Telkomsel and Nokia today announced their collaboration to offer the Nokia Messaging service, which will be commercially available to Telkomsel subscribers from 26 December 2009 onwards.

Telkomsel is the first operator in Indonesia to commercially launch this service which will allow users to enjoy easy access to mobile email on their Nokia (NOK) devices. Telkomsel is also the first operator worldwide to offer Nokia Messaging for Instant Messaging to prepaid consumers.

“As the best and leading mobile lifestyle and solutions provider in the region, we always aim to deliver the best service to all of our customers. We have demonstrated our strong commitment to offering innovative mobile email solutions and are proud to be the first to deliver Nokia Messaging to the Indonesia market and the first to provide prepaid charging for Nokia Messaging’s IM service to meet our consumers’ needs” said Rachel Goh, Telkomsel’s Vice President of Product Lifecycle Management.

“Offering easy set-up and access to several email accounts as well as Instant Messaging all on one device, Nokia Messaging has the potential to become as popular as SMS” said Bob McDougall, General Manager, Nokia Indonesia. “Today, we are pleased to announce Nokia Messaging together with Telkomsel, who will be joining other leading operators in Southeast Asia Pacific to offer this innovative service to their customers”

Nokia Messaging is an easy to set-up and easy to use push email service which allows user to mobilize up to ten personal email accounts on one device. Nokia Messaging supports all leading consumer email solutions, such as Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail as well as local email service providers. The user can read, send, smart forward, reply to emails, download, read and attach files directly on their mobile phone. Push email technology ensures fast delivery of email to the mobile phone as soon as the email arrives on the email server.Nokia Messaging also allows you to mobilize your IM accounts to enable users to chat with your friends conveniently.

Nokia Messaging service is supported on a wide range of Nokia devices, including the Nokia E71, Nokia E63 and Nokia E52. The service also comes on board in the new Nokia E72 and Nokia E75.

Vietnam Mobile Telecom selects Alcatel-Lucent solution to enhance and expand Mobifone networks

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) has been selected by Vietnam’s CMC Telecom Infrastructure Corporation to deliver its gigabit passive optical network (GPON) solution. CMC TI’s GPON project, the country’s first, will enable the delivery of advanced triple play services – including high-speed Internet, ICT services and interactive, high-definition television/video – to new residential developments and SMEs.

“CMC TI is determined to roll out high-speed broadband services in Vietnam, to propel both residential users and businesses into the digital age. GPON is the ideal technology to efficiently deliver bundled data, video and voice to focused potential users. We selected Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON solution as it provides the required scalability, quality-of-service and operational efficiency,” said Nguyen Duc Thanh, CMC TI CEO.

“Alcatel-Lucent has been active in Vietnam for more than 20 years, and has played a key role in supporting the development of the country’s telecoms infrastructure. This first GPON project in Vietnam is another example of that,” said Olivier Lauras, in charge of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Vietnam. “By means of our award-winning GPON solution, CMC TI will be able to address the country’s constantly increasing need for bandwidth and related availability of triple play services.”

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy its 7342 Intelligent Services Access Manager Fiber-to-the-User (ISAM FTTU), the company’s flagship GPON solution for the delivery of ultra-high-speed services to residential and business users. The GPON platform will be complemented by the Alcatel-Lucent 5520 Access Management System (AMS) – Alcatel-Lucent’s next-generation element management system that covers the entire ISAM product portfolio, encompassing DSL as well as fiber-based access.

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution also includes professional services in the areas of project management, network analysis, software integration, technical support and integration of third-party equipment and solutions.

Alcatel-Lucent is currently involved in more than 95 FTTH projects around the world – 80 of which are based on GPON technology.

Indonesia’s IT industry could be in line for an increase in state support, with the government looking to boost funding for infrastructure while backing calls for greater assistance to the domestic software sector.

In late October, the newly appointed information and communications minister, Tifatul Sembiring, said more needed to be done to promote the development and use of domestic computer software. To accelerate this process, the minister said the distribution of local software products would be coordinated with other ministries in the future.

“We need extra efforts to boost the production of local software products,” said Tifatul. “This is, in turn, solely aimed at improving the quality of the nation’s human resources.”

By increasing the levels of local software, Indonesia could reduce its outlays on imported products, which total around $740m a year, he said.

Another to throw its weight behind strengthening the local information and communications technology (ICT) sector is the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN). In mid-October, the organisation called for the setting up of a fund to provide finance to micro, small and medium-sized ICT players, with funding to come from taxes levied on the telecommunications sector.

It is not the first time that KADIN has proposed state support for the IT industry. Earlier this year, KADIN’s deputy chairman, Anindya Bakrie, said the government should consider putting in place tax incentives and make it easier for IT firms to gain access to credit.

