Headlines for: 27 Aug 2008

Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) says it is continuing to deploy CDMA-based fixed wireless services despite its stated preference for fibre-optic cables, reports local newspaper The Daily Times. 'We have fixed wireless systems such as CDMA which we...

Daily News Egypt is reporting that the three wireless players in the Egyptian market are to settle the issue of interconnectivity this week. The Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) has announced that it will meet with Vodafone Egypt and Etisal...

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has given the all clear to Virgin Mobile’s operations in India, reiterating that it does not consider the company’s services that of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), Indian news source The Economic Times...

MTN and Zain Zambia have refused pressure from the Communications Authority of Zambia (CAZ) to share network infrastructure, with both operators claiming it would be difficult to maintain quality assurance. The CAZ has been urging the companies to share i...

Mobile Broadband Network Ltd (MBNL), the infrastructure joint venture between T-Mobile UK and 3 UK, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as its technology partner for 3G network integration; no financial details of the deal have been revealed. NSN sa...

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched an investigation into Alheri Engineering, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group, which was awarded a 3G licence in March 2007. Under the terms of the concession, valued at USD150 million, winners had t...

The Federal Network Agency (FNA) may exempt cities and urban centres in which companies besides Deutsche Telekom are operating their own high speed networks, reports Thomson Financial quoting local newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 'Where markets ...

South African cellular operator Vodacom is aiming to launch commercial WiMAX wireless broadband services in partnership with Wireless Business Solutions (iBurst) at the beginning of October, reports Mybroadband.co.za. Services will be mainly aimed at busi...

Czech fixed line and broadband operator Radiokomunikace has increased the maximum download speed of its residential ADSL ‘Premium’ packages to 20Mbps, it announced in a press release. The increased network performance gives better support to bandwidth-int...

Siliconrepublic.com reports that the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has announced that it will not fight an appeal by Irish incumbent telco eircom against the regulator’s decision to reduce local loop unbundling (LLU) wholesale prices. ...

Swiss cable operator Cablecom plans to offer internet access at speeds of up to 100Mbps from early next year. The company is also planning to introduce an online video library and a catch-up service offering television on demand. To enable the new service...

Malaysian mobile phone firm TM International (TMI) has announced financial results for the three months ended 30 June 2008, reporting a 37.6% fall in net profit, which the operator has partly attributed to interest costs arising from a loan from Telekom M...

ISP Red Alternativa has bought long-distance operator Telephone2 for an undisclosed fee, reports BNAmericas citing local newspaper La Nacion. According to Red Alternativa CEO Maximiliano Fernandez the two companies will continue to operate separately. Tel...

China Mobile saw revenues increase by 17.9% in the first six months of 2008 to RMB196.5 billion (USD28.7 billion), compared to the same period of 2007. EBITDA rose by 16.2% to RMB104.4 billion, to give an EBITDA margin of 53.1%. Profit attributable to sha...

Telefonia Dialog, the fixed line telco owned by mining conglomerate KGHM Polska Miedz, made a loss of PLN21 million (USD9.26 million) in Q2 2008, compared to a loss of PLN4.6 million in the same period of 2007. Revenues for the three months ended 30 June ...

Telecom Italia has completed the sale of its French broadband unit Alice France to Iliad for EUR775 million. In a statement Telecom Italia said the transaction will allow it to reduce its net debt by about EUR750 million. The Italian company’s debt pile s...

In the six months ended 30 June 2008 China Netcom generated RMB41.12 billion (USD6.01 billion) in revenue; sales from ‘innovative’ businesses (including broadband, value added and ICT services) grew by 26.2% to RMB16.48 billion or 40.6% of total revenue, ...