The Indian government is considering a ban on telecoms equipment from Chinese suppliers, including Huawei and ZTE. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has proposed to impose the ban in 20 of the country’s 22 circles, which are apparently sensitive due to their proximity to international borders — although this may be later reduced to 14 circles. Security concerns are said to be a reason behind the move.

Not surprisingly, the network operators have strong objections to the proposed ban, as they would be forced to use more expensive equipment from the likes of Ericsson, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens Networks.

The DoT is in the midst of consulting with the Ministry of Home Affairs before taking the next steps in imposing any restrictions.

There’s also an alternative proposal, which would require all network suppliers to get a security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs every two years.

Earlier this year, BSNL reportedly dropped China’s Huawei from a short list of suppliers in the regions closest to Pakistan, possibly because intelligence officials were unhappy with the vendor’s entry in the sensitive area…

[Via: CellularNews]

I had no clue TeliaSonera is a majority owner of Yoigo, my favorite Spanish operator which I (and the rest of the IntoMobile crew) use when attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona… You learn something every day.

Anyway, the Swedish carrier said it would keep its stake in Yoigo for now, and will try to make it profitable by late next year.

TeliaSonera has been also exploring options to sell the loss-making Yoigo, but decided to stick with it as now is not the time to sell.

For the record, Yoigo and virtual mobile operators (MVNOs) have been wooing recession-hit customers with flat rate cheap per-minute deals.

[Via: Reuters]

India’s Essar Group has reportedly taken control of the Kenyan mobile network – yu. The news comes after India’s company has bought out Econet Wireless’s holding in the company, and as a result it now owns 80% of yu.

Commenting on the move, Essar Telecom Kenya’s CEO Srinivasa Iyengar told the Daily Nation: “Previously, we had a 35 per cent stake which was holding us back in accessing funds from lenders. But now we have enough money to see us through our expansion programme.”

He went on adding that the entire yu network roll-out is costing $450 million out of which $200 million is equity through the Essar Group…

But Essar doesn’t want to stop there. The company is also in talks for possible takeovers in Uganda and Congo.

[Via: CellularNews]

We dig the idea – iPhone is a popular device. However, at some point you we all must admit the craze gotta end. In that sense iPhone magnets are kinda too much. This is not to say they won’t sell quite a few units, it’s just that this is getting kinda ridiculous, to say the least.

Anyway, in case you really and I mean really like you iPhone that much, you may want to extend the experience to your fridge and grab the iPhone icon magnets. 20 of them come in a single pack, allowing you to cover a not that insignificant part of your fridge with standard iPhone icons such as camera, iPod, YouTube, SMS, Safari and so on. Alternatively, you may want to grab this as a present for an Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) fanboy from the neighborhood. That’s, of course, you’re willing to pour out $38 for the magnets, which is kinda pricey — get a bottle of good wine, instead.

[Via: textually]

After just two months from obtaining the license, Digicel Group announced its launch in the Republic of Nauru on September 1st. To celebrate the arrival of the first mobile operator, the country’s President, Marcus Stephen, has declared the day a national holiday. Talk about the free PR.

The President said that they are thrilled that Digicel will offer Nauruans access to GSM mobile telecommunications for the first time. “Digicel’s launch is very significant for the people of Nauru. It is a truly exciting time and we look forward to the prospect of having mobile telecommunications and mobile internet accessibility in Nauru,” he continued.

For the record, the Republic of Nauru is the world’s smallest independent nation, with a population of 10,000 people, who speak Nauruan and English. It’s located in the Pacific just north of the Solomon Islands and 40 kilometres south of the Equator.

[Via: CellularNews]

Zimbabwean operator Econet Wireless has launched its 3G network. Initially, the 3G service is available in Harare, and is planed to be extended to other major cities by the end of the year.

The operator recently started receiving shipments of equipment from Ericsson and ZTE worth $200 million which, once installed, will be able to serve 5 million lines and eventually avert the shortages of lines in the country.

Commenting on the news, Econet’s CEO Douglas Mboweni said that for business users, the most important application “will not only be what you can do with your cellphone but what you can now do with your computer or laptop”. He went on adding, “A computer can be linked directly to the 3G network using a data card, which will be available at Econet service centres.”

But Econet is not the only Zimbabwean operator that plans to expand its network. Two other players, Net One and Telecel, have also announced massive roll out programmes to increase subscriber base…

[Via: CellularNews]

The Azerbaijani Communications and Information Technologies Ministry expects to be able to award 3G radio spectrum to the country’s three mobile operators by the end of this month. Each operator will be charged 11,000 manat (about $13,681) for their licenses, which is kinda cheap.

Originally, the licenses were expected to have been released late last year, following the settling of unspecified technical problems, but nothing further was heard.

For the record, according to the Mobile World database there were just over 5.8 million subscribers in the country at the end of the first quarter of this year, representing a population penetration level of 72%…

[Via: CellularNews]

In an effort to get more users to its network, Orascom Telecom-partly owned North Korean operator – koryolink is offering free SMS to the subscribers. Moreover, the mix of free minutes was revised to satisfy customer requirements.

However, it’s only one side of the problem. It’s also the retail network koryolink lacks to entice more people to use mobile services. To be fair, there are 2 large sales shops strategically located in downtown Pyongyang and 3 additional scratch card sales outlets located within KPTC post office shops. But is it enough? Take a look at your city’s downtown or any major boulevard/avenue for that matter – it’s bursting with telecom shops.

Anyway, koryolink probably realizes this, and in that sense they plan to open 6 more outlets within KPTC shops, as well as to inaugurate an after sales service shop in the third quarter of this year.

At the same time, the operator looks to expand and upgrade the network. For that purposes, fiber-optic cables have been laid in all provinces in an effort to expand mobile communications “on a national scale.” We’ll see how that goes…

[Via: CellularNews]

We dig the idea – mobile apps are very important, but are they really *that* important? Dilbert’s date thinks so. It’s hilarious!

[Via: Gizmodo]

TeliaSonera has announced offers to buy out the shareholders in Lithuania’s TEO LT and Estonia’s Eesti Telekom. The company is offering SEK 1.56 billion ($222 million) for the outstanding 40% of TEO LT and SEK 3.3 billion ($468.4 million) for the 40% outstanding in Eesti Telekom. Both offers are not conditional and have no minimum threshold of shares acquired.

No specific reasons were given, except the usual talk of synergies. We see the move as TeliaSonera’s effort to strengthen its position in the region and eventually expand outside of Scandinavia. Moreover, the reason could be that because of the looming recession made the two companies more affordable, hence better targets for acquisition.

For the record, Eesti Telekom operates Estonia’s only IP-based TV service and also has investments in cable TV services, while Lithuania’s TEO LT has IPTV and DTT interests…

[Via: CellularNews]