The new Arab Advisors’ survey of Jordan's Internet users also revealed that WiMAX operators had an 8.3% share of residential broadband Internet accounts in the country. Retail e-commerce in Jordan reached an estimated US$ 181 million the 12 months between November 2007 and November 2008.

Arab Advisors’ online survey revealed that of the respondents who have an ADSL subscription at home, 13.3% share it with neighbors. 28% of those sharing share the ADSL connection with two more households, 22.7% with three additional households and 29.3% with one additional household.

Source: Arab Advisors Group.

A new report from Arab Advisors Group analyzes and ranks 30 fixed services operators and 50 cellular operators in nineteen Arab countries. STC’s Al Jawwal, Egypt’s Mobinil and Vodafone Egypt are the largest Arab cellular operators in terms of subscribers.

With the advent of new operators and increased competition in 2008, cellular subscribers in 19 examined Arab countries reached 194.533 million. ALJAWAL and MobiNil sustained their top rankings by H1 2008, with 17.800 million and 16.328 million subscribers respectively. Vodafone Egypt ended the first six months of 2008 with 15.202 million subscribers, settling as the third largest mobile operator in the region. UAE recorded the highest cellular penetration rate by H1 2008, which stood at 198.6% followed by Saudi Arabia (123.3%). Both countries report subscribers based on active on the switch method. UAE also had the highest fixed line penetration rate by H1 2008, which stood at 29.4%.

Source: Arab Advisors Group.

Africa’s largest mobile phone company, MTN Group Ltd, is planning to bring handsets with MTN’s brand costing as little as $12 in the first half of next year. MTN’s Vice President of southern and east African region, Tim Lowry, said the handsets would be manufactured in China and may be priced between $12 and $15.

However, MTN lacks infrastructure such as base stations and switches and prices in a move to expand mobile and data services on the African Continent. In Africa, average mobile penetration is assessed to be 25%.

Lowry further said, MTN distributed 100,000 handsets costing about $20 into countries it operated in, including South Africa and Zambia, in a test this year. “They went into the system and just disappeared,” he said. “We couldn’t keep up, they were selling like hot cakes.” MTN will target markets of Zambia, Ghana, Rwanda and South Africa with the low-priced handsets, carrying the MTN brand. The handsets are capable of handling data and voice. It is anticipated that average mobile penetration will rise to 50% in the next three or four years. MTN is working with mobile-phone companies to bring down prices for handsets that can handle data, voice and multimedia services to between $30 and $40, Lowry added.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Velcom posts its third quarter results. The subscriber base reaches to 3.5 million with the net addition of 100,000 new subscribers in third quarter. The 100% owned Telekom Austria subsidiary, reported revenues of EUR82.4 million (USD104.1 million) and EBITDA of EUR41.9 million in the period under review, while its EBITDA margin was stable at 50.8%. The operating income in this quarter was EUR22.7 million. The ARPU grows from EUR6.9 in 2Q08 to EUR7.6 in 3Q08, driven by the launch of new attractively priced tariff plans and currency fluctuations. While, average MOU dipped from 165.8 to 162.8 in the same period.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Vodafone has instigated the nation’s first 3G mobile network. The firm expects the mobile broadband network will transform the local industry, delivering of a wide array of voice and data services to business users and consumers. This network is part of a FJD70 million (USD38.2 million) investment in 2008 using equipment supplied by Ericsson of Sweden.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Anatel, the Brazilian telecoms regulator reports an addition of 4Mn new mobile lines in October’08 experiencing a rise of 2.85% in comparison to September’08. At the end of October, the number of registered active mobile lines reached 145Mn. Of the total mobile subscribers in October, 81.24% were prepaid and 18.76% postpaid.

Teledensity in Brazil went up to 75.2, up by 2.73% since September’08 and 24.5% since October’07.

The leader in mobile market share was Vivo with a market share of 29.7%, compared to 30.0% registered in September. Claro stood at the second place with 25.31%, down from 25.33%, and TIM came third with 24.70%, down from a 25.02% market share the month previous. Oi took the fourth position with registered 16.21% in October from 15.53% in September, while Brasil Telecom came in fifth with 3.67%, compared to 3.73%.

Source: Wireless Federation.

The evergrowing competition in the Kenyan mobile market is expected to take down Safaricom’s market share which will drop from its dominant 80% to 65% in another four years. The fall will be driven by the launch of rival operators, says Chief Executive Michael Joseph.

