It seems the Netherlands is about to get two new operators, following the successful conclusion of a 2.6GHz spectrum auction in the country. In addition to the incumbent players — KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile — privately-owned cable company Ziggo and Sweden’s Tele2 also won portions of the spectrum. According to report, the introduction of new…
MTN looking to buyout Orascom’s networks in Africa?
The African mobile market is heating up as never before. Just recently we had India’s Bharti Airtel acquiring Zain’s networks across the continent, excluding Sudan and Morocco, and now we’re hearing Johannesburg-based MTN is looking to grab several of Orascom’s mobile businesses in Africa. According to the Financial Times, talks had initially focused on Orascom’s…
Intel CFO hints at mobile acquisitions
Intel has hinted that it may look at further acquisitions in the mobile space as part of its plan to diversify into new areas such as smartphones and other consumer electronics. The company’s CFO Stacy Smith told Bloomberg: “We are looking at what we believe can accelerate our progress in those markets. As we see…
Egypt’s plan to block IMEI-less phones questioned
The government of Egypt has recently unveiled a plan to block all IMEI-less mobile phones. More precisely, it was the country’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) which decided to block services to all anonymous users and made-in-China cell phones without IMEI in Egyptian market. Hassanein el-Shoura, a member of Egyptian People’s Assembly (the lower house…
SafeLink brings its free mobile service to the state of Maine
SafeLink is “entering” the state of Maine, offering around 145,000 Maine residents its free cellular service. As you probably know, the powered-by-TracFone SafeLink provides low-income families with a free phone and a year’s worth of service — including 68 airtime minutes per month, unlimited access to emergency services, and services such as voicemail, text, call…
Best Buy looks to boost mobile stores
Best Buy is going all in with its mobile stores, as the company’s CEO said the retailer planned to open up to 1,000 Best Buy Mobile stores across the United States over the next few years. For 2010, the expansion plans will include 50 to 55 big stores and 75 to 100 smaller stores, according…
India to auction LTE spectrum later this year?
Although we still wait to see the winners of India’s 3G auction, the country’s government is already looking forward to selling off radio spectrum for LTE networks. According to the Hindustan Times which quoted Communications Minister A. Raja, the sale of LTE spectrum could come as soon as this year, once the 3G operators start…
People of India have greater access to mobile phones than toilets
Talk about weird statistics. People of India apparently have greater access to mobile phones than toilets. That’s according to the UNU Institute for Water, Environment & Health – which is the UN’s Think Tank on Water. I understand that it’s much easier to put a cell tower and provide thousands of people in the surrounding…
Mexico extends the period for prepaid mobile phone registrations
Few days ago, Will wrote about plans of the Mexican government to kill millions of cellphone lines in an anti-crime initiative. Well that ain’t gonna go that easy as we have the country’s regulator, Cofetel, extending the deadline for the prepaid mobile phone user registration. The reason is obvious – operators reacted, in a fear…
Germany rolls out LTE spectrum auctions
Germany has started auctioning a new mobile spectrum and all four of the country’s main operators — T-Mobile, Vodafone, KPN (E-Plus) and Telefonica’s O2 — are expected to compete for new bandwidth suitable for LTE. The auction is the first of its kind in Europe and will likely set a benchmark for similar auctions throughout…