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Tag: telecom

  • 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.”

  • Globe Q1 profit grows 44%

    Globe Q1 profit grows 44%

    The Philippines’ Globe Telecom has reported a 44% year-on-year increase in net profit for the first three months of 2019 to 6.7 billion pesos ($129.1 million), partly as a result of strong data revenue growth.

    The company reported revenue for the quarter of 36 billion pesos, up 13% year-on-year. Growth was mainly fueled by increasing data usage across the operator’s service offerings.

    Mobile revenue grew 11% to 27 billion pesos, with mobile data revenues reaching 16.5 billion pesos, representing 61% of gross service revenues. Total mobile data traffic surged to 370 petabytes for the quarter.

    But mobile voice revenues fell 15% to 6.3 billion pesos, with SMS revenues down 22% to 4.2 billion pesos.

    Globe’s home broadband business reported 21% higher revenue of 5.2 billion pesos, with the company’s total subscriber base increasing 22% year-on-year to 1.7 million. Of these, 63% are fixed wireless subscribers. Enterprise data revenues grew 16% year-on-year to 2.7 billion pesos.

    Globe’s capex for the quarter reached 8.8 billion pesos, representing 24% of topline revenues.

    “As we continue to invest in our LTE network, we are also excited with the growth opportunities of our 5G commercial pilot launch in June this year,” Globe CEO Ernest Cu commented.

    “Through this launch, we will be able to offer our customers a whole new ecosystem of devices to enhance the way they experience data to the home. This is in line with our proven strategy of making our customers a priority, by providing them a superior digital and network experience, despite all the industry challenges that we face ahead.”

     

  • 32 countries agree on 5G security guidelines

    32 countries agree on 5G security guidelines

    Participants from 32 countries from Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific have agreed on a set of proposals for security guidelines in 5G networks, in a move that could spell further trouble for Huawei.

    As part of a non-binding agreement known as the Prague Proposals released during the Prague 5G Security Conference, representatives agreed on an outline of a potential coordinated approach to securing 5G networks.

    Officials from South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Israel, the UK and a number of European markets signed the non-binding agreement.

    The proposals state that security of 5G networks is “crucial for national security, economic security and other national interests and global stability,” and stresses the importance of the development of “adequate national strategies, sound policies, a comprehensive legal framework and dedicated personnel, who are trained and educated appropriately.”

    Notably, one of the policy proposals involves ensuring that the “overall risk of influence on a supplier by a third country [is] taken into account.”

    While no vendors were mentioned, the US, one of the signatories to the proposals, has been pressuring its allies to restrict Chinese vendors including Huawei from participating in national 5G rollouts due to unproven concerns that the Chinese government could use the equipment to facilitate cyberspying. Huawei has vigorously denied the allegations.

    The Prague Proposals also include recommendations such as the development of international, open, consensus-based standards for 5G security, a call for regular vulnerability assessments for all components and network systems, and active collaboration and threat information sharing by the participating countries.

  • Vietnam, Cuba to strengthen ICT collaboration

    Vietnam, Cuba to strengthen ICT collaboration

    The governments of Vietnam and Cuba have agreed to strengthen cooperation on communications, IT and cybersecurity.

    During a meeting with Cuba’s minister of communications Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, Vietnam’s minister of information and communications Nguyen Manh Hung pledged its continuing support for Cuba’s goal of developing the nation’s ICT capabilities, the ministry revealed.

    Vietnam’s telecoms ministry plans to share experience in areas including network security, 4G development, and ICT legislative frameworks.

    The Cuban government is planning to soon issue a decree governing security within the ICT industry and is seeking input on its contents.

    During the Cuban delegation’s visit, Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also tasked the ministry with directing enterprises to study the possibility of boosting ICT trade in Cuba.

    Vietnam and Cuba have been collaborating on telecommunications and IT development for several years. Last year, the two governments signed an agreement to expand this cooperation to cover areas including the sharing of information on policies, legal frameworks, and vocational training.

