TeliaSonera and Huawei Launch World’s Fastest Commercial Mobile Broadband Network with Huawei’s 4G/LTE Solutions
Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, and TeliaSonera, the largest telecoms operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, today jointly announced the deployment of the world’s first LTE commercial network in Oslo, Norway. These 4G services offer maximum speeds of up to 100 Mb/s and are approximately 10 times faster than existing 3G networks.
TeliaSonera’s customers will be the first in the world to enjoy simultaneous mobile broadband services such as high definition (HD) video conferencing in mobile environments and a variety of HD video programs via multiple terminal devices; applications that cannot be realized in current 3G networks.
Mr. Kenneth Karlberg, President and Head of Mobility Services TeliaSonera, said: “We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services. Thanks to the successful cooperation with Huawei, we can offer 4G to our customers in Oslo earlier than originally planned.”
As a leading provider of end-to-end 4G/LTE solutions, Huawei delivered both network infrastructures and services to TeliaSonera, such as access network, core network, operation support system, and network planning and optimization. Its field proven fourth-generation base stations and SAE (System Architecture Evolution) solution ensure the stability of the network and enable fast deployment.
Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Europe, said: “In partnership with TeliaSonera, Huawei began this journey eleven months ago to introduce the world’s most advanced mobile broadband technology to the residents of Oslo. This milestone, which was achieved in a short period of time, reflects Huawei’s unwavering commitment towards accelerating the commercialization of LTE/SAE solutions. Operators such as TeliaSonera, are now able to to fully realize economic benefits from the many new applications that can only be made possible with ultra broadband services.”
To date, Huawei has constructed over 25 LTE commercial and trial networks and has made more than 3,300 LTE/SAE contributions to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).
About Huawei
Huawei is a leader in providing next generation telecommunications networks, and now serves 36 of the world’s top 50 operators, along with over one billion users worldwide. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Huawei to Commercially Launch 56Mb/s HSPA+ Solution in 2010
The latest solution enables download speeds of up to 56Mb/s through software upgrades alone
Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today announced its plans to launch a 56Mb/s HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus) commercial solution in 2010. Huawei’s latest solution will enable operators to offer download speeds that are double what is available today.
The 56Mb/s HSPA+ solution, featuring multi-carrier and MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output) technologies, was successfully demonstrated in Beijing this week at P&T/Wireless & Networks Comm China 2009.
“Advances in mobile broadband, particularly record breaking data speeds and capacity of HSPA networks, have had a profound impact on the telecom industry and demonstrate the enormous potential of UMTS/HSPA,” said Wan Biao, President of Wireless, Huawei. “This 56Mb/s HSPA+ solution will enable operators to maintain their industry leading positions and provide consumers with an evermore attractive mobile broadband experience.”
This industry-leading solution allows operators currently using Huawei’s fourth generation and 38xx series base stations to smoothly evolve their legacy networks to 56Mb/s HSPA+ networks via software upgrades alone, and deploy leading edge networks at significant cost savings that ultimately protect their long term investment.
As a leading provider of end-to-end mobile broadband solutions, Huawei has deployed over 10 commercial HSPA+ network contracts, as of August 2009. In Asia Pacific, Huawei has deployed a commercial 28Mb/s HSPA+ network, and, along with leading operators including Japan EMOBILE, Singapore StarHub, Vodafone Turkey and Hong Kong PCCW, Huawei has launched five commercial HSPA+ networks which support downlink speeds of up to 21Mb/s.
Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, today announced its plans to launch a 56Mb/s HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus) commercial solution in 2010. Huawei’s latest solution will enable operators to offer download speeds that are double what is available today.
The 56Mb/s HSPA+ solution, featuring multi-carrier and MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output) technologies, was successfully demonstrated in Beijing this week at P&T/Wireless & Networks Comm China 2009.
“Advances in mobile broadband, particularly record breaking data speeds and capacity of HSPA networks, have had a profound impact on the telecom industry and demonstrate the enormous potential of UMTS/HSPA,” said Wan Biao, President of Wireless, Huawei. “This 56Mb/s HSPA+ solution will enable operators to maintain their industry leading positions and provide consumers with an evermore attractive mobile broadband experience.”
This industry-leading solution allows operators currently using Huawei’s fourth generation and 38xx series base stations to smoothly evolve their legacy networks to 56Mb/s HSPA+ networks via software upgrades alone, and deploy leading edge networks at significant cost savings that ultimately protect their long term investment.
