10th August 2007
Verizon Wireless acquires assets of Ramcell
Verizon Wireless has purchased the operating assets of Ramcell in Kentucky and Oregon, which will increase Verizon Wireless' presence in southeast Kentucky and expand the company's network footprint in western Oregon. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The purchase includes Ramcell's spectrum licences, 51 cell sites and related operations in the two states. The acquired licences cover a population of 574,000 people: 300,000 in the Clay and Madison, Kentucky markets and 274,000 in the Coos, Oregon market.
Verizon Wireless will convert Ramcell's TDMA network in Kentucky to CDMA technology to become part of Verizon Wireless' nationwide network, adding capacity and EV-DO Rev. A technology for high-speed data capabilities. The company plans to complete the network conversion during the first half of 2008 and will notify customers about their service transition prior to the upgrade.
In Oregon, Verizon Wireless will enhance the existing CDMA network with EV-DO Rev. A technology, which offers broadband data speeds for accessing the Internet and e-mail, and downloading music, games and video. The enhanced service is expected to launch by the middle of 2008.
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10th August 2007
Brightstar and InPhonic to form strategic alliance
Brightstar Corporation and InPhonic Inc have announced a letter of intent to explore a new strategic alliance. The companies have stated three principal components of the relationship:
- Brightstar would acquire the distribution, inventory, and fulfilment assets of InPhonic and become InPhonic's exclusive provider of hardware (wireless handsets, SIM cards, and accessories), direct-to-consumer distribution, on-hand inventory, value-added customisation, and logistics;
- Brightstar will make a US$5 million equity investment in InPhonic representing approximately 2.5% of InPhonic's outstanding shares subject to the execution of definitive documents; and,
- Brightstar will leverage InPhonic’s online activation and enablement platform for its existing consumer businesses. Currently, Brightstar serves approximately 11,000 points of sale in the US and approximately 160,000 points of sale internationally
It is expected that the terms of the strategic alliance will encompass collaboration across a number of functional areas and would provide InPhonic benefits in three key areas: improved cash flows due to outsourced inventory management; enhanced margins resulting from hardware procurement; and, significant growth opportunities in a new marketing relationship with Brightstar and its vast domestic and international sales channels. As a component of this new relationship, Brightstar is also eligible to earn up to 250,000 performance-based warrants for the acquisition of new partners and customers for InPhonic.
Brightstar and InPhonic expect to sign a definitive agreement with respect to a strategic alliance in the third quarter of 2007.
Brightstar is a global provider of customised distribution and supply chain solutions for the wireless industry, while InPhonic is an online seller of wireless services and products.
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9th August 2007
Neotel to land SEACOM cable in South Africa
In order to address the growing demand for international bandwidth in South Africa, Neotel (Pty) Ltd has signed a cable development agreement with SEACOM for landing a new, private-equity funded international cable in South Africa.
Neotel, South Africa's second national operator, and SEACOM, the developer of a private submarine fibre-optic cable, which will connect South and East Africa to Europe and India, have agreed to commercial terms for the partnership of landing the SEA Cable System in South Africa. Through the partnership, Neotel will own the cable landing station and all facilities within the South African territory. The terms of the agreement ensure that the operation of the cable will meet current and future regulations, in line with the Electronic Communications Act of 2006. Neotel will operate the facilities on an open access basis; Neotel and SEACOM believe that such a policy will stimulate the South African international bandwidth market and make available affordable bandwidth to South African customers.
The SEA Cable System will connect South Africa to Europe and India, with the route passing along the East Coast of Africa and through the Red Sea before terminating in Italy. In addition, it will land in Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya and the UAE along the route.
The cable system is planned to be commissioned and ready for service by early-2009, with construction expected to start later this year. The SEA system has a design capacity of 1.28Tbit/s, in order to support the expected exponential increase in demand in 2010 and beyond.
