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Iusacell Seeks Restructure If Negotiations Fail (Americas Telecommunications Insight)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Struggling mobile operator Iusacell is reported to be considering a restructure if it cannot reach an agreement with creditors. The company announced in March 2009 that it was to renegotiate its foreign currency-denominated debt owing to the devaluation of the Mexican peso in relation to the US dollar. The company also announced it would suspend the repayments of some of its dollar-denominated debt.

ETB's Stringent Rules For Potential Investors (Americas Telecommunications Insight)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Following its announcement in Q109 that it was seeking a 'strategic' partner, Colombia's Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá (ETB) has released details of the rules for companies interested in investing. ETB is the state-owned municipal operator for Colombia's capital as well as operating in some nearby regions. The company has fixed-line and broadband operations and also holds a 25% stake in third-ranked mobile operator Colombia Móvil.

Axiata Named As Potential Millicom Cambodian, Sri Lankan Buyer (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Malaysia-based and South East Asia's second largest mobile operator by subscriber numbers Axiata Group could be interested in acquiring the Sri Lankan and Cambodian assets of Luxembourg's Millicom International Cellular (MIC), according to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the situation. If true, it is estimated that Axiata could pay up to US$200mn for MIC's Sri Lankan assets and US$500mn for its Cambodian assets.

Thailand Broadband Tariffs Under Review (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Over 2009, BMI estimates that the Thailand broadband market will have expanded by 122%. Despite the impressive figure, penetration rates will have reached just 3.4% and will not have passed 10% until H112. A major barrier to growth has been the cost of services and affordable PCs and laptops. The Thailand Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has called on operators to reduce their broadband tariffs by 50% to provide more people with internet access. It plans to provide broadband services to 50% of all households by 2010.

Lesotho Becomes 36th Market For India's Pan-Africa Project (Middle East & Africa Telecommunications Insight)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

The Indian government is to help set up a countrywide e-network in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The project will be run by India's Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) and is valued at around INR5.429bn (US$111.6mn). Services such as tele-education, tele-medicine and connectivity for video conferencing among heads of state will be set up as part of India's pan-African e-network project.

Telecom Italia Looks To Broadband For Growth (Americas Telecommunications Insight)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Italian incumbent Telecom Italia is to spend EUR3bn (US$4.2bn) in its Brazilian operations through 2011 with a focus on broadband internet services. The company, owner of the third-largest mobile operator in the country, has expanded the reach of its product portfolio to include fixed-wireless services and now seems to be focusing on broadband to spread its operations across different areas of the telecoms market.

VAS Make Impressive Strides Across India (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

India's mobile value-added services (VAS) market was worth US$1.6bn as of March 2009, according to a report by Indian Market Research Bureau. Over the next few years, the VAS sector is set to expand by around 40-50% per year.

Corruption and Political Turmoil Hit Honduras (Americas Telecommunications Insight)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

The Honduran political scene has changed dramatically in the space of just a few days, seeing the president ousted and an interim government step in. The international focus on Honduras has seen it suspended from the Organisation of America States (OAS) and roundly condemned for its actions. All this negative attention will almost certainly make international investors more wary of entering the Honduran market, and a corruption investigation into state-owned Hondutel will do nothing to help matters.

Smart Communications Commences WiMAX Plans (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Over the next five years, Smart Communications, the Philippines largest mobile operator by subscriber figures, will invest PHP7.87bn (US$164mn) into WiMAX deployments. As part of that plan, the operator has connected around 50 public high schools working in partnership with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and is currently starting to connect around 6,600 public high schools across the country working alongside the Department of Education.

Multiple SIM Ownership Leaves Room For Growth (Middle East & Africa Telecommunications Insight)

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

A study by World Wide Worx, backed by South Africa's First National Bank and Canada's Research in Motion, shows that around one-third of South Africa's mobile subscribers owns more than one SIM card. Multiple SIM ownership is common particularly in markets with high prepaid subscriber numbers and especially in markets where the penetration rate has quickly reached 100%.

LatAm Maintains Internet Lead Says World Bank Report (Americas Telecommunications Insight)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

The World Bank has published a report on the ICT market across 150 countries, with an emphasis on internet and mobile. The second report, IC4D 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact, in its Information and Communications for Development (http://www.worldbank.org/ic4d) series, found among some of its key findings the strongest growth and more mature internet markets to be the developing states.

Optus Strikes Deal With MIA International For Content (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Australia's second-ranked telecommunications operator Optus has awarded a multi-million dollar music services contract to MIA International, a local-based digital content services provider, according to Telecomasia.net. The decision was taken following the soon-to-close operations at current service provider Motorola's Soundbuzz on July 31 2009, leading Optus to open a tender for the music services contract including ringtones, full track and album downloads and music video content.

Ericsson Wins FTTH Contracts With All Three Chinese Operators (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Sweden-based telecommunications equipment vendor Ericsson has picked up contracts from China's three main service providers China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. Ericsson will supply fixed broadband access, initially across the nine provinces of Anhui, Guangdong, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai and Sichuan.

Iran Set For New Tender (Middle East & Africa Telecommunications Insight)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Iran has officially cancelled the new national mobile licence so that a new tender must take place before an operator can be found, according to reports cited in cellular-news

Thailand Considers Unused Prepaid Credit To Develop Services (Asia Pacific Telecommunications Insight)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00 GMT

Thailand's National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is to conduct a study into the amount of credit left unused on prepaid cards once services have been cancelled by the subscriber, according to True, of its total mobile service revenues, postpaid accounted for just 22%, while the remainder largely arrived from prepaid.