As a leading provider of end-to-end mobile broadband solutions, Huawei has deployed over 10 commercial HSPA+ network contracts, as of August 2009. In Asia Pacific, Huawei has deployed a commercial 28Mb/s HSPA+ network, and, along with leading operators including Japan EMOBILE, Singapore StarHub, Vodafone Turkey and Hong Kong PCCW, Huawei has launched five commercial HSPA+ networks which support downlink speeds of up to 21Mb/s.
Hitachi Data Systems Kickstarts Virtual Conference on Cloud Technologies
Opportunity to win exciting prizes through ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ video competition launched in conjunction with virtual conference
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and the only provider of Services Oriented Storage Solutions, launched a state-of-the-art virtual conference to drive awareness and education on their cloud strategy. This announcement comes on the heels of the recent launch of new agile cloud solution that combines best-in-class technologies from Hitachi Data Systems.
Addressing the challenge of ever-growing unstructured data, the virtual conference— accessed through www.hds.com/go/virtual-show—is an initiative that highlights the integrated, yet open, storage technologies evolving in cloud computing today. These technologies span a variety of workloads to support the diverse user applications. The conference demonstrates the effectiveness of the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) that provides essential security, reliability and multitenancy for cloud infrastructures. The technologies enable companies to adopt cloud services at their own pace.
The virtual conference will be operational for a period of four months starting from now. It takes visitors through a series on information pit-stops that acquaint them with Hitachi Data Systems technologies associated with cloud and HCP. Comprising interactive presentations by experts at Hitachi Data Systems, product demonstrations, and case studies, the virtual conference addresses the synergies of both cloud computing and HCP in achieving integration of storage management, lowering cost of ownership and increasing operational simplicity.
“Cloud computing - a natural progression from virtualization technology - is emerging as a key strategy for driving IT transformation in 2010. End-to-end server and storage virtualization and management, coupled with file and content services are going to be key enablers for a comprehensive cloud strategy,” said Ravi Rajendran, Vice President and General Manager for ASEAN, Hitachi Data Systems. “By leveraging Hitachi Data Systems’ Agile Cloud Portfolio, we are able to guide customers and service providers toward a public or private cloud environment that is cost-effective, scalable and secure.”
A novel social media campaign titled ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ is being launched in conjunction with the conference. Targeted at Facebook users, ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ is a video competition for individuals to submit a one-minute video highlighting their portrayal of cloud computing in an innovative and inspiring way. The winning video will be selected on the basis of both its popularity and judges’ discretion. Facebook users can ask their friends to press ‘Like’ to the posted videos on the Hitachi Data Systems ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ Facebook webpage. The creator of the most “Liked’ Video coupled with the judges’ decision will win two return air tickets to Tokyo, Japan. The video competition will run on Facebook from now until end of January 2010.
“Cloud computing offers a viable alternative to traditional long term approaches to compute capacity consumption and investment. Most cloud methodologies are not in tune with heterogeneous infrastructures of enterprises. The results are poorly utilized data silos, a situation that organizations tried to avoid in the first place. Our focus is on enabling a dynamic cloud environment that virtualizes all existing storage resources into a single, agile and services oriented infrastructure that reduces storage costs, mitigates risk and is easily managed in the face of changing demands. We hope that through the virtual conference, we can educate our customers and IT community at large on the benefits of this technology and how it can deliver benefits for a variety of industries,” said Sunil Chavan, Director, Content & File Services, Asia Pacific of Hitachi Data Systems.
Viewers registering for the conference can leave the questions, comments or messages on every presentation, video, and webcast that forms a part of the virtual conference. Attendees can also download content such as datasheets, whitepapers, and solution brochures from the interactive site.
Hitachi Cloud Customer Benefits
With sophisticated storage virtualization, Hitachi Data Systems enables a secure, multitenant environment that ensures privacy among various constituents within a shared infrastructure that can be managed from a single command suite. Supporting a variety of protocols and third party technology, enterprises and service providers can further leverage existing investments in hardware and software and allow legacy devices to inherit cloud attributes, thereby preventing cloud from becoming just another silo and eliminating the need for a complete refresh or update of hardware and software or the need to rewrite applications.
