hours, not days.

    Analysts estimate KT will have to spend at least 23.2 billion won ($20.5 million) in compensation to individual customers as it decided to waive a month’s phone bill for KT subscribers residing in the affected regions. The amount is roughly 1.6 percent of KT’s projected operating profit for this year according to Yang Jong-in, a research fellow from Korea Investment & Securities, Tuesday.

    “We made our assumptions based on KT’s market share in the five affected districts in Seoul,” Yang said.

    Another analyst Kim Joon-sop from KB Securities estimated the amount of compensation to be larger, at around 31.7 billion won.

    As compensation plans for the business losses of small and microbusiness operators have not yet been laid out by the mobile carrier, the amount of compensation could snowball.

    The accident comes at a tragic time for KT, as it was just a week before the carrier expected to introduce its first 5G network-based services. Korean carriers have been preparing to launch their first 5G services in dongle-type devices from December and had scheduled large press briefings this week prior to the official launch.

    KT has now delayed its event. On Monday, the mobile carrier sent notices saying “we decided to cancel our scheduled event to quickly fix telecommunications disruptions caused by the fire,” to reporters.

    The 5G network has been KT’s key focus and Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu had promised in September to invest a whopping 9.6 trillion won into its 5G business over the next five years. The company had also cemented its image as a leading 5G service provider by serving as the official telecommunications partner at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games earlier this year.

    The latest incident, however, has hampered KT’s latest bid to take a bigger share of the local telecommunications market, which has been in a similar shape for the last decade: SK Telecom taking 50 percent, followed by KT with 30 percent and LG U+ 20 percent.

    “SK Telecom, which boasts a well-established image of offering quality mobile services, and LG U+, which bets on cost-effective services, are likely to take advantage of the latest accident,” an industry insider said.

    Still, KT is trying its best to restore the disrupted network.

    According to KT, 96 percent of its mobile communications service has been restored, while 99 percent of landline internet and 92 percent of fixed-line phone services are repaired as of 11 a.m. Tuesday.

    KT said microbusiness operators still suffering from telecommunications disruptions are those that depend on copper cables rather than more modernized fiber optic cables. While 99 percent of fiber optic cable-based landline phone services are back to normal, only 10 percent of the copper cable-based services have been restored.

    “Copper cables are heavy and thick so they cannot be taken out through manholes for restoration,” KT said in statement. “They can only be recovered after our people are allowed into the tunnel where the fire broke out.”

    To minimize damage to copper-cable users, KT said it will offer 1,500 wireless LTE routers to shop operators so they can use electronic card payment systems. KT is also offering 300 wireless payment devices to convenience stores after discussions with the various franchise headquarters. The carrier has also been rushing to convert copper cables to fiber optic ones in areas with a large number of shops since Monday.

    From the government’s side, the Ministry of Science and ICT created a task force on Tuesday consisting of related government officials and representatives from mobile carriers to discuss how to manage low-level telecommunications facilities like the Ahyeon facility, which was graded D in terms of importance.

  • TM posts RM175m net loss in Q3

    TM posts RM175m net loss in Q3

    Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) suffered a net loss of RM175.59 million during the third quarter ended Sept 30 compared with a net profit of RM211.82 million a year ago, due to an impairment loss on network assets recognised during the quarter.

    In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, TM said it recognised a provision of RM934.8 million during the quarter for the impairment of fixed and wireless network assets following the continued pressure from challenging business, industry and economic conditions.

    It said that the impairment losses were projected based on an assessment of the recoverable value in use of the affected network assets at respective entity levels and it will continue reviewing the economic circumstances revolving around these assets in coming periods to reflect any potential impairment or recoverable value.

    Its core net profit, excluding non-operational items, stood at RM266.4 million, a 71% improvement sequentially while revenue for the quarter rose marginally to RM2.95 billion from RM2.94 billion a year ago on the back of higher data as well as other telecommunication related services revenue.

    During the quarter, UniFi recorded a loss of RM808.3 million compared with a profit of RM56.7 million a year ago, due to the impairment loss on network assets while revenue fell 2% to RM1.33 billion from RM1.36 billion a year ago due to lower revenue from voice services in line with a decrease in customer base and usage.

