StarHub introduces Singapore’s first mobile plan with data sharing for the family

StarHub introduces Singapore’s first mobile plan with data sharing for the family

Singapore, 22 September 2011 – StarHub today unveiled Singapore’s first mobile post-paid plan that offers the sharing of bundled data, airtime, and SMSes for customers, providing great savings and flexibility to families who wish to maximise their bundle price plans with their loved ones.

The new SmartSurf SharePlus mobile plan is available to StarHub Mobile customers who have SmartSurf 300 and SmartSurf 700 as the main plan. They can subscribe up to two SmartSurf SharePlus lines, and share and maximise their bundled local call minutes, SMSes and data on the main line with their family members.

SmartSurf SharePlus users also get to enjoy attractive features available on the SmartSurf main plan, including Per-second Billing, All Day Free Incoming Call, Free Local Missed Call Alerts, Free Voicemail, and more. They also receive an additional 1,000 free SMSes on a monthly basis, and have the option to convert bundled SMS to MMS.

“We are excited to offer the sharing of voice calls, SMSes and data among family members with the new SmartSurf SharePlus mobile plan," said Ms Joanna Chan, StarHub’s Vice President of Personal Solutions. “As smartphones and tablets become more common here, the new SmartSurf SharePlus mobile plan will appeal to parents, who can maximise and share their bundled voice, SMSes and data plan with their children and develop a closer relationship when they keep in touch with their smartphones and tablets."

Over 60% of StarHub Mobile customers use smartphones and tablets to communicate, keep up with the latest news and for entertainment. SmartSurf SharePlus is available for a monthly subscription fee of S$16.05 (inclusive of GST). Customers can visit any StarHub Shop or authorised dealer islandwide to sign up to the SmartSurf SharePlus plan.

Alcatel-Lucent helps China Telecom

Alcatel-Lucent helps China Telecom expand its network to bring high-quality mobile broadband services to millions of new subscribers

Paris and Shanghai, September 21, 2011 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is to expand and upgrade China Telecom’s 3G network, doubling capacity and increasing coverage and speeds as subscriber numbers rise. As smartphone ownership and mobile broadband demand increase dramatically in China this upgrade will satisfy customers’ needs now, while laying the groundwork for a future move to 4G LTE (long-term evolution) data speeds.

China is racing into the mobile millennium: in the second half of 2010, 43% of the world’s new mobile broadband connections were in China. China Telecom itself operates the largest 3G CDMA mobile network in the world, adding around three million new 3G subscribers every month, as well as being the world’s largest wireline and broadband service provider.

As China Telecom expands its customer base, the upgrade of the 3G CDMA network will maintain quality, reliability and efficiency while building a clear path for a future where more subscribers demand even faster connections.

Wei Leping, Chairman of China Telecom Science & Technology Committee, said: “Working with Alcatel-Lucent gives us confidence that we can attract a growing number of subscribers in China, knowing that we can offer all our customers, old and new, the services, speeds and experience they expect, now and in the future.”

In addition to the increase in capacity, under the agreement Alcatel-Lucent will lower associated costs across 56 cities in 9 provinces. Customers will experience higher data speeds and improved quality of voice and data services while giving China Telecom a competitive advantage to attract new subscribers.

Rajeev Singh-Molares, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Asia-Pacific Region, said: “Alcatel-Lucent’s long history of CDMA leadership together with our knowledge of the China market and China Telecom’s network allows us to help them meet rising demands for mobile broadband. Our expertise and understanding will allow China Telecom to maintain quality as their customer base grows, as well as prepare for the faster future of 4G LTE mobile broadband, and for the new applications and demands it brings.”

Syniverse Speeds International Roaming Reach for India’s Aircel

TAMPA, Fla. – Sept. 21, 2011 – With the mobile market in India poised for unprecedented growth, Syniverse has been selected by Aircel to provide roaming business management services that will rapidly increase the operator’s reach across that country and around the world. This significant customer acquisition exemplifies Syniverse’s growing momentum in the Indian roaming market.

Via Syniverse’s GAIN Roaming Business Management Services, Aircel will receive roaming management assistance from Syniverse roaming experts – a global group with more than 20 years experience making roaming work for operators across the globe. The Syniverse solution will speed roaming time to market and increase operational efficiencies for Aircel by streamlining management of the operator’s roaming agreements and developing specialized roaming skills and knowledge among its in-house team.

“A complete international roaming and data experience for our customers is imperative for Aircel, particularly in a rapidly evolving mobile market,” said Mr. Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel. “With Syniverse, we are able to give our customers the reach they need as we continue to roll out innovative new services moving forward.”