  • Two thirds of large companies plan to invest in UC

    Two thirds of large companies plan to invest in UC

    When car rental company Hertz needed to take its unified communications (UC) to a new level, it teamed up with IBM and Ribbon Communications to make it happen.

    According to Monica Gionet, director of UC at Hertz, the company has, for the last 3 years, outsourced its IT transformation to IBM, from helpdesk to UC infrastructure.

    Working closely with the IBM and Ribbon teams, Hertz now enjoys simplicity with its UC solution on the cloud serving multiple locations globally, especially in the ease of scaling up and down according to needs and demands, and ease of use for its end-users taking calls and orders for car rentals.

    Many other businesses, large and small, are experiencing – or looking to experience – similar transformations, seeing the need to improve customer and employee experiences, enhancing workflows and productivity, and to enhance security.

    Over the past year, on the Asia Pacific service provider front, Hong Kong Broadband and Optus have launched Communications-Services-as-a-Service (CPaaS)-powered offerings. This represents a growing trend in which large service providers are turning to CPaaS solutions to quickly deliver their enterprise and developer customers carrier-grade, no-code to low-code, real-time communications (RTC) capabilities.

    Ribbon Communications, a global software leader in secure and intelligent cloud communications, recently completed a comprehensive research study it undertook to understand the purchase drivers and buying behaviors of SMEs and enterprises around the world.

    The results were first unveiled by Patrick Joggerst, CMO and EVP Business Development, in his keynote speech at Perspectives19 held in Washington DC this week.

    Ribbon’s global survey reached 4,800 decision makers in 23 countries at businesses ranging in size from 5 to many thousands of employees, asking questions aimed at understanding who these companies are buying services from today, how they use collaboration tools and video conferencing, how they are managing their IT and their adoption of Unified Communications. The companies represented a wide range of industries.

    Respondents were from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the US.

    The survey found that, of the organizations who have not yet invested UC technology, 68% of large (more than 1,000 employees) companies and 46% of small (1-20 employees) planned to adopt some form of UC in the next two years.

    The numbers were even more striking for mid-sized companies, with 67% of those with 21 to 100 employees and 71% of those with 101 to 1000 employees predicting the same timeframe.

    “Clearly, the UC value proposition resonates across cross-market and cross-industry no matter the size of the company,” said Patrick Joggerst, CMO & EVP of Business Development, Ribbon. “Our findings highlight the significant market opportunity to serve these organizations, and results also provided us with some unexpected findings….”

    For instance, UC adoption is more advanced (41%) in large companies than in small ones (10%), contrary to the view that smaller companies are usually the first to leverage new technologies.

    The research also highlights security’s key role in a comprehensive UC solution, with a staggering 56% of respondents admitting they have been victimized by attacks running the gamut from DDoS to robocalls, and 83% of respondents wanting their UC providers to be responsible for providing protection.

    Meanwhile, 28% of respondents have deployed or are already deploying SD-WAN. About three-quarters are familiar with the concept, and 17% are planning to deploy SD-WAN in the near future. Deploying SD-WAN with session border controllers (SBC) makes sense especially for securing and ensuring mission-critical communications.

    Additional findings include:

    • The UC market still offers a number of growth prospects — Ribbon estimates that the available US market comprises 85 million seats.
    • A significant number (39%) of UC adopters purchased their service from “traditional” providers (LECs in the US and national carriers in the rest of the world), with the next 30% of buyers evenly split between competitive carriers and IT services companies. Mobile carriers, on the other hand, only accounted for 4% of purchases.
    • The numbers change significantly for those who have not yet purchased UC services. Their stated preferences run to traditional providers (21%) and mobile carriers (16%), followed by cablecos, competitive carriers, equipment providers and IT services companies each accounting for 11% of stated intention.
    • Of the 83% of respondents who felt that UC providers should be responsible for the security of IP communications, 18% were willing to pay extra for this capability.
  • KT taps Samsung to expand PS-LTE coverage in South Korea

    KT taps Samsung to expand PS-LTE coverage in South Korea

    Samsung has signed an agreement with KT to help expand the telco’s public safety LTE (PS-LTE) network in South Korea, the vendor announced.

