Asia PacificRSS

Pakistan’s ­Mobilink has bank accounts frozen by authorities

Pakistan's Mobilink has had its bank accounts frozen by the FBR

­Pakistani operator Mobilink has had all of its bank accounts frozen by the country’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), as the operator allegedly owes Rs8.6bn ($93m) in taxes to the authority.

Bharti acquires 49 per cent share of Qualcomm’s India unit at cut-price

Bharti acquires 49 per cent stake in Qualcomm's India unit for a mere $165m

India’s Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with chipmaker Qualcomm to acquire 49 per cent of its Indian BWA entities. Qualcomm acquired the wireless broadband service permits in India for four states in the country in 2010 for $1bn. The purchase was made in a deliberate bid to block the progress of WiMAX as an alternative 4G technology in the country, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said at the time. Now, it has sold the 49 per cent stake to Bharti for a mere $165m.

Filipino operator PLDT passes 3mil broadband subs

The government target of 100 per cent coverage by basic broadband by 2015 is likely to be met

Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) reached the milestone of 3mn broadband subscribers during the first quarter of this year, giving it almost 65 per cent of the country’s broadband market.

China Telecom launches UK MVNO

CTExcelbiz was launched through the operator’s subsidiary China Telecom Europe, and its MVNA partner, Transatel.

China Telecom has introduced its own MVNO into the UK market, becoming the first Chinese operator to launch a service outside China. CTExcelbiz is running on Everything Everywhere’s network and offer a customised service to the UK’s Chinese population.

Augere Wireless to quit India

WiMAX player Augere Wireless is reported to be exiting the Indian market

Sanjiv Ahuja’s emerging markets project, Augere Wireless is set to exit the Indian market due to regulatory uncertainty. The WiMAX firm will sell the 4G spectrum licences it holds in the two states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, according to local reports.

LTE Awards 2012 – Category 5 Preview: Most Significant Development for Commercial LTE Network by an Operator

The LTE Awards 2012 are taking place on May 23rd, at the El Xalet, Montjuic, Barcelona.

To whet your appetite for the event here is a preview of Category 5: Most Innovative LTE Commercial Launch.

NTT DoCoMo looks to go global with Buongiorno bid

NTT DoCoMo has submitted a bid for Italian global content player Buongiorno

Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo has placed an offer to acquire all shares in European mobile internet content and apps provider Buongiorno for €224m The bid has already gained partial acceptance as Mauro Del Rio, owner of approximately 20 per cent of the company’s stock, has entered into an irrevocable undertaking with the operator’s German arm, DoCoMo Deutschland, to tender all of his shares for the offer.

LTE Awards 2012 – Category 3 Preview: Most Significant Development for Commercial LTE Network by an Operator

The LTE Awards 2012 are taking place on May 23rd, at the El Xalet, Montjuic, Barcelona.

To whet your appetite for the event here is a preview of Category 3: Most Significant Development for Commercial LTE Network by an Operator.

Malaysia surges ahead in the APAC National Broadband Network revolution

Malaysia's P1 unveils 2.0 Evolution Plan

Analyst house Informa Telecoms & Media (publisher of Broadband World News) has released new figures revealing that the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) network being built by Telekom Malaysia is comfortably outpacing other NBNs being deployed including in the region, including rival Singapore’s NGNBN as well as those being rolled out in Australia and New Zealand.

Low-cost tablet for schools in India put on hold

The Ubislate device from DataWind was due to be sold at $35, targeted at Indian students

A government-sponsored project in India to manufacture and distribute low-cost Android-based tablet devices to schools and universities in the country has been put on hold amid legal battles over production of the device, according to local reports.