Vodafone unveils new mobile Internet initiative

Vodafone has officially announced details of its new Internet services initiative, 'Vodafone 360,' the UK-based operator's answer to rival services such as Apple's App Store and Nokia's Ovi.

South Korea gives green light to Apple's iPhone

The South Korean telecoms regulator today gave approval for Apple's iPhone to be sold in the country in a move that could shake-up a local handset market dominated by domestic vendors such as Samsung and LG.

source: GMBB

Meet AT&T 3G MicroCell

AT&T has posted a Web page unveiling its new 3G "MicroCell" home basestation, saying that the box is currently available for sale in "select markets."

As expected, the AT&T MicroCell was produced with Cisco. The initial box is a Y-shaped standalone home base station; Cisco has also been said to be working on a home gateway that integrates a femtocell.

Here's what AT&T is listing as the main features of its new box:

• Enhanced coverage indoors -- supports both voice and data up to 5000 square feet
• Available unlimited minute plans -- individual or FamilyTalk plans
• 3G handset compatible -- works with any AT&T 3G phone
• Supports up to four voice or data users at once
• Device is secure -- cannot be accessed by unauthorized users, easy and secure online management of device settings
• Seamless call hand-over -- start calls on your 3G MicroCell and continue without interruption, even if you leave the building and your name is Elvis

The latest word on the initial cities for launch is Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle, and Raleigh, N.C. AT&T hasn't revealed pricing details yet. We hope to have more details on this soon, although Engadget reports that the carrier will charge $19.99 per month for unlimited calls, or $9.99 per month for unlimited calls if a customer already has a fixed line or Internet service with AT&T.

source: unstrung, AT&T

Huawei wins bulk of Singapore NBN contracts

Huawei has taken the lion’s share of the first infrastructure contracts for Singapore’s S$1 billion ($708.1 million) NBN project. Alcatel-Lucent has also been awarded the OSS/BSS system integrator contract.

Both vendors signed an agreement on Tuesday Starhub subsidiary Nucleus Connect, the designated NBN wholesale provider.

Nucleus would not reveal details of the financial value of the contracts, but said Huawei had won 70% of the value and Alcatel-Lucent the remaining 30%.

Huawei will roll out an end-to-end network with an IP MPLS core and a GPON and an active ethernet access network. It will also deliver professional services, CPE and network management.

Alcatel-Lucent will supply the OSS/BSS and act as systems integrator. The contract will include service assurance, customer care and billing and is targeted for completion by July next year.

source: telecomasia.net

Western Europe handset sales fall 6% in 2Q09

The Western European mobile devices market recorded another quarter of annual decline in 2Q09 despite a significant rise in smartphone sales, according to a new IDC study. According to the research firm's 'European Mobile Phone Tracker' report, handset vendors shipped 42 million units to Western Europe in 2Q09, down 6 percent from 2Q08 but an improvement on the 14 percent annual decline recorded in 1Q09. The switch from traditional mobile phones to smartphones continued to be a major trend in Western Europe, IDC said. Traditional mobile devices declined 12 percent during the quarter to 33.2 million units, while smartphones recorded a 25 percent increase to 8.8 million units compared to a year ago. For the full year, IDC believes that the Western European market will decline 10 percent, noting that demand for converged mobile devices will continue to grow, but will not be strong enough to reverse the overall market decline. "Despite the slight improvement in the second quarter of 2009, we will continue to see negative growth throughout the coming quarters, with full market recovery being seen only in 2011," said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager at IDC.

SmarTone wins Macau 3G bid

The DSRT, the Macau regulator, yesterday awarded the Hong Kong-owned company the fourth 3G license in the territory. SmarTone will spend 180 million patacas ($22.6 million) on its new 3G network in Macau.

SmarTone was the only bidder for the license. Rival 2G network providers China Telecom (Macau), Hutchison and incumbent CMT were all grant eight-year licenses in June 2007.

Macau, with a population of 560,000, already has 993,545 mobile users, or a mobile ownership rate of 177%. Of those, 440,000 are 3G customers, according to the DSRT.

source: telecomasia.net