Huawei to Launch TV White Space LTE TDD System Trial

[Shenzhen, China, 20 October, 2011:]: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced the successful launch of a TV White Space (TVWS) LTE TDD system trial. This innovative TVWS LTE TDD solution provided by Huawei will enable more widespread usage of TVWS spectrum and will improve spectrum efficiency.

As a result of the proliferation of smart devices, which has led to a much higher utilization of spectrum resources, mobile operators worldwide are now confronted with the urgent problem of limited spectrum resources. The search for new spectra has put a spotlight on TVWS - the spaces left between channels to limit interference. This spectrum, abundant in every country and vastly underused, offers many benefits for mobile broadband use, including large bandwidth, excellent penetration and propagation, and extensive coverage.

In 2008, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the unlicensed use of TVWS. This decision opened the door for new devices and applications with support for TVWS to hit the U.S. market. As other regions and countries move toward finalizing regulations and standards for TVWS, the spectrum will eventually fulfill mobile broadband requirements and more applications will be created.

Huawei began this TVWS LTE TDD system development and verification test in 2009. After two years, the first phase of the laboratory trial was successfully completed in August 2011. The next phase—the system performance and interference coordination test and field trial—will be finalized in mid-2012.

"The LTE TDD system can take full advantage of TVWS bandwidth and enhance spectrum efficiency,"said Mr. Tan Zhu, director of wireless strategy department, Huawei. "We have seen that our TVWS LTE TDD system offers broader coverage and fewer sites, reducing both capital and operational expenditures. This LTE TDD system will benefit network and service providers by offering a combination of strong operation and management capability, a mature industry chain, and variety of deployment scenarios. We are excited to undertake the second phase of the trial next year."

MTS partners ‘MTV Independence Rock

Mumbai, 20th October 2011: MTS India is all set to rock five cities i.e. Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata with ‘MTV Independence Rock’, India’s biggest and oldest Rock Music Festival. I-Rock as it is fondly called has a 25 year old history. This year the musical festival starts from November 7, 2011. A special event was organized at Hard Rock Café, Mumbai to announce the “Call for Entries” from budding young rock bands across the five zones. The event was attended by Imran Khan, Bollywood Star & Youth Icon, Amitesh Rao, Director – Brand & Marketing, MTS India, Aditya Swamy, EVP & Business Head, MTV, Ferzad Palia, Business Head, Vh1 and Farhad Wadia, CEO, E18. Also present on the occasion was Gary Lawyer, Legendary Rock Musician.

Speaking about the event, Imran Khan, Bollywood Star and Youth Icon said, " I am excited to be a part of the 26th edition of MTV Independence Rock brought alive by MTS Red Energy. It is a platform which has introduced some of the most famous rock bands to India. I've always been a big fan of rock music, and I have great memories of attending I Rock over the years. I'm hoping to see some great new bands along with old favorites.”

MTS India Creates History, Launches International Roaming For Its Customers; Partners With 433 GSM Networks in 231 Countries

Gurgaon, 17th October, 2011: Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) that nationally operates its telecom services under the MTS brand with over 13 million wireless customers today created history with the launch of International Roaming services for its prepaid subscribers enabling them to roam across 433 GSM networks in 231 countries. The company has also launched a dual mode SIM card which would work both on GSM handsets while abroad and on OMH CDMA handsets while in India. With this announcement, MTS becomes the first telecom operator in the country to provide international data roaming for CDMA prepaid customers.

MTS customers on international roaming would have access to GPRS services in 206 countries on 322 telecom networks. Additionally, MTS customers will be able to enjoy HSDPA services in 114 countries on 145 roaming networks.

According to Leonid Musatov, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer, MTS India, “We at MTS are always looking at innovation in our products and services to enhance customer experience. With a view to enhance connectivity and convenience, we have now introduced international roaming services for our customers. This would enable our customers to stay connected while traveling abroad without changing their phone numbers and also enjoy seamless data connectivity on the go, internationally”.