"The structure of the project is established to act as an international complement to the national carriers of East and South Africa. SEACOM believes that these markets have high pent up demand, due to the current high price of bandwidth. This cable will offer international capacity on lease and IRU basis (Indefeasible Rights of Usage) at costs that are 70% to 80% less than the current satellite pricing. The expected future demand for bandwidth is expected to grow exponentially, as file sharing and streaming video applications become accessible to the retail user at an affordable price," said Brian Herlihy, President, SEACOM. "International submarine fibre-optic cables are a necessary complement for the emerging last-mile technologies, such as 3G, WiMAX and fibre to the home; removing the international capacity bottleneck that exists in the region today," he said.
The SEACOM and Neotel agreement requires complete open access for all carriers to co-locate their equipment directly on the cable. SEACOM and Neotel are also in an agreement to provide a backhaul solution to Johannesburg to remove the backhaul bottleneck and permit customers to access the cable directly in a point-of-presence (PoP) in South Africa's major business centre.
Neotel has already launched its wholesale international services as the first-ever truly global Tier 1 operator for South Africa, by extending the international network of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL)'s (Neotel's strategic equity partner) into the country through a PoP in Johannesburg. Neotel's network enables other South African operators and service providers to directly connect globally from Neotel's Johannesburg PoP. This capability will grow significantly with the deployment of the SEA Cable System.
Neotel supports NEPAD's principles with regard to the deployment of submarine and terrestrial fibre systems in East and Southern Africa. Neotel has announced its participation in the EASSy submarine cable system project, and has been pursuing the process leading on to the termination of Telkom's exclusivity on the cable capacity of SAT-3/SAFE for South Africa.
"We would like to see multiple options opening up for international connectivity from South Africa, and remain committed to the success of the various international projects. We believe that with competitive international capacities available, pricing for international services will become more reasonable, serving to stimulate demand further. The FIFA World Cup 2010 is likely to see unprecedented demand for international bandwidth for its HDTV broadcasting requirement alone, and with various other projects such as the South African National Research and Education Network (SANReN) and Square Kilometre Array (SKA) still in the pipeline, we believe that a strong business case exists for the SEA Cable System," said Mr Ajay Pandey, MD, Neotel.
SEACOM intends to construct, finance own and operate a submarine fibre-optic cable (SEA Cable) that will connect South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya to India and Italy, where other international cables currently exist. The SEA Cable will be constructed with private funding and is positioning itself to be a seller of international bandwidth to the African carriers at wholesale prices. The SEA Cable intends to be a compliment to the African carriers that offers PoP-to-PoP solutions for connectivity in Europe and Asia. Each landing station and collocation centre attached to the SEA Cable will be operated on an open access principle to ensure compliance with appropriate legislation and act as a catalyst to the East and South African communication markets. The SEA Cable intends to be operational by the first quarter of 2009.
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9th August 2007
Bids for 2.4GHz licences in Japan to be accepted in September
The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) is ready to begin accepting applications for licences to offer high-speed data communications services in the 3.5GHz band, according to a report in Kyodo News. Bids will be accepted from September 10 to October 10 and MIC plans to award permits to one or two companies by the end of 2007, based on their proposed business models.
ACCA Networks KK, a domestic ADSL broadband Internet provider, and PHS mobile operator, WILLCOM Inc, are believed to be planned to submit bids.
According to reports, MIC plans to give priority to companies that do not already have a presence in the country’s cellular market. However, incumbent wireless operators will be permitted to participate via other companies, on the proviso that their stake in the new company is less or equal to 33% on the company. eMobile Ltd and Softbank Mobile, a unit of SOFTBANK Corporation, have indicated a desire to follow this course of action and ACCA is tipped to join them.
KDDI Corporation is also reported to be planning to team up with Kyocera Corporation, its largest shareholder, to bid for a concession to offer WiMAX services. The company is also understood to have approached Toyota Motor Corp, its second largest shareholder, to join the partnership.
