India Passes 500M Mobile Mark

India's mobile operators activated a staggering 17.65 million new lines during November to take the country's total to just more than 506 million, according to new data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) .

Iliad’s Free Mobile wins 4th French 3G license

French communications company Iliad this morning (18 December 2009) announced that the country’s regulator, ARCEP, has awarded its mobile subsidiary (Free) a 3G license. The decision ends years of speculation concerning the country’s fourth 3G license holder, although today’s decision is not a surprise as Free was the only bidder.

Huawei supplies China Unicom with femtocells

China Unicom - the world’s second-largest mobile operator by subscribers - is quietly rolling out a 3G femtocell service. Chinese vendor Huawei announced today it is providing kit for the operator’s ‘3G Inn’ service, designed to boost indoor mobile coverage.

Telefonica sets up international M2M unit

Telefonica has set up an international Machine to Machine (M2M) business unit that will support its enterprise customer base in all the markets where it operates. The newly created M2M Unit consists of more than 100 Telefonica staff incorporating sales, marketing, technical and innovation resources.

TeliaSonera reveals LTE tariffs and 2010 expansion plans

As for the pricing of initial LTE services now available in Oslo and Stockholm, very low introductory offers have been set. In Stockholm, consumers signing up to a 12-month contract can get the world’s first commercial LTE service for just SEK4 (US$0.56) a month until 1 July 2010. Users will receive the Samsung dongle (currently compatible with LTE networks only), with a free upgrade to Samsung’s backward-compatible 3G/LTE dongle when it is available in the second quarter of 2010. From 1 July 2010, customers will pay SEK599 (US$83) per month for 30GB of data, and the modem will be charged as an extra, as yet unspecified, fee. In Oslo, the same procedure applies, except the initial monthly cost until 1 April 2010 is NOK1 (US$0.17), after which time the monthly tariff is increased to NOK699 (US$120). 

TeliaSonera launches ‘world-first’ commercial LTE networks

TeliaSonera today (14 December 2009) launched the world’s first commercial LTE networks, a major development that sees the Nordic operator steal a march in this heavily-hyped sector. The operator has switched on networks in Oslo, Norway (using kit from Huawei) and Stockholm, Sweden (using equipment from Ericsson). Samsung is supplying an LTE dongle (pictured) that operates in the 2.6GHz band, which can be connected to a laptop via USB.

Vodafone to launch smart metering project in Germany

Vodafone is the latest major operator to test the waters of the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) space, teaming with network vendor Alcatel-Lucent on a smart metering project in Germany targeting the energy supplier space.

LTE vs. WiMAX: average speeds

Verizon LTE launch date has not yet confirmed.
Verizon expects average data speed of LTE of
DL 5-12 Mbps
UL 2-5 Mbps
which is slightly speedier than Clearwire's average WiMAX speed of
DL 2-6 Mbps
UL 1 Mbps
source: Unstrung, Unstrung

Ericsson quits Voice-Over-LTE Forum

Ericsson quits Voice-Over-LTE Forum and is believed to back one of two 3GPP's solutions: CS fallback and One Voice initiative (IMS-based). The move is significant because Ericsson's support, or lack of it, for mobile industry initiatives is important, given that it's the largest single global supplier of mobile infrastructure and one of the early movers in the emerging market for LTE systems.

source: Unstrung

Could LTE offer better battery life?

SC-FDMA was introduced in the uplink to optimize the handset's transmit power without the need for expensive power amplifier (due to better PAPR requirement). But the question is with the initial silicon and hardware, the handset will suck down more power than 2G and 3G chipsets that have been refined over many generations of development. It will be interesting to see whether SC-FDMA can help offset this.
source: Unstrung

Orange jumps on apps store bandwagon

France Telecom’s Orange has become the latest mobile operator to move into the apps store space, announcing today the launch of the ‘Orange App Shop.’ The service is available initially ‘over-the-air’ to 1 million customers in France and the UK via Orange Signature devices made by Nokia and Sony Ericsson. From January, these devices will ship preloaded with App Shop. Support for Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola and RIM (BlackBerry) handsets is also in the pipeline, and the store is able to run across multiple platforms including Java, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile. The store launches with over 5,000 applications, games, ringtones and wallpapers and includes Orange services such as Orange TV, Orange Games and Orange Maps, as well as third-party content. All purchases are automatically added to an Orange mobile bill, so customers do not need to pre-register or use personal credit cards.