As a result, Hitachi Data Systems cloud solutions enable enterprise customers to choose the best possible technologies to address their challenges at their desired pace and budget resources. By offering an integrated set of cloud solutions, Hitachi Data Systems can deliver an agile cloud infrastructure that empowers customers to look at their existing IT infrastructure in new ways, enabling them to:
Provide efficient IT management and increase productivity through automation
Meet changing performance, availability and storage needs
Ensure security in a shared environment
Cost effectively improve data protection
Make information easy to locate and use, anywhere at any time
New Hitachi Content Platform and Cloud Enabling Technologies
Hitachi Data Systems best-in-class Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V and award-winning Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage systems provide a single, virtual pool of storage with a host of key cloud attributes which can be provisioned against all types of IT services on demand. These services can be delivered via a number of fully integrated solutions including the recently announced Hitachi NAS Platform for file services, the Hitachi Data Discovery Suite for collaboration and search and the new Hitachi Content Platform for cloud storage, archiving, business continuity, creating content depots, consolidation and many other services. The Hitachi Content Platform also includes a number of advanced features that enable the solution to address a variety of challenges beyond the long term preservation of business critical information, such as:
Enabling Customers to Evolve Cloud at Their Own Pace: The new Hitachi Content Platform will serve enterprise content storage needs as well as public and private cloud environments within a single optimized cluster. Customers can adopt the cloud technologies based on their business needs, and they do not need to purchase another storage island for their cloud solution.
Segregating Data Securely: By providing a multitenant architecture, object versioning, retention and disposition services, encryption, immutability, high availability, search capabilities and much more, Hitachi Content Platform helps IT organizations securely segregate data within different namespaces to prevent unauthorized access and provide different service level agreements and features for different data sets.
Intelligently Tiering Data: Customers will be able to manage data growth from higher tier storage to a storage platform with features and capabilities that go beyond the traditional ‘archive’ and enable intelligent content storage for a number of use cases.
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and the only provider of Services Oriented Storage Solutions, launched a state-of-the-art virtual conference to drive awareness and education on their cloud strategy. This announcement comes on the heels of the recent launch of new agile cloud solution that combines best-in-class technologies from Hitachi Data Systems.
Addressing the challenge of ever-growing unstructured data, the virtual conference— accessed through www.hds.com/go/virtual-show—is an initiative that highlights the integrated, yet open, storage technologies evolving in cloud computing today. These technologies span a variety of workloads to support the diverse user applications. The conference demonstrates the effectiveness of the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) that provides essential security, reliability and multitenancy for cloud infrastructures. The technologies enable companies to adopt cloud services at their own pace.
The virtual conference will be operational for a period of four months starting from now. It takes visitors through a series on information pit-stops that acquaint them with Hitachi Data Systems technologies associated with cloud and HCP. Comprising interactive presentations by experts at Hitachi Data Systems, product demonstrations, and case studies, the virtual conference addresses the synergies of both cloud computing and HCP in achieving integration of storage management, lowering cost of ownership and increasing operational simplicity.
“Cloud computing - a natural progression from virtualization technology - is emerging as a key strategy for driving IT transformation in 2010. End-to-end server and storage virtualization and management, coupled with file and content services are going to be key enablers for a comprehensive cloud strategy,” said Ravi Rajendran, Vice President and General Manager for ASEAN, Hitachi Data Systems. “By leveraging Hitachi Data Systems’ Agile Cloud Portfolio, we are able to guide customers and service providers toward a public or private cloud environment that is cost-effective, scalable and secure.”
A novel social media campaign titled ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ is being launched in conjunction with the conference. Targeted at Facebook users, ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ is a video competition for individuals to submit a one-minute video highlighting their portrayal of cloud computing in an innovative and inspiring way. The winning video will be selected on the basis of both its popularity and judges’ discretion. Facebook users can ask their friends to press ‘Like’ to the posted videos on the Hitachi Data Systems ‘Sharing Cloud Innovation’ Facebook webpage. The creator of the most “Liked’ Video coupled with the judges’ decision will win two return air tickets to Tokyo, Japan. The video competition will run on Facebook from now until end of January 2010.