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9th August 2007
DCITA announces framework for next high-speed broadband network in Australia
Australia's Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan, has welcomed the release of draft guidelines from the Expert Taskforce for public comment for the competitive assessment process to build a high-speed broadband network in Australia’s capital cities and major regional centres.
“The draft guidelines are now available for industry and public comment and I encourage all stakeholders to make their views known to the Expert Taskforce. After this consultation, the guidelines will be finalised and industry will then have four months to develop their proposals for a high-speed broadband network.”
Senator Coonan said industry proposals should outline price and non-price terms, as well as the conditions of access and identify the regulatory conditions required.
“The government will then legislate to provide the regulatory settings that are necessary to enable the network to be built.
“We are committed to a sustainable and competitive telecommunications market that ensures that industry gets a fair return on investments in next generation infrastructure so they will continue to invest in Australia’s future.”
Senator Coonan said the draft guidelines were consistent with the government’s approach of ‘technology neutrality’.
“Unlike the Labor Party, we are not in the business of picking a ‘one size fits all’ technology and discarding the rest. The guidelines do not specify that the high-speed network must be a fibre-to-the-node network. It could contain a fibre-to-the-home upgrade path or another alternative high-speed broadband platform.
“But fibre-to-the-node appears to be the most likely prospect based on the strong interest from industry in a fibre network build.
“This network build will not require any taxpayer funding unlike the Labor Party who are committed to a taxpayer rip off to the tune of A$4.7 billion on a complete sham. A sham that will tear money from the Future Fund and the Communications Fund, that will not reach 98 per cent of the population as they claim and a proposal that will abandon anyone who lives outside a metropolitan area.
“Worse still, it is a proposal which is embarrassingly light on detail, with no maps and no detailed costings,” Senator Coonan said.
Senator Coonan encouraged all interested parties to review the draft guidelines, which include a proposal form, and submit their comments for consideration by the Expert Taskforce.
Draft guidelines are available at by accessing the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) website (www.dcita.gov.au/Expert_Taskforce). Submissions on the draft guidelines are due with the Expert Taskforce by the end of August 29, 2007.
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9th August 2007
Hibernia Atlantic to construct submarine cable connecting Iceland to North America and Europe
Hibernia Atlantic, a transatlantic submarine transport cable provider, has announces plans to construct a new undersea fibre-optic cable system connecting Iceland to its northern Atlantic submarine cable system. Hibernia Atlantic will deploy a branching unit off its existing northern cable, giving Iceland direct connectivity to North America, Ireland, London, Amsterdam and the rest of continental Europe. The new cable link will provide connectivity to Iceland at 192 x 10Gbit/s Ethernet wavelengths, the only one of its kind in the region. This allows for communications traffic from Iceland to go either East or West, with direct access to 42 cities and 52 network points-of-presence (PoPs) and the ability to steer traffic around major metropolitan areas and bypass traditional backhaul routes. Hibernia Atlantic projects the system will become fully operational for customer traffic in the autumn of 2008.
The new cable provides Iceland much needed diversity from its existing infrastructure. Currently, the only cable with available capacity is Farice, a submarine cable system connecting Iceland and the Faroe Islands to Scotland. Upon completion of the new Hibernia Atlantic cable, Hibernia Atlantic will supply Iceland with a major upgrade in capacity, efficiency, reliability and first-to-market Ethernet services. Hibernia Atlantic will also serve as another redundant option to connect to North America, Ireland and other major European cities.
Hibernia Atlantic is a privately-held, US-owned, transatlantic submarine cable. Hibernia Atlantic’s redundant rings include access to Dublin, Manchester, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, New York City, White Plains, Stamford, Newark, Ashburn, Boston, Albany, Halifax, Montreal and more. Hibernia provides dedicated Ethernet and optical level service up to GigE, 10G and LanPhy wavelengths and traditional SONET/SDH services. Hibernia Atlantic’s network technology allows enterprise customers, carriers and wholesale customers reliable, next-generation bundled services at affordable prices.