Raghunatha Chary, Regional Vice President Sales, India, MACH, commented: “We are delighted that MTS India selected our market leading Inter-Standard Roaming solution to be the first in India to provide its pre-paid customers with seamless access to international roaming on GSM networks across the world. Our solution enables MTS India to deliver a full portfolio of voice services and applications to its customers, through one device, one number and with one bill, so enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing mobile usage.

Indosat, Nokia Siemens Networks conduct Indonesia’s first 1800 MHz LTE trial

Indosat, Nokia Siemens Networks conduct Indonesia’s first 1800 MHz LTE trial

Indosat, Indonesia’s leading operator, and Nokia Siemens Networks have successfully conducted the country’s first Long Term Evolution (LTE) field trial in the 1800 MHz band. The trial is based on FDD-LTE (frequency division duplex) technology and showcases Indosat’s network readiness to re-farm the existing 1800 MHz frequency band. The trial took place in Surabaya and Bali in the presence of government representatives and regulatory authorities.

During the trial, the companies showcased innovative applications such as e-doctor and e-education in the cities of Surabaya and Denpasar, which enabled a patient to remotely consult a doctor, and a lecturer to teach students, through video conferencing. In addition, 3D video streaming and CCTV camera surveillance were demonstrated.

“LTE brings a new generation of communications to Indonesia,” said Hans C. Moritz, director and chief technology officer, Indosat. “Nokia Siemens Networks was an obvious choice for the trial due to its large installed base and ability to deliver LTE in the 1800 MHz frequency band. The company’s technology leadership and excellent support services can help us re-use our existing 1800 MHz band, currently used for 2G services, for future LTE services.”

“Use of mobile broadband is growing at an unprecedented rate in Indonesia. Operators, therefore need to increase their focus on accommodating data traffic and providing faster data services,” added Harald Preiss, head of the customer team at Nokia Siemens Networks. “With LTE, operators such as Indosat will be able to offer increased throughput of up to 100 Mbps with a latency, or delay of only 10 milliseconds. More importantly, operators will be able to reduce cost per bit by up to 50%.”

Nokia Siemens Networks provided its commercial, end-to-end, LTE solution for the field trial. This included a radio network based on the Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Evolved Packed Core*, comprising Flexi NS (Network Server) and Flexi NG (Network Gateway). It also provided its Home Subscriber Server (HSS) to manage subscriber-related information and provide user authentication and authorization. Nokia Siemens Networks also provided network installation, commissioning and integration services.

XT clients to securely purchase mobile content

In a first for New Zealand, customers on Telecom’s XT network will now be able to safely and securely purchase mobile content and have it charged direct to their Telecom mobile account. As XT smart phones increasingly play a vital role in simplifying people’s lifestyles, the new PayforItNZ service makes mobile shopping safer and easier for customers to use.

Developed by the Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum, the PayforItNZ service means that customers no longer need to provide their credit card details when buying mobile content from their handsets. Instead the entire process can be done using their mobile phones with purchases charged back to their mobile account.

XT Customers can easily identify which sites offer this payment service by looking for the PayforItNZ and Telecom logos that appear on all relevant payment pages. Payment screens provide a clear and unambiguous notification of pricing, the terms related to that pricing and any other conditions related to the purchase. The new service also means that customers can safely choose to opt out of their purchase at any point during the transaction.

Telecom is committed to providing the best possible mobile experience for its XT customers and committed to providing a safe and trusted payment environment for mobile content transactions over the mobile internet.

Telstra announces next phase of its Mobility Partner Program

Telstra announces next phase of its Mobility Partner Program

Telstra today announced the launch of an online mobile solutions search tool which is the next phase of its popular Mobility Partner Program.

The new tool offers a simple way for customers to search for companies providing business mobility solutions and allows them to connect to partners in the program.

Mike Cihra, Director of M2M and Partners at Telstra, said the move is another example of the success of Telstra’s channel initiatives giving its partners an additional avenue for sales, promotion and brand awareness.

“With the growth of mobile solutions such as machine-to-machine technology, the Mobility Partner Program represents a critical one-stop-shop for both customers and Telstra partners to come together to find the right technology solution that will work to its optimum on our Next G network,” Mr Cihra said.

