Headlines for: 28 Aug 2008

The government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is to initiate a parliamentary debate on the privatisation of telecoms in the country, as the long-delayed sale process of state-owned HT Mostar and BH Telecom continues to stall. The opposition p...

Turkey`s third largest mobile operator by subscribers Avea, owned by incumbent fixed line telco Turk Telecom, has said it will compete in the tender for Turkish 3G licences expected in November. Last year, the Turkish government had to abandon its tende...

As part of T-Mobile’s plan to bring its 3G network to 20 US markets by the end of this year, the company has announced the launch of 3G services in Dallas this week. The company has reportedly spent USD191 million on getting the network operational in Dal...

Alcatel-Lucent (Alca-Lu) today announced that Tikiphone, the French Polynesian wireless network operator, will soon launch the region’s first 3G+ network by upgrading its network to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology to support a full range of hig...

Jordanian software firm Eskadenia has announced that it has won a contract from Sudanese wireless network operator Network of the World (NOW) for the deployment of its billing and customer relationship management system. NOW is currently in the process of...

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering penalties for all telcos that have not verified their subscribers, Indian news source The Economic Times is reporting. The DoT’s internal committee, set up to determine penalties, has plans to impo...

T-Mobile Netherlands has announced that it will launch a live streaming mobile TV service next month for its UMTS/HSDPA network users, reports Broadband TV News. For a monthly fee of EUR14.95, subscribers will receive five channels, Nederland 1 and 3, RTL...

Satellite broadband wholesaler BayCity Communications has launched a new digital phone service branded ‘Voice Link’. It is targeted at rural subscribers and offers unlimited free calls to all national, and 40 international, landline numbers and a satellit...

The Hindu Business Line is reporting that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has reversed a previous decision and will permit operators to use WiMAX to offer voice services; initially the regulator had restricted the use of wireless broadband tech...

Belgian cable operator Telenet has inked a deal with American vendor Sonus Networks for services and technology aimed at allowing Telenet to extend its broadband-based services. The agreement will see Telenet utilise Sonus’ Network Border Switch (NBS) to ...

Broadband TV News reports that Slovakian triple-play cableco UPC has launched three new packages aimed at business users under the UPC Business flag. One of the new options includes TV services (including analogue and digital cable, HDTV and satellite dig...

Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel has released draft regulations on broadband access through power line communications (PLC) for public consultation, reports BNamericas. Anatel has proposed frequency bands for PLC broadband operations and specified that ...

BNamericas is reporting that Brazilian fixed line operator Embratel has won the contract to provide wireless broadband internet access to 12,000 remote points in 4,214 cities throughout Brazil; the consortium of companies led by Embratel will receive BRL3...

Starcomms has posted revenues of NGN17.5 billion (USD150 million) for the first six months of 2008, up 101% year-on-year and in line with its growth projections, reports local newspaper Nigerian Tribune. At the end of June 2008 the company had 1.55 millio...

South African-based cellco MTN reported subscriber numbers increased 53% year-on-year to 74.1 million at 30 June 2008. Subscriber numbers in the group’s key market Nigeria increased 12% to 18.6 million, but its market share dropped to 43% from 44% due to ...

Under its Early Transition Countries (ETC) initiative launched in 2004, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has granted a loan of up to USD2.7 million to Tajik ISP Telecomm Technology to co-finance the modernisation and expansion o...

Reuters is reporting that the government of the West African state of Guinea will seek a new partner for telecoms company Societe des Telecommunications de Guinee (Sotelgui), after Telekom Malaysia International (TMI) returns its 60% stake on 1 September ...

Irish telco Eircom has reported full year results for the period ended 30 June 2008, which show that revenues rose 4% to EUR2.06 billion (USD3.03 billion). Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose EUR698 million ...

China Telecom has revealed that its first-half earnings slipped 8%, as revenues for fixed line voice services shrank, and warned it faces pressure on profits as Beijing prepares to restructure the telecoms industry. Net profit for the six months ending 30...

Indonesian telecoms group PT Indosat has announced a 24.9% year-on-year rise in first-half 2008 net profit to IDR1.06 trillion (USD116 million), compared to restated after-tax income of IDR845 billion in January-June 2007, on consolidated six-month revenu...

Greek full-service telco OTE’s group revenues for the three months ended 30 June 2008 increased by 2.5% compared to the second quarter of 2007 to EUR1.59 billion, mainly reflecting a strong performance from its domestic and international mobile operations...

French fixed line and broadband operator Iliad (Free) has reported year-on-year revenue growth of close to 21% to EUR692 million in the six months ending 30 June 2008, as its ADSL customer base grew by 19% to 3.134 million and broadband ARPU went up by EU...