WCA July 2013

✆ ✆ Italy’s Communications Authority (AgCom) unanimously approved the final version of regulations for the auction of DTT frequencies that make up the three national DTT networks, with a right of use for 20 years. To meet the objective of ensuring a greater degree of competition and pluralism, as requested by the European Commission, the amended measure will restrict competition for all three lots to new entrants or small operators (those holding one multiplex), and for two lots to operators already in possession of two multiplexes. As reported by Branislav Pekic on advanced-television.com (12 th April), integrated operators active on other platforms with a market share of over 50 per cent in the pay-TV sector may compete only for a single multiplex. Excluded altogether from parti- cipation in the auction are operators holding three or more DTT multi- plexes, such as RAI, Mediaset and Telecom Italia Media.

Citing the results of its own survey on the future of IT outsourcing and cloud computing, PwC noted that – although the B2B enterprise solutions market is still dominated by predominantly “on-premise” services – 41 per cent of companies now deploy some form of cloud services. Thus telecoms, as owners of the networks upon which the over-the-top (OTT) cloud applications and services are delivered, are well positioned to serve the B2B cloud market. But the PwC research released on 24 th April finds that, compared with current managed B2B services, cloud delivery requires a fundamentally different business model, with emphasis on a very high degree of self-service on the part of the customer. Elsewhere in telecom . . . ✆ ✆ In a deal announced on 27 th April and to be finalised in the third quarter, Norway’s Telenor, the largest telecommunications operator in the Nordic region, agreed to buy the Bulgarian mobile unit of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) – a Greek group active in the Balkans – for $934 million. The acquisition of Globul, the second-largest mobile carrier in Bulgaria with a 36 per cent share of that market, will raise the Telenor profile in central and Eastern Europe while enabling the Athens-based operator to reduce its costs. Germany’s Deutsche Telekom holds a 40 per cent stake in OTE. Globul has been in Bulgaria since 2001, Telenor said. At the end of 2012 the carrier had 4.5 million subscribers. Together with OTE’s Germanos Bulgaria unit, Globul had revenue for the year of $493 million; and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $176 million. Telenor, which generated 58 per cent of its revenue outside Norway, Sweden and Denmark last year, has been pushing into faster-growing countries in Europe and Asia. The carrier already operates in Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Thailand and Malaysia.

– normally sworn competitors – said that their network gear is solar-powered. Ms Wanjiku noted that discussion of utilisation of white space has heated up as governments and regulators in Africa evaluate ways to utilise the spectrum that will be available after migration from analogue to digital TV platforms. “Some people feel the spectrum should be auctioned,” Ms Wanjiku wrote. “Others feel that it should be provided free to some operators in remote areas.” Fortune Sibanda, of Google South Africa, told IDG that TV white space signals can penetrate physical obstacles like trees, buildings, and the rugged terrain common in most parts of Africa, and can transmit wireless Internet over long distances. “White space usage may open up opportunities for cheaper broadband deployment by smaller ISPs across the continent,” said the Google policy manager, who cited as well the “attendant benefits” of economic growth and development that go along with greater Internet penetration. To compete with ‘pure’ cloud vendors, telecoms are urged toward a more customer-focused offering In its research paper Cloud Enabled Telco Opportunities, Pricewater- houseCoopers (PwC) warns that telecoms ignoring the adoption of cloud “do so at their own peril.” The London-based multi-national professional services firm also noted the prevailing preference for specialist private cloud vendors as suppliers of cloud services. PwC believes telecoms have the potential to serve their customers’ evolving cloud needs. But, PwC said, to gain recognition as true end-to-end cloud solutions providers, telecoms will need to harness the best of their current capabilities “to create a more customer-centric, scalable set of cloud propositions.”

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2013