“Cloud computing offers a viable alternative to traditional long term approaches to compute capacity consumption and investment. Most cloud methodologies are not in tune with heterogeneous infrastructures of enterprises. The results are poorly utilized data silos, a situation that organizations tried to avoid in the first place. Our focus is on enabling a dynamic cloud environment that virtualizes all existing storage resources into a single, agile and services oriented infrastructure that reduces storage costs, mitigates risk and is easily managed in the face of changing demands. We hope that through the virtual conference, we can educate our customers and IT community at large on the benefits of this technology and how it can deliver benefits for a variety of industries,” said Sunil Chavan, Director, Content & File Services, Asia Pacific of Hitachi Data Systems.
Viewers registering for the conference can leave the questions, comments or messages on every presentation, video, and webcast that forms a part of the virtual conference. Attendees can also download content such as datasheets, whitepapers, and solution brochures from the interactive site.
Hitachi Cloud Customer Benefits
With sophisticated storage virtualization, Hitachi Data Systems enables a secure, multitenant environment that ensures privacy among various constituents within a shared infrastructure that can be managed from a single command suite. Supporting a variety of protocols and third party technology, enterprises and service providers can further leverage existing investments in hardware and software and allow legacy devices to inherit cloud attributes, thereby preventing cloud from becoming just another silo and eliminating the need for a complete refresh or update of hardware and software or the need to rewrite applications.
As a result, Hitachi Data Systems cloud solutions enable enterprise customers to choose the best possible technologies to address their challenges at their desired pace and budget resources. By offering an integrated set of cloud solutions, Hitachi Data Systems can deliver an agile cloud infrastructure that empowers customers to look at their existing IT infrastructure in new ways, enabling them to:
Provide efficient IT management and increase productivity through automation
Meet changing performance, availability and storage needs
Ensure security in a shared environment
Cost effectively improve data protection
Make information easy to locate and use, anywhere at any time
New Hitachi Content Platform and Cloud Enabling Technologies
Hitachi Data Systems best-in-class Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V and award-winning Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage systems provide a single, virtual pool of storage with a host of key cloud attributes which can be provisioned against all types of IT services on demand. These services can be delivered via a number of fully integrated solutions including the recently announced Hitachi NAS Platform for file services, the Hitachi Data Discovery Suite for collaboration and search and the new Hitachi Content Platform for cloud storage, archiving, business continuity, creating content depots, consolidation and many other services. The Hitachi Content Platform also includes a number of advanced features that enable the solution to address a variety of challenges beyond the long term preservation of business critical information, such as:
Enabling Customers to Evolve Cloud at Their Own Pace: The new Hitachi Content Platform will serve enterprise content storage needs as well as public and private cloud environments within a single optimized cluster. Customers can adopt the cloud technologies based on their business needs, and they do not need to purchase another storage island for their cloud solution.
Segregating Data Securely: By providing a multitenant architecture, object versioning, retention and disposition services, encryption, immutability, high availability, search capabilities and much more, Hitachi Content Platform helps IT organizations securely segregate data within different namespaces to prevent unauthorized access and provide different service level agreements and features for different data sets.
Intelligently Tiering Data: Customers will be able to manage data growth from higher tier storage to a storage platform with features and capabilities that go beyond the traditional ‘archive’ and enable intelligent content storage for a number of use cases.
Friday, November 20, 2009
True offers the latest high-speed mobile networking services at’ GreenSpace by Greyhound’ beer park
Patrons can enjoy wireless freedom with 4 Mbps WiFi by TrueMove and 7.2 Mbps TrueMove 3G
True Corporation Pcl and Thai Asia Pacific Brewery (TAPB) have joined forces to offer unlimited online fun by installing TrueMove 3G and WiFi wireless access points at the ‘GreenSpace by Greyhound’ beer park at Zen World Tower, CentralWorld. The latest generation of telecommunication standards for mobile networking enables members to keep in touch, via their mobile handsets, with their friends online or upload their photos of Bangkok’s panoramic view from the beer park located on the top three floors of the tower building.
GreenSpace patrons can now update their impressions timely on Facebook or Twitter through TrueMove WiFi which runs at a maximum speed of 4 Mbps or TrueMove 3G which runs at up to 7.2 Mbps, 4 to 35 times faster than the previous 2G system.
A selection of WiFi cards are made available at the True booth set up at the ‘GreenSpace by Greyhound’. The beer park, which opens from 18.00 – 24.00 hrs, operates from November to December 2009 on Floors 18-20 of Zen World Tower @ Central World.