    This was partially offset by higher UniFi revenue in line with increase in customer base at 1.24 million as at end-September compared with 1.04 million a year ago.

    TM ONE recorded a 13.2% drop in profit to RM147.5 million during the quarter from RM170 million a year ago due to high operating costs, including the allocated impairment loss of network assets.

    Revenue for the segment rose 1.9% to RM1.12 billion from RM1.10 billion a year ago due to higher revenue from customer projects.

    As for TM Global, profit rose 9.1% to RM103.3 million from RM94.7 million a year ago due to lower operating costs while revenue rose 2.6% to RM562.8 million from RM548.4 million a year ago due to higher revenue from voice services.

    For the nine months ended Sept 30, net profit plunged 87.21% to RM83.5 million from RM652.74 million a year ago while revenue fell 1.74% to RM8.73 billion from RM8.89 billion a year ago.

    “The recent industry and market challenges have had major impact to the overall revenue estimates and earnings of TM Group in the financial year. TM anticipates that the challenging environment will persist for both our retail and wholesale segments,” the group said.

    In the midst of these challenges, TM said it will continue to focus on strengthening the performance of its core business and operations.

    In a separate filing, TM announced a revised dividend policy of distributing yearly dividends of 40-60% from its net profit, effective from the next dividend declaration.

    The group said that dividends will be paid depending on overall business and earnings performance, capital commitments, financial conditions, distributable reserves and other relevant factors.

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  • Dolce & Gabbana chaos continues

    Dolce & Gabbana chaos continues

    Dolce & Gabbana has cancelled a high-profile catwalk show in Shanghai following an outcry over what many in China perceived to be a racist marketing campaign. The Italian brand products have now been dropped by e-commerce giants Alibaba, JD and Yoox Net-A-Porter. Leading Chinese e-commerce platforms Alibaba and JD.com were joined by Suning, VIPshop, Secoo and Netease in dropping the Italian fashion house’s products from sale.

    Hong Kong-based luxury department store operator Lane Crawford has also joined Chinese retailers in dropping Dolce & Gabbana products after it offended Chinese partners and internet users this week.

    Andrew Keith, president of Lane Crawford, told the Post: “With respect to our customers, we have taken the decision to remove Dolce & Gabbana from all stores in China, online and in Hong Kong.”

    The decision would take effect at 1pm on Friday, Lane Crawford said.

    Amazon China and Yoox Net-A-Porter have also removed products, with the latter dropping the brand from its Net-A-Porter, Mr Porter and Yoox.com platforms.

    Meanwhile, high-profile Chinese celebrities and KOLs including actors Li Bingbing, Chen Kun, Diliraba, Zhang Ziyi and actor-singer Huang Xiaoming were among a host of stars distancing themselves from the brand and vowing not to buy D&G products.

    A video posted on Weibo Monday of a Chinese model attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks was taken down after less than 24 hours, but widely shared on both Chinese social media platforms and Instagram.

    The social media storm was made worse by comments attributed to Stefano Gabbana and Dolce & Gabbana’s official Instagram accounts on Wednesday, the day the brand’s #DGTheGreatShow catwalk presentation was scheduled to take place in Shanghai.

    In what Dolce & Gabbana claims was the result of a hack, the brand’s social media accounts featured derogatory comments about China and Chinese internet users.

    Though quickly removed, screenshots of the comments were widely shared on Chinese social media, along with the trending hashtag #BoycottDolce. The Weibo hashtag #DGTheGreatShowCancelled has been read 540 million times, and mentioned in 74,000 discussions.

    Show invitees have been informed that the 500-look runway event will no longer go ahead.

    China Bentley Modelling agency released an official statement saying 24 of their models who were booked to walk in D&G’s first Shanghai fashion show were boycotting the event.

    The Chinese government also stepped in with the Cultural and Tourism Department ordering Dolce & Gabbana to cancel the event just a few hours before it was scheduled to take place.

    Chinese consumers have flooded social media platforms Weibo and WeChat criticising the brand and posting videos and images of D&G products being destroyed, burned and used to clean floors and line animal litter trays. Security guards and police officers have been stationed outside Dolce & Gabbana stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

    This marks the second high-profile outcry over racist messaging from Dolce & Gabbana in only 18 months. A previous #DGLovesChina campaign depicted Beijing in a way that Chinese internet users felt looked backwards and underdeveloped.

