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Tag: telco

  • Batelco completes structural separation

    Batelco completes structural separation

    Bahrain’s Batelco has completed its structural separation into wholesale and retail entities as part of the government’s fourth National Telecommunication Plan.

    Following the separation process, Batelco’s new infrastructure company NBNetco will work with the government to deploy a single national broadband and fiber backhaul infrastructure that will aim to provide all residents of the kingdom with high-speed internet access.

    Meanwhile retail entity Batelco Bahrain will take over the company’s retail and enterprise operations.

    Batelco has appointed Mohamed Bubashait as the CEO of NBNetco, and Mikkel Vinter as the new CEO of Batelco Bahrain.

    Both companies will continue to be owned by Batelco, but will be operated independently.

    The separation process has also involved the restructuring of executive management teams of the separated entities, as well as the separation of operational systems and human resources functions.

    Batelco chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa commented that the company expects that the separation will create new horizons for Batelco and opportunities to invest in digital technology.

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  • Consumers willing to pay a premium for 5G

    Consumers willing to pay a premium for 5G

    Despite concerns surrounding the commercial proposition of 5G technology, smartphone users are willing to pay an average of a 20% premium for 5G services, according to Ericsson.

    The company’s latest ConsumerLab report on the 5G consumer potential finds that half of the early adopters would be willing to pay as much as 32% more for 5G.

    But consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for 5G is reliant on operators introducing new use cases and payment models and providing a consistently high uplink and downlink speed, the report finds.

    Meanwhile, 5G is expected to drive usage behaviors that also promise to increase revenues. The study finds that 5G is expected to significantly increase video consumption, both by enabling streaming in higher resolutions and through the increased use of augmented reality, virtual reality, and other new formats.

    Ericsson predicts that one in five smartphone users’ data usage could reach more than 200GB per month over 5G devices by 2025.

    Consumers also expect that 5G will bring additional benefits such as reducing network congestion in dense urban areas and introducing more home broadband choices.

    Based on the research, Ericsson ConsumerLab has drawn up a consumer roadmap of 5G use cases involving 31 different applications and services.

    These applications are divided into six categories – entertainment and media; enhanced mobile broadband; gaming and AR/VR applications; smart home and fixed wireless access; automotive and transportation; and shopping and immersive communications.

    “Trough our research, we have busted four myths about consumers’ views on 5G and answered questions such as whether 5G features will require new types of devices, or whether smartphones will be the silver bullet for 5G,” Ericsson Research head of ConsumerLab Jasmeet Singh Sethi said.

    “Consumers clearly state that they think smartphones are unlikely to be the sole solution for 5G.”

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  • Vietnam makes its very first 5G phone call

    Vietnam makes its very first 5G phone call

    Vietnam’s first 5G phone call was made Friday on the network of Viettel, the country’s largest telecommunications company. The trial called, made publicly with the participation of the Ministry of Information and Communications, showed that the speed of Viettel’s 5G mobile network connections reached 1.5-1.7 Gigabits per second, far exceeding the theoretical limit of the 4G network and equivalent to the speed of optical cable.

    Viettel said it will expand the test to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the nation’s two biggest cities, and expects to launch the commercial service in 2020. The military-run company said it is looking at many pricing plans for commercial 5G services.

    Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, who led Viettel earlier, said the event marked Vietnam as one of the earliest nations in the world to successfully test the 5G network, after the U.S., Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

    “We all want to take the lead in the fourth industrial revolution and develop information and communications technology so that Vietnamese locals and businesses can compete in the global economy, and therefore, the earlier we launch the 5G service, the better,” he said.

    Viettel became the first firm to receive permission to trial 5G services in January. It was followed by MobiFone.

    Last November, Hung said at a conference that Vietnam should test 5G in 2019 and ensure nationwide coverage by 2020.

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

    5G is the latest generation of mobile Internet connectivity and should offer much faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices compared to the current 3G and 4G technologies.

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  • Spectrum cash grabs could hinder 5G’s potential

    Spectrum cash grabs could hinder 5G’s potential

    Poorly designed 5G spectrum auctions could seriously hamper the potential of the 5G era before it even begins in earnest, the GSMA has warned.

    A new Auction Best Practice by the industry body highlights some key concerns from recent 4G and 5G spectrum allocations, including a trend towards governments artificially inflating spectrum prices.

    This could have the effect of limiting subsequent network investment, thus harming consumers and delaying the potential of 5G from materializing.

    The GSMA has also outlined policy recommendations for governments including ensuring that the top priority for spectrum auctions is supporting affordable, quality mobile services for consumers.

    According to the regulator, spectrum auctions are not always suitable and should not be the only award process considered.