“This program is part of our mission to educate and grow the machine-to-machine and mobile computing market in Australia.

“The Mobility Partner Program has seen great growth across its first year, with 144 partners signed up, currently promoting more than 130 different solutions. An extension of this partner program is the new online mobile solutions search tool,” Mr Cihra said.

One of the most successful solutions featured in the program uses technology from Telstra and Navman Wireless, a global innovator of GPS vehicle tracking and management solutions. The Navman Wireless solution gives customers around the clock access to vehicle location and status as well as a full suite of reporting tools to ensure optimum fleet efficiency and productivity.

The Mobility Partner Program has been integral to the launch, according to Ian Daniel, Vice President, Asia Pacific at Navman Wireless.

“This partnership brings together Australia’s leading telecommunications and fleet management companies. We’ve seen an explosion in local demand for fleet management solutions and we’re excited about working alongside Telstra to make our products easily available to Australian businesses,” Mr Daniel said.

Customers now have a choice on how they acquire the Navman Wireless solution through Telstra. They can either pay for the solution upfront or over a 36 month term. This removes the need for customers to pay for the hardware upfront and provides the flexibility to spread the costs over the contract term.

“We remain committed to working with partners to provide the tools, documentation and certification to optimise their services for our network, as well as working to increase partner market reach through our national sales teams,” Mr Cihra said.

Korea Telecom relies on Rohde & Schwarz T&M equipment for LTE start in Seoul

Munich, October 19, 2011 — The schedule is ambitious: Korea Telecom wants to provide nationwide LTE coverage by 2013. The South Korean network operator is relying on the scalable R&S TS8980 RF test system and the R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester from Rohde & Schwarz to ensure the smooth rollout of fourth-generation mobile radio. The two companies have therefore decided on a long-term LTE cooperation.

Korea Telecom uses the R&S TS8980 in the test lab to perform transmitter and receiver tests on LTE-capable user equipment. The system also supports radio resource management (RRM) tests, which aim at utilizing radio resources more efficiently. Existing LTE resources are only made available when users actually require them. Resources must frequently be reallocated because bandwidth utilization varies heavily.

Korea Telecom uses the R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester for RF and protocol tests on LTE user equipment. These measurements are made in the signaling mode. In signaling tests, the devices under test (DUTs) are examined in the future network under near-real conditions. Especially when introducing new technologies such as LTE, this procedure helps to avoid risks. The R&S CMW500 also supports the measurements required for smooth handover between the LTE infrastructure and the existing WCDMA infrastructure.

Rohde & Schwarz and Korea Telecom have been partners for years. Korea Telecom deploys Rohde & Schwarz test and measurement equipment in its WCDMA networks. The Munich company has already written interoperability tests (IOT) for the South Korean network operator. Dietmar Vahldiek, Head of Systems and Projects in the Rohde & Schwarz T&M Division, is pleased about the closer collaboration: "South Korea is an important market for Rohde & Schwarz. Bandwidth-intensive multimedia applications are spreading rapidly – there is no way around LTE. We are delighted that one of our key customers is again relying on our solutions to implement this new technology."

TomTom buys-out joint venture partner in India

TomTom buys-out joint venture partner in India

Amsterdam, 18 October 2011 - TomTom today announces it has increased its stake in its Indian joint venture from 90% to 100%. TomTom is committed to drive its Indian business and reap the full potential of this growth market. TomTom has renamed the former joint venture to TomTom India Ltd.

"India has a large untapped car navigation market. By owning TomTom India Ltd 100% we have full flexibility to execute our growth strategy." says Jocelyn Vigreux, Managing Director TomTom India. "Our recent product introduction of the VIA series of our PND range is a great first step and we look forward to continue to develop bespoke products for the Indian market, like points of interest for landmark navigation".

India has a population of 1.2 billion and 22 million cars on the road. New car sales are forecast to grow to 4 million by 2015. In addition, due to the strong economic growth we expect the demand for high-quality TomTom solutions and maps to increase significantly over the coming years.