    Both Gabbana and co-founder Domenico Dolce have been accused of making politically insensitive statements, from referring to babies conceived by in vitro fertilisation as “synthetic”, to refusing to support the right of gay parents to adopt.

    The duo has also described gladiator sandals as “slave sandals” and were quick to endorse First Lady Melania Trump.

    Gabbana in particular has a history of posting insensitive comments on social media, and came under fire for calling Selena Gomez “ugly” on Instagram in June, and the Kardashian family “the most cheap people in the world” in July.

    Though the designer duo have been known for using social media to voice their controversial opinions, upsetting Chinese consumers could have far-reaching commercial consequences.

    According to Bain & Company’s latest report on the luxury market, Chinese consumers account for an estimated 33 percent of global luxury goods spend, a share that is likely to hit 46 percent by 2025.

    Seeing as Chinese support can make or break a brand’s performance, how the label manages the controversy will be critical for its future success in the market.

    Dolce & Gabbana could not yet be reached in China or Milan for comment.

    According to a post published on Dolce & Gabbana’s Weibo account on November 21, the event has been rescheduled, and the brand has apologised for the inconvenience caused.

    Dolce & Gabbana reposted Gabbana’s ‘Not Me’ screenshot on its Weibo account, accompanied by the following statement, which mirrors the brand’s post on Instagram: “Our Instagram account has been hacked. So has the account of Stefano Gabbana. Our legal office is urgently investigating. We are very sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorised posts, comments and direct messages. We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China.”

    Last Friday, Dolce & Gabbana released a video of apologies, but the situation is not getting any better. The video was received as a way for the brand to preserve their own economic interests.

    Now, increasing attention has been given to similar episodes related to other brands, and media are populated with advertising campaigns, which show how while targeting overseas markets, lack of knowledge of local culture could be fatal to a business.

    Among the cases mentioned over the weekend, Chanel and its luxury boomerang, and Dior and Jennifer Lawrence featuring Mexican heritage without Mexican women (cultural appropriation), Zara and Nazi symbolism, and many more. However, Dolce & Gabbana case has been the first one with such global economic consequences.

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  • Dolce & Gabbana dropped by Lane Crawford, Alibaba, JD.com and Yoox after racism scandal

    Dolce & Gabbana has cancelled a high-profile catwalk show in Shanghai following an outcry over what many in China perceived to be a racist marketing campaign.

    The Italian brand products have now been dropped by e-commerce giants Alibaba, JD and Yoox Net-A-Porter.

    Leading Chinese e-commerce platforms Alibaba and JD.com were joined by Suning, VIPshop, Secoo and Netease in dropping the Italian fashion house’s products from sale.

    Hong Kong-based luxury department store operator Lane Crawford has also joined Chinese retailers in dropping Dolce & Gabbana products after it offended Chinese partners and internet users this week.

    Andrew Keith, president of Lane Crawford, told the Post: “With respect to our customers, we have taken the decision to remove Dolce & Gabbana from all stores in China, online and in Hong Kong.”

    The decision would take effect at 1pm on Friday, Lane Crawford said.

    Amazon China and Yoox Net-A-Porter have also removed products, with the latter dropping the brand from its Net-A-Porter, Mr Porter and Yoox.com platforms.

    Meanwhile, high-profile Chinese celebrities and KOLs including actors Li Bingbing, Chen Kun, Diliraba, Zhang Ziyi and actor-singer Huang Xiaoming were among a host of stars distancing themselves from the brand and vowing not to buy D&G products.

    A video posted on Weibo Monday of a Chinese model attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks was taken down after less than 24 hours, but widely shared on both Chinese social media platforms and Instagram.

    The social media storm was made worse by comments attributed to Stefano Gabbana and Dolce & Gabbana’s official Instagram accounts on Wednesday, the day the brand’s #DGTheGreatShow catwalk presentation was scheduled to take place in Shanghai.

    In what Dolce & Gabbana claims was the result of a hack, the brand’s social media accounts featured derogatory comments about China and Chinese internet users.