“We will have between 65% and 70% market share by 2011,” says Michael. The closest competitor to Safaricom is Zain, which has started offering all new lowered tariffs and products, which targets the lower segment of market, which was earlier captured by Safaricom.

The state owned Telkom Kenya is speedily building up its GSM ntwork under the brand name Orange. In order to stay in competition, Safaricom has invested more in data services and is building a WiMax network, to complement its broadband service launched in August this year.

“We are diversifying our revenue streams, with a shift from the voice market. Which is becoming increasingly unattractive, due to the low tariffs, to data,” says Michael. He additionally said that the operator with its broad network can fight the agressive competition.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Megafon continues to grow in the Russian mobile market in the month of October by adding 960,894 new subscribers. Megafon, country’s third largest operator, is competing closely with Vimpelcom, which stood at 45.88 million, 31.7% of total net addition. Megafon’s net additions counts to 38.7% share of Russia’s total net additions and totalled its subscriber base to 42.32 million. MTS lagged behind its rivals in terms of new additions, claiming just 19.4% with a subscriber base of 62.36 million in October, causing a threat to its number one position. Russia ended October with just over 182 million mobile subscribers, up from 179.54 million at the end of September.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Digicel is nearing to recieve the mobile licence of Kiribati to launch GSM services in the country. The government of Kiribati approves Digicel’s proposal of an investment of over $9.3 million in deploying a network across all Kiribati’s populated islands. According to Telecommunications Authority Chief Executive Pwanouia Aberaan the finalisation of the licence is under process and the issuing of licence is expected in next three weeks.

Source: Wireless Federation.

T-Mobile grabs the 3G licecne in Macedonia, being awarded by country’s telecoms regulator, The Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK). T-Mobile was the only bidder for the three available 3G licences. T-Mobile after the payment of $12.83 million fee to the regulator, the operator will be awarded the radio spectrum by 2008 end and will have to launch the network in next six months and a coverage of 50% in 12 months. The licence will be valid for 10 years.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Virgin Mobile South Africa, raises its data and SMS tariffs for both its prepaid and post-paid subscribers, eliminating off-peak rates. The rise in tariffs mean that Virgin’s peak-time tariffs are quiet lower than its competitors. On the other hand, it also means that users will not benefit from low off-peak rates. Virgin Mobile’s all-day rate is now 60c/SMS. MMSs are charged at a flat rate of 75c each and its per-MB data rate is set at 60c in contrast with Vodacom’s 4U charging 80c/SMS in peak times and 35c in off-peak times and Pay-as-you-go MTN subscribers are charged 75c/peak-time SMS while off-peak SMSs cost 35c. For data users, Vodacom and MTN charge around R2/MB for out-of-bundle data usage, their in-bundle rates for 2 GB or more drop to R0.19/MB. This is in comparison with Virgin Mobile’s flat rate of R0.60 per megabyte.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Taiwan based 3G operator Vibo Telecom anticipates a subscriber base of one million 3.5G users by 2009-end. According to Vibo’s president Feng-hsiung Chang the telco will have a subscriber base of 300,000 3.5G users by 2008-end, moving onto somewhere between 600,000 and one million by end-2009.

Source: Wireless Federation.

BH Telecom is going to launch 3.5G mobile and IPTV services in 2009, said Nedzad Residbegovic, General Manager of BH Telecom. Within four months the operator is intending to commence commercial services in larger cities and has revealed plans to install approximately 130 base stations across the country. The 3.5G services are based on HSPA Technology. BH Telecom is anticipating to spend USD6.5 million on the launch over the next five years. Moreover, Mr Residbegovic proposed for the new services would be between EUR35 and EUR70 per month.

Source: Wirelss Federation.

The Chilean regulator Subtel proposes a 52% cut in mobile connection fees in order to use each other’s lines for the next five years, driven by low costs and high user traffic. The government will set new access rates for 2009-2014 before the current period expires; under the new proposals a figure of $0.07/minute would be imposed, much lower than the $0.133-$0.136 currently charged by the incumbent operators Entel PCS, Telefonica and America Movil.

‘We are deeply surprised by the government’s proposal for a more than 50% rate cut, which does not seem reasonable, especially in light of the prevailing uncertainty and the still unknown magnitude and depth of the economic crisis,’ Entel said in a statement. The company said it would request an expert commission be formed to arrive at a proposal that ‘does not jeopardise the achievements of the industry to date.’