SingTel launches affordable and easy-to-manage crew welfare solution

SingTel launches affordable and easy-to-manage crew welfare solution

Singapore, 18 October, 2011 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced the launch of an affordable crew experience package that will enable greater levels of control and efficiency for shipping companies, optimise operational costs as well as enhance welfare for their crew.

“SingTel is committed to helping maritime customers improve their bottom line and efficiency while bettering the lives of their crew,” said Mr Titus Yong, VP, Satellite, SingTel. “This unique offering clearly differentiates us from the rest of the industry, offering an affordable solution that is simple to implement and manage. We are very pleased to be able to offer this suite of services at such a competitive price, which we believe will bring immediate cost and productivity benefits to the community.”

This one-stop package provides high-availability Broadband and all the ICT components a company needs at only US$2,888. This includes SingTel’s All-in-One (AIO) Connect Services, which enables shipping companies worldwide to boost crew morale by offering them secure and always-on internet connectivity that will change the way they live, learn, work and play. The technology enables secure and fast data transfer and VoIP to be modulated at a cost effective level of 4 to 6kbps.

Fleet managers will also benefit from having access to an integrated network management system (iNMS) which facilitates end-to-end management and visibility of the entire fleet from the shore. This includes monitoring of device usage, visibility into network statistics and online administration, monitoring, setting of online alerts, filters and mailbox management.

Brightstar Extends Global Reach with HTC Agreement in Africa

Brightstar Extends Global Reach with HTC Agreement in Africa

MIAMI and BELLEVUE, Wash. and Johannesburg – October 19, 2011 – Brightstar Corp., a global leader in services and solutions for the wireless industry, today announced it has secured a distribution agreement with HTC in Africa. Expanding its global operations in the region, Brightstar will begin distributing all HTC mobile devices to 28 sub-Saharan countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, and Ghana. Brightstar currently distributes mobile devices for HTC in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

“We are very excited to be expanding local market presence especially given our strong infrastructure and expanding Africa presence,” said Arturo Osorio, president of Brightstar Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. “We look forward to working together with HTC as we help them bring their leading portfolio of mobile devices into these key African markets.”

As part of the agreement, Brightstar will initially distribute five devices, including the HTC Flyer™ tablet, HTC Sensation™, HTC Wildfire™, HTC Desire™ and HTC ChaCha™. Devices will be available from multiple operators, including MTN, Airtel, Vodafone/Vodacom, and from a wide range of retailers.

”Our priority is to continue developing devices that put people at the center of the mobile experience. Leveraging Brightstar’s deep industry knowledge and expertise in this field we are confident that we will continue to grow our reach and continue to build our brand in the Africa region,” said Florian Seiche, president, HTC Europe, Middle East and Africa. “With Brightstar managing distribution, we can deliver powerful and unprecedented devices to our customers in these increasingly important markets.”

Brightstar offers an expansive global services portfolio for wireless manufacturers, operators, retailers, government agencies, value added resellers (VARs) and consumers across 51 countries and territories on six continents.

Motorola Mobility Reveals Motorola RAZR™: Impossibly Thin Meets Head-turning Innovation

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Oct. 19, 2011 – Say hello to the jaw-dropping new Motorola RAZR™, brought to you by Motorola Mobility. Impossibly thin and lightweight, this smartphone is loaded with sexy curves. Its sculpted glass face, diamond-cut aluminum accents and hyper-vibrant 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display reflect museum-worthy industrial design, while its KEVLAR® fibre coating (yes, that KEVLAR) and Corning® Gorilla® Glass screen with splash-guard coating, make this work of art a force to be reckoned with. The availability and pricing will be announced on a later date.


