Vivendi-owned SFR is now offering femtocells in France, touting them as “SFR Home 3G” that improve indoor network coverage. The devices are made by Ubiquisys and are selling for 199 EUR. Users can connect any ADSL connection to femtocell, not just their SFR broadband connection, to make the device work. SFR, which is the France’s…
Iran’s authorities warn people not to protest – by SMS
In what seems as a desperate move to stay in power, Iran’s authorities are sending text messages to citizens warning them not to take part in anti-government protests. According to Tabnak, the SMS warns recipients that they have been identified as participants in past protests, and that they should stop attending demonstrations. The reports come…
GSMA and IFC announce Green Power for Mobile project targeting off-grid operators in developing markets
GSMA and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have announced the Green Power for Mobile (GPM) project, targeting operators in developing markets which may operate in some areas in the off-grid environment. So far, these operators relied on diesel aggregators for powering their cellular stations in remote areas that don’t have access to the power grid.…
Zain expands its “One Network” roaming service by signing a partnership with Egypt’s Mobinil
Zain has expanded its international roaming service, which is known as “One Network,” to include Egypt after signing a partnership with Mobinil. The mentioned service offers roaming across the Zain network (and its partners) with call costs and services charged at the same rate as the home network. Best of all, Zain customers travelling to…
BBC launches mobile English language courses in Bangladesh
The BBC World Service Trust has developed English language courses for mobile phones and is currently offering them to over 50 million mobile phone users in Bangladesh. The idea behind the project is to extend BBC’s existing learning tool to mobile, in addition to TV and Internet, and reach more people. For the endeavor, BBC…
North Korea reaches the 70,000 mobile phone users mark
It was back in April when we reported that North Korea has reached 20,000 mobile phone users. Now, 6 months later, we’re glad to see that them number is approaching the 70,000 mark. As of the end of September, the sole mobile operator in the country koryolink, which BTS is majority owned by Eygpt’s Orascom…
GSMA launches Green Manifesto to outline how the mobile industry can lower emissions
During the Mobile Asia Congress, the GSMA unveiled Mobile’s Green Manifesto, developed in collaboration with The Climate Group, to set out how the mobile industry plans to lower its greenhouse gas emissions per connection. The manifesto makes specific policy recommendations for governments and delegates attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to realise…
Oberthur Technologies shows visual voicemail service using a multimedia SIM card
Just when we talked about Oberthur’s EcoSIM card, the company announced that it has demoed a visual voicemail service running on their Multimedia SIM Card GIGANTIC WUAOW during the CARTES & Identification 2009 exhibition in Paris. Oberthur’s “partner in crime” is Spanish Telefonica, which will undoubtedly sell the service as soon as all trials are…
Mobile Marketing definition updated by MMA
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced a significant revision to the definition of Mobile Marketing. The new definition is: Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network. Where: The “set of practices” includes “activities,…
Telenor to buy Pakistan’s Warid Telecom?
It is being reported that Telenor is mulling acquisition of Pakistan’s Warid Telecom for around $1.3 billion. If this proves true and Norway-based company succeeds, it will leave the Dhabi Group with 7% of Warid, while other 30% will stay with Singtel. According to Pro Pakistani, the talks went through in a smooth way, with…