HOT TOPICS 02/12/2013

Free adds 4G to mobile plan without raising price

Regulamento da Anatel atende 80% das small cells

Telefonica shuts down Jajah services

France adds a million broadband subs in a year

Telecom Italia not selling Brazil unit Brazilian consumers’ frustration costing operators Free adds 4G to mobile plan without raising price Tuesday 03 Dec 2013 | 13:00 CET | News French broadband and mobile operator Free has added 4G service to its no handset, no commitment plan costing EUR 15.99 a month for Freebox subscribers and 19.99 a month for others. Free, which claims theoretical a peak download speed of 150 Mbps, is one of two operators with 20 MHz dedicated for 4G services in the 2.6 GHz band. It now provides subscribers with 20 GB of fair-use LTE data allowance ...

Regulamento da Anatel atende 80% das small cells

Convergência Digital - Carreira
:: Ana Paula Lobo - 02/12/2013

Para o diretor de Relações Governamentais da Qualcomm Brasil, Francisco Giacomini, ao definir a potência de 1 Watts para o uso das pequenas antenas sem a cobrança do Fistel,  a Anatel 'contemplou' a maior parte do mercado. "Nós mesmos queríamos 2 Watts, mas com 1 Watts, não há restrição do uso apenas em Femtocells. Há small cells com essa capacidade. Lembro que as femtocells já viraram small cells. Hoje há um único forum para tratar da evolução da tecnologia", disse.

Giacomini, que nesta segunda-feira, 02/12, participou de entrevista com a imprensa na capital paulista, sustentou que os projetos das operadoras não devem ser alterados pelo regulamento recém-aprovado. "Os fornecedores de small cells estão se movimentando e vão se adequar à legislação brasileira, que atende a maior parte deles", frisou.

Para o executivo da Qualcomm Brasil, o regulamento define que a limitação de 1 Watts é para a saída do equipamento, mas que ela pode ser ampliada na saída da antena. "Isso é o que queríamos porque ela pode ser usada como cobertura externa ou interna", complementa. As small cells também podem ser usadas por provedores Internet e por provedores SCM, de acordo com a regra aprovada pela Anatel. A agência também decidiu que as small cells não poderão ser cobradas dos usuários.

Em julho, a Qualcomm e a Alcatel-Lucent anunciaram um plano para colaborar no desenvolvimento de estações-base de small cells que aumentem a capacidade das redes 3G, 4G e Wi-Fi, melhorando a conectividade sem fio em ambientes residenciais e corporativos. O presidente da Qualcomm para a América Latina, Rafael Steinhauser, deixou claro que a empresa não vai produzir ou investir na manufatura das pequenas antenas, mesmo entendendo que elas são cruciais para melhorar a cobertura dos serviços.  "Não vamos entrar nesse mercado. Nossa ideia é fomentar o ecossistema", frisou o executivo.

Telefonica shuts down Jajah services

December 3, 2013 Written by Dawinderpal Sahota

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Telefonica has announced it will be retiring VoIP service Jajah in January

European operator Telefonica will retire VoIP service Jajah in January next year. Users will no longer be able to make calls using either the Jajah.com website or the Jajah Direct service as of January 31, 2014.

Telefonica acquired Jajah for €145m in late 2009 but question marks were already being raised over the future of the service by March 2011, when the operator launched another cloud based telephony service called Second Line. The service gave users access to a second number, visual voicemail, call registers and advanced call screening.

Then, in August this year, Telefonica Digital, the innovation arm of the operator, announced it would be retiring its rich communication prototype Tu Me, which was developed as a result of the acquisition of Jajah. It was rolled out on O2, Movistar and Vivo branded networks in a bid to curb the popularity of third party messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Viber that had contributed to the erosion of operators’ voice and messaging revenues.

Tu Me was officially retired in September and users were instead being pushed onto Tu Go, which extends the same functionality to non-smartphone devices including iOS and Android tablets and Windows-based PCs.

Telefonica said in a statement to telecoms.com that despite retiring the services, Jajah’s technology and expertise “continues to represent the core of Telefonica’s communications capabilities”.

“Fully integrated into Telefonica Digital, Jajah is the key VoIP network platform for the group and its engineering teams are behind innovative products such as Tu Go, International Favourites, International Extras and Global Friends,” the statement read.

It added that since the acquisition of VoIP provider, Telefonica has invested to grow and reinforce the Jajah team in Israel by over 70 per cent and earlier this year it was re-named Telefonica Digital Israel.

At the time of the acquisition, Matthew Key, who was then chairman and CEO of Telefónica Europe, said: “The acquisition of Jajah broadens the scope of our communications offering and opens up new capabilities in the voice communication space.  People using social networking sites such as Twitter now have an even wider range of communications channels available – and have the option of speaking directly to each other as well as communicating by text or keyboard.”

