Wednesday Telecom Digest

Fixed:
o DSL: intro ADSL2+ by Czech On Line (= Telekom Austria; cap: max 2 Mbps for 1189 CZK/mo = 40 EUR/mo); intro ADSL2+ + VoIP by Tiscali Netherlands
o LLU: plan Sky/Easynet: coverage 70% of pops in UK
o BPL: trial Ambient (Manhattan, pilot, ism Level 3) with EarthLink for VoIP (‘trueVoice’): VoIPoBPL

Wireless – cellular:
o 3G: licences for TOT and CAT (Thailand)
o HSDPA: plan intro by Cingular per 1 nov 05 in 3 markets (with Lucent and Ericsson); plan intro by O2 Manx (with Lucent) per 1 nov 05; trial by China Mobile through 2005 (with Shanghai Bell Alcatel et al); trial BB Mobile (with Nortel)
o P2T: intro by NTT DoCoMo; intro technology from Cisco
o MVNO: rumoured plan by Apple; alliance of Alcatel and Capgemini (MVNE); Vaya rumoured to buy-out InPhonic (MVNE) from Liberty Wireless/Viva Liberty; intro easyMobile in Netherlands (on Telfort network) + plan for Germany + 9 other countries; plan Virgin/Carphone Warehouse in France
o Budget, online, SIM-only: intro by Yiggers (subscription: 1 EUR/mo; 5 c/min, 5 c/SMS, 20 c/MMS, international 30 c/min) and easyMobile (prepaid; set-up 7 c + 16 c/min, 8 c/SMS) on Telfort network; Simyo (KPN, prepaid) lowers tariff to 16 c/min (from 18)
o Push email: intro by Cingular (with OZ Communications)
o TV-o-Wireless: plan intro T-Mobile CZ (with Kudelski)
o GPS: Japan will require for handsets from apr 07
o MNP: intro in Taiwan

Wireless – short range broadband:
o WiFi: intro by Lietuvos Telekomas (100 hotspots, free through spring 2006); intro by 5G Wireless in Westminster (California) aimed at Asian-Americans; plan alliance KPN with Nintendo (for DS service)
o UWB: convergence toward Bluetooth

Wireless – long range broadband:
o BWA: plan intro by VSNL in South-Africa 06Q1 and by Tata (with SNO) 05Q4; auction of 3 licenses in Ireland Nov-Dec 2005; plan IPO IDT Spectrum
o WiMAX: plan intro by TWC in Ukraine (with Wi-LAN’s ‘Libra MXTM WiMAX’) 2007; 175 offers for licences France (32 offer for all 22 regions; deadline Jan 6, 2006, beauty contest February 1, 2006); order caymanone (Cayman Islands) to SOMA (WiMAX + HSDPA); order from Enforta (Sumitomo 50%) in Russia to InfiNet Wireless
o UMTS TDD (IPWireless): intro by T-Mobile CZ (‘4G’)
o WLL: order VNPT (Vietnam) to Siemens, $107m in 10 months

IP, convergence:
o VoIP: plan intro by Saigon Postel Jan 2006 (with Vistula Communications); plan Telefonica Brasil 06Q1; intro peering platform ‘Phonomenum’ (based on ENUM) by FiberNet; intro by Tiscali Netherlands; plan NTT for FTTH subs (500 JPY/mo + 8 JPY for 3 min); intro Skype Groups for SMEs; alliance of Brightpoint (distr) with ECCB (manufactures Skype handsets via USB); intro SIP peering by NeuStar; EarthLink delivers VoIP (‘trueVoice’) for Ambient’s BPL trial
o IPTV: trial by China Telecom and China Netcom (with Shanghai Media Group) in 23 cities; plan Telefonica Brasil 06Q2; plan intro HDTV over IPTV over FTTH by SureWest (trial; commercial November 05)
o DSL/Wifi: alliance of XS4ALL with HotSpots (both KPN): 1 hr/week free WiFi for ADSL subs
o DSB/DSL: acquisition of Easynet by Sky
o Triple play over UMTS: intro Talk & Web box by Vodafone Germany for all contract subs; trial BB Mobile (with LGE (handset), Nortel): triple play over 3G (HSDPA), WiMAX, WiFi (roaming)

ICT:
o rumoured plan of intro by Telefonica unit Tgestonia

Corporate:
o State: Lebanon wants to sell-out (PTT, 2 cellular cos), expects $3 bn; offering for Tunisie Telecom (35% at around $1.7 bn) delayed to Jan 31, 2006 (Vivendi, FT, Telefonica, Etisalat, TI, PT, Bouygues, Batelco, MTN, MTC, Saudi Oger, Saudi Telecom, Tecom/Dubai Investm Group); planned auctioning off of Algerie Telecom late 2005 (FT, Telefonica, Etisalat, DT)
o IPO: plan Colombia Movil in 2006; plan Endemol November 2005; lowering price range for Eutelsat; plan IDT Spectrum, expects $46m