Ranging from remote consulting to enabling an entire roaming department, the Syniverse GAIN solution offers a full spectrum of roaming management services that can be tailored to each customer’s unique needs. The result is an ideal solution to help an operator of any size, in any market, quickly expand its roaming reach.

Aircel is one of the latest additions to Syniverse’s growing customer roster in India, and President and CEO Jeff Gordon said he envisions ongoing growth in the region as mobile continues to proliferate.

“The Indian market is fiercely competitive, and we are deeply committed to making mobile work for operators across the region, regardless of size or technology,” Gordon said. “Whether helping mobile operators make the transition to 3G and beyond or implementing mobile number portability, our in-region teams understand the needs of the region and have a strong vision for its future mobile growth.”

Spice Digital leaves imprint in the Kingdom of Cambodia

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Spice Digital Limited, one of India’s leading MVAS (Mobile Value Added Services) companies, announced the launch of their two most winning services- Mobile Radio and Voice Chat, in the Kingdom of Cambodia, today. This is yet another successful venture into the international space by Spice Digital. With close to 25 mobile networks across the globe and an unbeatable presence in SAARC, APAC and MEA markets, Spice Digital’s foray into the Kingdom of Cambodia now establishes it as the future Mobile Internet Organization.

For both, Mobile Radio and Voice Chat services, Spice Digital has partnered Hang Meas, Cambodia’s fastest growing media production company for the Content development, in association with Metfone - Viettel, the leading telecom operator in Cambodia.

Commenting on this occasion, Mr. Saket Agarwal (Global CEO - Services) said “Cambodia has seen rapid progress in the economical and human resource areas in the past few years, and is moving ahead in an even faster pace in the telecom space. We took this opportunity to make an entry in this market at this point, and provide the *customers with a delightful experience with our two most innovative services, the Mobile Radio and Voice Chat.”

Adding to this, Mr Eng Chhay Ngoun, Director, Hang Meas Group Company Limited, said “we have made the best choice by associating with Spice Digital Limited, who is known for their technically superior, innovative and entertaining services in the MVAS space. With Mobile Radio and Voice Chat services, we shall provide our customers altogether a new experience.”

Mr. Trinh Hai Hoan, spokesperson of Metfone – Viettel also mentioned, “It is a pleasure to associate with a global MVAS company like Spice Digital who has incessantly provided innovative and entertaining services to its customers, and has now given us the opportunity to experience their services with the launch of their two most successful services, the Mobile Radio and Voice Chat.”

wi-tribe enables Family-Friendly Internet Browsing

Islamabad, September, 2011: wi-tribe, Pakistan’s No. 1 broadband, marks its niche as a family-oriented broadband company that aims to enable more control for wi-tribe parents by introducing Net Nanny – the world’s most trusted parental control software.

Bringing in a new addition to its Software-as-a-Service portfolio, wi-tribe is offering subscription to Net Nanny at an affordable monthly rate, so that families can enjoy completely personalized internet browsing. Considering that a growing number of parents are often concerned about the internet usage habits of their children, wi-tribe deemed it essential for parents to have an effective tool at their disposal to monitor and control content exposure over the internet. Net Nanny is a highly reliable parental control software that allows parents to not only limit the amount of time their children spend online, but can also filter and block access to websites and programs such as messengers and chat rooms, social media networks and online games, along with 35 other categories.

Net Nanny is an easy-to-use, yet intelligent software, that not only enables a high level of content control, but also keeps subscribers updated by sending regular email notifications and reports providing details of websites visited, time spent on instant messaging activities and nature of activities on social media networks.

“As a brand that strongly believes in human values, all of us at wi-tribe take our moral responsibility very seriously, making internet usage as safe and constructive as possible for our audience. Net Nanny has a proven track record of helping parents restrict malicious internet content to protect the impressionable minds of their children.” said Ali Fahd, Director Marketing, wi-tribe Pakistan.

NTT to Increase Investment in Germany’s net mobile AG

TOKYO, JAPAN, September 22, 2011 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that it plans to make an additional investment of up to 28.4 million euros, or about 3.1 billion yen*, in the leading German mobile and interactive service provider, net mobile AG, which it acquired in 2009 through its wholly-owned German subsidiary.

This additional investment will be used by net mobile mainly to acquire a controlling stake in Bankverein Werther, a private German bank with strong electronic commerce and payment services. Utilizing Bankverein Werther’s existing banking license and credit card licenses, as well as the bank’s main systems, net mobile will be able to greatly enhance its mobile payment platform. In addition to net mobile’s current operator-billing systems, such as premium SMS payments, after the acquisition it will offer direct debit and credit card payments and also develop various means of settlement.

Telecom has launched a re-vamped website

Telecom has launched a re-vamped website at www.telecom.co.nz, designed from the ground up to meet the changing needs of customers online.