    Though quickly removed, screenshots of the comments were widely shared on Chinese social media, along with the trending hashtag #BoycottDolce. The Weibo hashtag #DGTheGreatShowCancelled has been read 540 million times, and mentioned in 74,000 discussions.

    Show invitees have been informed that the 500-look runway event will no longer go ahead.

    China Bentley Modelling agency released an official statement saying 24 of their models who were booked to walk in D&G’s first Shanghai fashion show were boycotting the event.

    The Chinese government also stepped in with the Cultural and Tourism Department ordering Dolce & Gabbana to cancel the event just a few hours before it was scheduled to take place.

    Chinese consumers have flooded social media platforms Weibo and WeChat criticising the brand and posting videos and images of D&G products being destroyed, burned and used to clean floors and line animal litter trays. Security guards and police officers have been stationed outside Dolce & Gabbana stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

    This marks the second high-profile outcry over racist messaging from Dolce & Gabbana in only 18 months. A previous #DGLovesChina campaign depicted Beijing in a way that Chinese internet users felt looked backwards and underdeveloped.

    Both Gabbana and co-founder Domenico Dolce have been accused of making politically insensitive statements, from referring to babies conceived by in vitro fertilisation as “synthetic”, to refusing to support the right of gay parents to adopt.

    The duo has also described gladiator sandals as “slave sandals” and were quick to endorse First Lady Melania Trump.

    Gabbana in particular has a history of posting insensitive comments on social media, and came under fire for calling Selena Gomez “ugly” on Instagram in June, and the Kardashian family “the most cheap people in the world” in July.

    Though the designer duo have been known for using social media to voice their controversial opinions, upsetting Chinese consumers could have far-reaching commercial consequences.

    According to Bain & Company’s latest report on the luxury market, Chinese consumers account for an estimated 33 percent of global luxury goods spend, a share that is likely to hit 46 percent by 2025.

    SEE ALSO : How is China revolutionizing retail?

    Seeing as Chinese support can make or break a brand’s performance, how the label manages the controversy will be critical for its future success in the market.

    Dolce & Gabbana could not yet be reached in China or Milan for comment.

    According to a post published on Dolce & Gabbana’s Weibo account on November 21, the event has been rescheduled, and the brand has apologised for the inconvenience caused.

    Dolce & Gabbana reposted Gabbana’s ‘Not Me’ screenshot on its Weibo account, accompanied by the following statement, which mirrors the brand’s post on Instagram: “Our Instagram account has been hacked. So has the account of Stefano Gabbana. Our legal office is urgently investigating. We are very sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorised posts, comments and direct messages. We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China.”

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  • Dolce & Gabbana Sparks Racism Backlash With Chinese Ad

    Dolce & Gabbana Sparks Racism Backlash With Chinese Ad

    Italian luxury retailer Dolce & Gabbana is facing a growing backlash in China after an ad campaign that was meant to promote the brand in arguably its most valuable market has been decried as racist.

    Amidst growing calls to boycott the brand on Chinese social media, popular e-commerce sites, including Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com, have seemingly removed listings for Dolce & Gabbana products. Searches for the brand on those sites at the time of this writing returned no results. NetEase’s Kaola said that it had taken down the brand’s listings.

    The growing backlash forced the brand to postpone a fashion show in Shanghai just hours before it was set to take place on Wednesday, after models and celebrities reportedly said they would not attend the event. Dolce & Gabbana’s ambassadors in the region, Karry Wang and Dilraba Dilmurat, who is of Uigher ethnicity, have ended their contracts with the company.

    The uproar follows the publication of a series of ads on Chinese social media platform Weibo earlier this week, featuring a young Chinese woman attempting and failing to eat traditional Italian food, such as pasta, pizza and a cannoli, with chopsticks. The ads were released as part of the brand’s #DGLovesChina campaign ahead of the scheduled fashion show in Shanghai, but critics decried the videos as playing on racist stereotypes. The ads are still visible on Dolce & Gabbana’s Instagram page.

    The controversy was made worse after screenshots of direct messages purportedly from founder Stefano Gabbana’s Instagram account were leaked, showing offensive comments about China and Chinese people. Both Gabbana and the brand have denied that the messages were sent by the Italian designer, saying the accounts were hacked, but many have expressed scepticism, given Gabbana’s track record of getting into verbal spats on social media.

