Bill Morrow has rejoined Vodafone, in Australia

Vodafone Hutchison Australia, the joint venture which operates the Vodafone and 3 brands in the Australian market, has announced the recruitment of Bill Morrow as CEO, replacing Nigel Dews. Morrow is a Vodafone veteran, having previously led the firm’s operations in the UK, Europe and Japan. Morrow’s most recent telecoms industry post was as CEO of US WiMAX player Clearwire, from which he resigned citing personal reasons in March last year.

Vodafone is positioning the hire as proof of its on-going commitment to the Australian market, in the wake of recent suggestions in the domestic press that the operation was to be put up for sale. Both Vodafone and 3 have been steadily losing market share to first placed Telstra and second placed Optus. Data from Informa’s WCIS put Vodafone’s market share at 14.55 per cent at the end of December 2011, down from 16.09 per cent a year earlier, with 3 falling from 10.04 per cent at the close of 2010 to 9.09 per cent at the end of last year.

But Morrow’s most high profile achievement for Vodafone in years past was the improvement and subsequent disposal of the firm’s Japanese operation, which was sold to Softbank in 2006. Shortly after this Morrow left Vodafone, a departure for which personal reasons were also cited. While he was unable to effect a turnaround at ClearWire, Morrow’s role at Vodafone Japan will likely drive speculation that he has been brought into the Australian market to make Vodafone’s property there more appealing to potential buyers.

Australia's NBN looks on track as the country's two largest telcos agree major deals

Australia’s National Broadband Network received a significant boost with the news that the operators Telsta and SingTel have agreed major deals to transfer parts of their networks to the NBN. As part of the deal, the state owned NBN will pay Telsta $11bn for its copper network, while the SingTel owned Optus network will receive $800m to move customers from its fibre optic network, freeing up its infrastructre for the NBN.

The move still has to gain approval from Telstra’s shareholders and the vote will take place on 18 October. Clearance from the Australian regulatory body the ACMA is also required.

Julia Gillard, the Austrialian Prime Minister said the deal would deliver to householders “more options, more choice and cheaper prices”. Broadband minister Stephen Conroy said it would “change the way the nation communicates and does business”.

“It’s clear that Telstra has done its own cost benefit analysis for its participation in the deal versus the alternatives and has determined this is the best approach in the current environment”, said Nigel Pugh, consulting director of analyst firm Ovum. “If the remaining hurdles are passed (ACCC acceptance of Telstra’s structural separation undertaking and migration plan and Telstra’s shareholder vote) then Telstra will have a clear strategic direction for operation of its retail and wholesale functions in an NBN world. This will also be a positive for NBN Co as the key hurdles to its nationwide rollout will have been overcome”.

The move is seen as a fillip for the incumbent Labour government which had promised to deal with Austrialia’s slow fixed line broadband speeds as well as to bring internet access to the remote population.

A key issue is the fact that the government opposition party has pledged to review the project should it come into power, but Ovum’s Pugh doesn’t think this will be an issue.

“Although there has always been an overhang to the deal with regards to a change of government, our initial reading of the cessation clauses don’t position this deal as a poison pill if there is a change of government at the next election. NBN Co will have to reach 20 per cent fibre coverage for the compensation payment to occur and, based on our reading of NBNCo’s three year corporate plan, we think this will be a stretch to achieve by 2013.”

Optus’ chief executive Paul O-Sullivan said in a statement that, “this deal supports the NBN to create a level playing field for all telcos. Australian consumers will be the winners.”

The Australian telecoms ombudsman has reported a record number of complaints about the country's service providers

Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) accounted for the lion’s share of complaints to the country’s telecoms ombudsman in the last quarter. On the day the company was due to hold its annual general meeting, the ombudsman recorded 14,670 customer complaints about VHA between January and March this year – an increase of 96 per cent over the previous quarter.

While the ombudsman singled VHA out as worthy of naming and shaming, with the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) said that it wasn’t the only culprit, pointing to a record 31 per cent increase in complaints across the board this year; Telstra and Optus also attracted increased complaints.

In a statement issued by ACCAN, chief executive Teresa Corbin said “The industry will point the finger at Vodafone and say, yet again, that there is no problem. The truth of the matter is that complaints about customer service and complaint-handling issues continue to climb across the board.” The ACCAN describes the Australian telecoms sector as the country’s “most hated industry” and said it was “almost certain” that the 2010-2011 financial year “will be the worst year on record for Australian telecommunications customers.”

Figures released by the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) show 60,000 new complaints between January and March this year. Mobile communications complaints increased by 50 per cent and accounted for six out of every ten new complaints recorded. Complaints were largely focused around incorrect information and faults, but there were increases across the board relating to billing, contracts, credit management and complaint handling.

