Archive for the ‘Communications’ Category
India – Mobile makers’ calling card: pack in more SIMs
March 12th, 2010 | 
Author: [business standard] Just when you thought dual-SIM handsets would suffice, manufacturers are planning to offer triple and even multi-SIM handsets.
Deepak Shikar had two connections from different mobile service providers. He used one handset for official work and the other for personal use. But that was till last month, when his friend told him about dual-SIM handsets. Now, Shikar simply switches calls with a flick of a button.
Sales of dual-SIM phones are growing at more than 100 per cent, say analysts. From a marginal 3 per cent share of the overall market last year, dual-SIM phones now account for nearly 15 per cent, according to the latest data from ORG-GfK, a marketing and services solutions company. While the dual-SIM market was, till recently, dominated by Chinese vendors and imports, leading brands like Samsung, Nokia, Spice and LG are now planning to make inroads. New brands are also entering this segment with not just dual-SIM but also triple-SIM and multi-SIM handsets.
Intex Technologies, for instance, launched its first triple-SIM handset, priced at Rs 4,700. Karbonn Mobiles, too, announced triple-SIM handsets (two GSM and one CDMA), priced at Rs 5,200.
Intex Technologies’ triple-SIM handset can take two GSM cards and a CDMA SIM, and offers connectivity over three different networks. Sudhir Kumar, national sales manager — telecom, Intex Technologies, said, “Even smaller towns and cities are gearing up for dual- and triple-SIM handsets because they are very practical.”
For the financial year-end March 2010, Intex Technologies is expecting a turnover of Rs 650 crore. While nationally it has a share of 1.5 per cent for a market that sells 10-12 million handsets per month, it is targeting a share of 5 per cent by September 2011.
Spice Mobile Chief Executive Officer Kunal Ahooja, told Business Standard, “We already offer dual-SIM handsets. We are evaluating the possibility of offering triple-SIM handsets. Many new operators have brought down tariffs and consumers now tend to carry more than one connection to avail of the best deals.”
Around 90 per cent of handsets sold by Spice are dual-SIM. Ahooja estimates that dual-SIM handsets could easily account for close to 50 per cent of the total Indian mobile phone market in the next two-three years.
Karbonn Mobiles, which is the official mobile phone partner for the Indian Premier League this year, has also launched a triple-SIM handset. Karbonn Mobiles is a joint venture between Jaina Group (a mobile phone and consumer durables distributor based in Delhi) and UTL Group — Bangalore-based telecom company. Pradeep Jain, managing director, Jaina Group, said that the company has already sold 3 million devices in India since its launch in March 2009.
The Indian Cellular Association (ICA) President Pankaj Mohindroo feels multi-SIM handsets will continue to boom till number portability comes into play across all the telecom circles. “Once number portability is introduced, dual or multi-SIM handset sales may drop because a lot of existing users of dual-SIM use it for maintaining more than one phone number,” says Mohindroo.
“There are not too many triple-SIM handset options in India currently, but it is an emerging market. Around 10-12 million handsets are sold per month in India, of which dual-SIM handsets would account for around 2 million,” he adds.
Manufacturers like Samsung and LG, meanwhile, are focusing on the dual-SIM handset market. A spokesperson for Samsung Mobiles says, “By December 2010, we expect dual-SIM handsets to make up for 20 per cent of our total handsets sold.” Samsung dual-SIM handsets are priced between Rs 4,600 and Rs 11,600. Samsung, at present, has three dual-sim phone models and has plans to introduce such handsets with touch-screen capabilities. The company’s dual-SIM handsets boast of capabilities whereby both the SIMs are active simultaneously.
Nokia is also planning to roll out dual-SIM phones in India this year. A Nokia India spokesperson said that although dual-SIM phones are a niche segment, both urban and rural India are gearing up for it.
The benefits of using a multi-SIM handset cannot be overlooked. Consumers can check the difference in signal strengths of different service providers and choose the operator that has a better signal strength to a make call. This is more useful when using a GSM and a CDMA service for a dual-SIM handset.
Telecom sector analysts are also of the opinion that as India Inc expands, it is important to ensure that its contact points spread over the country can reach an individual without making STD calls and paying roaming charges.
However, analysts also highlight a few limitations of multi-SIM handsets. For instance, when the dual-SIM phone battery goes out, both the connections are lost. Also, the dual-SIM capability raises the phone price by Rs 900 to Rs 1,800. Moreover, a few of the dual-SIM phones available in the market at a cheap price are not really dual-SIM phones. They have two SIM card slots but only one of the SIMs can be activated at a time.
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UK – Vodafone announces job cuts
[techwatch] Vodafone is planning to cut 375 jobs in the UK as part of efforts to save £1 billion.
The cuts will affect back office roles while 170 new customer-facing roles will be created.
The move, which is designed to improve and simplify services, has been criticised by unions as a ‘disgraceful’ way to treat employees.
Vodafone is trying to save costs after the recession caused demand to fall.
Jobs are also believed to be at risk in Germany and Italy, although this hasn’t been confirmed by the company.
