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Vodafone AU plans to launch 5G in 2020

Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:38am

Vodafone Australia plans to launch 5G services in time for the technology's commercialization in 2020, and plans to make laying the groundwork for the launch a key priority for the year ahead.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Vodafone Hutchison Australia CEO Inaki Berroeta said the company's other core priorities will be improving customer satisfaction and launching tailored mobile plans.

The company's 2020 plan has been approved by joint owners Vodafone and Hutchison Whampoa, and plans to maintain its focus on upgrading and improving its infrastructure in Australia....

Bharti Airtel sells two African units to Orange

Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:35am

Orange has signed a deal with Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) to acquire the latter’s operations in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leon.

The companies had signed an initial agreement in July 2015 for the acquisition of Airtel’s operations in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Chad and Congo-Brazzaville.

Yet the agreement over the latter two countries has lapsed, and the companies didn’t provide any explanation as to why.

Orange said its outlay for the deals is based on the financials of the two companies for the year ended March 31, 2016 and will represent the...

Ericsson, Huawei renew patent cross-license deal

Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:33am

Ericsson and Huawei have extended their global patent cross-licensing agreement covering wireless technologies including GSM, UMTS and LTE standard-essential patents.

As part of the renewed agreement Huawei will make on-going royalty payments to Ericsson based on actual sales from 2016 and onwards. The commercial terms have not been disclosed.

"We are pleased to extend our global cross license agreement with Ericsson,” Huawei global head of intellectual property Jianxin Ding said.

“This new agreement reflects the two leading companies' joint view that innovation and...

Telecom Career: NetLink Trust appoints CEO

Staff writer — Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:30am

Singapore’s NetLink Trust names Tong Yew Heng CEO

Tong Yew Heng has joined NetLink Trust, the Singaporean fiber network operator, as its new chief executive officer.

Tong, who officially assumed his new role on January 4, replaces Ng Yong Hwee, who stepped down to pursue other interests.

NetLink Trust chairman Yap Chee Keong said the company welcomes Tong, who is no stranger to NetLink Trust, having previously been a member of its board of directors.

“He brings with him more than 20 years of experience in senior management positions in various industries. We...

Net neutrality rulings threaten telco-OTT tie-ups

Mark Newman/Ovum — Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:09am

Ovum recorded more than 200 partnership deals between telecoms operators and internet firms during 2015.

Such partnerships give telcos the opportunity to associate themselves with popular apps and digital media brands and to offer their services at preferential rates. They give internet companies access to more users and the chance to reach new market segments.

However, regulators in India and Egypt have recently focused on Facebook and specifically its Free Basics portal, which gives access to a number of local and global Internet services. Mobile operators offer it free...

Intel aims to help lay the foundation for 5G

Networks Asia staff — Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:07am

Intel is working closely with industry representatives including Cisco, Ericsson, SK Telecom and Verizon to accelerate the move toward more flexible and responsive networks today and to lay the foundation for future 5G networks

The company has unveiled new offerings in its processor family designed provide a foundation for extending intelligence from the network core to the edge for improved performance and lower latency.

The nine new processors offer high performance, low power and twice the maximum memory of previous generations in an integrated System-on-a-Chip, making...

Ransomware was main mobile malware in 2015

Computerworld Hong Kong staff — Friday, 15 January 2016 - 9:05am

Mobile ransomware was the most popular form of mobile malware in 2015 as the mobile threat landscape became more active, according to a study from Blue Coat Systems.

During the year the world of mobile ransomware grew dramatically, with advanced cryptographic malware such as SimpleLocker being adapted for mobile devices.

After ransomware, the second most popular form of mobile malware was adware and other potentially unwanted software. There was a large increase in the volume of such software during 2015, in line with the growth in the traditional malware space.

...

China Telecom, Unicom forge broad partnership

Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 10:42am

China Telecom and China Unicom have announced a wide-ranging resource sharing agreement aiming to improve operational efficiency, including with plans to join forces on 4G rollouts in rural areas.

The operators have agreed to share some 4G base stations in addition to the tower-sharing agreement between China's three state-owned operators.

The agreement also covers combining buying power on the supply side in segments including networks and handsets.

On the handset front, the operators said they plan to jointly promote six-mode handsets with all network access as a...

Southern Cross upgrades cable system to 5.8Tbps

Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 10:28am

Southern Cross Cable Network, the operator of a cable system linking Australia and New Zealand with the west coast of the US, has completed a capacity upgrade adding 900Gbps to all segments of the network.