Source: Wireless Federation.

Russia's second largest mobile operator Vimpelcom psts its Q3'08 revenues of $2.84 billion, up 45.3% since last year, driven by a strong subscriber base. OIBDA grew by 36.7% to $1.38 billion, giving a margin of 48.8%. Net income rose by 41.3% to $269 million. Capex doubled since 2007 to $692.9 million from $339 million. Vimpelcom's Russian operation's revenues rose by 46.8% in Q3'08 since last year to $2.4 billion. Revenues from the Beeline mobile operation rose 23.2% to $2.03 billion. OIBDA in the Russian mobile segment reached $1.2billion, a rise of 39.3% from 871 million in Q3'07. Vimpelcom, at the end of Q3'08 had a subscriber base of 45.09 million in Russia, generating ARPU of $15.2, up 19.5% from 2007.

Source: Wireless Federation.

European Union is in favour of limiting the cost of SMS and mobile Web surfing between nation states. The ministers have given consent to cap the retail charge for sending a cross-border short text message at 11 euro cents, or 14 American cents. This implies that cost for sending Text across European borders would drop by an average of 62% from the current 29 euro cents. The data roaming charges are also expected to fall in the same line of SMS.

Source: Wireless Federation.

The Telecom regulator of Romania is anticipating that the market will grow by between 5% and 10% in 2009, following a double-digit rise in 2008. President of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANC), Liviu Nistoran, said the growth stood at 16.7% in 2007. Nistoran further said, ‘we predict a two-figure market rise in 2008, with the most important sectors being the fixed broadband internet access and wireless internet, wireless data and mobile telephony.’ ‘I believe the communications market will continue to develop in 2009 as well, but [at] a slower rate, due to the economic crisis. I am counting especially on the constant wireless internet growth, [with] WiMAX licences due to become operational next year,’ he added.

Source: Wireless Federation.

India’s Telecom Minister, Andimuthu Raja corroborated that the government has decided to auction 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in January, 2009. According to the minister, spectrum will be allotted through simultaneous ascending e-auction. On an average for 3G, 5 blocks are to be auctioned. The reserve price for each block of pan India spectrum is Rs 2020 crore ($408 million). In broadband wireless access (BWA), auction will take place in a similar manner. The reserve price for one block is Rs 1010 crore ($204 million) and Four blocks are to be auctioned. The sale of each BWA spectrum will bring Wi-Max services to rural areas and will help in broadband launch.

Raja said, “I have allotted 3G and Wi-Max Spectrum to both BSNL and MTNL in the month of September 2008 with a view to ensure early roll out of 3G and Wi-Max services in the country. MTNL will be launching services in December 2008 in Delhi and BSNL in January 2009 in Chennai. They will pay the same price for the spectrum as discovered through the auction”.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Telecom, New Zealand, much awaited 3G network commences operations for international roaming customers only. The 3G network has active coverage for inbound roaming customers in the Auckland CBD, Auckland airport and city-to-airport commuter route. Activation of similar coverage in Wellington and Christchurch will start by early 2009.The new W-CDMA network, which originally had to run by Christmas, has delayed to July 2009.

According to Telecom the 3G network will cover 97% of New Zealand and cost $547 million. CEO Telecom Retail Alan Gourdie said the roaming arrangements launched this week are with Telstra Corporation Australia and the Digicel Group who cover a range of Pacific Islands. Telecom is in talks for further international roaming agreements in order to offer subscribers 170 overseas destinations for voice and texting and over 110 destinations for internet data by June’09.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Tigo, Colombian Mobile Operator has signed 10,000 subscribers in 3G segment, according to a local media report. The services are offered in capital Bogotá, as well as in Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Cartagena. In October, the services have been instigated including mobile broadband for both prepaid and post-paid subscribers. Comcel, the strong contender in Colombian mobile market is also providing 3G in Colombia. Although, Movistar of Spain’s Telefónica anticipates to launch 3G services soon.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Kuwait’s third mobile operator VIVA will commence operations from Wednesday with the competition in market soaring up. STC’s VIVA has to compete with giants like Zain and Wataniya. As quoted in September Chief Executive Najeeb Alawadhi said that VIVA aims to attract 300,000 subscribers in its first year of operation.

Source: Wireless Federation.