Jonathan Morris, Lead Manager Digital Communications, said like many other sectors, customers are increasingly going online to research, buy and manage their telecommunications services.

“Telecom’s websites receive more than three quarters of a million unique visitors each month and this number is continuing to grow. We’ve responded by re-building our website with the customer’s needs at the heart of the design, to make it easy to do business with us online,” he said.

“People want to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, so now 80% of the site’s content and capabilities are within one or two clicks of the home page.

“The site has also been rebuilt with a powerful new content management system to significantly improve search capability, as well as the site’s performance, speed and availability.

“It’s the first stage of a larger project focused on transforming Telecom’s online service capability, and continuing to develop a highly effective multichannel experience,” Mr Morris said.

True Move received approx $459 million of its 10.75% Guaranteed Notes

September 22, 2011 – True Move Company Limited (the “Company”) announced today that it has received approximately $459 million aggregate principal amount of its 10.75% Guaranteed Notes due 2013 (CUSIP No. 89784VAA4, ISIN No. US89784VAA44, Common Code No. 027906982 (Rule 144A)) (CUSIP No. Y31939AA2, ISIN No. USY31939AA20, Common Code No. 027907067 (Reg S)) (the “2013 Notes”) and approximately $214 million aggregate principal amount of its 10.375% Guaranteed Notes due 2014 (CUSIP No. 89784VAC0, ISIN No. US89784VAC00, Common Code No. 031407796 (Rule 144A)) (CUSIP No. Y31939AC8, ISIN No. USY31939AC85, Common Code No. 031407923 (Reg S)) (the “2014 Notes,” and collectively with the 2013 Notes, the “Notes”) validly tendered by 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 20, 2011 (the “Early Tender Deadline”), and has received consents from holders of approximately 98% of the $465,000,000 aggregate outstanding principal amount of the 2013 Notes and from holders of approximately 95% of the $225,000,000 aggregate outstanding principal amount of the 2014 Notes as of the Early Tender Deadline.

TeliaSonera signs Memorandum of Understanding to increase its ownership in Kcell in connection with a planned IPO

TeliaSonera and Kazakhtelecom have signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding Kazakhtelecom’s intention to conduct an IPO of GSM Kazakhstan LLP, operating under the brand Kcell, in accordance with the efforts of the Government of Kazakhstan to expand and further develop the Kazakhstani stock market. The contemplated final outcome of the transactions according to the MoU, is that Kazakhtelecom will sell its shares in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), apart from 24% plus one share that will be acquired by TeliaSonera (or by TeliaSonera’s subsidiary Fintur Holdings). The transactions will be completed at market value. Any sale to TeliaSonera and IPO of shares are subject to a number of conditions being fulfilled by both parties.

Presently, GSM Kazakhstan LLP is owned by Fintur Holdings (51%) and Kazakhtelecom (49%). Fintur Holdings B.V. is owned by TeliaSonera (58.55%) and Turkcell (41.55%).

“We are very pleased with the signing of this MoU, as it is a clear step forward in TeliaSonera’s strategy of increasing ownership in core holdings. Kcell operates in the largest Eurasian market, has taken a clear market leader position, and shown remarkable growth over the years. A sale by Kazakhtelecom of an additional stake in Kcell to us would increase our ownership in a company where we already have management and operational responsibility. We are looking forward to reaching another milestone in our Eurasia growth strategy,” said Tero Kivisaari, President, TeliaSonera Eurasia.

TeliaSonera AB discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instrument Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 08.30 a.m. CET on 21 September 2011.

For more information, please call the TeliaSonera press office + 46-771 77 58 30, press@teliasonera.com

Research In Motion Launches the New BlackBerry Torch 9860 and BlackBerry Torch 9810 Smartphones in Singapore

Singapore - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the launch of two BlackBerry® 7 OS based smartphones in Singapore: the new BlackBerry® Torch™ 9860 and BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810. Both smartphones are expected to be available in Singapore on September 22nd. Customers can pre-order the BlackBerry Torch 9860 and BlackBerry Torch 9810 beginning today. For more information, customers are encouraged to visit http://sg.blackberry.com/

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone offers fast and fluid performance in a stylish new all-touch design. With a spectacular new 3.7” display, the largest ever on a BlackBerry smartphone, the new all-touch BlackBerry Torch 9860 smartphone is optimized for high-quality multimedia, web browsing and gaming. In addition, the BlackBerry Torch 9860 delivers the industry-leading real-time communication and collaboration experience that is loved by millions of BlackBerry smartphone users around the world.

