The curtain has come down on another successful LTE World Summit event, which took place this week, in Barcelona, Spain. More than 3,000 delegates attended the event, representing more than 130 countries from around the world, indicating LTE’s impact the world over. There were over 70 exhibitors and also a series of masterclasses for the more technically minded to enjoy.
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.
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.
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.
At the recent Roaming World Congress hosted by IIR an animated panel session highlighted a number of challenges and opportunities imminent in the forthcoming London Olympics. These Olympics have been heralded as a major opportunity for medals to be won and sport to be celebrated but there are also a number of reasons to celebrate the games as a major driver for mobile roaming.
Connected cars are fast becoming the topic that has the telecoms industry’s tongues wagging excitedly. This year, Ford’s chairman gave a keynote presentation at Mobile World Congress, RIM showcased a connected Porsche at its BlackBerry World 2012 event, and Google secured the first ever self-driving car licence in the US. And as the connected car market continues to evolve, mobile operators are finding that they have a key part to play in the ecosystem, and are having to invest time and resources to ensure they are not overlooked as the connected car market matures.
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.
China Telecom launched its long-awaited UK MVNO this week, under the snappy name of CTExcelbiz. Using Everything Everywhere’s network, it’s aimed at Chinese residents of the UK, as well as students and tourists, and promises to meet the specific communication requirements of the UK’s Chinese population, voicemail services in Chinese, bilingual customer service and free on-network calls. China Telecom is the first Chinese operator to launch an overseas MVNO, and has a potential market of around 500,000 customers of Chinese descent, in addition to the estimated 1 million Chinese tourists who visit each year. The UK is just China Telecom’s first stop in launching MVNO services throughout Western Europe and the rest of the world.
Eighteen months after Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution marked the onset of the Arab Spring, what effect has the upheaval in the region had on the telecoms sector?
UK-based carrier Vodafone revealed stability in its operations over the full year to end March 31, but recorded negligible growth.