Alternative British broadband and fixed voice provider TalkTalk has released results for its financial year ended 31 March 2012, and while the operator saw a drop in its total number of broadband subscribers it highlighted an increase in those customers signed up for more profitable on-net services. As at end-March 2012 TalkTalk’s broadband subscriber base stood at 4.066 million, down from 4.199 million a year earlier, although on-net subscribers rose by 4.1% year-on-year to reach 3.755 million, and now account for more than 92% of the total base, compared to around 86% a year earlier. Sign-ups for the telco’s fibre-based upgrade option, which increases downlink speeds up to 40Mbps for an extra GBP10 (USD16) per month, continued to grow meanwhile, with 9,000 customers now having taken up the add-on.
TalkTalk talks up higher on-net subscriber base, as FY12 revenue drops 4.4%
MTN Irancell ordered to boost coverage of disputed islands
MTN Irancell has been ordered by the Iranian government to expand coverage of its mobile network to Abu Musa and other disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Irancell’s public relations manager Arash Karimbeigi was quoted in local newspapers as saying that the company has an agreement with Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), the United Arab Emirates’ incumbent telecoms operator, to provide coverage in some areas of the Persian Gulf that are out of Irancell’s footprint, resulting in Iranian visitors to Abu Musa receiving SMS messages from the Etisalat network welcoming them to the UAE. Iran and the UAE both claim sovereignty over Abu Musa and two other islands, the Greater and Lesser Tunbsm, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Round the Bend? Oregon telco claims LTE launch
Regional US telco BendBroadband has announced that that its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network has gone live in Central Oregon, superseding its existing HSPA+ infrastructure, which is now set to be mothballed in June. Customers willing to take out a twelve-month LTE subscription before 31 May will be offered a free LTE router by Bend, which promises download speeds of at least 12Mbps
CAT puts 3G plans on hold; TOT told to do same
CAT Telecom has suspended its 3G mobile service expansion plan whilst state bodies including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology (MICT) continue investigations into the legality of the state-owned firm’s wholesale/resale partnership contracts with private sector operator True Corp. CAT’s CEO Kitisak Sriprasert, quoted in a report by local newspaper The Nation, has assured mobile users that the True Move H-branded 3G services provided under the partnership by True’s subsidiary Real Move will be unaffected. However, a story from TelecomAsia, citing Thai language daily Thairath, contradicts this statement by quoting an anonymous member of CAT’s board of directors as saying that, following the MICT’s declaration of the CAT-True contracts as ‘illegal’ in March, CAT will end its cooperation with True Move H, preventing the latter from receiving import permission for new HSPA network equipment, although the cellco would be able to continue operating with existing equipment
BIPT chairman warns fourth 3G licence could be revoked if launch obligation not met
Tecteo Telenet Bidco (TTB), a partnership between cable operator Telenet and the Tecteo Group, which owns Wallonia-based cableco VOO, could have its 3G licence revoked should it fail to launch commercial services over its own network by the early part of next year, L’Echo claims. The local news source cites Luc Hindryckx, chairman of the Belgian Institute for Post and Telecommunications (BIPT), as saying that under the terms of the joint venture’s concession, which was formally awarded in August 2011, it is obliged to inaugurate its own network by mid-January 2013
AT&T, US Cellular move to acquire unused Cox Communications 700MHz licences
In separate transactions, AT&T Mobility and US Cellular are looking to purchase a number of 700MHz licences, chiefly from Cox Communications, Fierce Wireless reports.
NetCologne to bring services to Burscheid
Regional network operator NetCologne has announced that it will begin offering high speed internet services in Burscheid, a town in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, from autumn this year.
CMT begins public consultation on MVNO legislation update
Spain’s Comision del Mercado de las Telecomunicacinoes (CMT) has announced the launch of a public consultation examining proposals for the future regulation of the country’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) sector. The regulator notes that it is aiming to adapt existing regulations to take into account conditions applied to spectrum that were issued by the Ministerio de Industria, Energia y Turismo (Minetur) in mid-2011.
Free Mobile brings stiff competition to French wireless market
France’s new mobile operator is taking the market by storm. Free Mobile, which is owned by fixed-line operator Iliad, launched its 3G network on 10 January 2012, and is already providing stiff competition for incumbent rivals Orange France, SFR and Bouygues Telecom. As it looks to secure a position in one of Europe’s largest telecoms markets, Free Mobile is offering price plans that aggressively undercut those of its three established competitors
Batelco scraps tower lease plan in favour of infrastructure sharing
Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) has abandoned a proposal to sell and lease back its cellular network transmission towers in Bahrain and Jordan, in favour of a plan to share infrastructure with rival operators. The group’s CEO Sheikh Mohamed Al-Khalifa was quoted by Reuters as saying that Batelco had decided not to proceed with the tower sale-lease plan – aimed at helping raise funds for acquisitions – because various proposals in both countries ‘did not create sufficient, long-term economic value.’ Batelco, which operates in Jordan via its Umniah subsidiary, gained investment-grade ratings in November and had a cash/bank balance of USD164 million at the end of March, meaning that it ‘has the ability to raise funds at much lower rates than tower companies and thus could not justify the lease back arrangements,’ Sheikh Mohamed said
- TNL (Oi) sets aside USD3.25bn for 2012 CAPEX April 19, 2012
- Tata drops out of running for CWW April 19, 2012
- TeliaSonera’s EBITDA falls 0.7% on 3.5% revenue increase April 19, 2012
- Telia Denmark raises LTE upload speeds April 19, 2012
- STC reports 60% rise in Q1 net profit April 19, 2012
- CAT puts 3G plans on hold; TOT told to do same May 18, 2012
- Look before you Leap; cellco to expand LTE coverage to 65m people by 2014 May 18, 2012
- Videotron delivers on 200Mbps promise May 18, 2012
- T-Mobile has no plans to introduce LTE handsets May 18, 2012
- Antares to merge with mobile TV operator Dominanta? May 18, 2012
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