The BlackBerry Torch 9810 is a powerful evolution of the BlackBerry Torch 9800. The new model is faster and more fluid with high performance hardware features and the new BlackBerry 7 OS delivering an enhanced multimedia experience. Featuring a large 3.2”, high resolution touch display and a distinctive BlackBerry keyboard that easily slides out to allow fast typing, the BlackBerry Torch 9810 truly delivers the best of both worlds.

Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director, East Asia at RIM, said: “This is an exciting period for RIM and we are thrilled to introduce two new BlackBerry 7 powered smartphones in Singapore. Both of these new BlackBerry Torch smartphones offer a full touch display and feature RIM’s next generation of hardware and software to deliver the ultimate in communications, multimedia and productivity.”

The new BlackBerry 7 operating system introduces the next generation BlackBerry browser, featuring a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience that is among the best in the industry. Combining the dramatically improved performance of the advanced WebKit browser engine together with powerful hardware enhancements, BlackBerry 7 based smartphones deliver browsing results that are up to 40% faster than BlackBerry® 6 based smartphones and up to 100% faster than BlackBerry® 5 based smartphones*. Additional enhancements to this next generation BlackBerry browser include optimized zooming and panning for smoother web navigation and optimized HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.

U MOBILE HITS ONE MILLION | U Mobile

U MOBILE HITS ONE MILLION

Kuala Lumpur, 21 September 2011- It is indeed a memorable Raya season for Mohd Razif Razali when he received the surprise of a lifetime when he was told that he was U Mobile’s lucky one millionth subscriber.

The unexpected telephone call also came with great news – as U Mobile’s one millionth customer, he received U Mobile’s latest device offering- the Blackberry Playbook.

The 27 year-old lad from Muar, who subscribed to U Mobile during the Hari Raya holidays, was delighted with the good news and was grateful that his choice to sign up for a data plan with U Mobile paid off.

“I have never won anything like this in my life. This is truly a wonderful Raya gift for me,” said Mohd Razif, who was on the lookout for a new mobile phone when he decided to sign up with U Mobile for a Blackberry plan.

Prior to his decision to subscribe U Mobile’s Blackberry plan, Razif did a comparison on the data plans offered by various telcos in town. “I was looking for a data plan and I chose U Mobile for the most value at the lowest rate with the largest data volume. Who knew that this decision would prove to be one of the best I have ever made!” added Razif, who eventually opted for U Mobile’s 5GB data plan at RM68 monthly.

When asked on how he will be enjoying the BlackBerry Playbook, he said he will use it to play games and stay connected on Facebook. He will also encourage his family members to switch to U Mobile to enjoy affordable rates that come with attractive value-add offerings.

Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Dr. Kaizad Heerjee, CEO of U Mobile Sdn Bhd said, “We have always placed our customers as our utmost priority by providing quality products and services paired with value-add offerings. Achieving our one millionth subscriber reflects growing confidence and trust from both our customers and the market on the U Mobile brand name.

I believe we are on the right track in becoming Malaysia’s favourite telco service provider” he added.

The announcement also marked a milestone for U Mobile as the company experienced a tremendous leap in number of subscribers when compared to last quarter’s records.

A recent string of exciting offerings, discounts and rewards programme played a major part in the subscriber base growth, which included free calls nationwide within the network, zero roaming charges in Singapore, IDD Budget and high data volume Broadband plans at the lowest rate.

SingTel unearths another SMS World Record for Singapore

Singapore, 21 September 2011 - SingTel has successfully made an attempt to put Singapore back on top of the world’s fastest SMS texters proving that ‘Fast’ really is ‘Amazing’.

Jeffrey Teo Yi Hao, 25, a web programmer, clocked a speed of 23.40 seconds - more than two seconds faster than the current world record - in a bid to smash the time of 25.94 seconds set by Melissa Thompson in London, UK, last year. SingTel will be submitting the time recorded by Jeffrey to Guinness World Records for its consideration.

Jeffrey was the fastest among four finalists at the SMS competition held on 18 September at Tampines Mall. The competition was held as part of the series of SingTel “Fast Is Amazing” roadshows in conjunction with the 2011 FORMULA 1TM SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. He won the competition despite only practising on it for the last two weeks after borrowing a touchscreen phone from his father.

Jeffrey was one of the finalists in the 2008 SingTel SMS Shootout and was narrowly beaten by Jeramy Sng Gim who achieved the world record.

Since Guinness World Records started to accept SMS records, the message it provided has remained the same: “The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.”

The SMS message has to be accurately typed for the attempt to be recognised.

The previous records, using button mobile phones, had always been fought with a margin of less than one second. Jeffrey's 2.6-second margin over the previous record holder is commendable for a competition keenly fought all over the world.

Mr Ong Eng Huat, President of Singapore Book of Records, said "SMS texting at that kind of speed requires the discipline and training like those of the other sports. And in no other sport has Singapore been so consistently best in the world. It is the only sport which we have broken the world record for the fourth time."