The upgrade brings the network's total lit capacity up to 5.8Tbps, the company announced.

Southern Cross has also upgraded its Ciena nodes to 15Tbps OTN switching capacity. CEO Anthony Briscoe commented that this is a first for the region and is believed to be a world's first for a subsea cable operator.

“Southern Cross’ key switching nodes are now capable of...

Thailand to classify orbital slots as national assets

Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 10:24am

The committee drafting Thailand's new constitution has revealed plans to use it to classify orbital slots and spectrum assigned for broadcasting as national assets.

By classing orbital slots and spectrum this way, any companies making use of the assets would need to act in the best interests of the people of Thailand and national security, the Bangkok Post reported.

The move is aimed at prohibiting use of the asset by operators in a way designed to take advantage of the public, such as by charging unreasonably high fees or blocking public access to accurate information....

What operators can learn from rock and roll

Nick Thomas/Ovum — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 9:31am

Many of us this week have been using a variety of platforms and devices to listen again to the music of David Bowie, whose death has spurred a huge outpouring of affection and reflection in fans across the world.

It has reminded us how important great music is to our lives: Indeed 60% of 16-34 year olds, according to Ovum’s recent Consumer Insights survey, described listening to music as “essential.” And music lovers certainly are cherishing the achievements of an artist such as Bowie, who somehow remained at the forefront of his industry nearly 50 years after his career began....

ADVA arranges to buy Overture

Rob Powell/Telecom Ramblings — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 9:27am

The rapidly evolving worlds of NFV and Ethernet saw some interesting consolidation this morning. ADVA Optical Networking has announced the acquisition of Overture.

The combined company will take over the number one slot in the Ethernet access device marketplace and unify two NFV approaches.

The German-based ADVA and the American-based Overture have each put a lot of effort into Carrier Ethernet access gear.

Overture's Ethernet-over-copper solution, programmable white-box NID, virtualized NID, and rapidly emerging NFV orchestration ecosystem seem highly complementary...

Mobile app usage climbed 58% in 2015

CMO Innovation editors — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 9:24am

Yahoo’s Flurry Insights has released its latest State of Mobile report, which showed that 2015 was a huge year for mobile growth.

Overall app usage by sessions grew by 58%, largely driven by media and productivity apps, as well as Emojis - the small icons used to express an idea or emotion.

The conclusions were arrived at by looking at data drawn from over 2.1 billion smart devices tracked by Flurry on a monthly basis. While growth rate has declined compared to 76% in 2014 and 103% in 2013, the report noted that it remains head and shoulders above that of other mature...

2015 REWIND: The biggest Asia-Pacific telecoms stories of 2015

Telecom Asia editors — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 9:16am

2016 is upon us, and as everyone looks ahead to see where the APAC telecoms sector is going, Telecom Asia looks to the past to see how the sector got here in the first place.

In our second annual Rewind feature, we wrap up 2015 with a look back at the telecoms news stories that dominated the headlines and captured our readers’ attention (i.e. generated serious pageviews) on telecomasia.net.

Among the big stories this year: Spectrum wars at WRC-15, standards wars for narrowband LTE, 5G defined, the rise of OTT video services, an M&A feeding frenzy (including one that...

Everyone's still bogged down by dogged billing problems

Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 9:07am

Call us cynical, but when a senior company executive, commenting on a billing problem, says, “We have reviewed the incident and associated processes to rule out a recurrence,” you have to smile. You know – you just know – that some patch has been applied to some system somewhere like chewing gum. And heads have probably been bashed together.

This time it was Vodacom in South Africa, who double-billed 200,000 customers. But they are far from alone in having billing problems, even in this modern, digital age. In the UK, 500,000 npower customers were wrongly billed, the company was...

Tool box for better customer experience

Gary Barnett/Ovum — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 8:56am

Customer experience management is, rightly, seen by many organizations as a strategic issue. In the digital domain, organizations have a rich set of tools and techniques to effectively monitor, analyze, and improve the digital experience that their customers enjoy.

On the other hand, the state of the art in digital experience management continues to evolve and innovate, but our ability to effectively monitor, analyze, and improve the offline, or “analogue,” experience of our customers is beginning to lag sharply behind.

Organizations that place importance on the customer...

Smart boosts customer experience with app

Staff writer — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 8:48am

Smart Communications, based in the Philippines, has developed and deployed a mobile application called CARA that empowers its 7,000-strong workforce to help make life better for its subscribers.

