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Feed: TELECOMPAPER HEADLINES
Business information about the telecom industry, an extensive overview of telecom-related articles
Verizon, Redbox to launch subscription streaming service
06-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) Verizon and Redbox have partnered to launch an alternative home video service to Netflix. Expected to launch in the second half of this year, the yet-to-be-named service will offer DVD rentals by post from Redbox along with a new subscription-based streaming video service. The companies said the national service will allow consumers to "enjoy the new and popular entertainment they want, whenever they choose, using the media and devices they prefer". This will include viewing both from PCs and mobile devices. Verizon will build on its relationships with entertainment content providers and provide cloud computing and IP infrastructure to support delivery of the streaming service. Additional brand and product information will be revealed in the coming months. Verizon will hold 65 percent in the new venture and Redbox 35 percent.
Consolidated buys SureWest for USD 341 mln
06-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) US fixed-line operators Consolidated Communications and SureWest have agreed to a merger. Consolidated will acquire SureWest for USD 23 per share in cash or stock, or a total USD 340.9 million excluding debt. This is a 47 percent premium on SureWest's last share price. The combined company will have operations in six states and 1,775 employees, with pro forma revenues of USD 620 million for the twelve months ending 30 September 2011. SureWest serves 130,000 residential subscribers and 15,700 commercial businesses in the greater Kansas City and Sacramento regions over its own fibre networks, which pass in total 321,700 homes. Consolidated offers voice, data and video services to residential and business customers in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas. Consolidated said the deal will combine its own strong cash flow with SureWest's growth strategy in fibre services. The transaction is expected to generate annual operating synergies of USD 25 million and capex savings of USD 5-10 million by the end of the first full year of the combination. The deal remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
HTC forecasts sharp fall in Q1 sales, margins
06-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) HTC forecast a sharp fall in sales and margins in the first quarter, as the company works on revamping its product portfolio. The smartphone maker announced that its January revenues fell 52.55 percent from a year earlier to TWD 16.615 billion. Total first-quarter revenues for the three months to March are forecast at TWD 65-70 billion, down from TWD 101.4 billion in Q4. Amid expected pressure on prices, the gross margin is expected to drop to around 25 percent in Q1, from 27.1 percent in Q4, and the operating margin will fall to an estimated 7.5 percent from 12.7 percent in the previous quarter. HTC said these are "short-term difficulties", and margins should improve when the product transition is completed. The forecast came alongside a brief presentation of fourth-quarter results, with no details on unit shipments or prices. The company confirmed Q4 revenues were down 2.5 percent from a year earlier, and net profit dropped 26 percent to TWD 10.9 billion.
Vodafone, Wind Hellas end merger talks
06-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) Vodafone said it has ended talks with Largo Limited, the sole shareholder of Wind Hellas, on a potential business combination between Vodafone Greece and Wind Hellas. Vodafone first announced the talks last August. Recent press reports in Greece suggested the company was prepared for a 60-40 merger with the smaller rival. However a source familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that the deal was called off due to concerns of regulatory opposition. A merger would give the group almost 50 percent of the market and leave Greece with just two mobile network operators. The companies could still pursue talks on network sharing, the report said.
Australia completes national fibre backbone project
05-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) The Australian government has opened the Darwin fibre-optic link which stretches more than 3,800km from Darwin to Toowoomba, passing through more than 30 towns. The link will benefit more than 160,000 people across Queensland and the Northern Territory. The opening of the Darwin fibre link also marks the completion of the entire network construction phase of the government's AUD 250 million Regional Backbone Blackspots Program (RBBP). The programme has now delivered over 6,000 km of fibre backbone across regional Australia, benefiting around 400,000 people and more than 100 regional locations. This also forms part of the National Broadband Network. Nextgen Networks was responsible for the roll-out of approximately 6,000km of backbone infrastructure, as well as operating and maintaining the backbone transmission links for an initial five-year period.
