With Virgin Mobile’s controversial entry into the Indian mobile market and the news on Temasek, Singapore, leading the race for picking up stake in Tata Communications (erstwhile VSNL), the Indian telecom industry is buzzing with M&As and partnerships. It is important to look at the strategic objectives behind these partnerships for a better understanding. High sunk costs, rapid technological advances, high obsolescence and intense competition are some of the reasons for some of the mega deals and consolidation in the industry. … more

Montreal’s SR Telecom Inc., a maker of wireless voice and Internet equipment, is being bought by Sherbrooke’s Groupe Lagasse for $6.05 million.

Lagasse, another telecommunications equipment firm, will assume certain SR Telecom liabilities. The deal requires court sanction and is due to close early next month. … more

Samsung’s handset division keeps growing like crazy. Last year they’ve produced a total of 160 million mobile phones and this year they’re shooting for 200 million mark. Half of the mobile phones shipped last year were made in Korea, while other half is built in Samsung’s factories in China, Brazil and India. And they keep expanding… … more

LONDON, Mar. 20, 2008

Motorola (NYSE:MOT) Inc.

said Thursday it has won a broadband infrastructure contract worth $165 million from Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Atheeb Telecom Co. (Atheeb) Motorola said it will be financing a portion of the contract.

The European Commission says the regulatory model is starting to pay off, but further liberalization is needed so consumers can benefit from a range of choices

Northern Europe is a world leader in broadband internet deployment, with Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands all achieving penetration rates of over 30 percent by the end of 2007, according to European Commission figures.

The UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, are hot on the top four’s heels, each of which have penetration rates above those of the US or Japan. … more

A new study has found the number of households and businesses choosing voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology in the US is shadowing European adoption trends and is expected to rise in 2008, according to reports.

The study by IBISWorld ranks VoIP as the number one industry expected to do well in 2008, forecasting annual growth of 24.3 per cent for the sector.

Much of this growth will be driven by rising subscriptions, with 16.6 million people expected to sign up to a VoIP service this year. This represents a 21.2 per cent rise in subscribers from 2007. … more

Dubai-based airline Emirates has become the first commercial airline to allow passengers to make mobile phone calls during flights. Emirates said the first permitted mobile phone call was made on a flight between Dubai and Casablanca.

The aircraft, an Airbus A340, is fitted with a system which stops mobiles from interfering with a plane’s electronics. … more

The number of Europeans with high-speed broadband connections rose sharply last year. More than 50,000 European homes and offices acquired a high-speed connection every day in 2007.

In addition to the increase in broadband usage, ever more people are also using the Internet when they’re out and about, according to the European Commission. The adoption of mobile 3G services doubled in 2007, to 88 million users, approximately one-fifth of the European Union’s population. … more

 BEIJING, Mar 20, 2008 (SinoCast China IT Watch via COMTEX) — CHT | news | PowerRating | PR Charts — China’s new media like IPTV, mobile TV, and the Internet are to become broadcast channels for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, along with traditional media such as newspapers, TV and radio.

A senior executive of Taiwan-based Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. reveals that their IPTV subscribers are mounting in numbers, and set top boxes are selling well in the area. The Olympic Games is expected to bring the company more than 1 million units of set top box sales. … more

Mumbai: For private telecom players like Reliance Communications and Airtel that are betting big on internet protocol television (IPTV) and WiMax, the race has begun even before the start-gun has been fired.

The reason: while their projects are still at the trial-run stage, state-run players MTNL and BSNL are readying plans for an all-India presence after having launched their IPTV operations last year.

Sources said MTNL-Aksh Optifibre IPTV tie-up for Mumbai will come in as a bonanza for customers. For the first time, subscribers in Mumbai will be able to access 100 free IPTV channels with no monthly subscription from April 1. They can avail of the services for 12 months after making a one-time registration fee of Rs 500; for the set-top boxes, there’s a refundable deposit of Rs 3,000. … more