While they’re still dazzled by the outside, hit them with what’s on the inside. A cool 1GB of RAM hooks up with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and Android™ 2.3.5 to get you a lightning-fast user interface and the power to multi-task like never before. Rock your playlists while you check your email, breeze through photos—all at the same time, without delay. Motorola RAZR comes preloaded with the Motorola MotoCast™ app1, giving you the power to stream or download content from your PC straight to your device so your personal content is always within reach. Watch movies on a screen that sports a wider range of colours than most LCD HDTVs. And when you’re tired of watching (as if), use the cinematic-quality front-facing 720p HD video camera and 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with even sharper 1080p HD video capture to create your own movies —all with image-stabilization technology to turn your life into art without breaking a sweat.


"One of the best-selling mobile phones of all time, the original Motorola RAZR redefined what a mobile phone was as people worldwide strutted around proudly flashing their fashion item. Now, we bring sexy back in a stylish and sleek body with the power to create experiences you will not find in any other smartphones," said Robert van Tilburg, senior regional sales director for Motorola Mobility in South Asia. "We can expect the customers in Malaysia lining up to get their hands on the next fashion icon when we launch the Motorola RAZR later in the year."

NEC's iPASOLINK Selected by India's Tata Teleservices for Backhaul of Mobile Broadband Traffic

Tokyo, October 18, 2011 -NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced an agreement with Tata Teleservices Limited (TTL; Headquarters: Mumbai), a fast-growing Indian telecom service operator, to newly deploy NEC's iPASOLINK platform for the transformation of TTL's backhaul mobile transport network. The iPASOLINK provides customers with an ultra-flexible mobile transport network that can be adapted for next-generation IP-based networks, while meeting the current capacity and service demands of customers.

"NEC Corporation is one of our key suppliers of Microwave Equipment, having a total installed base of more than 100,000 terminals. NEC has been associated with TTL for many years, providing microwave equipment and services for our CDMA and GSM network rollouts. TTL is now in the process of expanding its network for both coverage and capacity in the mobility and enterprise business segments, which will require backhaul of both TDM and IP traffic. Our requirements, therefore, necessitate the deployment of Hybrid Radio in the network. NEC's iPASOLINK platform fully meets these requirements and can be adapted for Next-Generation IP-based networks," said Mr. AG Rao, Executive President, Enterprise Business and Technology, TTL, said.

The iPASOLINK is designed to support the transition from today's hybrid TDM and Ethernet backhaul towards full IP transport, while significantly reducing the cost of ownership thanks to its all-in-one converged design. iPASOLINK's flexible modular architecture allows operators to optimize their network strategies and to gradually invest in step with actual service and traffic demands. This design, combined with NEC's unparalleled engineering reliability, ensures that iPASOLINK delivers outstanding value to operators.

"As the Indian mobile communication market continues its rapid expansion, operators face the challenge of making significant investments in order to provide next generation mobile broadband services while managing CAPEX and OPEX. This agreement between TTL and NEC proves that mobile operators have the appetite for a single, converged and flexible backhaul platform that they can manage and adapt according to their network service demands," said, Takayuki Morita, Senior Vice President of NEC.

The iPASOLINK series is the next generation of PASOLINK products. Since the launch of PASOLINK in the early 1980s, mobile communications have exceptionally expanded and the system has been widely adopted as a microwave communications tool for mobile backhaul, with shipments of approximately 1.7 million units throughout 145 countries.

Korea Telecom Licenses SPIRIT DSP's Mobile VoIP Engine

MOSCOW, Russia – October 18, 2011 –  SPIRIT DSP, the world's top voice and video over IP engines provider, announced today that Korean Telecom giant KT has licensed the company's TeamSpirit® Voice Engine Mobile, an SDK (Software Development Kit) that enables high-definition (HD) VoIP (voice over IP) calling on a broad range mobile devices.  KT is S. Korea's top fixed-lined operator and the No. 2 mobile carrier in the region.  


Internet telephony is Korea's prominent daily communications medium.  The VoIP rates are 80 percent cheaper for intercity calls, 20 percent lower for calls to mobile phones and 95 percent cheaper for international calls.  According to the Korean Communications Commission (KCC), the number of paid Internet telephony subscribers broke the 10 million mark this year.


