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Tag: Vodafone

  • Vodafone Australia names new CBU director

    Vodafone Australia names new CBU director

    Vodafone Australia has promoted its director of sales, Ben McIntosh, to the newly created position of consumer business unit (CBU) director.

    Chief executive officer Iñaki Berroeta said the new position merges the existing sales director and marketing director roles, following a decision by chief marketing officer Loo Fun Chee to return to Malaysia for family.

    “This new unit will see sales and marketing activities come under one leader and one team, creating a streamlined structure and simple and seamless end-to-end processes” said Berroeta.

    “The consumer business unit will drive our ambition to deliver the very best product, service and experience for our customers. Ben will bring great energy, experience and market knowledge to the role.”

    He said Vodafone’s brand had seen improvements in its awareness since Chee took on the leadership role two years ago.

    “Amongst the successes under her leadership are the launch of innovative market leading products such as MyMix. We’ve also seen the Vodafone brand strengthen in the Australian market and a dramatic improvement in Net Promoter Score which shows our customers are increasingly happy with their Vodafone experience,” the executive commented.

    McIntosh joined Vodafone Australia in 2014 as director of sales after a 17-year career at consumer products retailer Harvey Norman as general manager for technology and entertainment retail.

    McIntosh will officially start in his new role as CBU director on January 30.

    Former Microsoft executive and AI expert joins Baidu

    Chinese search giant Baidu has hired former Microsoft executive Dr Qi Lu as its group president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.

    In this new role, Lu will be responsible for Baidu’s products, technology, sales, marketing and operations.

    Lu joins Baidu from Microsoft, where he served most recently as global executive vice president responsible for its Office business.  He joined Microsoft in 2009 as president of its online services group and was promoted to global EVP in 2013.

    Lu holds a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and has over 40 US patents in his name.

    “Dr. Lu possesses a wealth of leadership and management experience, and is a leading authority in the area of artificial intelligence. I am confident that Dr. Lu will make major contributions to the overall strength of our management and technology,” Robin Li, Baidu’s chairman and group CEO, said in a statement.

    “To achieve our goals, especially in artificial intelligence, which is a key strategic focus for the next decade, we will need to continue attracting the best global talent. With Dr. Lu on board, we are confident that our strategy will be executed smoothly and Baidu will become a world-class technology company and global leader in AI,” Li added.

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  • Vodafone said to consider merger for Indian unit

    Vodafone said to consider merger for Indian unit

    Vodafone is reportedly considering pursuing a merger of its Indian mobile business with a rival operator to help better compete in the intensively competitive market and survive the price war triggered by the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm.

    The operator is looking into a potential merger with either Jio or major rival Idea Cellular, sources told.

    Vodafone has also put on hold plans to float Vodafone India on the Bombay Stock Exchange until the price war triggered by Jio’s entry is over, the sources said.

    Reliance Jio launched a pan-India 4G network on September 5 last year, offering effectively unlimited data, voice and SMS services as an initial promotion. The operator recently extended this free services promotion until March 31.

    This aggressive pricing strategy has helped the operator sign up over 58 million customers since launch – including 19.6 million in October, its first full month of operation – data from regulator Trai indicates.

    Besides incentivizing major operators such as Vodafone to pursue consolidation, smaller operators including Telenor India and Tata DoCoMo have been offering themselves for sale to the incumbents in response to the destructive price war, the report adds.

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  • Vodafone India hands Nokia managed services deal

    Vodafone India hands Nokia managed services deal

    Vodafone India has reportedly handed Nokia a multi-year contract extension worth €200 million ($210.5 million) covering the delivery of managed services in multiple telecoms circles.

    The scope of the contract has been expanded to cover managed services for 14 of India’s 22 telecoms circles, and field operations in the remaining eight, citing a person familiar with the matter.

    The source also said the contract has been expanded to cover the core as well as radio network.

    As part of the contract, Nokia will provide managed services, maintenance, system integration and other services. It represents a significant win for Nokia’s Indian operations, which cover the management of around 200,000 base stations across the country.

    Vodafone also recently awarded Huawei a three-year managed services contract worth between $180 million and $220 million covering three circles, as well as network operations in two circles, the report adds. In February, the operator contracted Ericsson to manage its fiber assets in 10 circles.

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  • Nokia, Vodafone trial cloud-based RAN

    Nokia, Vodafone trial cloud-based RAN

    Vodafone has teamed up with Nokia to trial cloud-based radio access network (RAN) technology to see how it will stack up for the transition from 4G to 5G networks.

    During the trial, which occurred at the operator’s testing facility in Italy, Vodafone used Nokia’s AirScale Cloud RAN running on its AirFrame network functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure.

    By combining cloud RAN with NFV, Vodafone was able to split baseband processing functionality between real-time and non-real-time functions allowing for time-critical functions to be performed close to the edge of the network.