“When people find out that someone works for Smart, they often make service inquiries or ask for help, for example, in determining which postpaid plan to get,” said Smart VP for customer experience (CX) management Eden Techico.

“CARA will enable Smart employees – be they store frontliners, engineers, or marketing staff – to serve as ambassadors and provide efficient assistance for...

Capgemini takes in Salesforce partner oinio

Staff writer — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 8:45am

Capgemini has acquired oinio to augment its capabilities in providing digital transformation services around the Salesforce solutions and platform across Europe and Asia.

This bolt-on acquisition fits into the Capgemini group's digital growth strategy.

Based in Munich, oinio has become over the past 15 years one of the major European players in the consulting and deployment of Salesforce cloud-based CRM and digital marketing solutions.

As an elite Salesforce Platinum Cloud Alliance partner, oinio has established itself as a key provider in this market with more than...

SAP updates Digital for Customer Engagement solution

Staff writer — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 8:41am

SAP has released an update of its SAP Digital for Customer Engagement solution, available for purchase at SAPStore.com.

This digitally native offering is a simplified cloud customer relationship management (CRM) solution designed to meet the needs of individuals and small teams, but with enterprise-grade capabilities for both sales and customer service.

The enhancements in the latest release enable teams to go far beyond traditional CRM offerings by fully integrating sales, marketing and services capabilities for an all-in-one, end-to-end customer experience.

The...

TM Forum Frameworx conformance keeps momentum

Staff writer — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 8:39am

TM Forum has unveiled a number of members whose products, solutions and implementations have been certified against its Frameworx Conformance Certification Program in 2015.

This program provides an independent assessment and verification of how well products, solutions and implementations align to standards specified in TM Forum Frameworx.

TM Forum’s largest certification assessment this year involves Telefónica Group. To support Telefónica’s extensive business transformation enabled by IT programs to achieve end-to-end digitalization, TM Forum undertook an independent...

Slovak Telekom picks NetCracker for converged billing, services

Staff writer — Thursday, 14 January 2016 - 8:38am

NetCracker Technology has expanded its billing relationship with Slovak Telekom, the largest telecommunications service provider in Slovakia.

Slovak Telekom will leverage NetCracker’s Revenue Management solution to bring its fixed and mobile billing processes onto a single, end-to-end platform.

This solution was Slovak Telekom’s longtime wireline billing system. By integrating fixed and mobile billing operations onto a single and converged solution, Slovak Telekom will be able to reduce operating expenses, improve business agility and create a more consolidated approach to...

RCom must pay $986m to liberalize spectrum: report

Wednesday, 13 January 2016 - 9:55am

India's telecom ministry has reportedly instructed Reliance Communications to pay 65.9 billion rupees ($986 million) if it wishes to liberalize spectrum holdings in 20 circles to allow them to be traded or sold.

The department has formulated a figure that covers the market price of the spectrum as well as a one-time spectrum charge of around 1.57 billion rupees, the Economic Times reported.

Reliance Communications (RCom) has applied to liberalize its 800-MHz spectrum holdings in 20 of India's 22 telecom circles, but has not yet received a quote for the four circles where a...

PCCW Global signs IPX deal with PLDT

Wednesday, 13 January 2016 - 9:52am

Hong Kong's HKT has entered an IPX multi-service interconnection agreement with the Philippines' PLDT that aims to improve voice and data connectivity between the two markets.

HKT's international operating division PCCW Global has signed the deal with PLDT as part of the recent expansion of its IPX reach.

Through the agreement the companies plan to extend their collaboration to new market segments while improving their existing interconnection portfolios.

The PCCW Global IPX provides access to the MobileXchange service suite, which covers interconnection for VoIPX,...

NZ's Skinny Mobile launches 4G broadband

Wednesday, 13 January 2016 - 9:47am

Spark New Zealand's low-cost mobile brand Skinny Mobile has entered the nation's residential broadband market with the launch of the 4G-based Skinny Broadband service.

The company is undercutting its rivals with the launch of a pre-paid broadband service for NZ$55 ($36) for 60GB of data, with a one-off modem purchase price of NZ$199.

As a promotional exercise Skinny Broadband will offer the first month free. Customers can buy 10GB top-ups for an extra NZ$20, and unused data carries over to the following month.

The service is available in certain 4G areas nationwide...

Australia launches metadata fund for telcos

eGov Innovation editors — Wednesday, 13 January 2016 - 9:33am

The Australian government has commenced a grants program to provide up to A$128.4 million ($90.2 million) to assist the telecommunications industry with the upfront costs of meeting their data retention obligations.