"With the growing popularity of VoIP calling in Asia Pacific, coupled by the sheer volume of mobile data usage, the problem of lost or jammed traffic becomes a real barrier for smooth, quality communications over mobile networks," said SPIRIT's VP Sales Alexander Kravchenko. "The priorities of consumers and businesses are shifting from an experience that's 'good enough' to a demand for a higher quality mobile HD VoIP experience that SPIRIT engine delivers to KT's millions of mobile subscribers."


The TeamSpirit Engine is a SDK for real-time IP calling/conferencing communications, allowing business application developers and service providers to offer superior quality communications products to millions of global users.  The TeamSpirit Engine software uniquely combines scalable echo- and noise-free audio with scalable video, a necessary marriage to ensure the highest quality conferencing experience. TeamSpirit enables many hours of battery life in wideband talk mode. The voice engine includes highly optimized standard voice codecs and a patent-free wideband error-resilient scalable SPIRIT IP-MRTM voice codec (IETF RFC 6262).  The video engine includes SPIRIT's H.264 scalable video codec that is able to adapt streams to each peer’s network and PC environments without heavy transcoding and it includes a multi-component stream protection module that compensates for network jitter and packet loss.

Sony Ericsson’s mini line introduced to support EMOBILE customers throughout Japan

18 October 2011, LONDON – Sony Ericsson has brought its smallest Android smartphone to Japan as part of new partnership with EMOBILE, Japan’s fastest growing mobile broadband service operated by eAccess Ltd. Executives from eAccess and Sony Ericsson gathered last week in Tokyo to debut Sony Ericsson’s Xperia™ mini line, now available to EMOBILE customers in Japan as the ‘Sony Ericsson mini’.

The partnership will drive further growth and expand Sony Ericsson’s market share in Japan by providing a high-specification product well suited to the highly mobile, data-hungry customers. EMOBILE is the fastest growing mobile service in the country with more than 3.5 million mobile subscribers acquired since the launch in 2007. EMOBILE specializes in providing high speed, flat-rate mobile data services to its subscribers.

With Japanese mobile users looking for highly portable smartphone functionality and power in a small, compact size, the Sony Ericsson mini provides the services they expect in a device packed full of features:

- A small and powerful smartphone that fits into the palm of their hand with a compact body the size of a business card and weighing only 99g

- The only smartphone that provides EMOBILE customers with entertainment experiences from the worlds of both Android and Sony in an easy-to-use device the size of a credit card

- An easy-to-use experience thanks to its unique four corner user interface that allows access to up to 16 apps in the corner of a user’s home screen

In a country where Facebook usage has doubled in the last six months, Sony Ericsson mini also comes with Facebook inside Xperia™, integrating consumers’ social connections throughout the phone by making Facebook immediately accessible from the most used areas of the phone such as the picture gallery, music player, phonebook and calendar.

Other features:

- For a fast entertaining experience, the minis are powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™

- High definition video recording, best-in-class imaging and display technology from Sony, including Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine

The Sony Ericsson Xperia™ minis were launched globally in August of this year. The Xperia™ minis are known as the Sony Ericsson minis in Japan.

M1 Limited (M1) announces group financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2011

SINGAPORE, 17 October 2011 - M1 Limited (M1) today announced the unaudited group financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2011. Net profit after tax increased 5.7% to S$126.4 million.

Operating revenue at S$747.8 million increased 4.2% year-on-year due to higher service revenue and handset sales. Service revenue benefited from the growth in mobile customer base and revenue growth from fixed services.

Non-voice services contributed 35.4% of service revenue, up from 31.5% a year ago, driven by growth in mobile broadband and smartphone customer base.

M1 added 41,000 customers in the third quarter, bringing its total customer base to 2.009 million as at 30 September 2011. Monthly postpaid churn remained relatively stable at 1.3% in the latest quarter.

Ms Karen Kooi, M1’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We deployed our own active network for the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network during the quarter. This will improve our service level and competitiveness, as well as enhance our ability to offer customised solutions.”

“Based on the current outlook and barring any unforeseen circumstances, net profit after tax for 2011 is likely to improve, compared to 2010,” added Ms Kooi.