    Non-time critical functions were then centralized and virtualized in the NFV infrastructure platform at the end of the RAN. Ethernet-based fronthaul was used to provide connectivity to the virtualized functions.

    The trial looked at peak data rates as well as download and upload speeds during a variety of different scenarios on the macro network using high-powered macrocells.

    According to Vodafone, the test demonstrated that a cloud RAN-based architecture can provide the same level of service as a conventional LTE network. In addition, the cloud RAN met the operator’s criteria for throughput, capacity, and resiliency while also providing additional flexibility and scalability.

    Santiago Tenorio, head of networks, Vodafone Group, said: “Working with Nokia on this trial we have seen how the application of Cloud RAN architecture can help the network react to changing demands quickly. It speeds up the delivery of services and will help with the transition to 5G.”

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  • Vodafone Australia builds cyber security center for enterprise customers

    Vodafone Australia builds cyber security center for enterprise customers

    Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) has contracted Dimension Data and FireEye to build its first Cyber Defence and Response Centre (CDRC) to offer services to enterprise customers.

    The CDRC will provide around-the-clock advanced event monitoring, threat protection and intelligence, and incident response to help protect Vodafone Enterprise and its customers against online security threats, as well as assist with the aftermath of an attack.

    Vodafone signed a five-year contract with FireEye and a three-year contract (with a two-year option for extension) with Dimension Data to help deliver a range of services through the CDRC, including proactive threat hunting, global threat intelligence correlation, vulnerability management, penetration testing, digital forensics and crisis management.

    “Cybercrime is a topic that we take very seriously at Vodafone. We have partnered with the industry’s best providers to help us protect our critical information and infrastructure, as well as intellectual property,” said Vodafone chief technology officer Kevin Millroy.

    “The capabilities, maturity, flexibility, and scalability of Dimension Data and FireEye enables us to be ready and open to exchange threat information and knowledge with the federal government’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, and ultimately contribute to protecting Australia’s national security and economic prosperity from online threats.”

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  • Vodafone India introduces cash out for M-Pesa

    Vodafone India introduces cash out for M-Pesa

    Vodafone India has introduced the ability for users of its M-Pesa digital wallet service to withdraw cash at any of over 120,000 Vodafone M-Pesa outlets nationwide.

    The company said its network of M-Pesa outlets is roughly equivalent to the number of bank branches in India. Over half (56%) of the outlets are located in rural India.

    Customers will need to provide proof of identity to withdraw cash at a branch. Withdrawals will be subject to availability and Reserve Bank of India guidelines.

    “Our customers can visit any of these outlets and use the unique cash out feature of Vodafone M-Pesa to withdraw cash from their digital wallet at their convenience,” Vodafone M-Pesa business head Suresh Sethi said.

    Vodafone’s M-Pesa service is available to both Vodafone and non-Vodafone customers, supports recharges using credit or debit cards via mobile or fixed broadband, and can be used to shop online or pay bills, send funds to family or friends and now withdraw cash.

    The operator has attracted over 8.4 million Vodafone M-Pesa customers since the service’s launch in India in 2011.

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  • Vodafone India boosts 1H revenue by 5.9%

    Vodafone India boosts 1H revenue by 5.9%

    Vodafone India has reported solid revenue growth for the first half of its financial year despite parent company Vodafone’s decision to take a €5 billion ($5.36 billion) writedown of its Indian operations.

    Service revenue for the first half increased 5.9% to 225.79 billion rupees ($3.32 billion), with mobile data revenue up 18.8% to 46.17 billion rupees.

    The operator crossed the 200 million customer milestone during the period, with a 6.7% year on year growth in subscribers to 200.7 million. Vodafone India is the market’s second largest by subscribers after Bharti Airtel.

    Vodafone’s network in India meanwhile grew to around 140,000 cell sites, with a little over half of these being 3G or 4G sites.

    The operator had a revenue market share for the quarter of 22.5% during the first quarter, up 0.6 percentage points year-on-year. But the company reported a service revenue ARPU during the second quarter of just 186 rupees, reflecting the tight competition in the market.

    With the entry into the Indian market of Reliance Jio Infocomm, these competitive pressures are only getting worse.

    In light of this, Vodafone Group has written down the value of its Indian business by €5 billion as the company braces for an expected significant revenue impact.

  • Vodafone India to launch 4G in 8 more circles

    Vodafone India to launch 4G in 8 more circles

    Vodafone India has revealed plans to roll out 4G services in eight additional telecoms circles by March 2017, giving it a 4G presence in 17 of India’s 22 service areas.

    The operator aims to deploy 4G in 2,400 additional towns over the next four months, in the circles of of Maharashtra and Goa, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh West, Assam and North East.