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8th August 2007
Court finds QUALCOMM engaged in aggravated litigation misconduct and intentional abuse of industry standards
Broadcom Corporation has announced that a San Diego federal court has ruled that QUALCOMM Inc engaged in aggravated litigation misconduct and standards abuse with respect to two QUALCOMM patents that relate to digital video technology. The court ruled that QUALCOMM has thereby waived its rights to enforce all claims of the two patents and any continuations, continuations-in-part, divisions, reissues, or any other derivatives of those patents. The court also ordered QUALCOMM to pay all of Broadcom's reasonable attorneys' fees, court costs, expert witness fees, travel expenses and any other litigation costs reasonably incurred by Broadcom in defending the patent infringement case that led to the rulings.
Citing the misconduct of QUALCOMM's employees, witnesses, and counsel before, during and after trial, the court found that "Broadcom proved this to be an exceptional case by clear and convincing evidence based on: QUALCOMM's bad faith participation in the H.264 standard-setting body, the Joint Video Team (JVT); and, the litigation misconduct of QUALCOMM through its employees, hired outside witnesses, and trial counsel during discovery, motions practice, trial and post-trial proceedings." According to the court, "QUALCOMM closely monitored and participated in the development of the H.264 standard, all the while concealing the existence of at least two patents it believed were likely to be essential to the practice of the standard, until after the development was completed and the standard was published internationally. Then, without any prior letter, email, telephone call, or even a smoke signal, let alone attempt to license Broadcom, QUALCOMM filed the instant lawsuit against Broadcom for infringement of the '104 and '767 patents."
"The court's findings indicate that this is one of the most serious and egregious cases of standards abuse and litigation misconduct that our industry has ever witnessed," said David Rosmann, Broadcom's Vice President of Intellectual Property Litigation. "While we are gratified with the court's ruling, we are also disappointed that QUALCOMM chose to stoop to such tactics."
QUALCOMM filed the case in San Diego federal court in October 2005, alleging that Broadcom products complying with the H.264 digital video compression standard infringed two QUALCOMM patents. In January 2007, a unanimous jury found that Broadcom did not infringe the patents, and further recommended that the court find that QUALCOMM misled an industry standards-setting body known as the JVT by failing to disclose the patents related to the H.264 standard.
The court adopted the jury's finding regarding standards abuse in a March 2007 decision and held a hearing in June to determine the appropriate remedy for that abuse.
Broadcom has also filed a motion for sanctions for QUALCOMM's litigation misconduct in the patent case. A hearing on that motion was conducted July 26, and the parties await a ruling.
QUALCOMM announces plans to appeal ...
QUALCOMM said it acknowledged the seriousness of the court's findings and reiterated its previous apology to the court for the errors made during discovery and for the inaccurate testimony of certain of its witnesses. The company said that it respectfully disagrees with the court's conclusion that there were unwritten disclosure obligations above and beyond those set forth in the written rules of the standard setting body or that the company intended to mislead the H.264 standards setting organisation or the court with respect to the two patents it asserted against Broadcom. QUALCOMM said that it intends to appeal the court's ruling.
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8th August 2007
Smart Communications acquires stake in Blue Ocean Wireless
Blue Ocean Wireless Ltd (BOW), an Irish company delivering GSM communication capability for the merchant maritime sector, has announced that Smart Communications (Smart) has agreed to acquire a 30% equity interest in BOW for US$15.9 million. The investment now values BOW in excess of US$55 million.
Smart is the Philippines' leading wireless services provider with 27 million subscribers on its GSM network. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT).
Smart, through its wholly-owned subsidiary SmartConnect Holdings PTE Ltd, will acquire a combination of primary and secondary shares. In addition, Smart has an option to acquire a further 19% in BOW, exercisable within the next three years. BOW's other significant shareholders are Dublin-based private equity firm, Claret Capital, Irish remote communications company, Altobridge, and Bank of Scotland (Ireland), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HBOS Plc.