DOCOMO to Introduce Multiple Billing Plans for LTE Devices | Press Center | NTT DOCOMO Global

DOCOMO to Introduce Multiple Billing Plans for LTE Devices

TOKYO, JAPAN, October 18, 2011 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that in conjunction with the coming launch of smartphones for its extra-high-speed next-generation LTE service, Xi™ (read “Crossy”), several new billing plans covering both voice and data services will be introduced following the debut of the first Xi smartphone in or after November.

DOCOMO will offer two pay-as-you-go voice billing plans—“Type Xi Plan” and two-year “Type Xi Plan Ninen”—plus two flat-rate data billing plans—“Xi Packet Flat-rate” and the two-tiered “Xi Packet Flat-Rate Double.”

Specially discounted introductory rates will be offered for the flat-rate plans. “Xi Packet Flat-rate” will be available for just 4,410 yen (including tax) per month through April 2012, compared to the regular rate of 5,985 yen thereafter. The two-tiered “Xi Packet Flat-rate Double” will be available for between 2,100 yen and 4,935 yen through April 2012, compared to the regular rate of 2,100 yen to 6,510 yen thereafter.

Specially discounted services will be offered as optional add-ons with the pay-as-you-go plans, including the “Xi Flat-rate Domestic Call” service for unlimited domestic calls to all DOCOMO users for just 700 yen per month, and “Family Discount” for unlimited free domestic calls to family members.

Through September of next year, all LTE downlinks will be offered at a max. 75 Mbps. From October 2012, downlink rates for users who exceed 7 GB of data in a given month will be reduced to a max. 128 Kbps for the remainder of that month. Continued service at a max. 75 Mbps will be available, however, for an additional charge of 2,625 yen (including tax) per each additional 2 GB of data.

NTT DOCOMO Unveils 24 New Mobile Devices— New generation of smartphones, including Xi™ LTE models — | Press Center | NTT DOCOMO Global

NTT DOCOMO Unveils 24 New Mobile Devices

TOKYO, JAPAN, October 18, 2011 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today its 2011 winter — 2012 spring product lineup of 24 models for launch in or after November, including 14 smartphones, the largest and most diverse collection ever released by DOCOMO.

DOCOMO’s new smartphone lineup meets a broad range of needs for users in Japan:

Smartphones for DOCOMO’s extra-high-speed next-generation LTE service, Xi (read “Crossy”), for mobile data communication at up to 75 Mbps (4 models).

Smartphones equipped for mobile-wallet (Osaifu-Keitai™), infrared-based data exchange, one-seg mobile TV and tethering (9 models).

Enhanced features for smartphones, such as dual-core CPUs (7 models), large HD-quality liquid crystal screens and high-spec cameras.

Wide range of smartphone designs and colors, including two collaboration models.

All smartphones equipped for Area Mail™ transmissions of Earthquake Early Warnings from the Japan Meteorological Agency.

DOCOMO also announced today the mid-November launches of two all-new services for smartphones, “dmenu™” and “dmarket™.” The dmenu portal site will provide a wide range of apps and other content from diverse providers, as well as enriched versions of DOCOMO’s popular i-mode™ content, optimized for easy-to-use smartphone interfaces. The new dmarket content store will offer a wealth of other content, including movies, music, e-books and Android™ applications. DOCOMO’s new smartphones also will have access to a variety of other DOCOMO services, such as i-concier™ for push-based concierge-like personal assistance.

The new models include 8 sophisticated feature phones, all compatible with the i-mode mobile Internet platform. The lineup boasts a distinctive collaboration model and several models equipped for convenient wireless charging. All models are compatible with “docomo Palette UI” for easy sorting, searching and managing of stored content.

In conjunction with the unprecedented scale of this launch, DOCOMO has reorganized its lineup into five categories: docomo with series and docomo NEXT series for smartphones, docomo Tablet category for tablets, and docomo STYLE series and Raku-Raku PHONE series for feature phones.

