WCA March 2007

Telecom News

➣➢➣ analyst, European VoIP. “While some companies remain static, with traditional voice strategies, others are forging ahead into new areas of converged communications, seeking newer services and service providers.” Each year, IDC conducts a WAN Manager Survey, interviewing European enterprises to gauge their attitudes toward communications. Fuller information may be obtained from the website www.idc.com or from Ms Wall in Amsterdam at jwall@idc.com Short takes . . . In a bid to save money on GSM rollouts in emerging markets, Motorola of the US is turning to local manufacturing of GSM (global system for mobile communications) products to be supplied to local mobile operators currently engaged in network buildouts. As reported by Chee Sing Chan from the International Telecommunication Union ‘Telecom World 2006’ Show in Hong Kong (4 th -8 th December), Motorola will begin production in India of its Reach Strongbox, an outdoor enclosure for the company’s Horizon II macro base transceiver station (BTS). Phased production of 1,300 unit shipments has begun and will serve major mobile carriers in India. The strategy is expected to ensure lower production costs and lower duties and taxes. The company’s intention is ulti- mately to lower rollout costs for operators in emerging markets, with China and Africa included during the course of 2007. China’s own technology for 3G mobile phones is ready for large-scale commercial use, a Financial Times article reported on 5 th December. Citing an Agence France-Presse report, the London-based news- paper quoted Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE as saying that equipment based on the Beijing-backed TD-SCDMA stan- dard for 3G telecoms services could now compare with that of the rival European-led W-CDMA standard and the US-favoured cdma2000. ✆ ✆

Commercial readiness for China’s TD-SCDMA technology could clear the way for Beijing to issue long-awaited 3G licences to home telecom operators, the FT said. ZTE president Yin Yimin was quoted as saying, “Now it is up to the state and the operators.” Swisscom AG will repurchase a 25% stake in Swisscom Mobile from Britain’s Vodafone Group Plc for $3.5 billion. The deal will enable Swisscom, which is majority held by the government of Switzerland, to strengthen its domestic position. Swisscom has sought to retrench at home after a surprise government decision a year before blocking major foreign takeovers. The British mobile giant said it expected to record a gain on the sale of approximately $195 million for the year ending 31 st March 2007. Vodafone acquired the 25% holding in Swisscom Mobile in early 2001 not long after the height of the telecoms boom, but recently has been shedding stakes to focus on its core western European markets and expand in emerging markets. Last August, it sold its 25% stake in Belgium’s Proximus to partner Belgacom for $2.63 billion. Before that, it had sold its struggling Japanese business. Vtech Holdings said that telephone sales in the US have sent its profits soaring. For the first half of its 2006 fiscal year the Hong Kong company posted a $65.8 million net profit – some 42% higher than in the corresponding period of 2005. Sales rose 27.1%, to $713.8 million, from $561 million in the year-earlier period. The advance reflected a rebound in cordless phone sales in the US. But with so much of its growth concentrated there, Vtech said it sees the wisdom of diversification. The company will build a new factory in Dongguan, China, for contract manufacturing for Japanese clients, among others. Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom Co plans to spend nearly $4 billion over the next five years to upgrade its The electronics maker

telecom networks and build a new undersea cable system, Chairman Ho Chen Tan said on 3 rd January. The spending plans were in place before the earthquake off Taiwan’s southern coast in late December damaged data transmission cables, disrupting telephone and Internet links within Asia and between China and the US. The island’s largest communications company said it is earmarking around $2.1 billion for its mobile network. It will also spend around $1.88 billion on upgrading its fixed-line network by replacing the existing copper lines with fibre optic cables, Mr Ho said. Chunghwa Telecom is working with Verizon Communications Inc, of the US, and four Asian operators to build a $500 million trans-Pacific undersea cable system linking the US and China. Shares of China Netcom , the smaller of Hong Kong’s two fixed- line telephone operators, fell as much as 7% on a report on 8 th January that the company may scale back its businesses in Shanghai and Guandong. The South China Morning Post reported that China Netcom may sell assets in the two areas back to its parent, which currently owns most of Netcom’s southern China business. As noted by Janet Ong in China Daily (9 th January), a withdrawal by Netcom would indicate a failure to weaken China Telecom’s dominance in the southern regions of the country. In Shanghai and Guangdong, which have about 47 million fixed-line users, China Telecom has an estimated 95% market share. Order your subscription online @:

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2007