“Currently, the tax on locally made IT products is higher than on the imported ones,” Anindya said. “The IT sector has a huge potential in Indonesia. Despite the lack of incentives and financing access, it’s been growing well in the country. It would grow much faster if the government just provided the incentives and wider access to the financing system.”

Though Anindya said many IT projects, particularly those of small and medium-sized companies, struggle to get financing support, the sector was expanding, with growth this year expected to reach 10%.

However, for Indonesia to get full benefits from a more robust IT industry, and in particular a stronger software segment, it will need to do more to combat software piracy. According to a study by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the unauthorised copying and use of software in Indonesia is rampant.

Released in September, the BSA report said that 85% of all software in use in Indonesia was pirated, unchanged from the levels recorded in January last year. The report, entitled “Resilience Amid Turmoil: Benchmarking IT Industry Competitiveness 2009″, also lowered Indonesia’s IT competitiveness rating, with its ranking dropping one rung down the ladder to 59th out of the 66 countries assessed. In particular, Indonesia was rated poorly in the categories of IT infrastructure and its research and development environment.

Having thrown his weight behind supporting local research and development firms, Tifatul has also vowed to address Indonesia’s infrastructure shortfalls. Only days after coming to office in late October, the minister said 25,000 remote villages would be fully connected to the phone grid by the end of 2009, while also stepping up an existing programme to distribute computers to villages and smaller communities.

If carried through, such measures would improve IT access across Indonesia. Though penetration rates are high in built-up areas, in rural and more remote regions, internet connectivity levels are well below the national figure of around 11%.

With all but 3m of Indonesia’s estimated 25m internet users still having to rely on dial-up connections, there is a growing need to improve speed and access for net users, something the minister said will be made a priority.

Tifatul has also promised to increase the pace of implementing Indonesia’s e-government programme, giving more people greater access to state services online.

Not only would an enhanced e-government capacity improve the provision of services to the public, it would also reduce the opportunities for collusion, corruption and nepotism through bolstering accountability and transparency, he said.

In the future, all state officials should work under an online system so they would not receive money directly from the general public, he said on October 21 before being confirmed as minister.

As part of his drive to support his portfolio Tifatul has launched a new slogan, “Smooth Communications, Accurate Information”, which he said should be integrated into education programmes to raise awareness of technology.

It will take more than slogans and promises to strengthen Indonesia’s IT sector and lift its competitive ratings, though with the state having given a commitment to support the industry, and having identified what needs to be done, there are grounds for optimism.

Telecom New Zealand has today announced earnings before EBITDA of NZ$447 million for the quarter to 30 September 2009, in line with guidance and a 4.1% decline on the equivalent quarter last year.

Group net earnings increased 9% to $163m when compared to the equivalent quarter in the prior financial year.  This was due in part to a $43m one-off effect from changes in tax law.  A Southern Cross dividend of $35m was received in the quarter, compared to $39m in Q1 FY09.

Revenue for the quarter fell 6.5% on the equivalent quarter in the previous financial year, to $1,356m, while operating expenses fell faster, to $909m, a 7.7% decrease on the equivalent quarter.

“EBITDA has remained on track for our full year guidance, driven by a combination of revenue growth in mobile thanks to a strong start for the XT mobile network, and the ongoing progress of our cost out programme,” said Paul Reynolds, CEO, Telecom New Zealand (NYSE: NZT)

“The impact of the economic downturn so far remains modest and once again all Undertakings milestones have been met on-time as New Zealand’s largest IT transformation continues at a fast pace.

“We have been successful in a market that has seen a significant rise in competition and customer choice. Telecom saw a net increase of 64,000 mobile customers during Q1, with 242,000 customers on XT at the end of its first full quarter of operation.  We are delighted that the great customer experience offered by XT encourages customers to use their mobile services more, with an increase of 16% in average revenue per user on like for like customers.

“The rest of the year will see the deployment of mobile HSPA+ technology, which offers maximum mobile data speeds of up to 21mb/s.  This confirms Telecom’s clear leadership in New Zealand and XT’s position as one of the fastest mobile networks in the world,” Dr Reynolds said.

Fixed broadband market growth has remained stable, at around 11%, with total connections on Telecom’s network reaching 899,000 during the quarter.  Telecom Retail attracted 50% of the new customers, and its share of the market has remained at 57%.

“Regarding the Government’s fibre plans, we have an open dialogue and relationship, and Telecom remains engaged at multiple levels of Government,” said Dr Reynolds.  “The current structure makes it difficult for Telecom to participate effectively while balancing shareholders’ interests.  Discussions have emphasised our support for the Government’s vision and our belief that given the right structure we can partner with Government to deliver ultra fast broadband faster and more cost effectively, to more New Zealanders than anyone else, avoiding network duplication.  We remain very flexible and open minded,” he said.