The Data Retention Industry Grants Program consists of a single funding round open to operators who have data retention obligations.

The program delivers on the government's commitment to making a financial contribution to service providers' up front data retention costs and includes support for smaller providers.

The government said the implementation...

Korea seeking VCs for its 'Silicon Valley'

eGov Innovation editors — Wednesday, 13 January 2016 - 9:28am

K-ICT Born2Global Centre, an agency under the Korean government's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, has started receiving applications from investment companies moving into the Pangyo Global Startup Campus.

The Korean government aims to provide stable business space for domestic ICT field startups and venture companies and to build a startup hub where VCs, angels, accelerators and startup-assistant institutions exchange in single space.

The move is also envisioned to stimulate the startup ecosystem in Pangyo City, which is often referred to as the South Korean...

Network aspects of virtualized small cells

Small Cell Forum — Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 12:36pm

This report explores network impacts associated with virtualization of small cell base stations.

The approach is to evolve the NFV concepts that have been used to propose a virtualized small cell core network defined in SCF154: ‘Virtualization in Small Cell networks’ and apply those concepts to virtualization of the small cell base station functions.

Only 4G (LTE) small cell base stations are considered.

Telenor pledges commitment to Thai market

Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 9:47am

Despite losing out in Thailand's recent 4G auctions, Telenor has no plans of exiting the Thai market, according to the company's CEO Sigve Brekke.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Brekke said Telenor's Thai unit Dtac remains the company's most lucrative subsidiary. Dtac contributed 14.4% of Telenor Group's total revenue in Q315.

Underlying Telenor's commitment to Thailand, Brekke said the company plans to invest 20 billion baht ($551.8 million) in network expansion this year.

Dtac was outbid in its efforts to secure an LTE license during last year's 1800-MHz...

Nokia builds private LTE network for Beach Energy

Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 9:43am

Nokia Networks has executed a contract to build a private LTE network for an Australian onshore oil producer.

The company teamed up with Challenge Networks to deploy a network for Beach Energy consisting of multiple LTE base stations in the remote Cooper Basin area.

With the deployment Beach Energy has become one of the earliest adopters of private LTE networks for remote areas among companies in the oil and gas sector.

Challenge Networks specializes in delivering private LTE networks for customers. The company's director Simon Lardner commented that the turnkey...

Optimization to dominate RAN budgets in 2016

Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 9:41am

Mobile operators will devote the majority of their RAN budgets in 2016 to optimization, followed by SON, according to Rethink Research.

Operators are expected to spend a combined $1.65 billion on RAN optimization over the year, more than twice the projected $758 million that will be spent on SON, the research firm has predicted.

One motivation for investing in RAN optimization is the goal of being able to track a user's location and relate that to the condition of the cells they need to use.

This would allow operators to cross reference problems found with...

Telcos still blowing steam in the digital world

Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 9:01am

Last year, I wrote in this space how trendy it is for analysts and journalists to look into their crystal balls and tell you what to expect in the coming year. For me, it makes more sense to look back on the past year and see what failed or otherwise made no sense, in the faint hope that we can jettison the silly stuff and remedy the situation for next year.

My opinion on this has changed little since last year’s column. Sadly, the same is true for the telecoms world. It’s like an old steam engine - it just keeps going along on its merry way, needing a little fuel and water to keep...

Thai military sues NBTC over 50-MHz band

Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 8:50am

The Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters has sued the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission asking for the frequency masterplan to be repealed on national security grounds.

The RTARF HQ was until recently known as the supreme command HQ and is one step up from the army, navy and air force, all three of which have also filed separate lawsuits against the NBTC over the same issue.

According to the court documents, the spectrum from 50-MHz to 54-MHz is currently used by the army’s e-warfare division. The NBTC’s frequency master plan has allocated 50-MHz to 54...

Ford, Pivotal to enhance connected car software

Enterprise Innovation editors — Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 8:49am

Ford will use software from Pivotal to enhance its connected vehicle experience for customers, simplifying how they use technology in their vehicles.

Ford’s three-year strategic collaboration with Pivotal, which is dedicated to accelerating the digital transformation for enterprises, supports the automaker’s development of mobile and user experiences. The collaboration aims to make Ford a more agile software developer.

Ford plans to build a component of its new connected vehicle platform on top of Pivotal Cloud Foundry.

The manufacturer will also use the Pivotal Big...

UCaaS market growing 16% annually

Networks Asia staff — Tuesday, 12 January 2016 - 8:47am

New data from Synergy Research Group shows that the total UCaaS market is growing at an annual rate of 16%.

