Regulation

Huawei were reportedly outbid by Nokia Siemens Networks for the acquisition of Motorola’s networks business, but this may not be the true reason for the Chinese vendor’s failure to procure the US-based business...

Having previously threatened to do so, the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has officially banned Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry smartphones, citing security concerns. There are indications that other major markets, both in the Middle East region and globally, could impose a similar ban on the devices...

The Indian government has apparently banned the purchase of telecoms equipment from Chinese suppliers, in a move likely to unsettle many Chinese operators with an interest in the Indian market...

The ongoing saga of Thailand’s 3G auctions may finally be drawing to a conclusion, as the final draft of the licensing process has been approved by the country’s regulator...

The Russian WiMAX operator Yota has been granted bandwidth spectrum use in Peru by the Latin American country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, following the operator’s winning bid for the $3.9 million contract...

The Broadband Forum took the opportunity of Mobile World Congress to announce its first ever certification program, as a crucial component in its drive to develop the full potential of broadband and support the smooth broadband architecture convergence around the world...

Hoping to court investors, Bangladesh’s telecoms regulator has announced that auctions for 3G licences will be held in 2010...

Two appointments have been made by the Grameen Foundation. Norman Buckham will be the new regional CEO for Africa; David Edelstein becomes Director of the Grameen Technology Centre and Vice-President of Technology Programmes...

Thailand’s long-delayed 3G auctions have once again been postponed, with the government claiming that the terms for the country’s existing 2G licences must be standardised before the new licences can be issued...

IMT-Advanced is now being predicted by the ITU to “revolutionise mobile communication.” At present, six proposals have been submitted to the ITU by those wishing to claim their technology as true 4G...

Operating 3G services in India’s capital Delhi and major city Mumbai may soon be possible now that Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, is inviting tenders to run these operations on a ten-year franchise...

As soon as he was sworn into his new post as India's Communications and IT Minister, Andimuthu Raja declared that the country's auctions for 3G licences would be allocated a date as a matter of urgency...

A milestone in the development of WiMAX has just been acheived, with the WiMAX Forum granting the WiMAX Forum Certified seal of approval to Mobile WiMAX 3.5GHz products for the first time...

The board of the GSMA, the global body for the mobile industry, has elected Alexander Izosimov, the Group Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, as its new Chairman for a two-year term. As Chairman, he will help oversee the strategic direction of the GSMA, which represents more than 750 mobile operators worldwide. Bill Hague, Executive Vice President of AT&T, was elected as Deputy Chairman...

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Bangladesh's telecoms regulator, has published its draft guidelines for issuing three nationwide Broadband Wireless Access licences. Two will be in the 2.3Ghz band and one in the 2.5Ghz band...

ITU has published guidelines for regulators in an attempt to foster investment and access. The medium is Trends in Telecommunication Reform: the Road to NGN, which has just been issued in its eighth edition.

Telecom equipment made in India and Singapore should have easier entry in each others markets as the two sides agree a deal that will eliminate the need for product testing and certification in both countries...

Malaysia's government is encouraging the roll-out of 4G/WiMAX in its country next year by announcing that it will issue two appropriate licences in the next few months.

ITU decision-making for the next four years will be in the hands of a Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General from the emerging telecoms markets...

Norway has become concerned that draft rules to prevent foreign domination of Thai telecom operators could affect the rights and interests of foreign shareholders of Thai telecom firms...

The President & CEO of South Korean mobile operator KTF, Dr Young-Chu Cho, has been elected to the board of the GSM Association (GSMA).

 

US Government sources are confident that their approaches to the Chinese Government to allow phone companies to choose their own standard for 3G operations in China have been successful...

Pakistan has won this year's GSMA Government Leadership Award, which recognises exceptional work by governments globally in the field of mobile communications policy...