Turkcell to file claim against MTN over Irancell licence
03-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) South Africa-based MTN said Turkish operator Turkcell has informed it that it will be filing a claim in a US court concerning Irancell, in which MTN has a 49 percent stake. The state-owned Iran Electronic Development Company owns the other 51 percent. Turkcell submitted a bid for Iran's second mobile network licence in 2005 but lost out to Irancell. MTN said it "understands" that Turkcell's claim will allege that MTN sought to induce the Iranian government to award the second GSM licence to MTN rather than to Turkcell by making "improper payments" to an Iranian and a South African government official. It will also allege that MTN encouraged the South African government to take a favourable position towards Iran's civil nuclear power development programme at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in November 2005, and that MTN enlisted South African government support for the provision of military equipment to Iran, the MTN statement said. MTN said it has established a committee consisting of non-executive directors to consider the allegations, chaired by Lord Leonard Hoffmann, an internationally renowned jurist. MTN chairman Cyril Ramaphosa promised a "measured and authoritative" response. MTN warned that Turkcell has intimated a range of putative claim amounts, the nominal value of which would be material if they were formally asserted. However, it added that no claim has been filed and no papers served yet.
3 Austria buys Orange Austria for EUR 1.3 billion
03-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) France Telecom-Orange has entered into a binding agreement with its partner Mid Europa Partners for the sale of Orange Austria to Hutchison Whampoa's 3 Austria. France Telecom-Orange holds 35 percent in Orange Austria and MEP the remaining 65 percent. As part of the transaction, Hutchison will sell frequencies, base station sites, Orange's mobile discount brand Yesss! as well as certain intellectual property rights to Telekom Austria group, immediately after the acquisition of Orange Austria. The agreement implies an enterprise value of approximately EUR 1.3 billion for Orange Austria and is expected to provide France Telecom-Orange with cash proceeds of around EUR 70 million for its equity stake. Telekom Austria will pay EUR 390 million for the aforementioned assets, leaving a net price for 3 Austria of EUR 900 million for its rival Orange. Hutchison said this corresponds to an enterprise value of 6.9 times estimated 2011 EBITDA, excluding anticipated synergies of at least EUR 500 million from the combination. 3 Austria has also agreed to pay an integration-related, performance-based consideration of up to EUR 70 million to MEP two years after closing of the transaction. Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to close in mid-2012. Orange Austria had estimated revenues of EUR 500 million and a total customer base of 2.3 million at the end of 2011. The company employs almost 800 people. The combination of Austria's third and fourth largest mobile operators creates a company with a pro forma 2.8 million customers, market share of 22 percent and combined revenues of more than EUR 700 million in 2011.
America Movil picks Alcatel-Lucent for LTE deployment
03-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) America Movil has selected Alcatel-Lucent provide infrastructure for its LTE/4G network rollout in Latin America. The deployment will start with America Movil's Claro unit commercially launching high-speed mobile broadband services to subscribers in Puerto Rico in the coming weeks. Claro's service offering will use Alcatel-Lucent's LTE equipment, including its lightRadio product portfolio.
Ericsson, Qualcomm show LTE to WCDMA call handover
02-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) Ericsson and Qualcomm said they have completed the first successful handover of a voice call between LTE and WCDMA networks. LTE networks to date have been focused on handling data traffic only, while equipment makers work on a system to handle voice and SMS over LTE. In addition, equipment is needed to ensure calls can continue when customers move outside LTE coverage areas. The Ericsson platform is based on the 3GPP-standardized Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) protocol, which automatically hands over to WCDMA or GSM networks during the call. The test was successfully completed last December using Ericsson end-to-end network infrastructure and an LTE/3G multimode smartphone chipset from Qualcomm. The handover mechanism is supported on Ericsson's LTE/WCDMA/GSM RAN, Evolved Packet Core, MSC and IMS equipment. The first operators are expected to begin deploying SRVCC during 2012, followed by more global commercial launches in 2013.
Indian Supreme Court cancels 122 mobile licences
02-Feb-12
(Telecompaper) India's Supreme Court has cancelled 122 mobile licences issued in 2008, putting at risk the business of some of the newest entrants on the market such as Telenor joint venture Uninor and Etisalat DB as well as established operators such as Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular. The licences have been the subject of a corruption investigation for the past year and a half, which has landed the country's former telecoms minister in jail. The faulty award process allegedly cost the state billions in missed revenue. The court said in its ruling that the award of the licences by the previous government was "totally arbitrary and unconstitutional", the Financial Times reports. The court asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to prepare an auction to redistribute the spectrum. The existing licences will remain valid for four months, after which it's unclear whether operators will be forced to halt services.
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