The China’s 2^nd largest telecom company started selling 3G service in most of Chinese cities, in order to fight with its rival China Mobile. By the end of the 3^rd quarter, China Union has only 140 million users, while China Mobile service more than 3 times subscribers. According to its Q3 financial report released late Friday, its net profit hit 3.1 billion Yuan. Xiaobing Chang, CEO of company obviously “is feeling a great peer pressure and attempting to win the next round in the next generation of mobile service.”

The bad news for Unicom is most Apple fans prefer to buy the latest phones via many unofficial ways at the same time as US IPhone parterres start to sell in America. Customers doubt how a IPhone without a key feature can be sold at higher prices than widely available black market models in the world’s most populous mobile phone market.

http://bullishchina.com/2009/11/01/iphone-come-to-china-officially/

Samsung Electronics has posted a record operating profit of 4.23 trillion won ($3.57Bn) in the third quarter, boosted by an encouraging turnaround of its chip and panel businesses.

The results were in line with analysts’ expectations. Year on year, an increase of 186% & a jump of 68 percent from the previous quarter was recorded. Q3 sales also reached a healthy  35.87 trillion won, up 19% year on year & 10% from the previous quarter.

The world’s top maker of memory chips and LCD panels is fast emerging from the global economic downturn, taking advantage of the crisis to pull ahead of its rivals, analysts said. However, the company expected its fourth-quarter profit to decline due to currency the appreciation of the won & also the increase of marketing costs during the year-end shopping season.

While its memory chip business is expected to post a sharp rise in profit in the October to December period, profitability for its LCD business is expected to fall.

“Samsung’s quarterly profit peaked in the third quarter & will fall in the fourth quarter,” said Dongbu Securities analyst Lee Min-hee. “Chip prices rose too fast. Price falls are inevitable,” he said.

On an annual basis, Samsung expects its 2010 profit to increase, thanks to an economic rebound.

“We expect the global recovery to drive demand growth of most of the IT & consumer electronics products. We are cautiously forecasting that our 2010 profitability may improve over that of 2009,” Robert Yi, Samsung Head of Investor Relations, said at an earnings conference call.

The company plans to increase its investments in its memory business to more than 5.5 trillion won next year. The company plans to spend a combined 4 trillion won in it’s memory & nonmemory businesses, Yi said. Samsung also moots spending of 3 trillion won in its LCD business in 2010, up from this year’s 2 trillion won, he said.

Samsung’s best ever quarterly earnings are attributed to sharp profit increases in its chip & panel businesses, and the solid profit posted by its TV & handset divisions. The semiconductor division posted an operating profit of 1.15 trillion won, helped by chip price increase & technologyl leadership. This is a sharp increase from 240 billion won the previous quarter, and 190 billion won a year ago.

Samsung’s LCD unit also saw its third-quarter operating profit surge to 1.01 trillion won, from 150 billion won in the second quarter and 450 billion won a year ago. This is mainly driven by the rebound in panel prices.

Samsung’s Telecommunication division, which includes mobile handsets, logged an operating profit of 1.03 trillion won, compared with 1 trillion won in the previous quarter & 840 billion won a year ago. Samsung said its handset market share is expected to exceed 20%for the first time in the third quarter, as it & fellow Korean manufacturer LG make further inroads into Nokia & Motorola’s market share.

Samsung executives also said Samsung looks to double the number of its smartphone models next year and increase smartphone shipments from this year’s 10 million units.

Its Digital Media & Communications division also reported an operating profit of 940 billion won, compared with 1.06 trillion won in the second quarter and an operating loss of 50 billion won a year ago. Samsung ascribed its healthy TV profit to sales of high-end TVs such as LED LCD TVs and large-sized TVs.

Innovation in the Thai telecommunications industry is being seriously hampered by political wrangling over regulatory powers and by state-owned operators that are desperately trying to hold on to their outdated revenue sources.

The Thai telecommunications regulator National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is finally planning to hold a 3G licence auction in early December. The plan comes after several years of failed attempts to move towards 3G in Thailand. The regulator plans to auction four licences in the 2.1 GHz spectrum and has set a tentative date of 8 December.

However, as 3G can be used for communications and broadcasting applications, a new regulator is supposed to be formed called the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), which would combine the NTC and the National Broadcasting Committee. But, until the new regulator exists, the old rules still apply, and these stipulate that the NTC oversees telecommunications and the National Broadcasting Committee (NBC) oversees broadcasting matters, and the regulators are jointly responsible for spectrum allocations. Unfortunately, the NBC was never established due to political wrangling over vested interests.

