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Chile: Commission recommends spectrum limit |
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
FNE, Chile's antitrust commission, is recommending that mobile operators be limited to 60MHz of spectrum.
FNE made the recommendation to the anti-monopolies tribunal TDLC, which would make the final decision on spectrum limits. In June, telecommunications regulator Subtel asked the TDLC to decide if existing mobile operators should be allowed to participate in 3G spectrum auctions in early 2008. Before considering Subtel’s request, TDLC asked for a report from Subtel on the state of the market, which was completed in September.
According to FNE, without limits on the amount of spectrum each operator has the market could be very difficult for new entrants, which is Subtel’s main objective in auctioning 3G spectrum. VTR and fixed line operator Telefonica del Sur have expressed interest in acquiring spectrum. If the TDLC follows FNE's recommendation, Entel would be disqualified from the auction as it already holds 60MHz of spectrum. Movistar and Claro each have 55MHz of spectrum.
Subtel says it intends to auction 45MHz of spectrum for 3G use and expects to award 20-30MHz to a new entrant and potentially award 5-10MHz to the three existing mobile operators, Entel, Movistar and Claro.
Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Uzbekistan: Unitel awarded 3G license |
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Tuesday, 13 November 2007 |
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Unitel, a subsidiary of Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom, has received a 3G license in Uzbekistan.
Unitel, acquired by Vimpelcom in 2006, said that Uzbekistan’s telecommunications regulator awarded the company a license to provide 3G services across the country.
Unitel has 35.6% of the Uzbek mobile market. Its largest competitor, Uzdunrobita, owned by Russian operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), controls 50.1% of the market. Uzdunrobita was awarded a 3G license in April 2007.
Source: Reuters - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Colombia: Telefonica Wins Interconnection Fee Case |
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Friday, 09 November 2007 |
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A Colombian arbitration panel ordered fixed-line operator Empresa de Telefonos de Bogota (ETB) to pay US$ 53.2 million to Telefonica in a dispute over interconnection fees.
Telefonica claims that since 2002, ETB has not been transferring to Telefonica a large enough portion of the fees it charges customers for calls made to the Telefonica’s mobile subscribers, Andres Perez, ETB's general secretary, said. The arbitration panel ruled in favour of Telefonica.
"We think we respected the contracts signed with Telefonica and the current regulation," Perez said.
ETB is required to pay US$53.2 million plus interest that accumulated during the lawsuit. ETB says it has set aside the cash to be able to pay the settlement and that it won't affect the company's profits reported so far. Perez said ETB will appeal the decision. Source: Dow Jones - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Brazil: US$ 115 million required to provide broadband for schools |
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
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Brazil's Communications Minister Helio Costa says a plan to extend broadband service to schools would cost US$ 115 million.
The government expects to deploy 208,000 internet access points, including 143,000 at schools, health centres and police stations. Some schools already have broadband service through other universal access projects such as Gesac, which uses VSAT to offer broadband at 3,450 locations. Costa said the project could be expanded to create a national network for sectors other than education. The government intends to begin the expansion in January 2008, using funds from FUST, the universal access fund, the ministry or the private sector.
In related developments, fixed line operators are required to deploy service in less profitable regions, for entire communities rather than schools. On November 6, Anatel, the telecommunications regulator, approved a change in these obligations, eliminating the requirement to install public telecommunications services and creating a requirement to install backhaul infrastructure for broadband service in municipalities currently lacking capacity. The goal is to provide broadband to 3,570 additional municipalities by 2010. The previous plan required operators to install 8,461 access points. Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Rwanda: Lap Green makes payment for Rwandatel |
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Monday, 05 November 2007 |
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Lap Green Networks paid the Rwandan government US$ 50 million as an initial payment for an 80% stake in Rwandatel. The payment will allow Lap Green to proceed with their takeover of Rwandatel, likely on November 20.
Lap Green said they would pay the remaining US$ 50 million owed by 2009. During the bidding process, the company agreed to pay US$ 100 million for the 80% stake. The government sold the remaining 20% of Rwandatel to the Social Security Fund.
Lap Green is owned by Libya Africa Investments Portfolio for Africa, a consortium that has reorganised the African interests of the Libyan government. The company promises to invest US$ 317 million to expand Rwanda’s telecom sector. The investment includes a promise to invest in a 3G GSM mobile network with a two million subscriber capacity. The company also promised to eliminate cross-border roaming fees on calls between users in Uganda and Rwanda. Lap Green holds a 69% stake in Uganda’s UTL.
As part of the Rwandatel acquisition, Lap Green also takes over Terracom's CDMA mobile network. However, the company plans to build a new GSM network as it expands its mobile offering. Source: The New Times - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Suriname: Digicel and Telesur reach interconnection agreement |
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Friday, 02 November 2007 |
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Mobile operator Digicel has signed an interconnection agreement with Suriname’s state-owned operator Telesur. Digicel was awarded a license in April and has spent several months negotiating with Telesur.
"We are delighted to at last sign this interconnection agreement with Telesur and applaud the commitment of (telecoms authority) TAS who fully supervised discussions during the past week," Digicel Suriname's CEO Philip van Dalsen said.
Van Dalsen said both parties agreed that Digicel would order and deliver the equipment needed to prepare the Telesur network for interconnection.
