Thailand is preparing to finally hold its 3G auction in late 2012. ¬The Thai telecoms regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), will auction off the long-delayed 3G licenses next year.
Vodafone and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have announced a partnership that will see the UK headquartered international carrier become the ‘preferred partner’ to provide connectivity for the 3G version of Sony’s forthcoming portable gaming console. The deal extends across Europe, taking in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Vodafone’s Partner in France (SFR), as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
Indian operator Bharti Airtel will rely on Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to expand, plan and operate its mobile networks in seven African countries. The operator, which provides services in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, will rely on NSN to expand its 2G (GSM/EDGE) networks and deploy 3G networks in the countries.
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Bulgarian communications regulator the CRC has issued a tender for a fourth 3G licensee in the country. Prospective bidders will be allowed to submit applications for the UMTS licence until November 14, with the award due to take place December 7. The licence will be valid for 15 years and will consist of 2 х 15MHz blocks of FDD spectrum in the 2GHz band.
Despite a difficult operating environment and various restrictions on the operators’ ability to develop their infrastructure, Iran has one of the highest SIM penetrations in the Middle East, reaching 98.27 per cent at end-1Q11. The country’s high penetration is partly due to its multiple-SIM uptake, but is also due to the demand for mobile telephony services in a majority-youth market.
Poland’s second largest carrier, Polkomtel, has been sold to media mogul and Forbes rich-list regular Zygmunt Solorz-Zak for a reported €4.5bn. The sale brings an end to what’s been a fairly lengthy saga; the telco’s multiple shareholders have been looking to sell the company for several years but opportunities for a clean sale were regularly marred by in-fighting and disagreement over how the sale should proceed.
Belgium’s fourth 3G licence has been granted to the sole bidder for it, Telenet Tecteo Bidco. The consortium, made up of cable operators Telenet and Tecteo, paid €71.5m for the licence, which also gives options on GSM spectrum.
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China Unicom’s heavy spending on handset subsidies has taken its toll on profits. Announcing its 2010 annual results yesterday, China’s second-largest operator reported an 11.3 per cent growth in revenue that was tempered by a net profit drop of almost 60 per cent to $586.5m. China Unicom reported losses of RMB 3.4bn on “handset subsidy costs.”
Nextel Brazil, a subsidiary of NII holdings, has won 20MHz licences in the 1.9 – 2.1GHz band in an auction conducted by Brazilian regulator Anatel. Nextel was successful in its bids for 11 of the 13 lots on offer, which will give it coverage of 182.4 million people, or 97 per cent of the population.
The Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) is currently in talks with the country’s four mobile carriers to gather opinion on the allocation of spectrum for next generation services. It is not yet certain whether the regulator will simply allocate spectrum to the operators or whether an auction will take place, however the aim is to have commercial 3G services in Afghanistan by the end of 2011.
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