True Corporation Pcl and Thai Asia Pacific Brewery (TAPB) have joined forces to offer unlimited online fun by installing TrueMove 3G and WiFi wireless access points at the ‘GreenSpace by Greyhound’ beer park at Zen World Tower, CentralWorld. The latest generation of telecommunication standards for mobile networking enables members to keep in touch, via their mobile handsets, with their friends online or upload their photos of Bangkok’s panoramic view from the beer park located on the top three floors of the tower building.
GreenSpace patrons can now update their impressions timely on Facebook or Twitter through TrueMove WiFi which runs at a maximum speed of 4 Mbps or TrueMove 3G which runs at up to 7.2 Mbps, 4 to 35 times faster than the previous 2G system.
A selection of WiFi cards are made available at the True booth set up at the ‘GreenSpace by Greyhound’. The beer park, which opens from 18.00 – 24.00 hrs, operates from November to December 2009 on Floors 18-20 of Zen World Tower @ Central World.
Friday, November 13, 2009
IBM Thailand launches LotusLive
IBM Thailand has launched its latest cloud-based offerings called LotusLive that brings web-based email, instant messaging, meetings, collaboration, social networking and project management to users over the Internet while keeping the best of enterprise grade security and privacy.
Jadesada Kraisingkorn, country manager IBM Software Group in Thailand,explained that IBM is playing at many levels in the cloud, from the actual hardware infrastructure, its CloudBurst management with flexible allocation and the top layer of solutions which is Lotus Live.
Unlike pure software-as-a-service vendors, IBM Lotus can deliver traditional on-premise,appliance (hardware preloaded with software) or cloud services.
Lotus Live delivers solutions in three key areas. The first group is messaging (email and instant messaging, called SameTime) and content management;second is communication and social networking, the art of linking people to people within a big organisation not just through work flow; and third is integration with corporate applications.
IBM stresses that while Lotus Live is not the first cloud email service, it is an enterprise-grade cloud email service with a strong focus on ownership of data,security and integration with the rest of the organisation.
Lotus Live Engage allows users to log in for meetings over the Internet where they can share screens and dashboards.Engage is a development of IBM's internal BlueHouse which was once showcased as a Facebook for the enterprise.
One of its strengths is the concept of guests. It is possible to give access to certain pages to outsiders without having to pay if they work on the project where they can share in collaboration and activities related to the project. Engage is integrated into work flow with meeting details kept along with transcripts and to-do lists on what was agreed from the meeting.
Then there is Lotus Live Events which is more one-way and focused on training and seminars.
The modules are built around Lotus Live Notes/iNotes which has email and calendaring and is integrate with all the other modules.
The big difference compared to other web-based office solutions is that Lotus Live has the concept of roles. In a typical organisation, the secretary of the boss will have her boss's password, which is very dangerous. In Lotus Live it is possible to delegate to the secretary such that she can read and create only but cannot delete, and any email sent out will be tagged sent on behalf of.
Unlike the paid-for competition, Lotus Live does not do data mining on user data and one of the spokespersons urged anyone using a certain free for up to 25 user competitor (clearly Google Apps)to check their fine print.
In January, IBM announced a partnership with salesforce.com that will turn Lotus Live activities into Salesforce opportunities where the progress of a sales lead can me monitored from Lotus Live's dashboards. Other partnerships exist with Skype for click to call and LinkedIn where files can be shared with people on linked in easily.
IBM Thailand is aiming the package at SMEs, selling it through partners and offering them IBM technology at an affordable price.
Jadesada Kraisingkorn, country manager IBM Software Group in Thailand,explained that IBM is playing at many levels in the cloud, from the actual hardware infrastructure, its CloudBurst management with flexible allocation and the top layer of solutions which is Lotus Live.
Unlike pure software-as-a-service vendors, IBM Lotus can deliver traditional on-premise,appliance (hardware preloaded with software) or cloud services.
Lotus Live delivers solutions in three key areas. The first group is messaging (email and instant messaging, called SameTime) and content management;second is communication and social networking, the art of linking people to people within a big organisation not just through work flow; and third is integration with corporate applications.
IBM stresses that while Lotus Live is not the first cloud email service, it is an enterprise-grade cloud email service with a strong focus on ownership of data,security and integration with the rest of the organisation.