    The expansion deal will see Samsung provide KT with LTE network solutions based on 3GPP Release 13 in 10 major metropolitan regions in South Korea including Seoul by 2020.

    The expanded deal will also see the pair deliver what they say is the world’s first narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) service over the PS-LTE network to help prevent and respond to natural disasters such as fires and people stranded in remote, mountainous areas.

    In addition to LTE radio base stations that support 700-MHz, Samsung is providing KT with a virtualized core and features such as MCPTT solutions, RAN sharing, evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS), Isolated eUTRAN Operation for Public Safety (IOPS), and device to device (D2D) network solutions.

    For instance, D2D allows direct and undisrupted communications between any two devices without traversing radio base stations or core networks, even in areas where bases stations are not provided.

    Samsung said D2D and NB-IoT technologies will play crucial roles in public safety network by ensuring stable, seamless, and reliable network in unfavorable environments.

    “By acquiring innovative wireless communications from Samsung, we are able to aid in life-threatening situations where data traffic is severely congested or connection is completely out of reach,” said Yoon-Young Park, senior executive vice president and head of enterprise business group at KT. “These first-of their-kind networks help responders connect with those in need.”

    KT and Samsung have been collaborated since 2016. The pair deployed the first PS-LTE network in 2016 throughout Gangwon (Pyeongchang) province of South Korea.

    In 2017, the companies delivered LTE-railway service on a high-speed train traveling at up to 250 km/hour (155 mph) using MCPTT solutions.

    The two companies are now aiming to expand the PS-LTE network further into the metropolitan areas around the country, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Jeolla, Gyeongbuk and Chungnam provinces.

    South Korea’s three major carriers-KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus- launched full-fledged commercial 5G services in early April and racked up over 260,000 5G subscribers that month.

  • NOW Telecom details “NVNO” model

    NOW Telecom details “NVNO” model

    The Philippines’ NOW Telecom has introduced a new model aimed at partnering with small and medium sized businesses to deliver wireless broadband services to individual areas.

    The company’s new NOW Virtual Network Operator (NVNO) model will see the operator partner with SMEs and even individuals to bring NOW’s fixed wireless broadband technology to a particular area.

    The SMEs will be given exclusive distributorship rights over the broadband services in the given areas, which could be an office building or a local village area.

    NOW plans to enter five year business partnerships under a revenue sharing model. The business partner would be responsible for selecting the area, selling the product, marketing and installing the service and ensuring payment by subscribers.

    NOW’s Fiber in the Air service is a fixed wireless broadband internet service that provides guaranteed broadband internet for enterprises with a capacity of 2.4Gbps.

    To be selected, business partners will have a local business in the area and a strong local influence.

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  • CMR says most smartphones in India go for below industry ASP

    CMR says most smartphones in India go for below industry ASP

    The CyberMedia Research (CMR) report, “CMR India Mobile Pricing Index 2018”, revealed that 80% of smartphone brands are selling their handset below the average price of smartphones in India.

    Consumers want sleeker and cheaper devices, even as they demand overall better user experience, all contributing to increased average sales value of smartphones. CMR says in CY2018 India was one of the few major smartphone markets that grew by around 10%. It expects 2019 to be no different.

    According to Narinder Kumar, lead analyst -IIG CMR, “CY2018 witnessed growth in average sales value (ASV of smartphones largely due to upgradation. A majority of the current smartphone shipments are essentially upgrades, driven by consumers seeking more from their smartphones.”

    Indian and Chinese brands contributed the most to below industry average ASV, whereas 60% of brands in above ASV segment were global brands, including Apple, Google and Samsung.

    “The decline in above ASV percentage can be attributed to increasing market consolidation. There was around 10% decline in numbers of brands operating in the 4G Smartphone space. With top 10 players contributing 80% – 85% of market, there is stiff competition for rest of brands,” stated Narinder.