In addition to investing in BOW, Smart will provide GSM network facilities and call/text terminations for the BOW global merchant maritime service. Smart will also become a major reseller of BOW SIM cards and prepaid value cards.
Napoleon L Nazareno, President and CEO of Smart, commented: “The global merchant maritime fleet is currently populated by 1.2 million seafarers, of which 40% are Filipinos. Their communications needs are currently served by satellite-based, bridge-mounted or shared fixed phones that tend to be expensive, inconvenient and lack privacy. Moreover, these types of phones allow only a limited number of incoming calls and do not provide for SMS or texting. The innovative Blue Ocean Wireless service will enable seafarers to bring their mobile phones onboard their vessels and use them just as if they were at home or roaming in other countries.”
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8th August 2007
Nokia renews its chipset development strategy
Nokia Group has announced that it is introducing a licensing and multisourcing model for its chipset strategy. This will allow Nokia to focus on its core competencies in chipset development, leverage external innovation, and foster competition in the chipset industry. Under this renewed strategy, Nokia will discontinue parts of its own chipset development and expand its use of commercially available chipsets.
Nokia will however continue to develop its modem technology, which includes protocol software and related digital design for WCDMA/GSM and its evolution. Nokia will then license this modem technology to its chipset manufacturers, who will use it in the chipsets they develop and produce for Nokia and - if they so decide - in the chipsets they produce for the open market.
This licensing and multisourcing strategy will allow Nokia to broaden its pool of chipset suppliers and leverage external innovation to support its wide range of products. It will also allow Nokia to focus on its core competence in modem technology and invest in R&D areas besides radio technology, such as in software to power Internet services.
"This is a pragmatic move in the face of an increasingly complex technology environment," said Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President, Nokia Technology Platforms. "Companies in this industry need to focus on areas where they can add value and partner with others where it makes sense. We believe that our renewed strategy will allow us to concentrate on developing core chipset technologies, while increasing our R&D efficiencies and improving our agility in a fast-moving marketplace."
Based on this renewed strategy, Nokia is now working with four chipset suppliers. Texas Instruments continues to be a broad scope supplier across all protocols, Broadcom Corporation has been chosen as a supplier in EDGE, Infineon Technologies AG as a supplier in GSM, and STMicroelectronics as a supplier in 3G.
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8th August 2007
Telkom Kenya sale attracts European and Indian suitors
The privatisation of Telkom Kenya Ltd, the incumbent fixed-line operator in Kenya, has attracted the attention of several of India's leading telecommunications companies, including Singapore Telecom (SingTel)-backed Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), and the Tata Group (operator of several fixed-line and wireless networks in India, as well as principal investor in long-distance operator Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL)), according to a recent report published in India's Economic Times. None of the named companies were able to comment on this report, which also claimed that the privatisation had attracted interest from BT of the UK and Dubai-based investment company, Vtel Holding. Nairobi's Business Daily has also identified France Telecom SA, Telkom SA Limited and Alkazar as possible contenders for the stake in Telkom Kenya.
The Government of Kenya unveiled its plans for the privatisation of Telkom in a preliminary information memorandum published in March 2007. This memorandum indicated that bids for the company would be welcomed from mid-September 2007, with a final decision being made at the end of that month, to be followed by the closing of the transaction by mid-October. The government has retained the International Finance Corp (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as lead transaction adviser.
Kenya has long been one of the largest and most stable markets in eastern Africa and is viewed as a key regional hub for investors active in Africa, the Arabian Gulf, and Indian subcontinental regions. The country's telecommunications market has been demonstrating strong rates of growth in recent years, with the number of mobile phone subscriptions seeing a compound annual growth rate of 105% for the 2000-05 period. By the end of 2006, there were approximately eight million cellular subscribers, representing a penetration rate of 23%. However, the fixed-line user base is comparatively small and has been declining for some time, from 320,000 in 2002 to 280,000 in 2006.