StarHub partners Vodafone to bring world-class mobile services to enterprises in Singapore

Singapore, 20 September 2011 – StarHub and Vodafone today announced that they have agreed to form a strategic partnership that will bring world-class mobile services to enterprise customers in Singapore, with unique Vodafone Global Enterprise services and an extensive global mobile footprint. StarHub will become the exclusive partner of Vodafone in Singapore with effect from 1 January 2012.

StarHub is a member of Conexus Mobile Alliance (Conexus), one of Asia’s largest mobile alliances with presence in 10 countries/regions. Vodafone is one of the world’s largest mobile communications companies with equity interests in over 30 countries and more than 40 partner networks worldwide. The partnership with these two prominent groups will allow StarHub to offer first-class, innovative mobile services to enterprises in Singapore. It will also cater to the growing demand for data roaming on smartphone and mobile broadband. This means that corporate and retail customers can look forward to more innovative services and packages as well as further enhanced roaming experience abroad with StarHub.

"We are extremely delighted with the opportunity to form a strategic partnership with Vodafone in Singapore, enabling us to provide an even more comprehensive range of products and services for our enterprise customers locally and globally. In addition, this will allow StarHub to ride on the global mobile networks of Conexus and Vodafone to offer quality and cost-effective roaming services to all our customers. This is particularly important with the rapid growth of smartphone and mobile broadband data roaming," said Mr Neil Montefiore, CEO of StarHub.

Mr Paul-Gerhard Itjeshorst, Acting CEO of Vodafone Partner Markets commented: “The value to Vodafone of collaborating with StarHub, one of the Conexus members, will be significant given the growing importance of the Asia region to our enterprise customers.”

StarHub is a leading quadruple services provider in Singapore with compelling offerings in mobile, pay-TV, broadband and fixed services. To better serve the corporate sector, StarHub and Vodafone will jointly provide multinational corporations (MNCs) in Singapore that are named Vodafone Global enterprise accounts, with mobile services as well as access to Vodafone Global Enterprise products and services. Companies can also look forward to innovative mobile pricing plans across the StarHub-Vodafone-Conexus networks for their growing local and global needs.

This strategic partnership extends beyond bringing benefits to enterprise customers. All StarHub mobile customers will benefit from the extensive global mobile networks of Vodafone and Conexus, for seamless, quality, innovative, and cost-effective roaming services wherever they go in the world. Together with StarHub’s "Roam Manager" which enables the customers to know and manage their roaming cost, StarHub’s roaming customers will truly enjoy peace of mind when they travel overseas.

"With these new initiatives, StarHub is excited to be able to provide an enhanced global roaming experience to our customers as well as to make further inroads to the local enterprise mobile market," Mr Montefiore added.

Huawei Showcases HetNet Solution at LTE Asia 2011 Conference

[Singapore, 20 September 2011]: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced that it successfully showcased its end-to-end HetNet (Heterogeneous Network) solution and its LTE capabilities at LTE Asia 2011, a leading LTE conference held recently in Singapore.

Currently, 20 percent of sites carry over 80 percent of total mobile broadband (MBB) traffic. With the proliferation of smart devices, over the next decade MBB traffic is expected to grow by over 500 times, which will result in MBB network bottlenecks.

Huawei's end-to-end HetNet solution is a future-proof MBB architecture made up of multi-layer networks that enable undifferentiated user experiences. HetNet employs the cutting-edge technologies of multi-layer coordination, eICIC (Inter-Cell Interference Coordination), and SON (Self Organizing Network) to improve the capacity of MBB networks up to five times.

HetNet is made possible by Huawei's world-leading LTE Micro BTS (base transceiver station), which is easy to deploy without the need for site acquisition. In addition, Huawei's LTE Micro BTS gets the full performance out of an LTE network by employing features such as extreme data rate (DL 150Mbps, UL 50Mbps on 20MHz band, 2*2MIMO) and integrated SON (self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-maintenance).

At the two-day conference, Ying Weimin, President of GSM/UMTS/LTE, Huawei, said, "Huawei has continually driven the development of LTE and operators now have the opportunity to leverage LTE's improved performance and network coverage in order to build a more competitive MBB network. As operators migrate to the advanced mobile infrastructure, they can take advantage of the surge of opportunities and challenges to drive LTE monetization."

At the conference, Huawei's industry-leading end-to-end SingleRAN LTE solution was also unveiled along its component parts, including a SingleRAN LTE FDD/TDD solution, a SingleRAN WiMAX/LTE solution, SingleEPC, SingleOSS and various other devices.