The Tanzanian TRCA expects in the number of phone users to reach 13 million by H1�Œ09, a rise of 25% and major rise in mobile subscriber base. According to the numbers by the government, the Tanzanian telecoms market has grown by 20.1% in 2007, in comparison to 19.2% a year earlier. �gHardly four years ago we were less than two million. Towards the middle of 2009, we should easily reach 13 million,�h Tanzania Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Director General John Nkoma said. �gWe do expect that by the end of this year, we should be hitting maybe 10.5 million or 11 million. It�fs largely driven by mobile.�h he added. With the end of 2007 Tanzania stood at 8.48 million subscribers, while by H1�Œ08, it had 10.43 million subscribers. TRCA reports a penetration rate of 25% allowing players to enter the nascent telecom market.

Source: Wireless Federation.

OTE, Greece largest telecoms firm, posts a rise of 30% to $260.4 million in net proft in the third quarter attributed to a strong performance in its mobile phone units. The revenues increase to 0.7% to euro1.64 billion from euro1.63 billion in the third quarter of 2007. OTE chairman and CEO Panagis Vourloumis said strong results in the mobile phone sector more than offset a �gmediocre�h performance in fixed-line revenues in Greece. The company said, OTE expects 2009 profits to �gat least match�h this year�fs, despite the global economic crisis. The Greek Government and Deutsche Telekom smacked a deal in May on sharing OTE ownership and management control. Greece�fs parliament has approved the deal in June, the government and Deutsche Telekom each control 25 % plus one share of OTE.

Source: Wireless Federation.

According to a study, Mobile internet usage between Q2 and Q3 ‘08 has risen by 25% in comparison to the three per cent growth rate of PC-based usage over the same time period. The study reveals that 7.3 million people are now using mobile internet rather than wired broadband. The reason behind this surge is developed countries like UK have reached broadband saturation point and it is becoming difficult to add new subscribers.

Another study reveals that by 2013 there will be a broadband connectivity increase of only 11 % year on year, rather than 28 % per year seen over the 2004 to 2008 period.

Mobile Internet caters a quarter of consumer’s aged 15-24 age in comparison to 16% of PC-based consumers. Only 12% of the over 55 demographic use mobile Internet. Further the study says that BBC News is the most visited site on mobile Internet whereas on PC-based Internet surfing, Google search is most popular.

According to a Research Analyst, the fact that the most weather, sports, news and email sites make up the majority of leading mobile sites show that mobile Internet is mainly about functionality and need at the moment as opposed to the more entertainment and ecommerce-focused makeup of the leading PC-based sites.

Source: Wireless Federation.

The call charges were likely to drop with telecom companies — global and domestic — keen to launch third-generation (3G) mobile services in the country, said Telecom Minister A. Raja. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications and global firms such as the UK’s AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, France-based Orange and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo have expressed interest in bidding for 3G mobile licence which will lead to stiff competition in the market, will reflect in lower tariffs.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Mobile network operators in developed regions should prepare for a tenfold increase in wireless network traffic by 2015, as data traffic rapidly overtakes voice, according to the latest report entitled Wireless network traffic 2008-2015: forecasts and analysis from Analysys Mason, the premier advisers on telecoms, IT and digital media.

Total wireless network traffic from cellular users in developed regions is set to increase substantially, driven by, improved cellular devices (such as USB modems and smartphones); widespread deployment of advanced 3G technologies and femtocells; affordable pricing (particularly for traffic-intensive services); more indoor usage of cellular devices; and increasing size of items of Web content.

For more information please visit www.analysysmason.com

About Wireless Federation

Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Mobile subscribers of Peru will enjoy number portability free of charge, said Deputy Communications Minister, Gonzalo Ruiz. The government will try to guarantee an easy process for users willing to port their mobile numbers, he added.

In January 2009, Number Portability (NP) is scheduled for implementation in Peru and telecoms regulator Osiptel has recently published the regulations for number portability implementation.

The transport and communications ministry (MTC) has given consent over the use of the All Call Query (ACQ) methodology for NP in Peru. A central database will be created of ported numbers which operators will consult for every call to find out which network a dialled number belongs to.

The telecoms operator will invest approximately US$22million to implement Number Portability.

Source: Wireless Federation.

­Tanzania Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Director General, John Nkomasays that he expects the number of mobile phone users in the country will jump by 25% to 13 million by the middle of next year.

"Hardly four years ago we were less than two million. Towards the middle of 2009, we should easily reach 13 million," he said.