    Vodafone’s SuperNet 4G service already covers nine circles – Mumbai, Delhi and NCR, Kolkata, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh East and West Bengal.

    Vodafone was the biggest winner of India’s recent $9.8 billion spectrum auction, securing 2x 82.6MHz of FDD and 200MHz of TDD spectrum across the 1800-MHz, 2100-MHz and 2500-MHz bands. The auction gave the company 4G capability in 17 of India’s 22 telecoms circles.

    Now the company plans to leverage this spectrum to expand its 4G network. This will allow Vodafone to better compete against disruptive new pan-India 4G operator Reliance Jio Infocomm, which has been shaking up the market with its mobile data focused approach. Jio’s unlimited voice and SMS plans threaten to further cut into existing Indian mobile operators’ low margins.

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  • Vodafone plans to launch world’s first NB-IoT networks

    Vodafone plans to launch world’s first NB-IoT networks

    Vodafone has revealed plans to launch what it expects will be the world’s first live commercial narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) networks in early 2017.

    The operator will launch LPWA NB-IoT networks in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain during the first three months of the year.

    Vodafone said it will be able to implement the NB-IoT rollout by way of a software upgrade to its existing 4G base stations, allowing the company to deliver nationwide coverage almost immediately in the four markets.

    The operator plans to roll out the technology to additional markets later in the year, and provide full coverage of the operator’s global network by 2020.

    In preparation for the launch Vodafone has been conducting testing of the technology. Last week Vodafone Spain completed the first test of an NB-IoT connected product on a commercial network, by burying a parking sensor in a space within Madrid’s Vodafone Plaza. A smartphone app was able to display that the space was occupied when a car was parked in it.

    “The questions of battery life and deep in-building penetration have now been answered by NB-IoT,” Vodafone’s director of IoT Ivo Rook said.

    “The low cost of the modules means we can expect a new wave of connected devices and soaring market demand. Vodafone’s world leading expertise and experience in IoT will prove invaluable in shaping this exciting market.”

    Singapore’s M1 has also announced plans to deploy a commercial NB-IoT network in 2017, but did not specify the time during the year that the company plans to launch.

  • Vodafone Australia to offer fixed broadband services

    Vodafone Australia to offer fixed broadband services

    Vodafone Australia has revealed plans to branch out into offering fixed broadband services over the national broadband network (NBN).

    The operator plans to extend into fixed-line broadband to give its mobile customers more access to data both at home and on-the-go.

    While the NBN rollout is not scheduled for completion until 2020, around three million premises have access to the network and more than 1.1 million have signed up.

    At a press briefing, Vodafone Australia CEO Inaki Berroeta said the move into fixed broadband is a “natural progression” for the company, and it’s the right time to make the move because the NBN project is reaching the scale required to deliver an NBN service that complements its mobile network. It is expected that 4 million premises will be NBN-ready by the end of the year.

    Vodafone plans to make its first commercial NBN services available next year.

    Market research from Roy Morgan indicates that 550,000 of Vodafone’s mobile customers already intend to switch fixed broadband provider over the next 12 months, giving the operator a large potential market at the ready.

    Vodafone’s customers are also over 50% more likely than average to be dissatisfied with their current fixed broadband provider, and are statistically 10 percentage points less likely than the national average to have market leader Telstra as a fixed broadband provider.

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  • Vodafone Australia to switch off 2G network in a year

    Vodafone Australia to switch off 2G network in a year

    Vodafone Australia has revealed plans to switch off its 2G network in just under a year to free up spectrum for 4G.

    The operator will decommission its legacy 2G GSM network on September 30 2017, following a 12-month campaign to move its remaining 2G users off the network.

    Announcing the decision, Vodafone said its 2G network currently carries less than 1% of the operator’s data traffic and around 2% of its voice traffic. By contrast, Vodadone’s 4G network carries nearly 80% of the company’s total data traffic.

    Vodafone first launched 2G services in Australia in 1993. More than 600,000 customers have been migrated from 2G since January 2013, but the company did not state how many remain.

    “There has been a natural drop-off of 2G traffic as 4G smartphones have become more affordable. This has led to many customers upgrading their phones of their own accord,” Vodafone CTO Kevin Millroy said.

    “We are continuing to enhance our network with features including Voice over 4G which provides clearer voice calls, shorter call connection times and the ability to use 4G data while making or receiving a call. With the IoT on our doorstep, it is paramount we manage spectrum efficiently and reallocate capacity to our more advanced networks to help more of our customers have a better experience.”

    Vodafone will be the last Australian operator to shutter its 2G network – Telstra plans to switch off its own 2G network in December, and Optus plans to follow suit in April 2017.

  • Vodafone Fiji launches LTE-Advanced

    Vodafone Fiji launches LTE-Advanced

    Vodafone Fiji has become one of the first operators in the Pacific to roll out an LTE-Advanced network.

