WCA July 2019

Telecom news

the new regulatory framework within five days. A senior TRAI official told Economic Times that the regulator is monitoring the situation and raising the issues faced by subscribers with respective distribution platform operators (cable and DTH companies) to ensure seamless service. “We are examining all the complaints and asking the operators to take corrective action immediately. In some cases the operator is not providing choice, or forcing their own channel packages, while another is not allowing consumers to change. In most of the cases, consumers are not able to reach the toll-free number,” he confirmed. TRAI has recently issued similar directives to a further six of the top cable TV companies – Hathway Digital, DEN Networks, GTPL Hathway, Siti Networks, IndusInd Media and Communications, and Fastway Transmissions. Although LG Electronics has declined to comment, Reuters and Yonhap News Agency have reported that the producer plans to suspend manufacturing of its mobile phones in South Korea later this year, and move production to its existing plant in Vietnam. Citing an unidentified source, Yonhap reported that LG made the decision to move its local handset production to Vietnam to help turn around its loss-making smartphones division. LG has production bases for smartphones in South Korea, China, Vietnam, Brazil and India, with the South Korean factory mainly manufacturing the high-end models that account for 10 to 20 per cent of the firm’s total smartphone output. Short stories • Nordic operator Tele2 recorded year-on-year organic growth of eight per cent in first-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), on revenue that fell one per cent to $768 million. During the quarter, Com Hem, the Swedish cable operator that Tele2 acquired in 2018, launched its mobile arm on Tele2’s network. Mobile phone production cut in South Korea

• Telia has signed a deal with ONE Nordic to connect around 900,000 electricity meters for Swedish electricity distributor Ellevio. Under the terms of the ten-year deal, ONE Nordic will use Telia’s narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network to connect meters across large geographic areas. Telia says the deal is its largest NB-IoT deal to date. • Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has approved draft regulations for the creation of a new agency, the Afghanistan High Council of Telecommunications and Infor- mation Technology (AHCTIT), which will have a hand in steering national telecommunications projects, Bakhtar News Agency reports. The council’s 16 permanent and three rotating members will be tasked with developing sustainable IT and telecom programmes across the country. • Zimbabwe’s state-owned fixed line operator, TelOne, risks losing its stake in the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) due to an outstanding debt of $10 million. WIOCC acts as a regional wholesale provider, offering connections to international cable systems such as the Eastern Africa Submarine System (EASSy), the West Coast Cable System (WACS), the Europe-India Gateway (EIG), SAT 3, SEACOM and SEA-ME-WE 3. • Malaysia’s Maxis is said to have launched the country’s first NB-IoT network. Maxis is activating NB-IoT coverage in “specific areas of key IoT market centres, which include Cyberjaya, Penang, Kuching, Putrajaya, Johor Bahru and KLCC,” and aims to launch more sites throughout Malaysia. • The Fast Mode reports that Japan’s NTT DOCOMO and Itochu Logistics USA are trialling a solution, based on LTE-M, for managing outsourced truck fleets in the USA. Devices in the trucks collect information, typically locations and frequency of sudden braking, but also temperature and humidity, which is sent to a dedicated website via an LTE network. The solution can also notify customers when the trucks are nearing their destinations.

Apple have pushed down prices for both DRAM and NAND memory in recent months. Samsung said in preliminary results that its operating profit for the March quarter dropped 60 per cent to around 6.2 trillion won, its worst decline in over four years. Ahn Ki-hyun, a director at Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said that Samsung’s main targets in the chip sector are likely to be companies such as foundry operator TSMC and mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, as dethroning Intel in computer microprocessors would be close to impossible for now, adding, “This is a major step toward cementing a Number One position in global chip revenue.” On 23 rd April, India’s Economic Times revealed that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has censured Bharti Telemedia, which runs direct-to-home (DTH) service Airtel Digital TV, for non-compliance with the new regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable TV services. In a directive sent to Bharti Telemedia, Arvind Kumar, an advisor for broadcast and cable services at TRAI, asked the company to resolve the issues faced by subscribers and to adhere to the new framework, including provisions of the new tariff order, service quality standards and consumer protection regulations. TRAI said that based on the complaints received, inspection of Airtel Digital TV’s website, and inspection of the consumer premises by TRAI officials, the regulator had observed that the DTH operator is providing free-to-air channels with no choice to subscribers, without the subscribers consent and with no additional network capacity fee (NCF). This is in addition to the channels chosen by subscribers. Also, for much of the time, consumers are unable to contact the company’s toll-free number to make their complaints. As a result the regulator, exercising its power under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997, directed Bharti Telemedia to resolve the issues, adhere to the regulations, and to report its compliance within TRAI censures Airtel Digital TV for non-compliance

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Wire & Cable ASIA – July/August 2019