The regulator awarded two additional licenses last week - to local firms, MyCell and Egotel for both landline and mobile services. Existing operator, Zain was also granted a licence to install an international gateway. There are now five companies licensed to offer international dialing services in the country.

According to figures from the Mobile World subscriber tracker, the country ended the first half of this year with just under 10.1 million customers - representing a population penetration level of 26%.

On the web: Tanzania Regulatory Authority - Mobile World

Source: Cellular News.

­Pan-Caribbean operator, Digicel has launched services in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) -- its 25th market in the Caribbean and Central America and 30th market world-wide. The company says that it has invested US$17 million in its network for the country.

With a population of 23,000 and mobile penetration at an estimated 90 percent, Digicel's investment in BVI focused on building a brand new state-of-the-art network that provides coverage to 98 percent of the population.

Source: Cellular News.

­The International Telecomunications Union (ITU) has published a report detailing a set of regulatory strategies designed to lower the costs of telecoms network rollout. The report notes that 2008 has been marked by unparalleled numbers of voice and Internet consumers in both the developing and developed world, the result of network growth and expansion.

This year has also seen an unparalleled global financial crisis which may make it more difficult for investors to obtain financing for continuing network development. Sharing strategies, examined in the new ITU report, are seen as conducive for infrastructure development in the telecommunications/ICT sector, particularly in light of the deepening global financial crisis.

Mobile penetration showed high growth rates through 2008. By year end, mobile networks and subscribers will rise to an all time high, reaching an estimated 4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide. The world also counts over 1.5 billion Internet users, a growing number of which use fixed and mobile broadband services. Dial-up is being replaced by broadband across developed and developing countries alike. In developing countries such as Chile, Senegal and Turkey, broadband subscribers represent over 90 per cent of all Internet subscribers.

Source: Cellular News.

­The European Commission, in a letter, has welcomed the French regulator's proposal to lower the wholesale rates charged by French mobile operators. The Commission also invited the regulator, ARCEP to keep up its efforts to set a target date by which they should equal the costs of an efficient operator in the next regulatory window that starts in 2011.

The Commission endorsed the regulatory measures proposed by the French regulator ARCEP: a price control obligation requiring French mobile operators SFR and Orange France to charge a termination rate of €0.03 per minute from 1 July 2010. Bouygues' rate is to be set at €0.04 per minute by the same date. ARCEP`s overall approach is to reduce termination rates towards the long run incremental cost (LRIC) of an efficient operator resulting in symmetric rates which will eventually be in line with the Commission's forthcoming Recommendation on termination rates. ARCEP set the target efficient cost-based mobile termination rate between €0.01 and €0.02 per minute, to be eventually reached by all mobile operators.

Source: Cellular News.

In October 2008, for the first time in its history, the Chinese market reported a monthly decline in customer numbers. This was not the latest sign of global economic meltdown, but rather a consequence of China Telecom¡'s acquisition of China Unicom¡'s CDMA network. At the point of acquisition, Unicom counted 41.73m CDMA subscribers while Telecom reported 29.08m, the discrepancy being the result of differing counting methodologies: Telecom disregarded customers who had not paid their most recent bill or who it was not confident would continue to pay in the future. Only 6.8% of the total CDMA customer base were prepaid customers at the end of September, so the vast majority of uncounted customers were on contracts.

The total Chinese customer base remained above 600m despite the inorganic loss effected by China Telecom¡'s recount. With a monthly decline of 4.92m, the number of mobile connections in China stood at 602.25m at the end of October.

Source: Cellular News.

­Turkey has awarded three 3G licenses to the incumbent operators following an auction to battle over the spectrum allocation. Turkcell won the largest block (A License) with a bid of €358 million ($462 million), followed by Vodafone and Avea with bids of €250 million (US$323 million) and €214 million (US$276 million) respectively.

The award of the fourth available 3G license was cancelled due to a lack of interest.

The minimum value of the A License was set as US$405 million, while the minimum value was US$355 million for the B License, US$304 million for the C License and US$253 million for the D License.

Turkcell said that it expects to launch its 3G network by the middle of next year, while Avea has previously said that its network is ready for 3G services as soon as the licenses are awarded.

Only Turkcell was willing to bid for a 3G license in the original tender in 2007, after the other two operators, Vodafone and Avea refused to participate in the original auction unless mobile number portability was also offered. The license which was awarded to Turkcell was later cancelled due to the lack of competition.