    The operator has gone live with an LTE-A network that currently covers 65% of the population, and aims to expand this to 85% by Christmas. The network offers theoretical peak downlink speeds of 225Mbps.

    Customers with compatible smartphones will be able to take advantage of the LTE-A network without any additional costs or setup requirements.

    Vodafone has had a presence in Fiji since 1994, and has now been the first mobile operator in the country to roll out every generation of mobile technology since upgrading from 2G to 2.5G GPRS. The company first launched 4G services in the market in 2013.

    “[The rollout] ensures that Fiji is on par with the developed countries in the world and remains on the forefront of digital revolution,” Vodafone Fiji CEO Pradeep Lal said.

    “Billions of people across the world are already online and more are expected to join them in the next few years as broadband coverage expands transforming the world into a highly connected and interactive world. The world is fast evolving with the power of mobile communication and Internet of Things are no longer seen as a distant future but more so is happening now.”

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  • Spark New Zealand opposes Vodafone-Sky merger

    Spark New Zealand opposes Vodafone-Sky merger

    Spark New Zealand has revealed it is formally opposing rival Vodafone New Zealand’s planned merger with Sky Network Television.

    The operator announced it has made a submission to competition regulator the Commerce Commission opposing the proposed merger on the grounds that Spark feels it is not in the best interest of consumers.

    Spark GM for regulation John Wesley-Smith said based on Sky’s current wholesale market arrangements for premium sports content, the company has told the Commerce Commission that the merger should not go ahead in its current form.

    “Sky has a monopoly on rights for premium ‘national sports’ in New Zealand. Given Kiwis’ love of these sports, they are ‘must have’ rights for media content providers,” he said.

    “Sky’s business model seems increasingly focused around sports, which underlines how effective their monopoly is in this space. The proposed merger with Vodafone is likely to entrench that monopoly, and that’s something all New Zealanders should be concerned about.”

    He said Spark has previously abandoned an earlier reselling deal with Sky three years ago because it was not financially viable, and it relied on an outdated distribution model involving reselling Sky boxes for pay TV services that no longer works for the operator’s customers.

    “We believe if the Commerce Commission blocked the proposed merger, Sky would be forced by commercial realities to make all of its sports content available online and on-demand – and via wholesale arrangements with lots of parties that help distribute this content to New Zealand consumers,” he said.

    Sky and Vodafone announced a proposed NZ$3.44 billion ($2.5 billion) reverse takeover deal in June involving Sky Network TV buying the operator in exchange for a 51% stake in the combined company.

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  • Maxis to offer Vodafone IoT services

    Maxis to offer Vodafone IoT services

    Malaysia’s largest operator Maxis has arranged to offer Vodafone’s IoT services for its business customers.

    The operator will offer a service combining its high speed data network with Vodafone’s IoT platform to help assist business customers looking to implement IoT services in their operations.

    The IoT offerings have been designed with multiple layers of security between IoT devices and applications, and to be scalable to support the constantly increasing number of connected devices.

    At a recent media event, Maxis showcased potential applications for the IoT in key sectors including automotive, retail, logistics, banking and financial, smart cities and manufacturing.

    “The exponential growth of data and how people use them has had a huge impact on how businesses operate,” Maxis head of marketing and products Shanti Jusnita Johari said.

    “Through our agreement with Vodafone, which brings with it a global standard of service, unrivalled IoT experience and highly ranked by analysts, we are equipping businesses in Malaysia with more than just connectivity through our advanced data network, but a suite of IoT solutions to digitalize and transform their operations.”

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  • Huawei, Vodafone reach 20Gbps speeds in 5G test

    Huawei, Vodafone reach 20Gbps speeds in 5G test

    Huawei and Vodafone have announced they reached 20Gbps wireless transmission rates during 5G field tests using high-frequency E-Band spectrum.

    The 5G mmWave field test covered both single and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmissions. The former achieved a 20Gbps EU peak rate, while the latter achieved a 10Gbps peak rate over a long range.

    Announcing the results, Huawei said this marks the first 5G outdoor field test using E-Band (71-GHz to 86-GHz) spectrum to reach the 20Gbps peak rate for a single user device targeted by ITU-R as a 5G requirement.

    The company said E-Band millimiter wave spectrum can be used as a complementary spectrum band to lower-band frequencies to deliver on the performance targets of the 5G standard.

    “This field test in an outdoor environment is a significant step in validating the performance of 5G in high frequency bands, improving our understanding of the capabilities of the technology,” Vodafone Group CTO Johan Wilbergh commented.

    Huawei rotating CEO Eric Xu added that 5G “will introduce full spectrum access to support AR, VR, Smart Automobile and other unknown new services,” and that “the joint trial of 5G mmWave connectivity in a real world radio propagation environment and co-existence of different radio links is encouraging.”