Lotus Live Engage allows users to log in for meetings over the Internet where they can share screens and dashboards.Engage is a development of IBM's internal BlueHouse which was once showcased as a Facebook for the enterprise.
One of its strengths is the concept of guests. It is possible to give access to certain pages to outsiders without having to pay if they work on the project where they can share in collaboration and activities related to the project. Engage is integrated into work flow with meeting details kept along with transcripts and to-do lists on what was agreed from the meeting.
Then there is Lotus Live Events which is more one-way and focused on training and seminars.
The modules are built around Lotus Live Notes/iNotes which has email and calendaring and is integrate with all the other modules.
The big difference compared to other web-based office solutions is that Lotus Live has the concept of roles. In a typical organisation, the secretary of the boss will have her boss's password, which is very dangerous. In Lotus Live it is possible to delegate to the secretary such that she can read and create only but cannot delete, and any email sent out will be tagged sent on behalf of.
Unlike the paid-for competition, Lotus Live does not do data mining on user data and one of the spokespersons urged anyone using a certain free for up to 25 user competitor (clearly Google Apps)to check their fine print.
In January, IBM announced a partnership with salesforce.com that will turn Lotus Live activities into Salesforce opportunities where the progress of a sales lead can me monitored from Lotus Live's dashboards. Other partnerships exist with Skype for click to call and LinkedIn where files can be shared with people on linked in easily.
IBM Thailand is aiming the package at SMEs, selling it through partners and offering them IBM technology at an affordable price.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
CALL TO REQUIRE THAI-MADE EQUIPMENT FOR 3G ROLL-OUT
The national telecom watchdog yesterday was urged to include a requirement in the licence-auction guidelines to use locally made equipment in part of the third-generation network rollout. Former deputy transport minister Pinij Charusombat said otherwise only foreign suppliers would benefit fully from the network investment.
Pinij made the suggestion during a seminar in Bangkok entitled "3G and the Development of the Thai Capital Market", hosted by the Capital Market Academy.
He said this would enable local manufacturers to share in the benefits. Otherwise, Thais would gain only 20 per cent of the return from the 3G-network investment, with the rest going to foreign telecom-equipment suppliers. Although one of the banned Thai Rak Thai Party MPs, Pinij is believed to be a de-facto leader of the Puea Pandin Party.
He said veteran telecom operators should not be allowed to bid for the 3G 2.1-gigahertz licences, but rather only new entrants, which would promote real market competition.
One of two panellists, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) commissioner Sethaporn Cusripituck, said the auction for the four 3G licences would spark huge investment. Each of the four winners will spend an estimated Bt50 billion on their network roll-out during the initial phase, thus encouraging investment and creating jobs.
The other panellist, NTC member Sudharma Yoonaidharma, said the NTC should first finish the main rules regulating the market in the post-3G era before granting the licences.
But he said the licences should be issued soon, to give telecom operators time to prepare for rolling out their 3G networks before their concessions ended. All private telecom operators' networks belong to their concession owners - TOT and CAT Telecom - under "built-transfer-operate" arrangements.
Stock Exchange of Thailand president Patareeya Benjapholchai said during the opening of the seminar that the combined market capitalisation of listed telecom firms was about Bt500 billion, accounting for 10.88 per cent of the combined market capitalisation of all listed firms.
In a separate matter, securities houses yesterday downgraded telecommunications stocks in the face of a possible further delay to the NTC's plan to auction the four 3G licences. During a meeting on Wednesday, economic ministers asked the NTC to consult with the Council of State about whether it had full authority to grant the new spectrum before proceeding with the auction plan. The watchdog agreed to do so.
The securities houses said the possible delay had affected the attractiveness of shares of three listed telecom operators: Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Corp, parent of True Move.
A Finansa Securities analyst recommended "sell" for True shares and shares remained "buy", thanks to a high dividend yield.
The analyst said telecommunications operators hoped 3G would drive their earnings growth. Without the licences, their earnings growth would not be as attractive for investors and stakeholders over the next three years.
An analyst at UOB Kay Hian Securities (Thailand) said that if the 3G-licence auction were postponed by six months to a year, operating costs would be affected. The licences are expected to reduce costs at least 10 per cent.
The NTC is expected to auction the licences next February. Many parties believe they will pave the way for the telecom concessionaires to migrate customers from the state concessions to the licensees, in order to save on regulatory costs.