Revenues from the smaller UCaaS business suite segment are growing far more rapidly than UCaaS standalone applications, the research shows.

The two segments currently have different sets of leading players, though ongoing feature and technology enhancements will cause a continued blurring of what is standalone and what is an integrated UCaaS business offer, Synergy said.

Currently, the larger UCaaS standalone applications market is led by Cisco, Citrix,...

Netflix spins global web

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 4:01pm

Netflix has launched its service globally, simultaneously bringing its Internet TV network to more than 130 new countries around the world.

"With this launch, consumers around the world -- from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo -- will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously -- no more waiting," said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

In 2016, the company plans to release 31 new and returning original series, two dozen original feature films and documentaries, a wide range of stand-up comedy specials and 30 original kids series -- available at...

KIX 360 debuts on Singtel TV

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 4:00pm

Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE) debuted its KIX 360, CTE’s linear over-the-top (OTT) action entertainment channel, in Singapore on Singtel TV.

KIX 360 — a dedicated regional OTT linear service with the same blend of combat sports, action series and action movies as KIX and KIX HD — will further roll out over more platforms across Asia this year.

Viewers can watch first and exclusive combat sport events such as Bellator MMA, Glory World Series and Road FC, action reality shows such as Top Gear Korea and Top Gear USA, and action movies such as Outcast and Pound of Flesh...

Singtel TV adds Warner TV

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 3:59pm

Warner TV (HD) has launched on Singtel TV on Channel 306 in high definition, enabling viewers to catch the latest US series within hours of their US premiere.

Warner TV (HD) will feature hit action, comedy and drama titles and blockbuster movies from Warner Bros and Turner.

“With popular series and blockbuster hits specially selected for Asian audiences, Warner TV will boost our already strong line-up, giving our customers even more exciting premium entertainment for their viewing pleasure,” said Goh Seow Eng, managing director of home, consumer Singapore at Singtel.

...

La Liga returns to Singapore screens

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 3:57pm

StarHub has secured a multi-year agreement for the rights to broadcast the Spanish La Liga, with matches to be shown in high definition on StarHub TV and on StarHub Go.

Matches will also be broadcast on SuperSports 2 and StarHub’s free cable channel SuperSports Arena (StarHub TV Channel 112/205 and 76.25MHz).

“We always take the feedback from our customers seriously and have been working hard to bring La Liga back to Singapore screens,” said Howie Lau, chief marketing officer of StarHub. “Sports Group customers will be able to get front row seats to the footballing...

Panasonic enables transmission of full-spec 8K video

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 3:55pm

Panasonic has developed single cable and connector solution that enable the transmission of uncompressed full-spec 8K video signals.

Currently, to transmit video signal via connector-equipped cables from an 8K signal source or other devices to an 8K display, 4K-equivalent images are transmitted using four HDMI cables, and are then combined to show in 8K resolution by using image processing.

Panasonic's newly developed connector-equipped cable — which uses plastic optical fiber technology — can achieve the transmission of full-spec 8K video via a single cable, with improved...

Operators make aggressive push for multi-play services

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 3:54pm

Multiplay services reached 583.7 million households globally in 2015, with Asia Pacific representing 44.8% of the total, according to Pyramid Research.

With an expected 2015-2020 CAGR of 5.3%, multiplay services are seen to increase to 757.1 million households by year-end 2020.

The monthly average household spend significantly increased through the adoption of multiplay services, which results in increased ARPS to operators. The average monthly household spend is set to increase by 85.3% from a double-play to a quad-play bundle.

Also, the migration and roll-out of...

Viewing of serial content jumped 20% in 2015

Staff writer — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 3:52pm

Consumption of episodic content increased by over 20%, diverting attention from short-form assets, according to Conviva.

The company said in a report two in five consumers now have access to high-quality (over 2Mbps) streams, against less than three of 10 in 2014.

Although usage has increased across all device types, connected TV devices now rule the roost, tallying nearly eight times more minutes per month than mobile phones, and four times more than tablets.

Conviva observed that experience metrics vary wildly, with the worst startup times more than three times...

The media consumer in 2025

Rob Gallagher/Ovum — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 3:51pm

Predicting what people will be doing in 10 years’ time is hard – especially when it comes to media. But we like to do hard things at Ovum, so that is what my team and I did as part of our “Digital Economy in 2025” project.