    Where an auction model is used, the auction design should not create unnecessary risk and uncertainty for bidders and should include adequate lot sizes with flexible packages of the spectrum.

    GSMA Intelligence estimates that the socio-economic impact of 5G will be $2.2 trillion over the next 15 years. But these benefits will depend on a favorable regulatory and policy environment for 5G.

    “Auctions can and do fail when poorly designed. We’re seeing a worrying trend of badly run spectrum awards that could seriously impact the potential of 5G before we get started. It’s time for policymakers to work more closely with stakeholders to enable more timely, fair and effective awards,” GSMA head of spectrum Brett Tarnutzer said.

    “This is a crucial time in the development of 5G. Spectrum is an essential to fuel for mobile networks and its ineffective use will only lead to bad consequences for consumers. The most important objective of awarding frequencies should not be about making the most money, but rather about ensuring consumers benefit from the best mobile connectivity.”

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  • Indian telcos propose year-long 5G trials

    Indian telcos propose year-long 5G trials

    India’s major mobile operators have both submitted proposals to conduct year-long field trials of 5G services in the market.

    Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm – along with technology partners including Cisco, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia – have submitted detailed proposals to the Department of Telecom.

    The operators are now awaiting approvals, and it is expected to take an additional initial three months to complete preparations and clearances, the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) told the publication. COAI is the industry body that represents Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Jio.

    But the Department of Telecom has previously expressed a reluctance to allocate airwaves for 5G trials beyond a 90 day window, which the industry believes would be way too short of a time to conduct the required trials.

    According to COAI, the industry is expected to finally reach an agreement with the DoT on the duration of the proposed allocations, as well as other issues.

    The Telecommunications Regulator of India has recommended the 3.5-GHz frequency range for 5G, and aims to complete an initial 5G auction early next year.

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  • Singapore’s IMDA consulting on 5G policy framework

    Singapore’s IMDA consulting on 5G policy framework

    Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has launched a public consultation on the appropriate regulatory framework for 5G, with the goal of enabling commercial deployments by 2020.

    The regulator is seeking feedback from the telecommunications industry and the public on the best approach to 5G spectrum allocation, the baseline requirements for spectrum winners and driving the development of the broader 5G ecosystem.

    IMDA plans to allocate the 3.5-GHz and the 26-GHz to 28-GHz frequency bands as the initial 5G bands during the first wave of spectrum allocations, the regulator said. The regulator says this will be sufficient for at least two nationwide 5G networks.

    The initial allocation is expected to involve a call for proposal process, whereby mobile operators submit detailed proposals on nationwide 5G deployment plans.

    The proposals will be assessed based on factors including ability to meet baseline requirements such as rollout and performance targets, and the applicant’s financial capacity to roll out the proposed 5G networks.

    Finally, the IMDA has proposed to work with the industry to support the development of innovative 5G use cases, as well as 5G engineering manpower.

    “This public consultation is an important step in IMDA’s plans to launch 5G mobile networks and develop a vibrant 5G ecosystem in Singapore,” IMDA chief executive Tan Kiat How said.

    “I encourage interested parties to share your views with us. These insights will guide our regulatory approach and industry development efforts in ensuring Singapore’s connectivity infrastructure remains globally competitive in support of our Digital Economy ambitions.”

  • Vodafone’s reveal keeps the pressure on Huawei

    Vodafone’s reveal keeps the pressure on Huawei

    In this week’s news is yet another story about Huawei and security as European telecommunications operator and regulators continue to scrutinize the gear in advance of 5G deployments. This one is historical though. Apparently Vodafone found security flaws in Huawei gear its Italian unit bought back in 2011 and 2012.

    In the technical sense, this is hardly a surprise. Vulnerabilities and patches are an ongoing part of pretty much all software development, and in this case the problem came with the telnet protocol. There was a day when telnet was a thing for everyone, but these days it’s more a diagnostic thing. According to Vodafone, the flaw would not have been accessible via the internet and was quickly patched. All vendors have processes to handle exactly this sort of thing, and all have done so many times. So the fact that it happened eight years ago in this case is news today only because it was Huawei.

    But the pressure to block Huawei from 5G deployments continues unabated. The contention is that because China requires all its companies to help its national security apparatus and Huawei (like every major Chinese company) has deep ties to that apparatus. On the one hand, it’s easy to envision spies doing this sort of thing. On the other hand, it’s very hard to imagine such deliberate vulnerabilities remaining undetected for long in a suspicious world.