"Because of our good relationship with our suppliers, we are confident the equipment will arrive in Suriname within a few days so people don't have to wait any longer," van Dalsen said.
Once Digicel's and Telesur's networks are interconnected, there will be a testing period of approximately ten days. The agreement to have Digicel take charge of the necessary equipment is likely a relief to the operator given the delays Digicel dealt with in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T).
Digicel and TSTT, the T&T incumbent operator, have been working through a legal dispute since Digicel entered the market in mid-2005. Digicel originally planned to start operating by the end of 2005, but TSTT did not receive interconnection equipment until early 2006 and Digicel also ended up buying equipment to ensure interconnection. Despite being physically interconnected as of March 2006, the parties have been unable to reach a final interconnection agreement. This situation caused T&T’s telecommunications regulator TATT to set up an arbitration panel to act as an intermediary in the interconnection negotiations. Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Ukraine: Ukrtelekom enters mobile market |
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Thursday, 01 November 2007 |
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Fixed-line operator Ukrtelekom is the sixth company to enter Ukraine’s mobile market.
Heorhy Dzekon, Ukrtelekom's CEO, said the company hopes to improve its capitalisation ahead of its planned privatisation. Authorities plan to privatise the state's 93% share in Ukrtelekom in 2008.
"It was vital to get into the market of mobile services, where income is now concentrated instead of its traditional activities," Dzekon said.
Ukrtelekom had originally planned to launch its 3G network in the second quarter. Its network now operates in Kiev and five other Ukrainian cities. Over US$ 150 million has been invested to build the network. The company plans to expand throughout the country in 2008.
Mobile competition is intense in Ukraine, which has 53.012 million subscribers recorded among 46.7 million residents. The three largest mobile operators are Kyivstar GSM, UMC and Astelit. Source: Reuters - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Ethiopia: No new mobile operator until 2010 |
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Wednesday, 31 October 2007 |
Ethiopia will not issue a second mobile license until 2010. A news operator would be licensed after a US$ 1.5 billion infrastructure expansion is complete, the minister for communications said.
The country recently commenced work to build expand its fibre optic network and erect additional base stations to extend mobile coverage to 85% of the country’s population.
"Because of the universal access issue, sometimes operators might not be interested in the remote areas where financially it might not be viable, so we want to address this issue first and after that we can talk about this public-private issue," Juneydi Sado, minister of transport and communication said.
The network expansion project will increase the size of the fibre optic network to 14,000 km from 4,000 km. The plan also includes the installation of 65,000 public phones throughout the country. The Ethiopia Telecommunications Corporation, a state-owned monopoly, is also required to increase its fixed and mobile subscriber base to over 10 million by 2010, up from 3.6 million today.
"We're investing US$ 1.5 billion and this is going to be the biggest investment an African government has undertaken in the telecoms sector. Once all this is in place, then prices will dramatically reduce," Sado added.
Source: Reuters - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Brazil: Anatel consults on universal access progress |
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Tuesday, 30 October 2007 |
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Anatel, Brazil's telecommunications regulator, is seeking public comments on operators’ performance in meeting their universal access targets in 2006.
The targets were set in a 2003 decree that outlined a national plan for universal access. Among the operators’ objectives were deployment of public telephones in all municipalities with over 100 inhabitants and the deployment of fixed lines in municipalities with over 300 inhabitants. The operators obliged to meet these goals were Brasil Telecom, Oi, CTBC Telecom, Sercomtel, Telefonica and Embratel. Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Costa Rica: Regulator criticizes decision to have govt award licenses |
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Monday, 29 October 2007 |
Fernando Herrero, the head of Costa Rica's utilities regulator Aresep, criticized the government's decision to give responsibility for awarding telephony concessions to the environment and energy ministry (Minae).
The government plans to create an entity within Minae which will be responsible for spectrum licensing when the telecommunications market is liberalized. According to Herrero, in the original liberalization proposal, Aresep would be responsible for awarding concessions, but the PLN party changed the bill after the comptroller general said that only the government could award concessions. Herrero said it is better for one entity to be in charge of all matters to do with telecommunications, from awarding concessions to applying sanctions.
"There is a very big problem, the decision becomes politicized. It is complicated because we're talking about major interests (at stake), (million dollar) concession licenses," Herrero said.
The official also said that the utilities regulator and the proposed new telecoms regulator Sutel should be isolated from the political process as part of the telecommunications liberalization process. On October 7, Costa Rica approved the Central America and Dominican Republic free trade agreement with the US (Cafta-DR), which stipulates that the telecoms industry must be liberalized. The bill for the liberalization of the telecoms market is yet to be debated in congress.
In an October 24 press release, Aresep described a study by Costa Rican economist Gilberto Arce comparing the licensing regimes in 209 economies. Arce concluded that in the poorest countries, licenses are awarded by the government and not the regulator. Such countries included Gambia, Mozambique, Togo, Cameroon, Iran and North Korea. In the richest countries spectrum licenses are awarded by the regulator, as is the case in the UK, the US and Australia.
"International experience suggests that a technical regulator manages spectrum much better, favouring for example greater density of cellular phones (between 10% and 22% more cell phones per 100 inhabitants)," the study said.
Source: Cellular-News.com - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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