Each of them pays about 25 per cent of their revenue on average as their concession fee, while the annual 3G-licence fee will cost 6.5 per cent of revenue.
Similar to Finansa, the UOB analyst also recommended "sell" for True shares and "hold" for DTAC but maintained a "buy" recommendation for AIS. AIS< DTAC and True all closed lower yesterday. DTAC declined 4.58 per cent to Bt36.50, AIS 1.17 per cent to Bt84.25 and True 2.79 per cent Bt2.79.
Pinij made the suggestion during a seminar in Bangkok entitled "3G and the Development of the Thai Capital Market", hosted by the Capital Market Academy.
He said this would enable local manufacturers to share in the benefits. Otherwise, Thais would gain only 20 per cent of the return from the 3G-network investment, with the rest going to foreign telecom-equipment suppliers. Although one of the banned Thai Rak Thai Party MPs, Pinij is believed to be a de-facto leader of the Puea Pandin Party.
He said veteran telecom operators should not be allowed to bid for the 3G 2.1-gigahertz licences, but rather only new entrants, which would promote real market competition.
One of two panellists, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) commissioner Sethaporn Cusripituck, said the auction for the four 3G licences would spark huge investment. Each of the four winners will spend an estimated Bt50 billion on their network roll-out during the initial phase, thus encouraging investment and creating jobs.
The other panellist, NTC member Sudharma Yoonaidharma, said the NTC should first finish the main rules regulating the market in the post-3G era before granting the licences.
But he said the licences should be issued soon, to give telecom operators time to prepare for rolling out their 3G networks before their concessions ended. All private telecom operators' networks belong to their concession owners - TOT and CAT Telecom - under "built-transfer-operate" arrangements.
Stock Exchange of Thailand president Patareeya Benjapholchai said during the opening of the seminar that the combined market capitalisation of listed telecom firms was about Bt500 billion, accounting for 10.88 per cent of the combined market capitalisation of all listed firms.
In a separate matter, securities houses yesterday downgraded telecommunications stocks in the face of a possible further delay to the NTC's plan to auction the four 3G licences. During a meeting on Wednesday, economic ministers asked the NTC to consult with the Council of State about whether it had full authority to grant the new spectrum before proceeding with the auction plan. The watchdog agreed to do so.
The securities houses said the possible delay had affected the attractiveness of shares of three listed telecom operators: Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Corp, parent of True Move.
A Finansa Securities analyst recommended "sell" for True shares and shares remained "buy", thanks to a high dividend yield.
The analyst said telecommunications operators hoped 3G would drive their earnings growth. Without the licences, their earnings growth would not be as attractive for investors and stakeholders over the next three years.
An analyst at UOB Kay Hian Securities (Thailand) said that if the 3G-licence auction were postponed by six months to a year, operating costs would be affected. The licences are expected to reduce costs at least 10 per cent.
The NTC is expected to auction the licences next February. Many parties believe they will pave the way for the telecom concessionaires to migrate customers from the state concessions to the licensees, in order to save on regulatory costs.
Each of them pays about 25 per cent of their revenue on average as their concession fee, while the annual 3G-licence fee will cost 6.5 per cent of revenue.
Similar to Finansa, the UOB analyst also recommended "sell" for True shares and "hold" for DTAC but maintained a "buy" recommendation for AIS. AIS< DTAC and True all closed lower yesterday. DTAC declined 4.58 per cent to Bt36.50, AIS 1.17 per cent to Bt84.25 and True 2.79 per cent Bt2.79.
iPHONE ARRIVES IN CHINA WITHOUT KEY FEATURE
Apple's iPhone is making its long-awaited formal debut in the world's most populous mobile-phone market, without a key feature and at higher prices than widely available black-market models.
Apple's local service provider, China Unicom, hopes the iPhone will give it an edge against giant rival China Mobile, the world's biggest phone company by number of subscribers.
Unicom was to start selling iPhones equipped for third-generation (3G) services last week at 2,000 stores in areas as far-flung as Tibet. Chinese news reports said Unicom hoped to sell 5 million iPhones in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.
Unicom's first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone's appeal, allows owners in other markets to use wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications, free of charge.
"There's going to be a perception that the phone they have is 'dumbed down' from the one that somebody has in California," said Duncan Clark, the chairman of Beijing-based technology-research firm BDA China.