    The most recent development came a few days ago when KPN decided Huawei gear was fine for radios and antennas, but not when it comes to the gear in its core 5G network. They’ve got a deal in place, but with an exit clause in case regulators or lawmakers act to ban Huawei entirely. That seems to have emerged as the consensus response of European telcos to all this pressure, a way to keep Huawei in the mix while still mollifying critics and covering themselves legally.

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  • China Telecom formally signs Philippines JV agreement

    China Telecom formally signs Philippines JV agreement

    China Telecom has formally signed the agreement to create Mislatel, the joint venture that will become the Philippines’ third mobile operator, committing to invest $5.4 billion in the venture.

    The agreement with local conglomerate Udenna Corporation was signed last week in Beijing.

    China Telecom teamed up with Udenna Corporation, consisting of businesses owned by local tycoon Dennis Uy, to jointly submit an application in the Philippines’ new major player selection process in 2018.

    A company owned by Uy, also known as Mislatel, was granted a congressional telecommunications franchise in 1998, and the joint venture plans to use this franchise to operate.

    The joint venture’s entry in the market had the support of president Rodrigo Dutertre, but doubts were raised over the validity of this franchise due to Mislatel’s failure to launch services within the required window. But in February, the Philippines’ senate approved the transfer of the franchise to the joint venture.

    But due to delays receiving the required approvals to operate, Mislatel last week revealed plans to postpone its planned launch date from late 2020 to early 2021.

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  • Vietnam gets its first MVNO Provider

    Vietnam gets its first MVNO Provider

    Indochina Telecom has become the first MVNO in Vietnam, operating on the VinaPhone network. The operator is initially introducing services for workers in industrial parks in nine provinces and cities.

    Indochina Telecom has been attempting for over a decade to launch MVNO services in Vietnam, the report states. The company had initially failed to negotiate an MVNE deal with Viettel, but has secured one with VinaPhone, the mobile subsidiary of VNPT.

    The company plans to introduce a variety of packages tailored to different groups and user segments, and will cooperate with Vietnam’s mobile network operators to negotiate the best deals.

    Indochina Telecom’s introductory package provides unlimited under 20 minute within network and 30 minute out of network calls for 77,000 dong ($3.31) per month.

  • SK Broadband agrees to merge with t-broad

    SK Broadband agrees to merge with t-broad

    South Korea’s SK Telecom has arranged to merge its fixed broadband subsidiary SK Broadband with the nation’s second largest cable TV operator t-broad to help both companies weather rapid changes in the pay TV market.

    Under the proposed merger, which still requires government approval, SK Telecom would take a 74.4% stake in the combined company.

    Meanwhile t-broad’s parent company Taekwang Industrial would take a 16.8% stake in the company, with the remaining held by financial investors, treasury stock and others.

    The merger ratio has been set at 75:25 based on corporate valuation analysis, the companies said. The two companies have also attracted additional investment of 400 billion won from financial investor MiraeAssetDaewoo.

    As of June 2018, t-broad had around 3.14 million subscribers. Adding SK Broadband’s IPTV subscriber base of 4.54 million recorded at the same period, the combined entity would become a media company with around 8 million subscribers.

    But the two companies could face difficulty securing competition regulatory approval for the merger due to this figure.

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  • Vietnam telcos ready to pilot mobile money

    Vietnam telcos ready to pilot mobile money

    Vietnamese operators MobiFone, VNPT and Viettel have all submitted proposals to participate in pilot mobile money services.

    Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has directed the telecommunications ministry and the State Bank of Vietnam to develop a project that will allow operators to pilot mobile money services not linked to customers’ bank accounts.

    The three operators have submitted applications to launch mobile money services that will allow customers to transfer money using mobile phones, including Vietnam’s unbanked population.

    According to the report, the operators believe they have the capital, infrastructure and user base necessary to launch mobile money services and contribute to the development of non-cash payment in Vietnam.

    The market could represent a promising avenue for expansion for the operators – Vietnam’s fintech market is set to reach $8 billion in 2020, with digital payment solutions accounting for around 89% of the market. Meanwhile only around 40% of the population have bank accounts, but mobile penetration is well above 100%.

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  • Thai telcos fear excessive costs from new cable policy

    Thai telcos fear excessive costs from new cable policy

    The Telecommunications Association of Thailand (TCT), the industry body representing Thailand’s major operators, has argued that the policy will impose excessive costs on telecommunications service providers and may prove to be impractical.

    The association is urging the government to subsidize construction costs for the underground pipelines that would hold the currently overhead cables, and has suggested that operators would be willing to pay “reasonable” rental fees for this passive infrastructure.

    But as it stands, the association has stated that it is concerned that operators would be required to pay rental fees for underground pipelines that are up to 100 times higher than the current price paid for using overhead poles – nearly 20,000 baht per kilometer per month, compared to around 200 to 300 baht for per kilometer per month for overhead poles.