    “I love China and the Chinese culture. I’m so sorry for what happened,” Gabbana wrote in an Instagram post that asserted his account was hacked.

    The boycott is especially troubling, since China is such a crucial market for luxury retailers. A 2017 McKinsey report found that Chinese consumers account for nearly a third of the global luxury market, spending RMB 500 billion (approximately $99 billion) annually. The consulting firm expects Chinese consumers to account for the majority of the growth in the global luxury goods market in the coming years, and by 2025, the country is forecast to make up 44 per cent of the total global market.

    At the same time, McKinsey said that Chinese luxury consumers increasingly rely on word of mouth from friends and family to make purchase decisions, even more than the in-store experience. This creates treacherous terrain for global luxury brands, and Dolce & Gabbana is not the only one to have made a culturally insensitive or simply out-of-touch decision, causing offense in its most valuable market.

    Ikea, among many other brands, has faced criticism for listing Taiwan as a separate country on its packaging or website, while Mercedes-Benz ran into problems for quoting the Dalai Lama in an ad campaign. China considers the spiritual leader to be a dangerous voice for separatism in Tibet.

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  • Viettel’s foreign market earnings up in Q3

    Viettel’s foreign market earnings up in Q3

    Viettel earned gross profits of $57.25 million from overseas markets in Q3, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent. Its overseas investment arm, Viettel Global, reaped net revenues of nearly VND4.43 billion ($188.71) in the third quarter, up 5 percent over the same period last year.

    Accumulated net revenues reached VND12.43 trillion ($529.7 million) between January and September.

    The revenues include nearly VND5.61 trillion ($238.94 million) from African countries, including Cameroon, Tanzania, Mozambique and Burudi, VND4.54 trillion ($193.68 million) from Southeast Asia countries, including Cambodia and East Timor, and VND1.69 trillion ($71.82 million) from Latin America.

    The company’s revenues from its three continents rose 3-11 percent, with Latin America registering the greatest increase.

    The increase is attributed to the company’s development of 4G services, digital wallet and other information technology projects serving overseas businesses and governments.

    Viettel Global is providing 4G services in 9 overseas markets, and digital wallet services in 8 markets.

    Also, Viettel Global’s sales expense and management costs reduced 4 percent and 12 percent respectively in the first 9 months of this year, compared to the same period last year.

    Viettel Global was established in 2006 to spread Viettel Group’s presence in foreign markets. Eight out of Viettel Global’s 10 overseas markets have begun earning profits. It has taken up the largest market share of the telecommunications sectors in Laos, Cambodia, and Timor Leste.

    It plans to expand its overseas operations in the Southeast Asian region and foreign markets that share similar population sizes as Vietnam this year. The company also aims to achieve a 10-15 percent year-on-year increase in terms of the number of subscribers by the end of 2018.

  • SK Group continues to focus on social value

    SK Group continues to focus on social value

    SK Group is reevaluating its business models in a bid to ensure that all of its affiliates create social value along with economic value. SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and the heads of all SK affiliates discussed ways to renew their business models so that doing business leads to increasing benefits for the public as well as SK shareholders and employees during a three-day meeting on Jeju Island that ended Friday.

    “Creating social value is a way to earn strong trust from our customers and society,” Chey said. “By social value, I mean increasing the benefits of all stakeholders in our business including our customers, shareholders and employees.”

    Chey then ordered the chief executives to think over whether there was any part of their business that they are tricked into believing is sustainable.

    “Rethinking business models that you believe are sustainable is the beginning of a deep change that we are trying to accomplish,” the chairman added.

    SK has been making small steps into realizing Chey’s vision from earlier this year. The group’s oil refining arm SK Energy opened up the idle space at its gas stations so a logistics start-up can move in and use the space as storage.

    However, many other SK affiliates still need to come up with ideas to create social value.

    To renew business models, the CEOs agreed that sharing data and resources between SK affiliates is crucial. The heads also said that all members of SK should be a part of the movement for the vision to materialize.

    The chief executives first decided to improve human resources management policies and the research and development system. Details of the discussion weren’t revealed, but Chey ordered the chief executives to rethink the work environment for employees and to bolster R&D capabilities.

