WCA March 2010

Needless to say, bloggers were quick to fill the information vacuum created by AT&T. One of these, a self-described AT&T employee, told Consumerist.com – which first reported the sales blackout – that the network lacked cell towers enough to meet the heavy demands imposed by iPhone users. Later, the shoppers-bite-back blog reported that AT&T employees were blaming the change on unspecified “fraudulent activity.” Mr Hesseldahl offered a possible ✆ ✆ explanation of his own for the AT&T response: that it was triggered by a sudden surge in orders for iPhones to be delivered to a few addresses in a small area. The concern would have been that those phones, when unlocked, could be shipped overseas to a country where the iPhone is not yet offered. In that scenario, wrote Mr Hesseldahl, “AT&T would be losing out on subscription revenue for phones it is selling at a subsidized price ranging from $199 to $299.” Elsewhere in telecom . . . Chinese public broadcaster CCTV ✆ ✆ has launched China Network Tele- vision, the country’s first national Internet-distributed TV service. As noted in Variety by Clifford Coonan, the service, which is part of a drive by China to boost its image abroad and increase its global media influence, will cover Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Russia. China is reportedly spending $6.6 billion on expanding its three main media outlets — CCTV, the newspaper People’s Daily, and the Xinhua news agency. Since last July, Xinhua has been conducting a trial run of an international English-language TV news service. Another aim of the CNTV initiative is greater supervision of websites that provide video downloading ser- vices. The station was founded by Li Changchun, perhaps the leading figure in China’s media policies and a member of the Politburo. Mr Li described the launch of the IPTV service as a major event for China’s traditional media in their effort to establish an online presence. CCTV will offer live webcasting of all

The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Com- mission said on 31 st December that UTStarcom illegally paid nearly $7 million from 2002 to 2007 for hundreds of employees of China’s state-owned telecommunications companies to visit the United States for “training programs” that were in fact vacations to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and other tourist destinations. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids Americans to bribe officials of other governments while doing business overseas. But, in lieu of prosecution, US officials will often permit companies to settle with large fines and pledges to mend their ways. In addition to accepting the fine, UTStarcom has said it takes responsibility for the actions cited in the complaints against it. China is an important market for UTStarcom, which designs, produces, and sells equipment and handsets. According to the Justice Department, from 1998 to 2004 some 75% of the company’s sales were to Chinese state-owned companies. Nokia has stepped up its battle with ✆ ✆ Apple for control of the smartphone market. The world’s top mobile phone maker filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) relating to seven patents allegedly infringed by Apple to replicate Nokia features in user interface, camera, antenna, and power management applications. A Nokia spokesman said on 29 th December that the Finnish firm expected the ITC to decide within a month whether to accept the case. Any related injunction against the sale of Apple products would not take effect for at least a year. The two firms had earlier in the year launched patent infringement suits against each other. The latest complaint, citing as it does Apple’s iPod and iMac products, represents an escalation from Nokia’s previous patent claims. Apple (Cupertino, California), which entered the industry in mid-2007, overtook Nokia in third-quarter 2009 as the cellphone maker generating the highest total operating profit. While Apple trails Helsinki-based Nokia in cellphone shipments, the iPhone has enabled it to gain ground against the market leader in the smartphone segment.

programmes from its 20 channels. It will also collate 400,000 hours of content from CCTV’s back catalogue. Chunghwa Telecom, of Taiwan, and ✆ ✆ Sweden’s Ericsson have signed an agreement to set up a jointly owned trial network using new-generation LTE (long term evolution) wireless technology. Chunghwa Telecom- munication Laboratories said in a 17 th December statement that it would start testing the network in northern Taiwan, with initial results to be released at mid-year. Chunghwa is also interested in overseas expansion, and to that end has announced plans for a $4.4 million call centre in Xiamen, China, as a joint venture with an investment firm. Of related interest... China’s Huawei Technologies is ✆ ✆ building 25 networks worldwide based on LTE technology, expanding in an area that it hopes will help propel it past Ericsson to become the world’s top telecommunications equipment maker. Acutely conscious of the digital divide ✆ ✆ between urban and rural areas of India, prime minister Manmohan Singh has said that his government intends to double rural teledensity from 20% currently to 40% over the three years to the end of 2012. Broadband coverage is already 100% in the towns and cities. As reported by the Hindu Business Line (New Delhi), Dr Singh – speaking at a Telecom India function held on 11 th December – also expressed concern over what he perceives as slow growth in the country’s telecom manufacturing sector. Of the auctions for 3G and wireless broadband spectrum that he pledged would be held soon, the prime minister said, “In a reform initiative, the government has decided that this spectrum will be allocated at market-determined prices rather than through an [administrative] mechanism.” UTStarcom Inc, an Alameda, ✆ ✆ California-based maker of tele- communications and networking gear, has agreed to pay $3 million in fines to settle civil and criminal charges by federal regulators that it channelled millions of dollars in unlawful payments to foreign government officials in Asia.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2010