Vimpelcom reorganises Ukraine assets; Kyivstar holds 100% of URS

Ukrainian mobile and fibre network operator Kyivstar has taken a direct 100% ownership stake in its sister company in the Vimpelcom group, Ukrainian Radio Systems (URS). URS and another sister operation Golden Telecom (Ukraine), had previously been integrated, firstly with each other and subsequently with Kyivstar, the country’s largest cellco by subscribers and itself a wholly owned part of Vimpelcom, with the two smaller divisions’ customer bases and ‘Beeline’ branded services transferred under the Kyivstar brand and management. The transaction involved Kyivstar’s Cyprus-based affiliate companies Wintop Management, Cradel Investments, Cellcroft Holdings, Crayola Properties and Crisden Holdings, each selling their 20% stakes in URS, according to a disclosure from URS to the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, as reported by the Kyiv Post.

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OVETEL Vimpelcom reorganises Ukraine assets; Kyivstar holds 100% of URS

All three bidders cleared for 3G auction

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has announced that all three applicants for this month’s 2100MHz 3G mobile network operating licence auction have passed pre-qualification. The companies, Advanced Wireless Network (part of Advanced Info Service ), DTAC Network (a unit of Digital Total Access Communication ) and True Corp subsidiary Real Future, will enter bids in the UMTS auction on 16 October.

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OVETEL All three bidders cleared for 3G auction

Tanzania to build submarine cable link to Uganda

Kampala-based newspaper the East African Business Week writes that the government of Tanzania has signed a contract with its counterpart in Uganda for the construction of an undersea cable, via Mutukula on the border, to alleviate problems with existing internet infrastructure breaking down.

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OVETEL Tanzania to build submarine cable link to Uganda

PLDT to upgrade Palawan with FOC

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is spending PHP1.4 billion (USD34.1 million) to upgrade its telecoms infrastructure in Palawan with a fibre-optic cable (FOC) to help support the island’s burgeoning tourism industry. In a statement PLDT said that, in partnership with its mobile division Smart Communications, work began this month on the construction of the new FOC cable transmission backbone to Palawan, which is expected to be completed in 1H13. A spokesman for the Filipino giant, Ramon S Isberto, added that the new link ‘will be connected to an existing fibre-optic cable in Iloilo’.

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OVETEL PLDT to upgrade Palawan with FOC

Robi creates infrastructure subsidiary

Malaysian-backed Bangladeshi mobile network operator Robi Axiata has established a subsidiary, Bangladesh Infrastructure Company (BCIL), with the purpose of undertaking ‘activities and operations related to telecommunication infrastructure,’ according to parent group Axiata’s statement to the stock exchange.

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OVETEL Robi creates infrastructure subsidiary

ACCC issues final access determination for non-NBN local bitstream access

Three months after having made a preliminary ruling, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced a final access determination (FAD) for the declared local bitstream access service (LBAS), a wholesale access service for fixed line network built or upgraded after January 2011. The watchdog has confirmed that the FAD will apply for a three-year period ending 5 October 2015, while the determination contains price and non-price terms and conditions for a 25Mbps/5Mbps up/down LBAS service.

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OVETEL ACCC issues final access determination for non-NBN local bitstream access

UK Broadband launches commercial LTE in Southwark, Reading

UK Broadband (UKB), Hong Kong-based PCCW’s British broadband unit, has announced that it has inaugurated commercial Long Term Evolution-based (LTE-based) services in the Southwark district of Central London, along with the town of Reading. With the operator offering its services under the ‘now Broadband’ moniker, UKB has confirmed that its high speed wireless broadband product is available for both personal and business customers in the aforementioned areas, at downlink speeds of up to 40Mbps and upload of 5Mbps.

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OVETEL UK Broadband launches commercial LTE in Southwark, Reading