Deng Taihua, President of WiMAX/TDS/LTE, Huawei, said, "LTE TDD has already been commercially deployed by leading MBB operators, and it has proven to be a virtual gold mine for them. Huawei's leading end-to-end LTE TDD solution, which includes SingleRAN LTE, can enable MBB operators to achieve business success."

As of the second quarter of 2011, Huawei has deployed over 130 SingleRAN networks which have the ability to evolve to LTE. Over 40 of the operators involved in these deployments have either already announced LTE launches or have committed to future launches. According to the "Evolution to LTE" report released by GSA (the Global mobile Suppliers Association) in July, there are currently 24 active commercial LTE networks that have been launched globally and of these, 12 are using Huawei's end-to-end SingleRAN LTE solution.

Hutchison Telecom to Form Strategic Partnership with Vodafone in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, 20 September 2011 - Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited (HTHKH, Stock Code: 215) and Vodafone Group (Vodafone) today jointly announced that the mobile arm of HTHKH, Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong and Vodafone, intend to work together upon the expiration of its contractual agreement with its existing partner in Hong Kong. This follows news today that Vodafone and certain members of the Conexus Mobile Alliance, including Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong, have agreed to form a strategic alliance.

Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong will become the preferred non-equity partner of Vodafone in Hong Kong in roaming and global corporate sales services. It will also be entitled to use the Vodafone brand and enjoy access to Vodafone’s devices and services in Hong Kong.

Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong and Vodafone plan to jointly provide customers with enhanced network coverage, harmonised roaming rates across multiple countries and greater cost efficiencies. The duo also plans to support multinational corporations with services and solutions such as consolidated bid management for regional and global Request for Proposal, single Master Service Agreement, central ordering system and online Telecom Expense Management.

Mr Peter Wong, Chief Executive Officer of HTHKH, said: "The partnership has highlighted HTHKH’s ongoing effort to sustain growth and create value for our shareholders. The strategic move will help enhance our abilities to meet growing demand among multinational corporations for sophisticated voice and data communications services and solutions as well as advanced roaming services. With Vodafone’s existing partners added to our portfolio of corporate customers, this will further strengthen our corporate customer base and drive the growth of data and voice usage from the business sector, greatly benefitting the Company as a whole."

Paul-Gerhard Itjeshorst, Acting CEO of Vodafone Partner Markets commented: "The value to Vodafone of collaborating with Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong, one of the Conexus members, will be significant given the growing importance of the Asia region to our enterprise customers."

M1 and Vodafone end partnership

SINGAPORE, 19 September 2011 - M1 Limited (M1) today announces that M1 and Vodafone have mutually agreed to not renew their partnership, following the expiry of the M1-Vodafone Co-Operation Agreement on 31 December 2011.

M1 has global roaming partnership arrangements with operators in over 230 countries and territories. M1 is also part of the Axiata group of companies and a member of the Asia Mobility Initiative (AMI) - an alliance of regional telecom operators, and will continue to leverage on these associations. Members of the AMI Alliance include Celcom in Malaysia, dtac in Thailand, XL Axiata in Indonesia, IDEA Cellular in India, SmarTone in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Sun Cellular in Philippines.

In addition, M1 will continue to enhance the products and services that its customers enjoy today, to ensure that their experience is seamless and optimised.

DOCOMO and Vodafone Plan to Form Business Partnership Centered on Corporate Sales

TOKYO, JAPAN, September 20, 2011 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today it plans to work with Vodafone Group Plc mainly on sales and marketing of corporate services to multinational companies from December 1, 2011.

Together with DOCOMO’s existing partnerships with other Asian telecom operators in the Conexus Mobile Alliance, working with Vodafone would enable DOCOMO to further support the global operations of multinational Japanese companies. This landmark collaboration would allow DOCOMO and Vodafone to serve as a single point of contact to provide consultations and solutions to meet the worldwide mobile communication needs of these companies, including customer care for a wide range of operations centered on mobility.

Vodafone aims to offer Japanese and other multinational companies superior services backed by DOCOMO’s high-quality mobile networks in Japan and strong corporate sales structure. Strategic partnerships with DOCOMO and other members of Conexus would allow Vodafone to expand its reach and business scope throughout a wide area of the Asia-Pacific region.

Vodafone and Conexus Mobile Alliance Form Strategic Partnership

Vodafone Group (“Vodafone”) and the Conexus Mobile Alliance (“Conexus” or the “Alliance”) today jointly announce that they have agreed to form a strategic partnership which will significantly expand Vodafone’s partner market presence in Asia and provide Conexus member customers with greater support in Vodafone’s global footprint.

Vodafone intends to work with as many of the Conexus members as possible*, complementing Vodafone’s own regional operations in India, Australia, Fiji and New Zealand and its existing partners in Malaysia (Celcom) and Sri Lanka (Dialog).