    Meanwhile the association has also proposed an alternative model involving using a combination of underground pipes and overhead poles that in some cases could use tubing that can group all cables together.

    This would help the government achieve its goal of helping to beautify the city while being a more affordable option to locating all cables underground.

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  • Mobitel to invest $50m in 5G this year

    Mobitel to invest $50m in 5G this year

    Sri Lankan national mobile service provider Mobitel has revealed plans to invest $50 million this year to deploy a 5G network and upgrade its network infrastructure.

    The operator, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Telecom, has commenced 5G trials ahead of a planned rollout.

    While Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to introduce 3G and 3.5G technology, Mobitel does not expect it to be the first to introduce 5G, the report states.

    Meanwhile Mobitel has been investing heavily to upgrade its 3G network to 4G, having spent around $100 million to convert around 100 3G base stations. The operator plans to continue the 4G upgrade, with plans to soon switch off its 3G network.

    Mobitel has now invested around $600 million over its 25 year history. But despite heavy investments and foreign exchange losses, the company managed to increase its revenue by around 10% last year.

    Mobitel is the second largest mobile operator in Sri Lanka after Dialog Axiata, with around 22.6% market share.

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  • Changing of guard at Spark

    Changing of guard at Spark

    New Zealand incumbent Spark announced that its managing director Simon Moutter (pictured) has resigned from the telco. Moutter will leave the positions of MD and a director of the company from July 1. Jolie Hodson, currently customer director at Spark, will take over as chief executive.

    Spark chair Justine Smyth said the company has been undertaken succession plan from within the business by giving potential internal candidates opportunities over time to demonstrate they have the right leadership capabilities.

    “Jolie is an accomplished leader with a strong record of delivering results and managing complex business units and to be able to appoint an executive of Jolie’s calibre and experience is a testament to the quality of the talent within the company,” she said.

    She has led major programmes related to Spark’s business transformation and has been a key driver of the company’s growth strategies in business cloud and IT services. Her most recent role has been customer director, with responsibilities across Spark’s consumer and retail operations, large corporate and government customers, and cloud services businesses.

    Previously, she was CEO of the former Spark Digital unit and chief financial officer.

    Smyth said Moutter became MD in 2012 and had done so in the expectation of a likely five- to seven-year tenure.

    “In almost every respect, Spark today is a vastly different company to the one that Simon re-joined in 2012. We are New Zealand’s leader in wireless communications, with a rejuvenated mobile business across both Spark and Skinny brands, a promising IoT business and a determination to be at the forefront of 5G,” she said.

    In 2014, Moutter led the transition of Spark changing its name from Telecom. He had helped the telco transform in many other ways including improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Smyth said.

    Moutter has also recently driven an “agile” restructure of Spark and an aggressive drive into sports content and streaming.

    This will be the second time Moutter has left the telco.

    Moutter served as chief operating officer between 2003 and 2008 before leaving to become chief executive of Auckland Airport.

    Moutter returned to Spark in 2012 to take the top job with the expectation that he help turn around the company after a demerger of Chorus in 2011.

    “I’ve given my absolute best to putting Spark onto a positive track over the last seven years, so the company can fully deliver on its purpose to ‘help all of New Zealand win big in a digital world,” he said.

    “I feel it’s the right time to pass the leadership baton on.”

    Moutter said he hadn’t made any decision about what he will do after he finish at Spark, other than spend the first couple of months with his family.

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  • Philippines’ House to hold common tower hearing

    Philippines’ House to hold common tower hearing

    A Philippines’ House of Representatives committee will next week hold a hearing on the government’s common tower policy to address the industry opposition and potential legal hurdles of the proposal.

    The House Committee on ICT will look into the status of the Department of ICT’s common tower policy during a hearing scheduled for Monday, committee chairman Victor Yap told.

    Representatives of Globe Telecom and PLDT, the National Telecommunications Commission, the Department of ICT and the Philippines Competition Commission are all expected to attend.

    Under the proposed policy, tower companies will be allowed to build and operate common telecom towers that can be leased to operators. The DICT has signed agreements with a number of tower companies ahead of the introduction of the policy.

    As well as helping to improve the Philippines’ telecommunications infrastructure, the common tower policy is aimed at allowing the market’s upcoming third operator Mislatel more quickly deploy a mobile network.

    But Globe and PLDT have objected to the draft terms, which had proposed that the number of cell site builders be restricted to two registered tower providers.

    According to the operators, this could lead to an infringement of the rights to own and establish cell sites that is stipulated in their legislative franchises.

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