The events of the last 10 years highlight the challenges of predicting what the next 10 years will hold. In 2005, Microsoft owned the most-visited digital media properties, Nokia sold the most mobile phones, and MySpace was the most popular social network.

Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix were relatively unknown. Twitter, the iPhone, and the App Store did...

Softbank to introduce low-cost mobile plan

Monday, 11 January 2016 - 10:46am

Japan's Softbank has become the nation's first operator to announce its plans to comply with the government's call to reduce mobile prices for customers who do not generate significant voice or data traffic.

The operator will introduce a low-cost option for light users starting in April at the earliest, the Japan Times reported.

The new option will have a monthly fee of 4,900 yen ($41.85), which is nearly 25% lower than the operator's current cheapest voice and data option. This can be achieved by bundling a 1GB data plan priced at 2,900 yen with an unlimited five-minute...

Indonesia's Lippo deploying satellite internet

Monday, 11 January 2016 - 10:30am

Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group has established a new ISP business to bring satellite-based internet access services to rural and remote parts of the country.

The First Net internet service uses very small aperture terminal (VSAT) technology to deliver speeds of between 2Mbps and 20Mbps, the Jakarta Post reported.

It is being deployed by Delta Nusantara Networks, a subsidiary of the Lippo Group's First Media, in collaboration with Indonesian satellite operator Adiwarta.

Delta Nusantara has invested around $2 million in the network so far, and plans to deploy at...

India's Spectranet to launch 100Mbps broadband

Monday, 11 January 2016 - 10:27am

Indian ISP Spectranet plans to shake up the local broadband market by introducing unlimited 100Mbps broadband services in certain urban centers for just 1,200 rupees ($18) per month.

The company plans to introduce the service for all its customers within a year, CEO Udit Mehrotra told the Press Trust of India.

Currently Indian fixed-line providers typically offer prices of around 3,000 rupees per month for 40-50Mbps services with data caps of up to 300GB. Spectranet's planned rollout will stimulate further competition in the market.

Spectranet plans to roll out the...

AWS establishes a presence in Seoul

Computerworld Hong Kong staff — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 10:25am

Amazon Web Services (AWS) earlier this week launched a technology infrastructure region in Seoul, its fifth in Asia-Pacific, extending its cloud infrastructure footprint in the region.

The new Seoul region is expected to allow Korean-based businesses and global companies with customers in Korea to leverage AWS’s infrastructure technology platform to build their businesses and run their applications in the cloud.

The Seoul region consists of two Availability Zones, each includes one or more geographically distinct datacenters, each with redundant power, networking, and...

DBS HK launches omni credit card app

FinTech Innovation editors — Monday, 11 January 2016 - 10:22am

Mobile has become a major driving force behind customer engagement initiatives across banks, insurance and retailers.

This is fueling disruptive developments in the mobile payment sector, encouraging new entries by Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Venmo, Facebook Messenger and blockchain to name a few.

Responding to the opportunities and threats occurring in the local market, DBS Bank Hong Kong has launched what it calls four major ‘first-in-market’ innovations including the DBS Omni Credit Card Companion mobile app.

The app is designed to give DBS credit card customers...

China's new anti-terrorism law demands compliance from telcos and ISPs

Computerworld Hong Kong staff — Friday, 8 January 2016 - 11:43am

The anti-terrorism law released last week by the State Council of China requires telecommunications and internet service providers (ISPs) to provide technical support to the security authority and prevent dissemination of information on terrorism, according to law firm DLA Piper.

In a statement explaining the implication of the new law, DLA Piper indicated a series of requirements and obligations imposed on telcos and ISPs. These requirements include providing technical assistance like tech interfaces and decryption to the public security bureaus and national security authorities...

Globe Telecom launches cloud-centric e-commerce portal

Friday, 8 January 2016 - 11:21am

Philippine telco Globe Telecom has launched a new e-commerce portal, called Globe AppMarket, in partnership with AppDirect, a global commerce platform for selling cloud services.

Targeting enterprise and SMEs in the Philippines, the portal offers a collection of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications such as CRM, web conferencing, marketing/e-marketing and online storage.

With Globe AppMarket, business customers can find, try, buy and manage essential business solutions in one place with one bill and one login, Globe said in a statement.

“Cloud has changed the...

HKT, Huawei complete HSS/VoLTE network migration

Staff writer — Friday, 8 January 2016 - 11:17am

HKT, the telecom arm under PCCW Group, and Huawei have completed what they say is the industry’s first Home Subscriber Server (HSS)/ Voice over LTE (VoLTE) cutover, paving the way for the full integration of the HKT and CSL mobile core networks.