Telkom is currently making a loss, largely due to excessive staff numbers and increased competition. To address this situation, the company has embarked on a series of strategic initiatives to reposition itself in the competitive landscape. These initiatives include a large, funded retrenchment programme, a series of targeted capital expenditures, and various organisational and structural changes, leading to eventual privatisation.
A new wireless service, Telkom Wireless, has been launched, based on a CDMA 2000 platform supplied by Huawei Technologies. A microwave/fibre-optic backbone utilising IP technology is being rolled out to cover all major commercial centres. Further plans are in place to install metropolitan fibre rings and to invest in capacity on key international submarine cable systems. The aim is for Telkom to be transformed into an integrated telecommunications service provider, able to offer a platform of converged fixed and mobile multimedia services across an integrated advanced wireless and fibre-optic backbone.
Prior to privatisation, the Government of Kenya said it would transfer Telkom's 60% stake in its mobile subsidiary Safaricom to the state, freeing Telkom to compete directly in the mobile market. Vodafone Group plc of the UK owns the remaining 40% of Safaricom. In addition, nearly two-thirds of Telkom's 17,000-strong workforce were to be laid off.
A block of 26% of Telkom shares will be sold to a strategic equity partner in 2007 via a competitive international tender. A block of 34% of the company's shares will also be sold to Kenyan investors via an initial public offering (IPO) at a date yet to be decided. Given the relatively small size of the stake reserved for the strategic equity partner, it seems unlikely that BT would be interested in participating. Telkom's lackluster financial performance seems unlikely to interest Bharti Airtel, which has more lucrative opportunities closer to home; investment in Africa also seems at odds with the overall growth strategy of its partner, SingTel. Through VSNL, the Tata Group has invested in Africa, most notably in South Africa's second operator, Neotel, so the Economic Times' report that Tata is interested in the privatisation could well prove accurate. Similarly, Reliance Communications controls submarine cable operator FLAG Telecom, so there is the possibility that it would consider the Telkom opportunity too good to miss. Arabian investors, such as Tecom and Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat), have made purchases in Africa in the past, and it is therefore expected that they will seek to participate in the privatisation, as well.
Telkom posted revenues of US$194 million in 2006, down from US$226 million in 2005. The company posted positive EBITDA of US$31 million in 2006, compared to negative EBITDA of US$1 million in 2005. The company's net loss improved from US$36 million in 2005 to US$6 million in 2006.
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7th August 2007
PT Multimedia acquires three local cable operators for €65 million
PT Multimédia, a unit of Portugal Telecom SA, has disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has acquired three local cable operators - Bragatel, Pluricanal Leiria, and Pluricanal Santarem - for €65 million from Partifel SGPS, a company controlled by Portuguese magnate Jose Berardo, according to Dow Jones. The acquisition is still subject to approval by the antitrust regulator.
According to the report, the companies jointly serve 164,000 homes and booked €6 million in revenue in the first half of the year ended June 30.
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7th August 2007
Virgin Media extends strategic review process
Virgin Media Inc has extended the process for parties to submit proposals for the possible acquisition of the company. On July 2, 2007, Virgin Media confirmed that it had received a proposal to acquire 100% of the common stock of the company and that it would consider the proposal as a part of its review of strategic alternatives, including a process for a possible sale of the company.
In a statement, Virgin Media said that, as a consequence of this review and the resulting process, potential strategic and financial counterparties have continued to confirm a strong ongoing interest in a transaction. To enhance shareholder value, Virgin Media's financial advisors have recommended that Virgin Media extend the process until these parties can complete their proposals in a more stable debt market environment. The company did not give a date for closing the process.
Several private equity groups, including Providence Equity Partners, Carlyle Group, Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and the Cinven Group, have reportedly expressed interest in purchasing Virgin Media either on their own or through partnerships.
Virgin Media, which sells cable TV, telephone, Internet and mobile phone services, was formed from the merger of cable operators NTL and Telewest and Virgin's mobile phone division.