The Australian communications authority is calling for submissions on the future of the country's spectrum

The Australian Communications and Media Authority(ACMA) has released two papers outlining its intentions for the development of a future spectrum strategy.  In addition to the release of the papers, the Authority chairman Chris Chapman has called for input from industry stakeholders,  “on a number of relevant issues, including whether greater spectral efficiency could be achieved by network operators within their existing spectrum holdings.”

Towards 2020 – Future spectrum requirements for mobile broadband looks at the broader range of issues surrounding Australia’s longer-term spectrum needs in terms of both end-users and mobile service providers. 900Mhz Band – Exploring new opportunities examines the options available for re-planning the band to improve its utility. In Australia, the 900MHz band supports the major mobile networks such as Telstra’s Next G network and Optus and Vodafone Hutchison’s GSM and 3G networks. According to a statement from the Authority, Chris Chapman said that the review of the 900Mhz spectrum “is an exciting ACMA spectrum reform initiative, which will continue over what is likely to be a number of years,” adding that the review aimed to “consider regulatory arrangements in the 900MHz band to ensure they best embrace technological developments.”

The papers were released ahead of the ACMA’s spectrum management conference at the end of this month, where the mobile broadband project will feature as a topic for discussion. The closing date for submissions on the 900MHz paper is 24^th June, with a July 1^st deadline for the Towards 2020 paper.

NSN will incorprate Motorola technologies

The Apple iPhone is not covered by the agreement

Australian carrier Telstra has agreed to offer warranties on all handsets that match the length of the contract to which the handset is attached. But the Apple iPhone is not covered by the agreement, raising concern at the Australian competition authorities.

In response to pressure from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Telstra now offers 24-month warranties on all handsets sold with a two-year contract, other than the iPhone. The carrier already had the deal in place for RIM, HTC and ZTE handsets. The ACCC secured a similar commitment from Vodafone Hutchison Australia last year and said Monday that it was in discussions with third carrier Optus towards the same end.

“Telstra has decided to do what’s right and fair for consumers, and has been negotiating with manufacturers to bring in warranty periods that last for the length of a consumer’s contract,” ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said in a statement. “Just because the manufacturer’s warranty period is up, it does not mean that consumers can be hung out to dry if they are left with a faulty product and ongoing service contract.”

But Apple iPhones are excluded from the agreement, which the ACCC said was a cause for concern. “Although nearly all major handset manufacturers have agreed to honour full warranties, the ACCC continues to have concerns in relation to warranty issues with the Apple iPhone,” the organisation said.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Samuel suggested that Apple’s immovability on the issue of warranties — the firm insists on charging for cover beyond its standard one-year warranty — might impact on the popularity of the handset in the Australian market. ”The retailers are saying well we can’t negotiate a 24-month warranty with Apple because it’s too expensive,” the newspaper quotes him as saying.

“The truth of it is they can but it’s going to cost them, and of course that cost would then be passed on to the consumer in the purchase price of the phone. Consumers will then make up their mind whether it’s a better deal to buy an Apple iPhone or a Samsung or HTC.”

In the 12 weeks to June 13 2010, smartphones accounted for 45 per cent of the 1.8 million handsets sold in the Australian market, according to Figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. More than 30 per cent of Australian subscribers over the age of 16 are smartphone owners, the company said. The iPhone accounted for 18.5 per cent of handset sales in the 12-week period, and 37 per cent of all smartphones sold. Nokia’s share of the high end in Australia was 39.6 per cent in the period, while Android handsets accounted for 4.2 per cent of all smartphone sales.

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Optus to boost 3G spectrum in Australia

Australian carrier Optus intends to double the amount of available 3G spectrum it owns in the country’s capital cities, by buying licenses from US chip vendor Qualcomm.

Qualcomm acquired the 2x10MHz licenses for 2100MHz spectrum in the Australian 3G wireless spectrum auctions back in 2001 for A$159m ($137m today, but $79m back then). Qualcomm originally planned to deploy a cdma2000 1x EV-DO network in 2002 through its wholly owned 3G Investments vehicle but thought better of the idea.

Financial terms of the deal with Optus have not been disclosed, but the move will double the operator’s capacity in the capital cities. The carrier would use the extra spectrum to support demand for wireless data services in both the wholesale and retail markets.

Optus is the country’s second biggest mobile operator behind Telstra, with 9.5 million subscribers at the end of 2009 according to Informa’s WCIS.