Mobile number portability is due to be launched in the country in November.

Turkcell dominates the local market, controlling some 60% of customer base according to figures from the Mobile World analysts. Vodafone is second with 26% and Avea trails with just 14%. The country has nearly 54 million mobile phone users, which represents a market penetration level of 76%.

Source: Cellular News.

Millicom International Cellular says that it has won the license to operate Rwanda's third mobile phone network. ­Millicom will hold 87.5% of the equity in a newly created joint venture company in partnership with Marathon Corporation, an established local company with numerous business interests in Rwanda. The joint venture will pay US$60 million for the 15 year license.

Rwanda has some 10 million inhabitants and is a country of some 26,000 sq.km, located between Millicom's existing operations in DRC and Tanzania, giving potential to create synergies between the three businesses over time. Mobile penetration in Rwanda is low, at some 9%, and there are currently only two operators: Rwandatel and MTN, of which MTN is the dominant operator with around 1 million subscribers. The structure of the mobile industry presents Millicom with the opportunity to build a business with a significant market share.

Source: Cellular News.

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) ­A media watchdog on Friday criticised the collapsed state of Zimbabwe’s telecommunications sector following more than a week of erratic coverage by the country’s main service providers.

The sole fixed telephone network run by the state-owned TelOne is in an appalling state of affairs, with erratic coverage in the urban areas and is virtually non-existent in the rural areas.

Problems on the fixed telephone network have also negatively affected Internet traffic in Zimbabwe during the past three weeks.

The three mobile telephone networks – Econet Wireless, Telecel Zimbabwe and the state-owned Net One – have also failed to cope with the market demand for their services in Zimbabwe’s hyperinflationary environment.

Source: Cellular News.

­India's GSM networks added a record breaking 7.7 million net customers in October - reports the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI). The total GSM base now stands at 241.4 million as at the end of last month.

Source: Cellular News.

APA - Lomé (Togo) ­The telephone coverage rate remains very low in Togo (4.8%) where 95.2% of the population do not have access to telephone, reliable sources told APA here.

"About 95.2% of people do not have access to telephone, and telephone coverage is particularly very low in rural areas", an official document recently of the Togolese cabinet disclosed recently.

Source: Cellular News.

According to a recent surevey, South Africa has been rated as the world’s fourth fastest and Africa’s fastest growing mobile market, with a coverage on 80% of the total population, nearly 39 million users, representing a market value of US$2.4 billion. The three operators Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, have been in a cutthroat competition against each other since the launch of MNP in the market last year.

“South Africa offers an extraordinary penetration rate in this burgeoning market, one of the highest in the developing world,” said the report.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Indonesian Mobile Market flying the rating chart, subsequently the mobile operators are busy positioning themselves as growth starts to slow and competition becomes more stiff. The operators have to offer best of its price to expand its subscriber base as well as to build market share. It is anticipated that new entrants in alliance with foreign partners will bring a change in the shape of the market.

According to sources, Indonesia has by far the highest level of CHURN, 11.2%. ARPU in 2Q, 2008 was USD 5.70, among the lowest in the world and ARPU declines accelerated to 23% YoY in 2Q, 2008, compared to -15.3% in 1Q, 2008. The Indonesia mobile market scenario is one of the most challenging in the world, with operators caught in a low-ARPU, high churn market environment. It posted EBITDA margins at 56 % in 2Q, 2008.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Number Portability, which was launched in Brazil of September’08, will now be available to another 8.3mn fixed and mobile telephony users in Brazil’s four states, reports country’s telecoms regulator Anatel.
Users of telephony services in Minas Gerais state, Paraná state, Santa Catarina state and Rio Grande do Norte state can now port their numbers to other operators. In total, NP currently reaches 29.2mn users across various states of the country.
According to ABR Telecom, coordinator, Requests in Brazil for porting numbers reached 61,960 by November 3 and of the overall requests, 36,671 telephone numbers have already been ported - 20,892 mobile and 15,779 fixed.

Source: Wireless Federation.

­The Bolivian incumbent Entel reaches a mark of 2 million mobile subscribers in the country. The company's mobile unit Entel Movil has been working on an agressive investment plan since May'08, after the government took over the operator.
According to Sittel, the Bolivian regulator, the country's mobile telephony segment reached 4.4mn subscribers at the end of Q2'08.