In a joint statement, the companies said the HSS/VoLTE cutover was the first step of a series of migrations for integrating the two mobile core networks of HKT and CSL into a newly built integrated core network.

The integration is a strategic move that followed HKT’s acquisition of CSL to unify user experience with a homogenous and...

TM, NEC complete Malaysian segment of SEA-ME-WE 5 cable

Friday, 8 January 2016 - 11:15am

Telekom Malaysia and NEC have completed the landing of a submarine cable system at Melaka, Malaysia.

The cable system is a portion of the 20,000 km Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) cable announced by a consortium of telcos in March 2014.

TM EVP of global and wholesale Rozaimy Rahman said, "The telecommunications landscape in Malaysia is fast evolving and we are delighted to be able to support this development together with SEA-ME-WE 5 consortium members."

"The installation of this new cable system presents greater opportunities to empower...

Brief: Alcatel-Lucent helps DoCoMo address mobile data growth

Staff writer — Friday, 8 January 2016 - 11:13am

Alcatel-Lucent to deploy IP core/edge router for DoCoMo

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its IP core/edge router – the 7950 Extensible Routing System – for NTT DoCoMo.

The deployment will enable the Japanese mobile carrier to increase the operational performance of its 4G mobile network while reducing the cost of operations.

The 7950 XRS is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s Service Router Operating System (SROS). It supports the move of network virtualization and enables network automatization, Alcatel-Lucent said in a statement.

Robi e-Sheba available on WhatsApp

...

The Internet of very insecure things

John C. Tanner — Friday, 8 January 2016 - 11:01am

In this space last year, I wrote about how the Internet of Things, while overhyped, was still pretty cool, not to mention inevitable, and that 2015 would likely see a lot of IoT activity.

And we did. Unfortunately, some of that activity didn’t come from telcos, service providers or “things” manufacturers, which brings me to one important aspect of the IoT I neglected to mention last year: security.

Put simply, when you enable something with an internet connection, it is beholden to the same internet security issues as a server, laptop or smartphone. Put even more simply:...

SK Telecom demos interconnection of IoT standards

Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 12:46pm

SK Telecom joined hands with five vendors to demonstrate interworking between two different IoT standards at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, US.

During the demo, SK Telecom, together with Samsung Electronics, Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), Amtel and Axstone, successfully interconnected the oneM2M and Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) standards.

The five parties used ThingPlug, SK Telecom’s IoT platform developed based on the oneM2M standard; Samsung Electronics’ OIC devices (e.g. refrigerator and TV); Atmel’s sensor and lighting...

PLDT, Smart launch DSL-mobile data sharing

Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 12:36pm

Philippines telco PLDT and its mobile arm Smart Communications have teamed up to launch a data plan which enables subscribers of the former’s fixed-broadband service to share their data allocation with the mobile phones of other.

The new service, dubbed “Speedster Fam Plan1299”, enables subscribers to a home DSL service to share their data allocation with mobile phones of their family.

Under the plan, PLDT Home DSL offers speeds of up to 10 Mbps and a monthly data allocation of 50 GB.

Subscribers who upgrade their Speedster Plan with a mobile plan can share 6 GB of...

Grameenphone to expand 3G across Bangladesh

Staff writer — Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 12:28pm

Grameenphone, Bangladesh's biggest cell phone operator, plans to upgrade all of its existing 10,000 base transceiver stations across the country to support 3G by June this year.

Grameenphone – 55.8% owned by Norwegian telco Telenor and 34.2% owned by local GrameenGrameen Telecom – said it currently has 5,800 such sites, and an additional 1,700 will be upgraded within the first quarter of this year, the Daily Star quoted Grameenphone CEO Rajeev Sethi as saying.

“Currently, 65% of 57 million active Grameenphone users are covered by 3G networks, which is already significant...

ABI: In-building wireless market to top $9b by 2020

Staff writer — Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 12:08pm

Global in-building wireless market is set to more than double in revenue by 2020, with the market anticipated to top $9 billion by 2020, according to ABI Research.

The research firm predicts that North American activity will drive the overall market, with Europe and Asia-Pacific regions working to pick up the pace during 2016.

Nick Marshall, research director at ABI Research, said North America will continue to be the region with the most Distributed Antenna System spend.

“Sports venues, transportation and healthcare will continue to be the verticals that attract...

Amex brings Apple Pay to Asia

FinTech Innovation editors — Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 12:05pm

American Express (Amex) plans to make Apple Pay services available to card members in Singapore and Hong Kong in 2016.