    As SK has businesses in a range of industries, the group is also thinking about business convergence among affiliates.

  • Small Cell Forum puts orchestration, SON on roadmap

    Small Cell Forum puts orchestration, SON on roadmap

    The work program for the Small Cell Forum for the coming year covers “every aspect of densification,” including policy improvements for siting and spectrum, 5G-enabling technologies and the next iteration of its enterprise action plan, according to SCF. One of the work items focuses on the edge computing landscape, which the forum describes as an excellent example of an area where a common framework will be essential to avoid fragmentation—but one where every operator will deploy differently to support different use cases.

    Indeed, the pushing of intelligence, processing and cloud services to the edge of the network is making the small cell into a “gold mine” by adding many more services to the connectivity, according to SCF. Technologies like ETSI’s Multi-access Edge Computing or the OpenFog initiative, which is now the basis of an IEEE standard, are ways to distribute cloud services widely and bring them close to the users, supported along with radios on small cells equipped with processors or in separate miniservers. The distributed topology reduces latency and backhaul costs and improves responsiveness and QoS for users, the forum notes.

    The forum has been bringing operators, vendors and other stakeholders together as part of “Densification Summits” that it has held in the US, China and India over the past 12 months, discussing how to map clear and cost-effective migration paths to dense, software-driven and automated 5G networks. As such, the forum says it has been able to gather a range of requirements from industry and enterprise as to what future networks should enable.

    Another important task for the forum is developing a full road map for orchestration and SON. “Unsurprisingly, on the eve of commercial 5G, many of the issues which operators highlighted relate to that new standard—for instance, how it will interwork with WiFi, and what a 5G small cell for massive IoT applications should look like,” the SCF stated. “And some of the Forum’s most important 4G technologies will be revisited to plot a 5G migration, including the nFAPI interface for virtualized small cell networks.”

    According to the forum, one of the most important foundations of the new work program is the Enterprise, which is based on a year of in-depth discussions within SCF’s Enterprise Advisory Council. It identifies requirements that are common to all sectors and can be addressed by a unified small cell platform, while also drilling down on the specific variations within individual markets such as hospitality, healthcare and commercial property.

    SCF says it has been increasingly engaged with spectrum regulators and national and municipal authorities to help them understand the benefits of densification and how it can be accelerated by the right rules. Activities in 2018-19 will take this work further, to remove more of the barriers that challenge at-scale deployment.

    Last month, the FCC voted to approve rules aimed at speeding up the deployment of small cells and other 5G network equipment by regulating in part the fees and timelines cities and states can impose on wireless network operators and other wireless players.

    US outdoor small cell antenna shipments increased 84% in 2017, according to a report from EJL Wireless Research. The firm is forecasting that US outdoor small cell antenna shipments will increase by 75% in 2018 due to increasing demand from all four US national mobile operators as well as neutral host operators.

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  • Myanmar taps Intelsat for satellite backhaul

    Myanmar taps Intelsat for satellite backhaul

    Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has arranged to use two Intelsat satellites to improve wireless broadband connectivity for the nation and expand broadband access for businesses.

    The multi-year, multi-transponder agreement will allow the government to significantly enhance its own network and help mobile operators achieve their 2G and 3G deployment goals, the parties said in a statement.

    This will hasten the expansion of high-speed wireless broadband connectivity for businesses and communities nationwide.

    Under the agreement, the ministry will use C-band satellite services over the Intelsat 902 craft for VSAT network and cellular backhaul services, and move to the higher-power services on the recently-announced Intelsat 39 satellite by 2018.

    “Over the past few years, Myanmar has made significant strides in expanding access to faster and more reliable broadband connectivity throughout the country,” the ministry’s permanent secretary Khin Maung Thet said.

    “With the help of Intelsat’s Globalized Network, we will leverage their satellite solutions to extend 2G and 3G communications services beyond urban centers and ensure that all of our citizens have access to higher bandwidth, superior quality and more affordable mobile broadband connectivity.”

    Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler added that the satellite services “will help enrich the lives of the communities [the government] serves by improving medical and educational access, providing a lifeline during times of crisis and enabling Myanmar to foster strong relationships within and outside of the country.”

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