Michael Schwartz looks at the graph of Internet usage in Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2009, recently issued by the Asian Development Bank. Only 16 out of 47 countries surveyed have an Internet rate of 20% or more. The Digital Divide is still a major issue in this region...

Tariffs 72% cheaper, broadband adoption rising by 28% per annum compound, and only one African coastal state without cable access. These ambitious and inspiring predictions are made by Pyramid Research in its latest report Africa connects: undersea cables to drive an African broadband boom.

ZTE’s ZXR10 T8000 is claimed to be the first high-end router in China to use proprietary chip technology. In a frank statement of its ambition, ZTE has set itself a target of more than US$10 billion revenue in the next three years.

Ukraine Telecommunications Report Q3 2009 - a new market research report from Companies and Markets - is one of the most critical this site has ever summarised. A political background of unrest, possibly the worst recession anywhere in the world and the worst risk rating of any country in the region are key explanations... 

Network access specialist Zhone has been named as Preferred Access Provider by the Lebanese-government-owned operator Ogero, which is seeking to expand IP network services nationwide. Public WiFi access throughout Beirut and ADSL2+, EFM and VDSL2 nationwide are the target...

Congolese callers who are out of credit can still get through to their friends under a new service appropriately called Pay4Me. Operator MTN and customer management service Sicap have combined to market the product which runs on the same basis as a collect call basis...

Next year’s World Cup in South Africa will see ten stadia in use during the competition. Five of them will see deployment of Andrew’s indoor wireless system, the ION-M, which has been chosen by Vodacom, South Africa’s largest cellular operator...

In this sponsored review of Tadiran Telecom’s recent expansion in Africa, the company reflects on its role - existing and potential - in boosting telecoms availability in several countries including Kenya and Rwanda...

A major bid to gain market share in China's emerging 3G phone market has been launched by China Telecom. Bottom line is a 3G handset retailing for US$73 - at a time when some China Telecom 3G handsets sell for US$438...

Designed to benefit local business and personal consumers by avoiding existing maritime links, the first terrestrial cable to directly connect China and India is now in service. Joint constructors are Reliance Globalcom and China Telecom...

Wavion's new category of Wi-Fi base station has led to a contract with Uralsvyazinform, the largest provider of telecoms services in the Urals region of Russia, to deploy broadband wireless access to the towns and cities of the Urals. Wavion will be delivering this project with ARD Satcom, local integrator...

Orascom, the company which bought into North Korea's new 3G market, has reported that customers for Orascom 3G more than doubled in 2Q09. The company has a 75% share in Koryolink, the sole cellular network open to individual customers...

Bids for Nigeria's state-run telecoms company Nitel are being received from both local and international firms. There appears to be a sticking-point in that the Nigerian Government will give priority to those bidding for the entire Nitel enterprise although the key asset and therefore target is the MTEL mobile division...

Huawei has been selected by Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Telenor, to deploy solar-powered Base Transceiver Stations in Bangladesh...

Nokia's new mobile financial service Nokia Money will consumers with mobile device access to basic financial services. For many consumers, this will be the first time they have had any access to such financial services...

Ovum’s new report, "3G spectrum licensing in India", outlines a number of issues which have caused auction delay, unresolved issues clouding future outlook and several contentious issues still to be resolved. For the author 3G spectrum auction is unlikely to attract additional new players or entice most of the new 2G licensees to participate...

Ugandan mobile carrier MTN has launched Voice SMS service across the country, based on Voice SMS technology from Kirusa, a vendor of Voice SMS and developer of mobile value added services. The MTN Voice SMS offering in Uganda is bolstered by additional features like Scheduling and Dynamic Group Voice SMS...

Subscribers to T-Mobile in the Czech Republic can expect to enjoy advanced 3G data and multimedia services thanks to a faster mobile broadband network. Nokia Siemens Networks has been selected to build an advanced 3G mobile network...

A team of informatics and engineering specialists at City University London has received US$200,000 in funding from the UK Government’s UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) for a three-year project to develop new security measures for mobile banking...

Hunan's provincial government has announced that its local Unicom operation has launched 3G services. To encourage use, a 50% discount is available for all existing or potential Hunan Unicom subscribers...

Thuraya Telecommunications Company has launched what it describes as the world’s toughest satellite phone, namely the new Thuraya XT. Thuraya is also using the words most rugged and reliable phone in the market to reinforce the importance it is attaching to the launch...

With a fixed-line penetration rate of 21%, Chile can now boast the highest such rate in Latin America. The newest report from Companies and Markets covers a variable market where fixed-line is successful but broadband has to date been disappointing in terms of growth...

Followers of the problems challenging the Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil and its would-be purchaser France Telecom will be aware of the coverage Developing Telecoms has given to this long-running saga...

According to the Times of India, rumours are circulating that the group of Indian Ministers with responsibility for allocating 3G spectrum will be confining the bids to just four new players...

Reports from China Knowledge and SinoCast Daily Business both indicate that 3G deployment in China is continuing faster than predicted by the three licencee companies. China Telecom appears to be enjoying a clear advantage over China Mobile and China Unicom...

Indonesia is set for huge growth in 3G service uptake over the next five years, and operators are taking creative steps to build out that subscriber base, according to the latest forecast data and analysis from Pyramid Research, the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network...

Iraq is now the most competitive Arab cellular market. This year’s Cellular Competition Intensity Index, instituted by Arab Advisors Group, reveals that Jordan (most competitive market in 2007 and 2008) has come in second...

Following the recent prolific deployment of cabling systems in the seas around East Africa, two highly-respected organisations, the Christian Science Monitor and the BBC, have been bringing their customers up-to-date. Michael Schwartz reviews the articles...

International Launch Services (ILS), which provides mission and launch services to the commercial satellite industry, has carried the AsiaSat 5 satellite into orbit on its ILS Proton on behalf of Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) of Hong Kong...

 London-based firm Companies and Markets have released a new report entitled 'Cuba - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband' which profiles the fixed-line, mobile and broadband markets in Cuba. The report notes that Cuba has the lowest mobile penetration rate in Latin America and that government-controlled Etecsa and its subsidiary Cubacel monopolise fixed-line and mobile respectively...

The Asia-Pacific region will see huge numbers of cellular towers built over the next five years, with demand driven by the massive, rapid increase in mobile subscribers in China and India. By 2014, according to Cellular Base Station and Site Leasing Markets, a new study from ABI Research, the area will contain 39% of the world’s cell towers, in a Total Addressable Market worth nearly US$125 billion...

Xiamen Hospital in China’s Fujian Province is using a wireless LAN system from Aruba Networks to improve patient care in mobile Electronic Medical Records, patient registration applications, Real-Time Location Tracking, and video surveillance...