Amex card members can pay with their iPhone or Apple Watch in stores where contactless payments and American Express are accepted, and within participating merchant apps.

American Express says it will provide the same level of protection and customer service card members expect from the credit card company. Amex card carrying members using Apple Pay will get real-time notifications and details for purchases and will have seamless connection to the Amex...

Telekom Malaysia postpones broadband e-billing to July

Staff writer — Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 12:03pm

Telekom Malaysia has postponed its proposed e-billing as the default billing for its broadband Streamyx and UniFi customers from January to July 2016.

The e-bill option, which allows bills to be notified faster, is encouraged for all customers to adopt, TM said in a statement Wednesday.

With e-Bill, all broadband customers will receive a PDF copy of their monthly bill via email within four days, and an SMS alert within seven days after the respective bill date.

On the rescheduling, Imri Mokhtar, TM EVP for consumer and SME, said: “At TM, customers’ feedback is...

Ten visions for APAC telecoms in 2016

Sherrie Huang & Shanthi Ravindran/Analysys Mason — Thursday, 7 January 2016 - 9:18am

As 2015 comes to a close, Analysys Mason offers its predictions on the trends that are likely to impact APAC over the next 12 months. While these cover a lot of ground, a common theme is this: divergence between developed and emerging APAC will divide strategies and cultures in 2016 and beyond.

Competition among OTT players will intensify in some markets, and telcos will be more involved as enablers and platform providers. OTT competition will intensify in APAC countries where a dominant retail platform has yet to emerge. Telcos will step up partnership efforts to be seen as enablers...

China Unicom, Telefonica form JV for Chinese scheme

Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - 11:29am

China Unicom and Telefónica have set up a joint venture to provide big data services in China.

The JV, dubbed “Smart Steps Digital Technology Company,” will leverage Unicom’s telecom network and customer base, and Telefónica’s mature technology in big data services such as Smart Steps, according to a joint statement by the firms released Tuesday.

The new company has a 55/45 ownership participation by China Unicom and Telefónica respectively.

The venture will use Telefónica’s Smart Steps solution, launched in 2012, which extracts anonymous customer data from the...

BlackBerry cancels plan to exit Pakistan

Staff writer — Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - 11:26am

Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry said it will continue to operate in Pakistan, canceling a plan to exit the country after the government demanded backdoor access to user data.

In a blog post published last week, BlackBerry COO Marty Beard said the Pakistani government has rescinded its shutdown order after productive discussions between the two parties.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority issued the shutdown order last July, citing national security reasons related to the difficulty decrypting and eavesdropping content sent over the BlackBerry Enterprise Service...

Wi-Fi Alliance announces new 802.11ah HaLow standard

NetworksAsia editor — Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - 11:24am

A new wireless standard that extends Wi-Fi's reach down into the 900MHz band will keep the 802.11 family at the center of the developing Internet of Things, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced this week.

The new standard, 802.11ah, combines lower power requirements with a lower frequency, which means that those signals propagate better. That offers a much larger effective range than current Wi-Fi standards, which operate on 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, and lets the newer technology penetrate walls and doors more easily.

The alliance, which refers to 802.11ah as HaLow, said that...

Globe Telecom, Asiasoft tie up for gaming services

Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - 11:22am

Globe Telecom and its fully-owned subsidiary G-Xchange (GXI) have formed a strategic partnership with Thailand-based Asiasoft Corporation to deploy the Philippine telco’s GCash as a payment platform for gaming.

“GCash aims to further establish its position as the preferred payment option in the mobile and digital space. We are excited to explore marketing collaborations with Asiasoft to grow gaming-related transactions and bring GCash at the forefront of e-commerce,” said GXI president and CEO Xavier Marzan.

“At the same time, we want to enhance existing Globe customer...

Australia's Amaysim buys Vaya for $50m

Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - 11:20am

Australian mobile service reseller Amaysim Australia has acquired Brisbane-based MVNO Vaya in a deal worth A$70 million ($50 million).

The A$70 million purchase will be paid from a combination of A$5 million cash, A$15 million in Amaysim shares and require Amaysim to take on A$50 million of debt to Optus, the carrier network for both Amaysim and Vaya, according to a statement Amaysim filed to the Australian Securities Exchange.

Amaysim has more than 718,000 customers using the Singtel-Optus network.

Vaya, like Amaysim, utilizes the Optus 4G Plus network and has a...

Ciena, ON.Lab collaborate on Open Source OS