Ghana – MTN picks Ericsson to extend mobile broadband network
[telegepgraphy] MTN Ghana and Ericsson of Sweden has reportedly carried out a successful trial of UMTS mobile services in the 900MHz band – claiming a first for the African continent. The pair say they now intend to extend coverage of the cellco’s mobile broadband network up to 200km in suburban, rural and offshore areas to complement its existing UMTS 2100MHz network which is used principally in urban areas for improved service coverage. Under the deal, Ericsson will assume responsibility for network access, transport and transmission of 3G UMTS in the 900MHz band, with rollout beginning in Q2 2010. MTN Ghana has a subscriber base of more than eight million users according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, and its network covers over 80% of the local population, including ten regional capitals as well as many rural and remote sites.
Canada – Opening up telecom market to foreign ownership expected to take time
[cp] While Canada’s cellphone industry is opening up to new competition, consumers shouldn’t expect foreign players to be setting up shop soon to offer them even more choice any time soon.
The big Canadian telecom players said Friday they aren’t expecting any quick changes to open up their industry to more foreign competition and analysts agreed.
“None of the American wireless carriers are in financial shape to invest in a foreign wireless carrier,” said Sascha Segan, lead analyst for mobile devices for the PCMag Digital in New York.
Competition in the U.S. mobile phone industry is “very intense” and there would be more interest in buying up regional American carriers, Segan added.
Verizon, which sold its 20.5 per cent equity stake in Telus six years ago, declined comment on any interest in entering the Canadian market.
“Frankly, when you see acquisitions going on right now, it’s either companies consolidating or companies snapping up developing world carriers where they see a lot of potential growth,” said Segan.
German-based Deutsche Telekom, which has more than 100 million customers worldwide, couldn’t be reached for comment. U.S.-based AT&T, with 85 million subscribers, also couldn’t be reached for comment.
Montreal-based Bell Canada (TSX:BCE) and Telus of Vancouver (TSX:T) noted the lack of detail from Ottawa on how it’s planning to open the telecom industry.
“Whether we support, whether we oppose, whether we give qualified support depends on what the details are,” said Mirko Bibic, Bell’s senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs.
“But we certainly have no objection to a review,” Bibic said from Ottawa. “When something happens, we definitely want and intend to be involved.”
Apart from repeating the government’s commitment to ensuring “Canadians can benefit from increased competition and investment in the telecommunications sector,” the budget Thursday had little to announce beyond the removal of foreign ownership restrictions on satellites.
Telus’s Michael Hennessy said global carriers may not be interested.
“There isn’t a strong appetite anywhere, I think, in the world in the middle of this recession to get into rapid expansion,” said Hennessy, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs.
Hennessy said while Telus is “quite” open to the loosening of foreign ownership rules, it’s also pleased the government isn’t rushing into a politically difficult issue.
“I think, maybe, right now the philosophy of foreign ownership may be outstripping the capacity of carriers around the world to expand,” he said.
Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) declined to comment on the matter.
New players that have entered Canada’s wireless industry are Toronto-based Wind Mobile, whose parent company Globalive is 65 per cent owned by Egyptian telecom Orascam which the federal government accepted.
Other new players entering the Canadian market this year are Toronto-based Mobilicity and Public Mobile and Quebec-based Videotron.
In the United States, there aren’t any restrictions on foreign ownership in the telecom industry, Segan said.
Verizon is 45 per cent owned by U.K.-based Vodafone and T-Mobile is owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.
Opening up Canada’s telecom market to foreign ownership expected to take time
India – S Tel continues services despite stop order
[business standard] Calls on telecom minister A Raja to sort out ‘security’ issue.
Officials from S Tel met Union Communications Minister A Raja today to resolve Friday’s official directive to them to stop all mobile telephone operations, even as it continued these.
The directive from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to S Tel, a joint venture between the Chennai-based Siva Group and Bahrain Telecom (Batelco), was to stop its services in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. The reason given was ‘security concerns’ – a pending clearance from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), according to a ministry official.
“Our services and network are still running; we have a responsibility of our customers…we are discussing the matter with DoT and hope to resolve it at the earliest,” a company official said. S Tel has over 800,000 subscribers in these three telecom circles.
The official declined to talk about the security issues that led to DoT’s directive. The company also had a meeting with DoT officials today and told the latter that services could not be just stopped, as it would affect so many customers.
In a statement earlier, the company said it had followed the process and got all the necessary approvals and permissions for starting mobile services.
S Tel had challenged the government’s spectrum allocation policy in 2008, arguing it had unfairly denied S Tel licenses in various circles. S Tel won the case in the Delhi High Court and then again when the government challenged the decision before a larger bench. The case is now with the Supreme Court.
Batelco, which has 42.7 per cent stake in S Tel, entered into a partnership with the Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, Global Banking Corporation (GBC), which in turn will acquire 11 per cent stake in S Tel for $50 million. GBC’s buying 11 per cent in S Tel will indirectly raise Batelco’s stake in S Tel by 6.3 per cent to 49 per cent.
