cellular-news for Tuesday 21st March 2006

Cellular-News -

[[ 3G ]]

3 Group Signs Mobile Services Agreement With Microsoft

3 Group, the mobile telecommunications subsidiaries of Hutchison Whampoa, Monday said it has signed a global mobile services agreement with Microsoft, which will enable 3 customers to access the software company's instant messaging and free e-mail pr... [[ Financial ]]

NTT DoCoMo To Buy Mobile Phone Operation Cos In Guam

NTT DoCoMo said Monday that it will purchase two telecommunications firms in Guam for a combined $71.8 million to offer wireless network services to Japanese tourists visiting the island. ...

Temasek Placing Out Around 770 Million SingTel Shares

Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings said late Monday it's placing out around 770 million ordinary Singapore Telecommunications shares in a move that could raise as much as S$2.16 billion. ...

Telenor proposes VimpelCom buys Kyivstar for at least $5 bln

Norwegian telecommunication operator Telenor has made a proposal that Russia?s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom pay at least US$5 billion in cash to acquire 100% in Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar, Telenor said in a press release M...

Hong Kong Hutchison '05 Net Seen Up On One-Offs,Accounting Rule

Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. is expected to post a solid growth in its 2005 net profit on one-off gains and stronger contributions from its ports and energy operations, though its third-generation mobile business is still unprofitabl...

PRESS: MTS to invest $7-10 bln in foreign acquisitions by 2010

Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) plans to invest US$7 billion to $10 billion in foreign acquisitions by 2010, MTS President Vasily Sidorov said in an interview with Vedomosti business daily published Monday. ...

Telefonica Not Considering Raising Moviles Offer

Telefonica, Monday said it's not mulling to raise its EUR3.5 billion all-share offer for the 7.5% stake it doesn't yet own of its mobile unit Telefonica Moviles. ...

Amazia Celular records loss of US$19.9mn in 2005

Brazilian mobile carrier Tele Norte Celular Participales (Amaz ia Celular) recorded a net loss of 42.4mn reais (US$19.9mn) for 2005 compared to a net loss of 2.6mn reais in 2004, Tele Norte said in its earnings statement. ...

SunCom sees 2005 US$496mn net loss

US and Caribbean mobile operator SunCom Wireless Holdings made a net loss of US$496mn in 2005 compared to a net profit of US$704mn in 2004, the company said in a statement. ...

Huawei to loan Ola up to US$9.9mn

Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies has been authorized by Colombia's finance ministry to provide a loan of up to US$9.9mn to national mobile operator Colombia Moviles (Ola), reported local daily Portafolio. ...

Vodafone Portugal Opposes Sonae, Portugal Telecom Merger

Vodafone PLC's (VOD) Portugal unit on Monday said it opposed the idea of merging Sonaecom SGPS' mobile unit Optimus with Portugal Telecom's mobile unit TMN. ...

[[ Legal ]]

Another Lawsuit To Prevent Identity Fraud

Sprint Nextel says that it has filed a lawsuit against a private investigation firm that employs deceptive practices to illegitimately obtain customer call detail records, and then sells the confidential information to online data brokers. In its com...

[[ Mobile Content ]]

Crazy Frog Spreads Its Empire

VeriSign, the company behind "that annoying thing" - aka the Crazy Frog ringtone is buying m-Qube, a developer of, and billing platform for mobile content, applications and messaging services. m-Qube delivers premium messaging and content services th...

[[ Network Contracts ]]

Alcatel Wins Tunisia GSM Contract

Alcatel has been awarded a US$61 million contract to extend the GSM/EDGE mobile network of Tunisie Telecom, the incumbent fixed and mobile operator in Tunisia. Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel will provide Tunisie Telecom with its Evolium mul...

WiMAX trial for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Telecom has started testing a WiMAX broadband wireless solution based on equipment provided by Aperto Networks. Upon the completion of the trial, services based on the WiMAX network will be made commercially available. Aperto Networks has p...

[[ Network Operators ]]

Reiman doesn't see Russia's Svyazinvest mobile units' merger soon

The merger of mobile operators under the control of Russia's national telecom holding Svyazinvest is unlikely to happen before the holding's privatization, IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman told a news conference Monday. ...

[[ Regulatory ]]

Reiman wants mobile operators to limit tariff hikes on CPP launch

Russian mobile operators should take a "measured approach" in hiking their tariffs after the introduction of the Calling Party Pays principle, Russian IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman told a news conference Monday. ...

[[ Reports ]]

Customers Unwilling to Pay for Premium Services - report

Telecom industry executives are focusing on growing their revenues by introducing new products and services, yet, as the industry moves toward a converged services environment, many consumers say they may be unwilling to pay a premium for such servic...

[[ Statistics ]]

China Mobile Adds 4.2 Million Users In Feb Vs 4.07 Million In Jan

China Mobile (Hong Kong), the largest mobile carrier in China in terms of subscribers, said Monday it added 4.2 million customers in February. ...

Anatel: 88 million mobiles in use, slow sales in Feb

Brazil had 88 million mobile phones in operation by end-February, despite it being the slowest sales month for 25 months, according to data from Brazil's telecoms regulator Anatel. ...