Over time, Vodafone’s agreement with Conexus will include partnerships with:

- FarEasTone (Taiwan);

- Hutchison Telecom (Hong Kong);

- NTT DOCOMO (Japan);

- SMART (the Philippines);

- StarHub (Singapore); and

- TrueMove (Thailand).

Vodafone and Conexus also intend to expand partnerships with remaining Conexus members, such as KT in South Korea, to further enhance coverage.

In countries where Vodafone already has a current partner market agreement in place, any new agreement with a Conexus member would take effect once the existing contract had expired.

The move will enhance both Conexus members’ and Vodafone’s ability to meet growing demand among multinational businesses for sophisticated voice and data communications solutions as well as advanced roaming services within and out of Asia.

Vodafone Global Enterprise - the business within Vodafone that manages the communications needs of multinational companies - already has 140 customers which are headquartered in Asia Pacific and a further 435 customers which operate in the region.

Conexus members will be able to use the Vodafone brand, enjoy access to Vodafone’s devices and services in their home markets and become the preferred partner of Vodafone in respect of the agreed areas of cooperation.

Together, Vodafone and Conexus will provide customers with enhanced network coverage, harmonised roaming rates across multiple countries and greater cost efficiencies**.

Vodafone’s multinational customers will benefit by being able to add the Conexus countries to their existing contracts for international managed services, while continuing to be serviced via a single point of contact. Conexus members will similarly benefit from Vodafone’s footprint. In addition, Vodafone and Conexus plan to support multinational corporations by providing communications expenditure tracking and procurement services while introducing innovative mobile price plans across the two organisations’ shared area of operations.

Morten Lundal, Vodafone’s Group Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The value to Vodafone of collaborating with Conexus will be significant given the growing importance of Asia to our enterprise customers. These agreements will strengthen and deepen the benefits to our customers operating in these large and dynamic markets.”

Andrew Kwok, Chairman of Conexus, said: “Conexus is always actively looking for growth opportunities to further enhance its value and competitiveness in the region and worldwide. Through natural growth and member acquisitions, we have tripled our customer base from 100 million to over 320 million in a mere five years after establishment.

“The unprecedented partnership between Conexus and Vodafone is a realisation of Conexus’ growth strategy. We believe that it has marked the world’s first collaboration between one of Asia’s largest mobile alliances and one of the world’s largest mobile communities. The partnership is of strong strategic value to the Alliance. It will not only enable us to further extend our global reach but also increase our overall competitiveness especially in coping with diverse global customer requirements. The partnership showcases our common vision to provide our combined global mobile customer base of over 600 million customers with preferential roaming services and unique value propositions for corporate customers. It also offers a good opportunity for Conexus members to extend their business relationships to more than 40 existing partners of Vodafone,” Mr. Kwok added.

Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone plan tower holding company

Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone plan tower holding company - Economic Times

Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone plan tower holding company

Gaurie Dwivedi, ET Now Sep 20, 2011, 04.33am IST

Tags:

Vodafone|Indus Towers

In a development that could see the big boys of GSM club -- Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone -- collectively monetise their tower assets, the three telcos are working on creating a holding company structure that is likely to house all the passive infrastructure owned by the three telcos, said an executive familiar with the development.

The proposed holding company is likely to have four subsidiaries -- Bharti Infratel, Indus Towers and the tower assets of Vodafone and Idea cellular outside the Indus Towers joint venture. The shareholding pattern of the proposed holding company will be in the ratio of the towers owned by the three telcos.

An industry source said that the proposed holding company structure, which will see a consolidation of the tower assets of the three telecom companies, is a step towards a possible listing of the new entity. Spokespersons for Bharti and Vodafone declined to comment on the development and an email sent to Idea Cellular on Saturday went unanswered at the time of going to press.

Vodafone strengthens spectrum for 4G LTE

Vodafone strengthens spectrum for 4G LTE

Vodafone has today confirmed it has strengthened its existing 1800MHz spectrum holding by making arrangements with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on the exchange and reallocation of blocks of spectrum with the state railway authorities in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

“We have now organised our spectrum into contiguous blocks in mainland capital cities that will support the roll out of LTE in all capital cities, once mass market handsets and mobile broadband devices are available at mass market prices,” said Nigel Dews, CEO of Vodafone. “We thank the railways for their co-operation to help reach a better public policy outcome.”

Earlier this year Vodafone confirmed that it had commenced installing LTE-ready equipment as part of its billion dollar network investment plan which includes the replacement of equipment at all network sites, upgrades to existing sites, new network sites and the rollout of a new 850MHz network, built for smartphones.