BT opens its second Customer Innovation showcase in mainland China

BT, one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, announced that it has opened a second Customer Innovation Showcase in Shanghai, making China the only country outside the United Kingdom with two BT showcase centres.

The Customer Innovation Showcase is part of BT’s ongoing investment in the Asia Pacific region and brings the latest video conferencing equipment and networked IT applications all together under one roof, allowing BT to demonstrate how it enables business customers expanding in China to interact directly with cutting edge technologies and services that they already rely on elsewhere. The showcase centre also brings to life the digital networked economy for Chinese corporations that are currently investing in other parts of the world.

In May 2010, BT announced a new investment programme for the Asia Pacific region, covering additional resourcing, new infrastructure and an expanded portfolio of services. As part of this plan, BT’s showcase centers are integral in increasing knowledge of BT’s services among its customers. BT has already hired 240 professionals across the region in the key customer markets of Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore, and will be creating more new jobs in the coming year.

The opening of BT’s latest Showcase in Shanghai follows the launch of BT’s showcases in Hong Kong in September 2010, Beijing in November 2010, Sydney in January this year, Singapore in March and New Delhi in July. These showcases are networked with BT’s showcase centers in the rest of the world – thus providing a truly global experience.

During the launch, Eliza Kwok, managing director for BT China, said: “The decision to establish a second BT Customer Innovation Showcase Centre in China shows this market’s importance in the growth of our business. Many of our customers continue to expand in this market and we are striving to enhance our communications infrastructure and services to support this expansion. It is our hope that our showcase centers will provide customers with a window on how we can fulfill their IT needs, allowing us to better support global multinational customers in China and Chinese multinationals in their globalization ambitions.”

Since entering the China market in 1995, BT has built a solid foundation reinforced by ongoing investments, including the Help Desk and the Research & Development Centre in Beijing and the Technology and Service Centre in Dalian BT also has a well established presence and strong capabilities across China through its IT service delivery arm MDCL-Frontline and its port-facility IT service subsidiary BHR Frontline.

MobiFone and RIM to Launch BlackBerry Services in Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam - MobiFone and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to launch BlackBerry® services for MobiFone customers in Vietnam. The BlackBerry services will enable customers to take advantage of RIM's industry-leading mobile communications solution as well as a wide range of other mobile business and lifestyle applications available on BlackBerry App World™. With BlackBerry services, MobiFone customers will be able to enjoy the freedom and productivity benefits of using BlackBerry smartphones to stay connected to the people and information that matter most to them.

The BlackBerry services are officially available from MobiFone starting today and can be easily accessed by any customer with a BlackBerry smartphone, including models such as the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9780, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 and BlackBerry® Curve ™ 9300, which are now available in Vietnam with an 18 month warranty from authorized retail shops supplied by Brightstar Corp.

MobiFone will offer BlackBerry® Internet Service for small businesses and individual users and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for corporate customers.

BlackBerry service for small businesses and individuals comes in three kinds of packages including Basic, Social Month and Chat Month which allow customers to access up to 10 supported corporate and personal email accounts (including most popular POP3/SMTP, IMAP ISP email accounts such as Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail) from a BlackBerry smartphone. Messages are automatically pushed to the user's handset. It also provides access to popular social networks and IM services including Twitter™, Yahoo!® Messenger and BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), as well as a wide range of mobile applications on BlackBerry App World™.

BlackBerry service for enterprise comes in two options: Standard and Pro which are ideal for organizations that manage their own email servers. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server software tightly integrates with IBM® Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® and uses advanced security and IT policy controls to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data.

“As a leading mobile service provider in Vietnam, MobiFone believes that we can offer very competitive BlackBerry services for both individuals and enterprise customers, providing various choices of service packages and flexible fees,” said Mr. Lê Ngọc Minh, Chairman of MobiFone.

“We are very pleased to be working with MobiFone to bring BlackBerry services to their customers in Vietnam. BlackBerry smartphones deliver a powerful and unique mobile experience, allowing users to stay easily connected to people and information while on the move,” said Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director, East Asia at RIM.