    CMR anticipates growth in ASV in CY2019, driven primarily by increasing consumer demand.

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  • 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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  • SKT to help broadcasters create 5G livestream system

    SKT to help broadcasters create 5G livestream system

    SK Telecom has signed agreements with South Korea’s top three terrestrial broadcasters to develop new media solutions and business models based on 5G technology.

    The operator has signed memoranda of understanding with Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to jointly develop a 5G-based 4K ultra high definition live broadcasting system and test the system at sports games and other events.

    SK Telecom also plans to work with each broadcaster to develop 5G-based content and explore joint opportunities in digital advertising, augmented reality and hologram technology.

    In January, SK Telecom entered an agreement with US broadcaster Sinclair Broadcast Group to establish a joint venture to lead development of next-generation broadcasting solutions in the US.

    The operator has also just revealed plans to merge its broadband subsidiary and South Korea’s largest pay TV provider SK Broadband with the market’s second largest player t-broad to create a media company with around 8 million subscribers.

    Separately, SK Telecom announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Yonsei University Health System to introduce the first 5G powered digital hospital.

    The companies have agreed to develop a 5G network and specialized 5G-based solutions for the Yongin Severance Hospital, which is scheduled to open in February next year and so will be built from the ground up to support 5G solutions.

    SK Telecom will provide its AI speaker NUGU to allow patients with physical difficulties to control their beds, lighting and TVs with their voice, or call for assistance in case of emergencies. The hospital will also offer 5G-powered augmented reality indoor navigation and a hologram solution for remote visits to patients in isolation wards.

    Other solutions being planned or considered include quantum cryptography for advanced cybersecurity, as well as facial recognition for contact-free biometric access control for buildings and other rooms.

  • 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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  • Globe extends GoWiFi service to over 2,000 sites

    Globe extends GoWiFi service to over 2,000 sites

    The Philippines’ Globe Telecom has announced it has expanded its GoWiFi public WiFi service to more than 2,000 sites across the country.

    The operator is now providing over 20,000 access points nationwide, up from 15,000 in 2018, and the network is hosting 18 million sessions per month, Globe said.

    During the year, Globe plans to further expand the network to cover more health clinics and hospitals, colleges and universities, and retail establishments.

    The service is also currently available at major transit points including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), as well as Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations.

    Globe provides a free GoWiFi service with a maximum allocation, as well as a paid service than can be used to extend usage beyond the free allocation.

    Both services are available to all users with WiFi-enabled devices and select international numbers, and provide speeds of up to 100Mbps depending on location.

  • 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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  • 5G helps Ericsson swing to profit in Q1

    5G helps Ericsson swing to profit in Q1

    Ericsson swung back to a 2.4 billion kronor ($254.3 million) net profit for the first quarter of 2019, partly as a result of the growth opportunities being afforded by 5G.

    Total sales increased 13% year-on-year to 48.9 billion kronor, driven by growth in North America due to the market’s early lead in the deployment of 5G.

    Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm commented that the company has to date announced an industry-leading 18 commercial 5G deals.

    Meanwhile Ericsson managed to improve its gross margin to 38.5% from 35.9% due to improvements in its networks and managed services segments.

    But while network equipment sales grew 10% year-on-year during the quarter quarter, managed services revenue fell 5% over the same period as a result of scheduled contract exits.

    “As previously communicated, we continue to take strategic contracts and incur costs for 5G field trials and, in addition, by end of 2019 we expect large-scale deployments of 5G to commence in parts of Asia,” Ekholm said.

    “Combined, this will gradually impact short-term margins but strengthen our position in the long term. The impact of strategic contracts and 5G field trials was limited in Q1. The 5G market is gaining momentum and we are well positioned to capture opportunities.”

    Meanwhile Ekholm revealed it is now in the early stages of negotiating a settlement to close an investigation by both the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) into allegations the company was involved in a bribery scheme in certain EMEA markets.