"We've seen before that Chinese consumers don't like to be treated like second-class citizens."
Apple and Unicom could also face competition from an unusual source: unlocked iPhones brought in from abroad that have WiFi.
There are already an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million such phones in China using China Moile's 3G service that allows Internet access and other features.
Unicom's prices range from 4,999-6,999 yuan (Bt24,500 to Bt34,300) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. That is 20-per-cent more than the 5,700 yuan charged by merchants at Chinese street markets for a 3GS with WiFi.
The iPhone's awkward, delayed entry into China reflects the regulatory and technical hudles of a fast-changing market where other global technology companies have struggled to establish themselves.
Unicom's iPhones lack WiFi because it was temporarily banned by Beijing, which was promoting a rival Chinese system, BDA said. The ban was relaxed in May after manufacturing had begun.
A Unicom spokesman, YiDifei, said the company hoped to have WiFi in the next batch of phones.
"We are talking with apple and expect the problem to be solved by the end of this year," Yi said.
The iPhone debuted in the United States in June 2007, but its formal arrival in China was delayed as Apple negotiated with service providers. Chinese media said the talks were snagged on disagreements about how revenue should be divided.
China has more than 650 million mobile-phone accounts despite an average annual income of only US$3,000 (Bt100,000) per person. Consumers trade in phones as often as several times a year to obtain the latest models and features.
China Unicom has 143 million modile accounts, which would be an impressive figure in any other market but lags far behind China's Mobile's 508 million accoutns.
Global technology companies that dominate other markets have struggled to obtain a foothold in China. Search engine Google has less than 30 per cent of the market, against more than 60 per cent for local rival Baidu. Yahoo turned over its Chinese operation to a local partner after failing to expand its market share.
China's state-owned phone companies were restructured by the government into three groups last year in hopes of reviving competition after the explosive popularity of mobile services turned China Mobile into a behemoth.
Apple's local service provider, China Unicom, hopes the iPhone will give it an edge against giant rival China Mobile, the world's biggest phone company by number of subscribers.
Unicom was to start selling iPhones equipped for third-generation (3G) services last week at 2,000 stores in areas as far-flung as Tibet. Chinese news reports said Unicom hoped to sell 5 million iPhones in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.
Unicom's first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone's appeal, allows owners in other markets to use wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications, free of charge.
"There's going to be a perception that the phone they have is 'dumbed down' from the one that somebody has in California," said Duncan Clark, the chairman of Beijing-based technology-research firm BDA China.
"We've seen before that Chinese consumers don't like to be treated like second-class citizens."
Apple and Unicom could also face competition from an unusual source: unlocked iPhones brought in from abroad that have WiFi.
There are already an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million such phones in China using China Moile's 3G service that allows Internet access and other features.
Unicom's prices range from 4,999-6,999 yuan (Bt24,500 to Bt34,300) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. That is 20-per-cent more than the 5,700 yuan charged by merchants at Chinese street markets for a 3GS with WiFi.
The iPhone's awkward, delayed entry into China reflects the regulatory and technical hudles of a fast-changing market where other global technology companies have struggled to establish themselves.
Unicom's iPhones lack WiFi because it was temporarily banned by Beijing, which was promoting a rival Chinese system, BDA said. The ban was relaxed in May after manufacturing had begun.
A Unicom spokesman, YiDifei, said the company hoped to have WiFi in the next batch of phones.
"We are talking with apple and expect the problem to be solved by the end of this year," Yi said.
The iPhone debuted in the United States in June 2007, but its formal arrival in China was delayed as Apple negotiated with service providers. Chinese media said the talks were snagged on disagreements about how revenue should be divided.
China has more than 650 million mobile-phone accounts despite an average annual income of only US$3,000 (Bt100,000) per person. Consumers trade in phones as often as several times a year to obtain the latest models and features.
China Unicom has 143 million modile accounts, which would be an impressive figure in any other market but lags far behind China's Mobile's 508 million accoutns.
Global technology companies that dominate other markets have struggled to obtain a foothold in China. Search engine Google has less than 30 per cent of the market, against more than 60 per cent for local rival Baidu. Yahoo turned over its Chinese operation to a local partner after failing to expand its market share.
China's state-owned phone companies were restructured by the government into three groups last year in hopes of reviving competition after the explosive popularity of mobile services turned China Mobile into a behemoth.
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