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France adds a million broadband subs in a year

By Mary Lennighan, By Mary Lennighan, Total Telecom Monday 02 December 2013

Superfast broadband connections up by 24%; 2.74 million homes covered by FTTH networks.

The number of fixed broadband connections in France increased by 1 million in the year to the end of September, with superfast services growing in popularity, according to new statistics published by Arcep. France was home to 24.6 million broadband subscriptions on 30 September, of which 1.8 million were superfast connections - that is, offering download speeds of 30 Mbps or higher – the regulator announced. Superfast connections increased by 355,000 or 24% compared with the same date a year earlier. Standard broadband connections, 98% of which are xDSL, grew by 2.9% to 22.8 million over the same period. On the wholesale side, Arcep was keen to point out that fibre-to-the-home coverage is growing steadily in France. "Operators have stepped up the pace of their FTTH rollouts," the regulator said. "As of 30 September 2013, 2.74 million homes were eligible to subscribe to an FTTH service, which marks a 40% increase on the year before." 1.4 million of the homes covered are able to choose between at least two providers, Arcep added, as a result of network-sharing schemes, while 455,000 are being served by public initiative networks. In total 9.1 million homes are covered by superfast broadband services, including FTTH and high-speed cable options. By way of comparison, copper accounts for 30.9 million lines.

Telecom Italia not selling Brazil unit

By Mary Lennighan, Total Telecom Monday 02 December 2013

Italian telco insists it is not in talks on disposal of TIM Brasil, neither has it received offers for the business.

Telecom Italia on Monday issued a formal statement dismissing speculation that it is working on the sale of its operations in Brazil. The Italian incumbent insisted that it continues to see strategic importance in its 67% stake in TIM Brasil and the Brazilian market in general and categorically denied that it is in talks with potential buyers or partners. It also confirmed that it has not received any solicited or unsolicited offers for the unit. "Telecom Italia wishes to make clear that the rumours of presumed plans for the deconsolidation and/or total or partial valuation of the Brazilian asset, described and repeated by journalists, pundits and analysts are inferences wholly without foundation," the telco said. It also highlighted the fact that it remains a competitor to indirect shareholder Telefonica in Brazil, in compliance with local regulations. Speculation has been rife recently that Telecom Italia will look to sell off its Brazilian operations as part of a wider move to shore up its balance sheet. Various sources claim that Telefonica – which recently agreed to increase its stake in Telecom Italia's holding company Telco, hence the above comment regarding competition in Brazil – favours a break-up of TIM Brasil. Telefonica owns Brazilian mobile market leader Vivo, which served 28.67% of the country's 270 million subscribers at the end of October, according to the latest numbers from regulator Anatel. TIM runs a close second with 27.11% of the market, followed by Claro with 25.16% and Oi with 18.56%. Telecom Italia said it issued Monday's statement in response to a request from Italian securities market regulator Consob.

Brazilian consumers’ frustration costing operators

December 2, 2013 Written by Dawinderpal Sahota

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The majority of Brazilian consumers are willing to pay for better service from their mobile operator, according to research published today.

The majority of Brazilian consumers are willing to pay more for an improved mobile service and operators could be missing out on up to R$40bn (US$17.13bn) per year, according to research published today.

More than 56 per cent of Brazilian mobile users reported losing signal at least three times a month, according to the research which was published by Commprove. The news comes as Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel continues its clampdown on poor network performance which it began last year. It has warned operators that they risk having their spectrum licences revoked due to poor coverage levels.

The research revealed that 40 per cent of consumers said they would be willing to pay an additional R$5 per month for better coverage, ten per cent would pay R$10 and a further 10 per cent would pay R$15 per month. Surprisingly, 6.3 per cent said they would be willing to up to R$50 per month for better basic radio coverage.

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According to the research, Brazilian subscribers are less attracted to offerings that have proven popular in developed markets, such as text message bundles, and are instead more focused on receiving a high quality of service. While 46 per cent of respondents said that they would switch operator for better service reliability, and 33 per cent for a better phone, only nine per cent would move for a bigger text messaging package.

The 18-24 year old demographic placed the greatest value on their mobile access with 56 per cent claiming unreliable signal was the main reason for looking for new contracts. Overall, however, and despite complaints about the lack of coverage, more than half (53 per cent) of respondents said they would churn to save money.

“Brazil is a complex market with different demographics, it’s not a homogenous market,” Commprove CEO Dr Lars Pederson told telecoms.com. He added that the research proves the majority of the Brazilian subscribers clearly value service and are willing to pay a premium for it.

“With premium pricing models, Brazilian operators have an opportunity to both increase subscriber satisfaction and generate new, long-term revenue opportunities. They should seize that opportunity immediately.”