Verizon Wireless reveals LTE speeds

Verizon Wireless claims that next year’s launch of its LTE network will enable average downlink data rates per user of 5-12 Mb/s and 2-5 Mb/s in the uplink. The figures were made public on a website promoting the technology and are said to be “over 10x faster than current 3G technology.” Interestingly, WiMAX service provider Clearwire says its network gives “average mobile download speeds of 3 to 6 Mb/s with bursts over 10 Mb/s." Although Verizon’s LTE website does not reveal specific launch dates, it does state that “Verizon Wireless will be the first in the US and among the first in the world to launch LTE, starting with 25 to 30 markets in 2010, covering approximately 100 million people; and extending to cover our current 3G footprint in 2013.”

Thai Mobile launches 3G services in Bangkok

Thai Mobile – the 3G subsidiary of Thai state-owned operator, TOT – launched its first 3G services in the capital city, Bangkok, yesterday. According to a Bangkok Post report, the operator has 548 base stations up and running in Bangkok and surrounding areas in association with an MVNO partner, Samart I-Mobile. The services – in the 1900MHz band - require a user to buy a new SIM card and sign up for a 12-month subscription. However, the report notes that TOT has already given away 3G SIM cards and mobile handsets free to its existing 10,000 Thai Mobile customers. Under the cheapest package, customers pay THB199 (US$6) per month for 199 minutes of both voice and video calls, plus 199MB of data usage.

Indonesia’s Telkom linked with merger with CDMA rival, Bakrie

PT Telekomunikasi (Telkom), owner of Indonesia’s largest mobile operator, is looking to acquire a smaller rival, with local fixed-wireless operator Bakrie Telecom tipped as a potential target. “We’re still in the discussion stage, looking for opportunities,” commented Telkom CFO Sudiro Asno, reports Jakarta Globe. “We’re looking at other smaller operators, but not the big players like [rival operators] PT Indosat and PT Excelcomindo Pratama.” The report notes that the government is keen for consolidation in the sector as the high number of operators in the country is causing large levels of “unhealthy” competition and affecting earnings at the big players.

Clearwire expands WiMAX in the US

US WiMAX operator Clearwire continues to launch the technology across the country, opening new retail stores and promising WiMAX smartphones by the end of next year. Following a number of market launch announcements yesterday, Unstrung notes that Clearwire’s mobile WiMAX service is now available in 27 markets across the US, potentially covering over 30 million people and meeting its deployment targets for 2009. In addition, CEO Bill Morrow is also reported this week to have addressed one of the biggest challenges facing the company; a lack of compelling devices. Although the operator is currently focused on laptops and datacards, Morrow said WiMAX-capable smartphones will be available by Christmas 2010.

Spanish cablecos to jointly bid for mobile spectrum

Spain’s four largest cable operators - Ono, Euskaltel, R and Telecable - are in talks to join forces in order to bid for mobile spectrum in the country’s upcoming 2.6GHz auctions. One of the cable operators' CEO's told Spanish newspaper Expansion that the Spanish authorities are in favour of the cable companies jointly bidding for spectrum in the auctions, which are scheduled for the first quarter of next year. The spectrum is to be partly allocated on a regional basis to facilitate cable operators applying. The move would mark a significant shift in strategy for the cable firms, which have traditionally offered mobile services in Spain via MVNO arrangements. Currently, regional firms Euskaltel, R and Telecable are with Vodafone Spain, while Ono – a national firm – has an MVNO deal in place with Telefonica’s Movistar.

Finland's 4G Wireless Auction Results

Finland’s first radio spectrum auction closed on 23 November. The auction lasted five days and included 27 rounds. The final sum amounted to 3,797,800 euros.
The winning bids for FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) spectrum were submitted by the following operators:

Elisa Oyj that bid 50 MHz for 834,700 euros, TeliaSonera Finland Oyj that bid 50 MHz for 819,200 euros and DNA Oy that bid 40 MHz for 675,700 euros.

In TDD (Time Division Duplex) spectrum the highest bid was made by Pirkanmaan Verkko Oy that bid 50 MHz for 1,468,200 euros.

Ms Suvi Lindén, Finland’s Minister of Communications, says that the auctioning process went as expected.

“Now we will assess the results of the trial auction and the impact it will have in future”, Ms Lindén says.

According to Minister Lindén a report of the impacts of the auction will be submitted to Parliament in autumn 2010. By then there will be information available as to how the winners use the spectrum.

The Government will later grant operating licences on the basis of the auction.

source: 4g.co.uk