Several organisations, such as the GSMA and the World Bank, have called on the Thai government to issue 3G and Wimax licences to help move the telecommunications industry forward in the country. Prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has urged the NTC to issue 3G licences for some time and although he said the regulator should address all the issues raised by the operators, the regulator should not delay the licensing.

Meanwhile, the Thai mobile operators have been pro-active while waiting for 2.1 GHz spectrum. Several companies have already begun testing 3G services on existing spectrum, although this is mainly restricted to the capital Bangkok. Private operators TrueMove, DTAC and Advanced Info Service (AIS) are currently offering limited 3G services.

These private operators offer their mobile services under a concession agreement with the state-owned operators TOT and CAT Telecom. AIS operates under a concession from TOT, while DTAC and TrueMove operate under a concession from CAT Telecom. The companies use their concession parent’s spectrum but operate their own network. AIS, DTAC and TrueMove pay between 20 – 25% of their revenues as concession fees to the state-owned carriers. These are the fees that would be threatened if the private operators got a 3G licence. The state-owned operators fear that private operators with a 3G licence will migrate their customers to the new 3G networks to save on concession fees for the 2G spectrum.

These fears have led to TOT, as well as several parties such as the CAT and TOT labour unions and indeed the ICT minister, challenging the authority of the NTC to hold the 3G auction. They are claiming that due to the fact that the NTC should allocate spectrum jointly with the NBC, the NTC cannot grant frequencies on its own. In fact, an ex-union member has filed a lawsuit against the NTC recently to stop the auction, claiming the auction would be unconstitutional.

The state-owned carriers have a history of opposing change in the industry for fear it would chip away at their revenues. At the end of 2006, the NTC implemented an interconnection charging scheme, replacing the old access charge regime. The private operators quickly signed interconnection agreements but the state-owned operators were dragging their feet as they believed they would receive less money from interconnection fees than the access charges. The state-owned operators have only this year begun negotiations on interconnection fees.

In addition to questioning the authority of the NTC to issue 3G spectrum, the state-owned operators are also playing the nationalist card. According to them, foreign companies could be bidding on 3G spectrum which is seen as a national resource. DTAC is 49% owned by Telenor, while AIS is controlled by Singapore’s Temasek. TrueMove actually complained about this fact as well, saying that companies with foreign investors will be in a much better position to submit high bids. The NTC is already considering lowering the starting bid and reserve price, and has said that any bidder will have to comply with local laws governing foreign direct investment.

The NTC has already held one hearing on the 3G auction as well as a mock auction. The regulator hopes to begin the auction on 8 December, but with so many parties trying to derail the process, it’s questionable whether the licences will actually be issued this year. The NTC must issue the licences this year, as the telecommunications master plan mandates that the regulator issue the spectrum before 2010. As the NTC chairman recently put it, it is between a rock and a hard place. If it doesn’t issue spectrum it could be charged for failing to follow the masterplan but if it does issue spectrum it could be sued over the authority issue.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, with over 230 million people. The current total mobile subscriptions are at about 120 million, just above 50% penetration, and Indonesia is acquiring more than 17 million new subscribers every year.

Guntur S. Siboro, Chief Marketing Officer, Indosat, says: “We are now adding another dimension to our services. With location based services our customers can save time, improve on safety and increase efficiency.”

Enhanced location based services add a user’s location to existing mobile applications, creating personalized services that meet user and enterprise demands for greater safety, efficiency and convenience. Businesses can use location based services to deploy service personnel more efficiently and improve fleet management. Fleet management applications typically entail tracking vehicles along their routes, while services that improve on convenience can include, for example, notification of a sale on men’s suits at a store close to the user’s proximity, when the user has nominated to receive such notifications.

Increasingly, location-based services are being used for location based advertisements and commerce. With this service, users can establish personal zones such as a home zone or work zone where special rates apply. The location based services can also be used for emergencies, where location based emergency applications pinpoint the user’s location and relays it to the appropriate authorities. They can also be used for tsunami and earthquake warnings.

Applications for enhanced location based services are already available for any handset – meaning Indosat can reach all its customers from the launch in October 2009. An example would be someone using their basic Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) based phone to search for a restaurant. The location based service application would interact with the Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) technology components to determine the user’s location and provide a list of restaurants within a certain proximity to the mobile user. An increasing number of handsets today even include support for a-GPS, which makes services accurate within 10 to 30 meters.

Arun Bansal, President of Ericsson Indonesia, says: “Our solution is well established and we are pleased to now add the first customer in South East Asia. It is exciting to work with Indosat to launch innovative services to their 29 million subscribers.”