Digicel Central America Holdings Limited is owned by Denis O'Brien, as is Digicel Group Limited and Digicel South Pacific Limited.

Source: Cellular News.

According to the telecom supervisory body, Supertel, the Ecuadorian mobile operators ended the month of September with a total of 11.3mn subscribers compared to 9.65mn at end-September 2007.
Porta, a unit of America Movil, continues to top the charts with 7.67mn subscribers, followed by Movistar Ecuador with 2.95mn and locally owned Alegro PCS with 672,366 subscribers.
In the month of September nearly 154,164 subscribers to the Ecuadorian mobile market.

Source: Wireless News.

Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s leading mobile operator by subscribers, reports a fall of 86% in its net profits for 9 months driven by higher energy and network costs and rising inflation. The profits came down to $9.36 million in comparison to $66.38 million since last year. Overall group turnover for the period rose 9% to $249.15 million. It ended the 9 month period with a subscriber base of more than 5 million, acquiring 50% of Sri Lankan mobile market.

Source: Wireless News.

­Elisa continued its steady if unspectacular progress in Q3 08, adding 57.4k customers to bring its combined customer base to 2.83m. Annual growth stood at 7.9%, up from 6.9% in the previous twelve months. Given that Elisa’s markets of operation (Finland and Estonia) both have penetration rates in excess of 125%, such a growth rate is commendable, as is the consistency of its growth: in the past eight quarters, figures for net additions have not fallen outside the 30k – 80k range.

Source: Cellular News.

­Senegal's government has announced that it is to terminate the mobile license of the Tigo mobile phone network - potentially cutting off some 1.8 million customers - at the end of this month. Tigo, which is the trading name of Sentel GSM is a wholy owned subsidiary of Luxembourg based Millicom International Cellular.

Millicom says that the mobile network represents less than 5% of Millicom's world-wide revenues and less than 3% of its EBITDA for the nine months ended September 2008.

Sentel's twenty year license was granted in 1998 by a prior administration, before the enactment in 2002 of Senegal's Telecommunications Act. Although the current Senegalese government has, since 2002, acknowledged the validity of Sentel's license, it has also requested that Sentel renegotiate the terms of the license.

Source: Cellular News.

­The UK's Mobile Data Association (MDA) has reported that new devices and an ever growing variety of mobile applications have driven overall mobile data growth figures in 2008. SMS growth continues to astound while MMS shows an increasing level of growth. Consumer awareness, the fact that nearly all phones now come ready configured to work with MMS and attractive tariff bundles from the Mobile Network Operators helps fuel this growth.

Source: Cellular News.

­According to the findings of a new report commissioned by policy control vendor, Camiant - mobile broadband affords tremendous growth opportunities for operators; however, given the popularity of data cards and smart phones and the substantial capital expenses involved in building additional network capacity, operators can expect to hit network limitations fairly quickly. With operators seeing anywhere from 100% to 800% bandwidth growth, there is a clear need to design new business models for the mobile broadband market.

Source: Cellular News.

Avea, one of Turkey’s leading mobile operator sees a boost of 2.5 million new subscribers with the introduction MNP. Avea predicts that nearly 9 million mobile users in Turkey will switch their operators, taking advantage of this new service.

Source: Wireless Federation.

Operator expands to 15 African markets via launches in Kenya, Uganda and Niger

France Telecom-owned Orange has long had a footprint in the predominantly French-speaking areas of West Africa, but this year has seen the operator push into new African markets and seek to exploit its brand profile in the continent.

Orange entered Kenya - East Africa's largest economy - via its US$390 million acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Telkom Kenya in December 2007. The operator subsequently rebranded the company as 'Orange Kenya' and launched operations last month. Orange is targeting 1.5 million customers within a year and claims to be the first 'integrated' operator in the country by combining mobile, fixed-line and Internet services. It has reportedly invested US$110 million in the subsidiary to date – the majority of investment focused on expanding its GSM network. It is using mobile market-leader Safaricom's network to ensure a nationwide service while it builds-out its own infrastructure but expects to cover the whole country within two years. Orange Kenya is the third mobile operator in the market (after Safaricom and Zain), while a fourth player - Econet Wireless Kenya, a specialist 3G operator - plans to launch in the country soon.

France Telecom (Orange) Africa Mobile Connections: Q2, 2008
Source: Wireless Intelligence, company data 
* Launched 17 September 2008; ** Launched 30 June 2008

Source: Wireless Federation.