WCA January 2016

Telecom news

of 200,000 current customers to fibre by the end of 2015. When its copper-to-fibre migration is completed Verizon will no longer maintain nor offer services over copper wires. Ø It will continue to accommodate private and business consumers served by those facilities with a 64 Kbps grade PSTN (public switched telephone network) over the fibre connection. The migration to fibre has prompted claims by some rival providers that Verizon may have engaged in de facto copper retirement: permitting copper plant to deteriorate to the point at which replacement becomes a necessity. And some murmuring about heavy-handed persuasion was reported in the areas converted in October. Ø As reported by Stephen Clark on spaceflightnow.com , on 16 th October a Russian Proton rocket boosted a Turkish telecommunications satellite into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and nine hours after liftoff a Breeze M upper stage injected the 5.4-ton broadcasting craft into orbit 22,300 miles over the equator. Turksat 4B’s on-board propulsion system will circularise it. The satellite’s owner, Turksat AS of Ankara, said the spacecraft – produced by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center – was to be commissioned in December. Based on the DS2000 satellite platform made in Japan by Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Turksat 4B is designed for a 15-year service life. With an on-target orbit following the October launch, engineers expect the satellite will have enough fuel reserves for 30 years of operation. Ø A wave of mergers in Europe’s telecommunications industry will not necessarily boost investment in networks and should be closely scrutinised, the European Union’s digital chief Andrus Ansip said on 13 th October, echoing a warning from the bloc’s antitrust chief that consolidation could simply lead to higher prices. As reported from Brussels by Tom Fairless of the Wall Street Journal , the

comments, to a conference of telecom executives there, are the latest indication that the EU’s executive arm will look closely at a number of recent deals in the sector. Telecom operators have argued that they need to be allowed to merge with rivals in the same country to increase investment in networks and share costs. Mr Fairless noted, however, that the EU’s new antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager has signalled her scepticism of such arguments. Ms Vestager, blocked a mobile telecom merger in her native Denmark in August, saying she failed to see how promised investments would materialise. “Relaxing competition rules is not the answer” to attracting investment in telecom networks, Mr Ansip said, according to the WSJ . “That would only shift the cost of the required network investments onto consumers [who] would then have less choice and higher prices.” Ø Citing data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on 16 th October, the Press Trust of India reported that, driven by growth in mobile phone usage, Indian telecom subscribers crossed the 1.01 billion mark in August. In its subscribers report for the month the regulator said: “The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,009.31 million at the end of July to 1,014.70 million at the end of August, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.53 per cent.” Growth in mobile over the period was led by Bharti Airtel with an addition of 1.312 million subscribers. But the landline subscriber base continued its con- traction, with landline or wireline connections declining from 26.1 million in July to 26.0 million by the end of August. Sistema Shyam and Reliance Communications – both in process of consolidation – lost 182,000 and 491,000 users, respectively. Reliance experienced the most erosion in Bihar where its right to use the 900MHz spectrum (2G) would expire in December.

Ø Sprint, which uses the special access to connect its cell towers, says it had to pay huge termination fees to the larger carriers when it switched many of its 38,000 cell towers to alternative providers. Denying the allegations, AT&T, Verizon and the other large carriers say the market is competitive. Frank Simone, AT&T vice president of federal regulatory, said in a statement: “The terms the commission is reviewing are commonplace in most commercial contracts.” According to an agency official the FCC investigation would take at least a few months. Any action taken as a result of the findings will require approval from a majority of the five commissioners. Ø Mr Knutson noted that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 gives the FCC authority to police competitive behaviour in the telecom market, but the agency’s jurisdiction over these types of contracts mainly covers older technologies. AT&T, Verizon and other carriers have invested in newer network technologies that are not subject to comparable FCC oversight. The investigation announced on 16 th October is separate from an FCC effort to collect data about the special access market as it considers a broader set of new regulations. Elsewhere in telecom . . . Ø State-owned China United Telecommunications Corp – the second-largest Chinese operator – has joined with SK Telecom Co Ltd of South Korea for development of fifth-generation (5G) communication technologies. As reported by Ma Si in China Daily (10 th October), the partnership is expected to deepen the ties of the two companies and foster mutual progress in mobile-based services. SK Telecom is the largest Korean wireless carrier. Ø In October the US telecom services provider Verizon said it was retiring copper network facilities in parts of New York, Virginia and Rhode Island. Though small markets for Verizon, their conversion figured in a steady advance toward the company’s stated goal of switching a total

43

www.read-wca.com

Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2016