Asia Telecom News

China Mobile to offer 4G services in Hong Kong

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:22:49 +0000

China Mobile plans to start fourth-generation (4G) wireless services in Hong Kong later this month, becoming the second operator after CSLto do so in the country.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the telco’s Hong Kong arm will roll out the service on Apr. 25, and will offer more than one 4G handset to consumers at the same time. It aims to introduce a total of 10 4G-based phones by end-2012, noted Sean Lee, CEO of China Mobile Hong Kong, in the report. Source

SingTel Group’s mobile customer base reaches 445 million

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:20:43 +0000

SingTel announced that the group posted another quarter of strong growth in customer acquisitions. As at March 31, 2012, the group had a total mobile customer base of 445 million, an increase of 11 per cent from a year ago.
Airtel’s total mobile customer base reached 241 million as at March 31, 2012, an increase of 14 per cent from a year ago. In India, Airtel’s mobile customer base grew by 12 per cent to 181 million. In Africa, Airtel had a total mobile customer base of 53.1 million, an increase of 20 per cent. Source

Tata Communications to expand business in South East Asia region

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:17:56 +0000

Tata Communications is eyeing the the South East Asia region, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines, to expand its global operations within next two years.
“Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia are markets with a lot of promise of growth. Over next year or two, we intend to create our direct presence through a joint venture or a strategic alliance in one or two of these countries,” Tata Communications (TCL) Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategy Srinivasa Addepalli said. Source

Indonesia’s Telkom Bids For Cable Operator Pacnet: Sources

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:15:50 +0000

Telekomunikasi Indonesia, the nation’s biggest telecom firm, has submitted a bid to buy Asia’s leading undersea cable operator Pacnet in a deal that could value Pacnet at about $1 billion including debt, sources said on Tuesday.
Telkom’s biggest overseas bid may mark the start of a wave of overseas acquisitions by Indonesian firms as they deploy profits made on the back of a fast-growing domestic economy. Telkom submitted the bid last week after it reviewed Pacnet’s business over the past few months, said one of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The source declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Source

China Telecom 1Q Net Profit Falls 6.5% On Rising Expenses

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:12:40 +0000

China Telecom Corp.’s unaudited first-quarter net profit fell 6.5% from a year earlier on rising expenses, making it the only one of China’s three major telecommunications providers to post a fall in net profit during the three-month period.
Although China’s largest fixed-line telecom operator by subscribers had the least number of third-generation mobile subscriptions compared to its rivals and faces stiff competition in the country’s increasingly saturated mobile market, it was cheered by growth in its more profitable mobile business. Source

KT Q1 net profit falls 27% on mobile rate cuts, spending

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:09:47 +0000

South Korean operator reported ARPU decline, but analysts see rebound in 2H. KT Corp. said Monday its first-quarter net profit fell by a lower-than-expected 27%, largely because of lower mobile phone fees and spending on next-generation network technology.
Analysts say that South Korea’s largest fixed-line operator is expected to ring up higher profits in the second half of the year as its average revenue per user–a key performance metric for telecom operators–is expected to rise in tandem with the rollout of its long-term evolution, or LTE, network services. Source

Tips for making money on mobile apps in China

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:07:27 +0000

China is one of the fastest growing markets for mobile devices. We know device makers are making money off of this trend. But how do mobile app makers cash in on this ballooning market of upwardly mobile consumers? The short answer is make iOS apps, according to a study released Tuesday by mobile ad platform Guohe Ad.
The Chinese smartphone market is huge — as of November there were 118 million 3G smartphone owners counted — and this study, which surveyed 600 people, is admittedly a small but telling portion of that. Source

China’s ZTE to sell 100 million smartphones a year by 2015

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:02:51 +0000

China’s ZTE Corp, which launched its first basic mobile phone in Africa little more than 10 years ago, said it could be shipping 100 million smartphones a year by 2015, as it looks up-market to reverse a decline in its handset margins.
ZTE, which sold 15 million smartphones last year and could sell up to 50 million this year, also said it would launch its first two phone-cum-tablet ‘phablets’ this year, hoping to branch out from China’s fiercely competitive mobile mass market. Source

China’s telecommunications infrastructure ‘no risk’ for West

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:58 +0000

Western concerns over Chinese involvement in telecommunications infrastructure are unwarranted, says the head of the Asian arm of British telecoms giant BT Group. Kevin Taylor, managing director of BT Asia-Pacific, says in Hong Kong that the group’s partnership with Chinese telecoms company Huawei in Europe has been a positive — and safe — experience.
The Gillard government has banned Huawei from tendering for contracts associated with the $36 billion National Broadband Network due to concerns about cyber security. Source

Lenovo to launch mobile devices facility in central China

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:58:51 +0000

Lenovo Group Ltd , the worlds No.2 PC maker by sales, said on Monday that it will invest about 5 billion yuan over the next five years in an integrated mobile devices facility in China to meet rising global demand for smartphones and tablet computers.
The Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base, located in the city of Wuhan in central Hubei province, will carry out research and development, production and sales of mobile devices such as the companys LePhone smartphones and LePad tablet computers for China and global markets. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in October 2013, Lenovo said in an emailed statement. Source