Wednesday Telecoms Digest

Fixed:
o LLU: eircom opposes migration to full LLU from WLR and bitstream; Croatia lowers tariffs 32%
o FTTx: Verizon extends FiOS into Delaware
o NGN: order China Netcom to Alcatel; order Mongolia to ZTE
o DSL: Belgacom must provide open access as of 06H1; DT must lower interconnection rates 6%; Telus orders ADSL2+ from Nokia
o BPL: plan Rochester city (Minnesota; muniBB); Ramada Inn, Cornwall, Ontario upgrades to 205 Mbps (vendor PLC Network Solutions = Trimax), averaging 20-30 Mbps

Wireless – narrowband:
o 2.5G: intro EV-DO by Sprint Nextel, Vivo (Brasilcel, with Nortel), Bell Canada
o 3G: EMT intros UMTS in Estonia, Vodafone intros UMTS in Australia
o 3.5G: plan HSDPA trial at China Mobile late 2005, plan HSDPA launch by T-Mobile Hungary 06H1
o MTA: plan tariff cut Luxembourg
o Handset subsidies: S-Korea abolishes restriction for subs after 3 years at 1 provider
o MVNO: name change SK EarthLink to Helio; plan Virgin in SA with Cell C, in France with Carphone Warehouse and Orange or SFR; plan Disney in France (with Orange or SFR) and UK in 2006 (rumour); Virgin Mobile extends to the rest of Canada on the SaskTel network
o Data (music): Helsinki free trial of CoolZone (Bluetooth, later WiFi) by Nokia in Free Record Shop and Robert’s Coffee shops for ‘bFree’ service (in-store downloads from EMI music, ringtones, wallpapers, video); intro music downloads by Sprint Nextel
o TV-o-W: intr Sky Mobile TV op Vodafone (over 3G)
o GPS: intr iKids door KPN
o Multi-brands: intro Gaymobile.dk by Sonofon (Telenor) as of Nov 1
o Budget, online, SIM-only, prepaid: intro LowCall.nl by Debitel (14 c/min, 7 c/SMS); TeliaSonera lowers tariff (subscription 59 SEK/mo, 0.59 SEK/min to all mobile); intr Tele2 Champion in Netherlands (prepaid; 14 c/min, 7 c/SMS)

Wireless – broadband short range:
o WiFi: Cisco plans mesh; deadline muniwifi Portland (bids from Qwest, EarthLink); BelAir offers mesh system to MSOs and muni’s, Comcast invests in BelAir; Minneapolis shortlists US Internet and EarthLink, Portland shortslists EarthLink, MetroFi, MobilePro, US Internet, VeriLAN, Winfield Wireless; Enertel intros WiFi for schippers (WiMAX backhaul)
o Bluetooth: Nokia intros CoolZones for 'bFree' service (in-store downloads)

Wireless – broadband long range:
o WiMAX: plan Qwest; alliance Motorola and Intel to advance standard; order Intracom Middle East (Saudi-Arabie) to Redline (‘RedMAX’, with Cisco); plan intro self-install CPE by Aperto 06Q1; plan intro Racsa (state ISP Costa Rica); Via Net.works (= Solution24) gets Swiss national license, plans other European networks
o UMTS TDD: intro by Neltes (Lithuania; with IPWireless)
o BWA: Bulgaria awards 3 B-licenses (BTC, Orbitel, Nexcom)

IP, convergence:
o VoIP: plan intro by Brasil Telecom Dec 1 and Intelig 06H1; plan Qwest 2006 nationwide; peering deal Level 3/Cogent extended
o F/M: intro by TI/TIM: video calls, SMS, MMS fixed/UMTS Dec 2005, tariffs Nov 2005, F/M handset (ADSL/WiFi + GSM/GPRS/EDGE based on UMA) 2006
o IPTV: intro by TI Dec 2005 (also internet, email, HDTV; 21 cities at first; with DVB-H for mobile in 2006 with Mediaset); plan intro by BT 06Q3 with Philips (STB with PVR), with VoD, HDTV, videocalls, IM, games, t-commerce; Siemens intros Surpass Home Entertainment portfolio

Corporate:
o M&A: New World (mobile HK) wants merger [with CSL]
o State: sale of 55% of Turk Telecom to Oger approved; Pakistan cancels sale of 26% of PTCL to Etisalat (no down payment)
o Auctions: 12 bidders for 5th mobile license Bangladesh (oa Warid Telecom (= Dhabi Group), MB Telecom, Ericsson, National Telecom, Concord Progati Consortium, Dominox Technologies, Ranks Telecom, Global Suppliers, TM Int, Civil Engineers); Palestine plans 2nd GSM license
o IPO: Eutelsat abandons plan; Cbeyond (VoIP) lowers range to $12-13 from $13-14 from $16-18 (6.1m shares)
o M&A: Telefonica bids for O2; Level 3/WilTel; Trinsic/Sprint Local; Vodafone acquires 10% Bharti; acquisition of Q-Telecom by Apax; Matav (Israel) plans bid for Partner (wireless); mergers progressing (SBC/AT&T, VZ/MCI, Tele2/Versatel)