Asian telecoms this month

Telecom Asia, July, 2004

BEIJING:

China will be ready for a full commercial launch of TD-SCDMA--from the chips to the handsets to the base stations by June of next year, according to Zhang Qi, a senior official at the Ministry of Information Industry. In May or June of 2005, China will launch at least five to six mobile phones based on TD-SDCMA standard with home-grown chips, she says.

China Telecom and France Telecom sign a deal to invest 40m euro (S48.6m) in an R&D center in Beijing, marking the first step under a MoU for a long-term strategic partnership. Each side will contribute half of the cost of setting up the R&D center, which will employ 500 French and Chinese engineers.

HONG KONG:

Yes TV (Hong Kong), a subsidiary under UK-based Yes TV group, closes its pay TV service in the city, as it returns the license to the Broadcasting Authority.

PCCW and Telstra agree to buy out $1.2b in syndicated loans to their undersea cable operator, Reach, for about $300m. Under the agreement, PCCW and Telstra will split the amount in half and they will both be secured creditors to Reach.

APT Satellite launches its new satellite the APSTAR V, replacing APSTAR I which is due to retire this year.

Hutchison Whampoa urges regulator OFTA to extend the mobile license for its CDMA network for another five years before the regulator switches the spectrum over to 3G.

BANGKOK:

Information, Communication and Technology Minister Surapong Suebwonglee instructs the TOT and CAT to lease capacity on existing nationwide fiber-optic networks owned by EGAT and the metropolitan and provincial electricity authorities. The move aims to save 10b baht ($244m) in infrastructure investment and push forward ICT's target date for reaching one million broadband subscribers.

Shin Sat adds GSM trunking capability to its iPSTAR broadband services, aiming to give GSM operators in Asia cheap, fast backhaul for GSM base stations in rural areas. Lao Telecom--in which Shin Sat is a key investor--is set to be the first GSM operator to utilize iPSTAR links for base stations along its borders with China and Vietnam, as well as in mountainous areas difficult to reach with fiber and microwave.

COLOMBO:

Sri Lanka Telecom plans to raise $100m in five-year bonds to repay loans and expand its network on the island.

DHAKA:

State-owned mobile operator BTTB selects Siemens mobile to set up a GSM/GPRS network in the key districts of the country, including Dhaka, in a deal worth $41m.

ISLAMABAD:

Norwegian telecommunication company Telenor will roll out its mobile service in Pakistan on April 1, 2005.

MANILA:

Globe Telecom president and CEO Gerardo Ablaza Jr warns that the government's planned tax on text messaging will hit Philippines households hard, and also create a double tax on messaging, which already attracts a 10% VAT levy.

PORT MORESBY:

Gilat Satellite will provide a 2,000-site VSAT network for Telikom Papua New Guinea to support IP, education and health applications.

NEW DELHI:

The Department of Telecom invites tenders for provision of rural community phones from the Universal Service Obligation fund in specified villages, where the population exceeds 2,000 and there is no PCO facility.

Hutchison India awards Nokia a deal to supply mobile switching and GSM radio networks to nine of the operator's 13 license areas, making the Finnish company the largest network vendor for the Indian operator.

The Indian government is considering buying back state-run MTNL's shares from the market as one of the options to pave the way for its merger with state-run BSNL, which is not listed on the bourses.

SEOUL:

The Ministry of Information and Communication introduces number portability to fixed-line service for subscribers in small cities and Busan, the nation's second largest city.

SK Teletech, the handset-manufacturing unit of SK Telecom, is in talks to take control of local mobile phone maker Bellwave. KT Corp raises $600m through global bond issues.

SK Telecom develops what it claims to be the industry's first antivirus program for WIPI. The V3Mobile program, which is jointly developed with AhnLab, allows users to scan programs and monitor file movements when downloading data from the Internet.

TAIPEI:

Taiwan Cellular Corp signs an MoU to acquire small rival Mobitai Communications in two phases. In the first phase, Teco Electric and Machinery, Mobitai's largest shareholders, will sell a 67% stake in the central Taiwan operator for $73m. The second phase to sell the remaining 33% stake will be discussed within 12 to 16 months to allow all parties to assess the performance of the acquisition.

TOKYO:

Carlyle Group and Kyocera agree to buy DDI Pocket from KDDI for $2b. Under the deal, Carlyle will acquire 60% of DDI Pocket and Kyocera will increase its stake in the company to 30% from 13%, while KDDI will keep a 10% stake, down from 81% at present.

KDDI reportedly plans to build its own fiber access in selected metro areas covering two million households by the end of this year to lessen its dependence on the NTT group.

NTT DoCoMo's new president Masao Nakamura says the company will focus on Asian markets such as China in its overseas business strategy. In line with its Asian business growth strategy, DoCoMo acquires a 17.6% stake in MappointAsia (Thailand), a Thailand based digital mapping and location based service provider, for $1.9 million.