TOT awards 3G contract to Samart (Thailand)

Thailand’s Samart Corp. has won the bidding to build TOT’s forthcoming 3G network following a public auction.

The action was nearly delayed after protests from Ericsson who claimed they had been unfairly dismissed from bidding, but a court order last night permitted it to go ahead.

The reserve bid for the network tender was set at US$561.30 million, and there were 17 bids during the auction.

The Samart consortium – which is made up of Samart, Loxley, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei – won with a minimum bid of US$527 million, which was 6.59% below the reserve price. The formal contract is expected to be signed next month with a limited service launch from April. The state-owned TOT will then expand its 3G coverage of over 5,000 base stations nationwide within this year.

http://www.wiireless.com/251884-tot-awards-3g-contract-to-samart-thailand/

Nokia launches affordable mobile phone (India)

Nokia has launched its affordable range of QWERTY mobile phones in Gujarat.

According to Head service marketing, Nokia India, Jasmeet Gandhi, the Nokia X2-01 is competitively priced with colorful design and optimized for messaging performance. Among mobile phones, QWERTY category of phones is the fastest growing segment where messaging and accessing emails could be faster. The X2-01 is targeted at the youngsters who want to be connected with the internet and social networking sites, and want information on the go.

He added that it has been kept in the affordable range looking at the spending capacity of college goers and teenagers. With the new 3G spectrum coming in place, Nokia is also planning to add more 3G enabled phones to its portfolio.

He further stated that in the past few years the company has seen more business coming from the rural market rather than the urban centres. The main reason behind this growth from rural areas was because the mobile operators had now started exploring the rural markets.

http://www.wiireless.com/251883-nokia-launches-affordable-mobile-phone-india/

China Unicom cautions of 50% drop in full-year profit

China Unicom has issued a short statement warning its shareholders of a profits warning and stated that it now expects its net profit for 2010 to be more than halved compared to the previous year.

Although revenue of the Company had grown rapidly in 2010, the company stated that there is high pressure on its earning in 2010 due to the fast increase of depreciation and amortization, networks, operations and support expenses, as well as selling expenses, particularly the 3G handset subsidy, in relation to the initial operation stage of the Company’s 3G business.

The drop in profits compared to 2009 comes on top of the fact that 2009′s profits were themselves sharply down on 2008, by 73%. Only last week, Telefonica announced a deal to increase its stake in China Unicom to 9.7% for US$500 million.

http://www.wiireless.com/251867-china-unicom-cautions-of-50-drop-in-full-year-profit/

Etisalat Misr to suspend telecom services in Egypt areas

Emirates Telecommunications Company is suspending services in some areas of Egypt on directives from the authorities as widespread protests continue in the country.

Etisalat Misr is the Egyptian unit of Etisalat, the state-owned telecoms major of the United Arab Emirates. According to Etisalat’s statement, the authorities had told all mobile operators on Friday to suspend services in selected areas of the country.

Etisalat Misr would comply with the order. President Hosni Mubarak ordered troops and tanks into Egyptian cities on Friday in an attempt to quell street fighting and growing mass protests demanding an end to his 30-year rule.

http://www.wiireless.com/251866-etisalat-misr-to-suspend-telecom-services-in-egypt-areas/

France Telecom won’t bid for Telekom Srbija stake

France Telecom SA spokesperson has revealed that the company has decided not to take part in the privatization of Serbian telecom operator, Telekom Srbija, as it considered the asset too expensive.

According to the company’s spokesperson, they have studied the tender offer but decided not to take part in the bidding process notably because they considered the asking price too high.

A series of companies including VimpelCom Ltd., Weather Investments SpA, Telekom Austria AG, America Movil SAB, Turkcell and Deutsche Telekom AG have applied to take part in the tender.

Final bids are expected at the end of March.

http://www.wiireless.com/251865-france-telecom-wont-bid-for-telekom-srbija-stake/

India is know the leading market for the mobile operators

With one of the major facts that India is know the leading market for the mobile operators, mobile network operators are trying to fetch the most of the client base in Indian market. The rate of addition of new subscribers, reduction in call rates, and success of interactive SMS services all point towards a high prospect for more Value added services offered by wireless network operators. However, there are significant challenges which wireless network operators face in this process which includes lack of infrastructure; gaps in piracy protection, lack of transparency in revenue sharing, and rigid focus on only one sub-segment remain. In such a scenario, there are many ways in which a Mobile Network Operators can fail.

Mobile phones are becoming one of the most important need of the individual himself and making phone calls is seen by many as just one of its utilities. Customers are increasingly making use of other services offered by wireless network operators such as messaging, gaming, browsing, receiving stock information and cricket scores. More and more mobile carriers have started catering such Value-added Services (VAS) and are coming up with new and innovative offerings. However, the Indian context presents several challenges both regulatory and in terms of customer preferences. Proper understandings of these are needed for any mobile carriers that want to enter this space.

The growth in Value added services in India is being helped both by macro factors and by new market initiatives. High growth rates have led to higher disposable incomes, and people are ready to accept new technologies and thus are willing to spend more on services offered by mobile carriers. Just to have an understanding about these services, Ring tones are now associated with the personality status so the young generation is keener to avail such features. Coupled with a reduction in call rates and new regulatory initiatives for lower costs of basic services, many more mobile carriers are entering the List of mobile network operators.

Some major challenges that need immediate attention of key stakeholders are the limited youth focused market, entertainment heavy content, lacunae in piracy protection for content companies, lack of infrastructure, pre-dominance of low cost handsets and high cost of services.