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7th August 2007
US government upholds ITC order barring import of QUALCOMM handsets...QUALCOMM to appeal
The US government has decided that the International Trade Commission (ITC) order barring the importation of QUALCOMM Inc's chips and certain cellular phones containing those chips that infringe a Broadcom Corporation patent should stand.
In October 2006, an ITC administrative law judge and later the ITC, in a unanimous ruling, found that QUALCOMM's cellular baseband chips infringed five claims of Broadcom's US Patent No. 6,714,983, which relate generally to power conservation in cellular phones. On June 7, 2007, the six-member ITC issued its Final Determination on a remedy for QUALCOMM's infringement, ordering that certain QUALCOMM chips that infringe the patent, and future downstream products such as cellular phones that incorporate those chips, be barred from importation into the US. The ITC's June 7 order was subject to a 60-day Presidential review period, which involved extensive review by US Trade Representative, Susan Schwab, who the President had previously designated to decide whether to let the ITC order stand or to overturn it through a statutory disapproval.
"We are gratified by the decision of US Trade Representative Susan Schwab not to intervene in this case," said David A. Dull, Broadcom's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "This decision strengthens the intellectual property rights of all US companies, not just Broadcom, and sends a clear message to all those who would seek to escape the consequences of their patent infringement. In upholding the ITC remedy, the Administration is also encouraging a market-based solution to patent issues that is in the best interests of American consumers, US companies and global patent protection."
To date, QUALCOMM has been found to infringe four different Broadcom patents, one tried in the ITC and three others tried before a federal jury in May 2007 in Santa Ana, California. The Santa Ana jury found QUALCOMM's infringement of the three Broadcom patents to be willful. An injunction hearing in that case, in which Broadcom is seeking to bar future infringement by QUALCOMM, is set for August 14, 2007.
In a separate announcement, QUALCOMM announced that it will appeal and renew its request for a stay of the ITC ban on imports of future 3G mobile broadband handset models.
QUALCOMM maintains that none of Broadcom's patent claims are valid or were infringed upon by QUALCOMM. In addition to pursuing the appeal and stay request with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (the stay had originally been denied solely on the procedural basis that it could not be heard by the appellate court until after a decision on the veto), QUALCOMM affirmed its commitment to minimising the impact of the ITC order and is working closely with its customers and the operators on the implementation of new software. While the acceptability of this new software is subject to challenges by Broadcom, QUALCOMM said that it is confident that it is outside the scope of the ITC order.
"We are committed to preserving the enormously successful mobile broadband industry in the US and to protecting and advancing the significant gains that have already been achieved in communications, disaster preparedness, and emergency response," said Dr Paul E Jacobs, CEO of QUALCOMM. "We will pursue all legal and technical options available to us to minimise the impact of the ITC order on consumers, our customers, and the entire wireless industry."
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7th August 2007
Hitachi Communication Technologies and Alvarion to cooperate in developing mobile WiMAX system
Hitachi Communication Technologies Ltd and Alvarion Ltd have agreed to develop a broadband mobile wireless access system using mobile WiMAX technology.
The main aim of the agreement is for Hitachi and Alvarion to develop total system solutions, which combine the base station technology of Alvarion, with the mobile gateway, construction, and maintenance technology of Hitachi.
Specifically, Hitachi will be in charge of developing ASN-GW, which has the following features:
(1) The common platform architecture is applied from a small system to very large systems so that it can flexibly be expanded along by the future traffic increase through separating protocol processor from traffic processor;
(2) It has a non-stop configuration to realise the quality of carrier grade so that it can switch to the redundant system without giving any impact to other equipment, such as base stations and mobile stations, through mirroring of operation information and instantaneous transfer of IP addresses; and,
(3) It has extremely high-speed packet processing performance through the use of high performance ASN-GW engine of which capability is expected to be 10 times or more when compared with Hitachi Communication's current products.
