China will start issuing 3G licenses to its mobile operators, said China’s State Council Wednesday. The issue of the licenses, expected to occur in early 2009, would spur an investment spree and intense competition among operators and vendors, analysts said.
Exports to China
LG will release in China and Russia its first handset with a dual SIM, allowing users to combine their business and personal phones in a single device. The KS660, which LG is not expected to ship to the U.S. or Western Europe, features an accelerometer, 3-inch stylus touch WQVGA display and a 5- megapixel camera, but no Wi-Fi or 3G connections.
The VoIP market will get a more favorable regulatory environment under the Obama administration, which favors net neutrality and broader broadband infrastructure deployment, lawyers said. They also forecast new market entrants in the next few years, a new competition model and closer consolidation review. But analysts worry the effects of a tough economy on VoIP providers.
Motorola launched a mobile commerce service deployed by Union Mobile Pay, a wireless payment firm founded by China Mobile and credit card service firm China UnionPay, Motorola said. The deployment is Motorola’s first mobile commerce initiative in the Chinese market, enabling users to personalize account inquiries, make money transfers, bill payments and utility payments and use e-ticketing. The service also provides business-to-consumer solutions like merchant membership cards, electronic couponing and prepaid cards, Motorola said.
The SEC reached a settlement with Siemens on charges that the manufacturer violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by engaging in a “systematic practice” of bribing foreign officials, the SEC said. Siemens agreed to pay $350 million in disgorgement to settle the SEC’s charges, and a $450 million fine to the U.S. Department of Justice to settle criminal charges. It also will pay a fine of some $569 million to the Office of the Prosecutor General in Munich, to whom the company previously paid a $285 million fine in October 2007. The SEC alleged that Siemens bribed on such “widespread transactions as the design and construction of metro transit lines in Venezuela, power plants in Israel, and refineries in Mexico.” Siemens also used bribes to obtain such business as developing mobile telephone networks in Bangladesh, national identity cards in Argentina, and medical devices in Vietnam, China, and Russia, the SEC said. Siemens also paid kickbacks to Iraqi ministries in connection with sales of power stations and equipment to Iraq under the United Nations Oil for Food Program, the SEC said. Siemens earned over $1.1 billion in profits on those and other transactions, the SEC said.
TIA filed its annual report with the U.S. Trade Representative on concerns over international trade compliance. The places covered in the report include China, India, South Korea, the European Union, Brazil and Mexico, the TIA said. Trade agreement infringement covered included protectionist policies associated with indigenous innovation initiatives, foreign equipment certification processes, standards development, spectrum management issues, complex tax structures and Information Technology Agreement adherence, TIA said.
CompTel criticized several countries as failing to comply with U.S. telecom trade agreements or WTO obligations. In filings with the U.S. Trade Representative, the group urged further change in these countries to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory market conditions. Topping the list this year of countries where CompTel says competitors face discriminatory market practices are Argentina, China, Columbian, Germany, India, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Sweden and Venezuela. The group complained about market barriers its member companies face internationally, including discriminatory applications of Universal Service Fund obligations, excessive capitalization requirements, burdensome licensing fees and criteria, limited access to public rights-of-way and wholesale facilities, and biased regulators.
China is ready to grant 3G licenses to its mobile operators, said Guohua Xi, vice minister for industry and information technology, at a press conference. The Ministry of Information Industry is working with other government agencies on licensing policies, he said. A series of mergers expected to be done before issuing the licences was “basically completed,” he said. Developing 3G is expected to reduce the impact of the global financial crisis on China’s information industry, he emphasized.
China Mobile added some 7.2 million mobile subscribers in October, down from September’s 7.246 million net additions, the carrier said. It had about 443 million subscribers Oct. 31. China Telecom had a net loss of about 1.1 million fixed-line subscribers in October, reducing the total to just under 212 million, it said. It added 700,000 broadband subscribers in the month, making its total about 43 million.
The GSM Association wants full near field communication functionality built into commercially available handsets beginning in mid-2009 to let consumers take advantage of mobile payment services quickly, the industry group said at its Tuesday board meeting in Macau, China. Directors endorsed the European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s “single wire protocol” standard to provide the interface between SIM cards and the embedded NFC chip in the handset, the organization said. The chip can communicate with existing contactless readers to enable secure, interoperable services such as credit and debit payments, it said. The GSMA’s “Pay-Buy-Mobile” initiative shows consumers can use the NFC handsets quickly and safely to buy goods and services, it said. Trials are underway in eight countries with nine mobile operators as part of the pilot, it said. Further pilots are planned in 14 more countries with 15 mobile operators, the GSMA said.