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Oz government plans to build out own fibre network

The Australian government has solved its differences with the country’s operators, which were vying to build out a national broadband network, by proposing to undertake the A$43bn task itself.

On Tuesday morning the Rudd government announced plans to establish a new company, in which it would be the majority shareholder, to build and operate the next generation broadband network. Naturally, significant private sector investment is expected.

The proposed network, which will cost A$43bn and take eight years to build, promises to connect 90 per cent of all Australian homes, schools and workplaces with fibre, delivering speeds up to 100Mbps, and to connect the remaining 10 per cent of premises with wireless and satellite technologies.

The project will also directly support up to 25,000 local jobs every year, on average, over its lifetime.

The announcement came just as the government was expected to announce the winner of a long running tender to build said network.

Late last year, incumbent Telstra and its biggest rival Optus lodged bids for the rollout of the nationwide network. The bids marked the next stage of a multi-billion dollar investment in the country’s infrastructure that has been continually delayed by political wrangling. But more delays lay ahead, with Telstra putting the ball back in the government’s court by submitting a non-compliant proposal for the build out.

A controversial aspect of Telstra’s proposal was that the company’s bid was tied to assurances that the government will seek no further separation of the operator. Telstra’s rivals, including Optus, have been calling for the government to split Telstra’s network business from its retail and wholesale arms in a bid to promote competition.

In February, Sol Trujillo, the colourful frontman of Telstra, announced plans to step down on June 30 and return home to the US.

Trujillo did not give a reason for his departure, but his four year tenure as chief executive of Telstra has been marked by controversy, mainly over the country’s proposed nationwide network. The Telstra CEO has continually butted heads with the Australian government regarding plans to roll out a next generation broadband infrastructure.

Australian incumbent Telstra and its biggest rival Optus lodged bids on Wednesday for the rollout of a nationwide fibre network designed to bring broadband connectivity to at least 90 per cent of the population.

The bids mark the next stage of a multi-billion dollar investment in the country’s infrastructure that has been continually delayed by political wrangling.

However, more delays can be expected. Telstra has put the ball back in the government’s court by submitting a non-compliant proposal for the build out instead of an official bid.

Under the incumbent’s proposal, Telstra would invest up to A$5bn of its own capital and the government would provide A$4.7bn in the form of a concessional loan. The proposed fibre network would cover up to 90 per cent of the population and would be capable of providing downlink speeds between 25Mbps and 50Mbps in 65 per cent to 75 per cent of the footprint, with downlink speeds of between 12Mbps and 20Mbps in the remainder of the footprint.

This proposal differs slightly from the government’s initial request, which asked for speeds of at least 12Mbps to be delivered to 98 per cent of Australian homes. The original price was expected to extend to about A$8bn, but in the summer, Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo commented that a A$14bn price tag now seems more likely, and in light of the global economic crisis, may be higher still.

But the more controversial aspect of Telstra’s proposal is that the company’s bid is tied to assurances that the government will seek no further separation of the operator.

Telstra’s rivals, including Optus, have been calling for the government to split Telstra’s network business from its retail and wholesale arms in a bid to promote competition.

David Kennedy, research director at industry analyst Ovum, said that by lodging a short, non compliant bid, “Telstra has kept itself in the running for the government’s funding, but at the same time has kept its options open.

“We see this bid as an invitation to the Government to sit down with Telstra and negotiate a deal that will achieve the Government’s political goals while meeting Telstra’s commercial criteria,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy believes that it’s hard to see rival bids being competitive against the strength of Telstra’s financial and technical capabilities in the current economic climate. A scenario which would likely force the Australian government back to the negotiations with Telstra.

There was another terse announcement from Apple on Monday morning, revealing the names of yet more operator partners which will be carrying the iPhone.

Optus, SingTel, Bharti Airtel and Globe have all signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Australia, Singapore, India and the Philippines respectively later this year.

No further information was released, leaving questions on the appearance of a 3G iPhone still hanging.

But it does look as is Apple has had to rethink its business model for certain markets. Along with the deal struck with Vodafone and TIM earlier this month, multiple carriers will now be selling the device in Australia and India as well as Italy. This is presumably because these markets also have such a high proportion of prepaid mobile users that selling the device on a subscription only basis and through one carrier would be unviable.

In related news stocks of the existing 8GB and 16GB iPhone have also dried up at the Apple stores in both the US and UK as well as at the operator shops, although T-Mobile and Orange are still selling the device in Germany and France. This is leading to renewed speculation that Apple might be releasing a new version of the device imminently rather than waiting for the big summer Apple event next month. ]]> http://www.telecoms.com/9480/more-iphone-carriers-revealed/feed/ 0