Meanwhile, Alvarion will be in charge of developing high performance macro/micro base stations, which have the following features:
(1) The realisation of the reduction in size and weight by function aggregation (unified RF parts and digital processing parts, 30% less power consumption and 50% less mass) and the reduction of installation work cost;
(2) It is compatible with AAS and MIMO, which are key features in the WiMAX ForumTM Wave 2 specifications. As a result of combining MIMO and AAS together, effective cell design can be accomplished easier and both area coverage and system capacity increase; and,
(3) The realisation of low power consumption in the RF portion with the advanced technologies, such as DPD and CFR.
Hitachi will also aim for further global expansion in the next-generation broadband wireless business through this scheme.
Hitachi Communication Technologies Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi. The company develops, designs, and manufactures a wide range of information and communication systems-related products. Alvarion, with its headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, is a global provider of innovative wireless broadband network solutions.
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6th August 2007
Altimo buys Sotelco to enter Cambodian mobile market
Altimo, an international telecommunications investment group, has announced the acquisition of 90% of Sotelco, which provides GSM telecommunications services in Cambodia.
Sotelco holds licences to provide a full range of wireless telecommunications services, including GSM 900/1800, Internet, and VoIP standards. It has frequencies between 900 and 1800MHz, and is licensed to provide WiMAX standard services.
Altimo has long stated that part of its strategy has been to invest in telecommunications businesses in South East Asia. The company opened representative offices in Jakarta, Indonesia and Hanoi, Vietnam at the end of 2006.
Dmitry Vosianov, Altimo’s Director South East Asia, said: “We are delighted to have made this acquisition, which is part of our strategy to invest in businesses operating in rapidly growing emerging markets, and to establish ourselves as a major force in the region. The level of mobile penetration rate in Cambodia, at just over 10 percent, is relatively low, so offers an exciting opportunity. When this is combined with annual economic growth of some seven percent per year, we believe the Cambodian mobile telecommunications market has great potential.”
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6th August 2007
Ericsson awarded network expansion contract by XL in Indonesia
Ericsson AB has been awarded an expansion contract by PT Excelcomindo Pratama (XL) to expand its GSM/GPRS and WCDMA/HSPA in the country.
Under the three-and-a-half-year frame agreement, Ericsson will supply both 2G and 3G radio access network and MINI-LINK transmission equipment, as well as deployment of its Mobile Softswitch solution. This is a step forward for XL in the evolution to an all-IP network, which is necessary to support the rapid growth and cost-efficiency of network capacity and coverage.
Ericsson will also supply the network deployment and integration, as well as network and technology consulting, such as network performance improvement, network capacity and design, among other services.
This network expansion will extend XL's footprint and enable it to address the increasing need for mobile communications and broadband services in Indonesia.
Ericsson supported XL in its first introduction of 3G technology and services to Indonesia. This new agreement strengthens its position as a partner for further expansion.
Ericsson's relationship with XL began in 1996 when it was first awarded the contract for GSM 900 in Jakarta and surrounding areas, followed by an expansion of the network to the rest of Java, Bali, and Lombok.
XL started its commercial operations in October 1996. Currently, XL provides Consumer Solutions by offering dual-band cellular networks through pre-paid cards, jempol and bebas, and post-paid card, Xplor. The Business Solutions unit of XL is a provider of leased line, broadband and IP-based corporate solutions. In September 2006, XL launched XL 3G, its cellular telecommunication service based on 3G technology. Telekom Malaysia Bhd is the company's controlling majority shareholder with 67% ownership.
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6th August 2007
AT&T Alascom selects Alvarion’s BreezeMAX for new commercial WiMAX rollout
Alvarion Ltd has announced a contract to provide AT&T Alascom with its BreezeMAX 2.3GHz TDD equipment as part of AT&T Alascom’s deployment of WiMAX broadband in Alaska.
AT&T Alascom has announced the availability of WiMAX-based broadband in select areas of Juneau. The company plans to announce deployment in additional Alaska communities in 2008. As part of this deployment, AT&T Alascom selected Alvarion’s IEEE 802.16e-based WiMAX solution for offering extended broadband data services in urban, suburban and rural areas alike.
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