Vodafone undertook successful LTE trials in the 1800MHz band with Huawei, near Newcastle NSW, at the end of 2010. The results achieved download speeds of up to 73Mbps, paving the way for the evolution to higher data speeds for Vodafone customers.

Tyfone to License SideTap MicroSD NFC and Secure Element Card Technologies to AboMem

Tyfone to License SideTap MicroSD NFC and Secure Element Card Technologies to AboMem

PORTLAND, Ore. and TAIPEI, Taiwan – MobilityWire® – September 19, 2011

Tyfone (www.tyfone.com) announced today an agreement with AboMem Technology Corp. (www.abomem.com.tw), Taiwan’s premier memory products manufacturing company, to manufacture, distribute and service Tyfone’s SideTap™ microSD NFC products. This partnership also includes a widespread distribution of SideTap microSD cards to consumers throughout The People’s Republic of China via AboMem’s extensive distribution network.

Tyfone’s patented SideTap microSD product can be added to mobile devices for enabling secure element functionality with NFC connectivity. SideTap is a unique feature of Tyfone’s groundbreaking u4ia® platform that provides end-to-end mobile financial services solutions from informational services and commerce to secure identity and contactless payments via NFC.

“A necessary element required for the success of add-on NFC and secure element capabilities is the ability to scale to meet demand,” said Nick Holland, senior analyst with the Yankee Group. “This announcement demonstrates that Tyfone will be equipped with the manufacturing capabilities that will be critical for matching incoming demand for NFC hardware as the floodgates are opened.”

“AboMem has partnered with Tyfone because of its commitment, innovation, superior technology and patent portfolio for enabling mobile commerce,” said Aaron Yang, chairman of AboMem. “AboMem has seen Tyfone evolve SideTap from the prototype phase into a market-ready solution, and is excited to take our relationship to the next level and look forward to achieving success in China and the rest of the world.”

This agreement leverages AboMem’s established manufacturing and distribution infrastructure with Tyfone’s design and manufacturing know-how to achieve wide-scale adoption of an add-on secure element solution.

“Tyfone’s partnership with AboMem in China enables Tyfone to scale its business with a recognized leader in manufacturing memory products, and unleash its established distribution supply chain,” said Prabhakar Tadepalli, Tyfone’s president of Asia Pacific and chief operating officer. “The support AboMem has provided Tyfone over the past several years for our vision for mobile commerce has been invaluable, and we look forward to our partnership and the opportunity to serve the world’s largest consumer market.”

Companies wishing to deploy SideTap microSD secure element solutions will be able to purchase directly from AboMem, a recognized manufacturer, while working with Tyfone on TSM software integration for identity provisioning and implementation of mobility services.

Altair Semiconductor's LTE Technology Qualified by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) for Use in LTE Networks in China

Altair Semiconductor's LTE Technology Qualified by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) for Use in LTE Networks in China

GUANGZHOU, China – September 19, 2011 – Altair Semiconductor (http://www.altair-semi.com), the world's leading developer of ultra-low power, small footprint and high performance 4G LTE chipsets, announced today that following rigorous testing conducted by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), its dual mode FourGee-3100/6200 TDD/FDD-LTE chipset has been officially approved for use in LTE networks in China.

MIIT's approval of Altair's chipsets is based both in internal testing it conducted as well as on the results of extensive interoperability and field performance trials that Altair held with China Mobile over the last year.

Altair is one of the only TDD/FDD-LTE chipset vendors qualified by the Chinese regulator, providing significant benefits above competing technologies by allowing subscriber devices to operate equally efficiently both in China, which is based on a TDD-LTE scheme, as well as in FDD-LTE-based markets, such as the U.S. and Europe.

"This official stamp of approval from the Chinese regulatory authorities follows more than a year of extensive testing conducted with MIIT and China Mobile. While Altair is very excited to have successfully passed MIIT's qualification testing, this is also an exciting development for the market, as our TDD/FDD-LTE capable technology enables commercial devices to function equally effectively on China Mobile's network as well as on networks around the world," said Eran Eshed, Co-Founder and VP of Marketing and Business Development at Altair Semiconductor. "Having already established leadership positions in numerous other Asia-Pacific countries, we look forward to extending our footprint in the Chinese market and to building on our partnership with China Mobile."

Altair's FourGee-3100/6200 is a 3GPP LTE chipset that supports LTE throughputs of 100Mbps/50Mbps DL/UL respectively. The chipset implements a 20MHz MIMO receiver and is based on a proprietary O²P™ Software Defined Radio (SDR) processor which offers performance which significantly exceeds traditional communications DSP cores, yet consumes a fraction of the power. The FourGee-3100/6200 supports both FDD and TDD variants using a single software, and covers any LTE frequency band in the range between 700-2700MHz. The combined chipset offers terminal manufacturers a true global solution.