IPTV will play a bigger role in a restructured UTStarcom as it seeks to sell or spin off the personal communications division that handles U.S. sales of cellphones to Verizon, T- Mobile, Sprint and others, Chief Operating Officer Peter Blackmore told the company’s analyst day investor conference in New York Wednesday.
Exports to China
New at News Corp., Europe: Gary Davey rejoins as chief operating officer, News Corp. Stations Europe; Steve Tomsic promoted to chief financial officer, European stations; Marc Heller, ex-Vivendi, becomes senior vice president, strategy and corporate development, European TV… New SCTE Foundation board members: Chris Bowick, Cox; Jim Hughes, CommScope; Mike LaJoie, Time Warner; Ken Wright, ARRIS… Suddenlink names John Menendez, ex- Sprint Nextel, vice president-customer relationship management, and Leo Kutz, ex-China WiMAX, vice president, network engineering… Yaron Dori, ex-Hogan and Hartson, joins Covington & Burling communications and media practice group as of counsel… Maryland Public Service Commission General Counsel Doug Nazarian appointed chairman, replacing Steven Larsen, leaving Aug. 18 after serving 18 months… James Picinich, ex-WCBS-TV New York, becomes Italian American Network vice president- programming and development.
Discovery promotions: Julie Robertson to vice president, domestic licensing; Jo Edwards to vice president, international licensing… Eutelsat names Ignacio Gonzalez, ex-Hispasat, chief risk officer… Michael Kwun, ex-Google, joins Electronic Frontier Foundation as senior intellectual property staff attorney… Erik Moreno, ex- eBay, becomes Fox Networks Group senior vice president, corporate development… Mobile Marketing Association board members: Jimmy Poon, Puca China; Matthias Kunze, Yahoo; John Maguire, CRE8; Rohit Dadwal, Microsoft; Russell Buckley, Ad-Mob; Daniel Rosen, AKQA Mobile. Xavier Perret, Orange; Christian Hernandez, Google; Mark Wachter, BVDW; Federico Pisani, Hanzo; Omarson Costa, Microsoft; Eduardo Jacob, MobX-Mobile Marketing; Ibrahim Mcmillan, Abril Digital; Tom Daly, Coca-Cola; Gene Keenan, Isobar; Michael Bayle, Yahoo; Maria Mandel, OgilvyInteractive; Michael Becker, iLoop Mobile.
Telecom acquisitions and mobile expansion will be major trends in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC), among the world’s largest telecom markets, speakers said Thursday at a BRIC Opportunities forum. For U.S. investors and telecom companies, speakers see uncertainties in policy changes in those countries, but also opportunities. The conference, part of the Emerging Telecom Market Forums series, was sponsored by Information Gatekeepers (IGI) and the Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker law firm.
Qualcomm is well-positioned as China restructures its telecom industry (CD May 28 p16) since, in the words of ABI Research analyst Hwai Lin Khor, the company wins “no matter which direction 3G in China evolves.” He expects Qualcomm to help its Chinese partners develop mobile TV, though China isn’t considering Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology. The vendor said it will work with Chinese regulators and industry participants, including operators and equipment manufacturers, to develop China’s unique 3G technology.
China Telecom said it will buy the CDMA network of China Unicom for $6.31 billion to become an integrated service provider. The company said it acquired fixed-line operator China Netcom in a separate $56.3 billion deal. Plans for regulations to foster a more balanced sector structure and to issue three 3G licenses from China’s telecommunications regulator, the Ministry of Information Industry, will create a “favorable” operating environment helping the company’s entry into the mobile market and enhancing its overall competitiveness, CEO Xiaochu Wang said on a conference call. Unicom, the only CDMA provider in China, had almost 42 million CDMA subscribers in December 2007, according to Wang.
The earthquake in Sichuan, China, caused a loss of $400 million to China’s communications industry, China’s Ministry of Information Industry said. The tremor damaged 24,496 km of fiber cable, 25,735 mobile base stations and 142,078 communications poles, it said.
China’s telecommunication sector “continued strong,” said the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information (MII). That follows industry reshuffling and the impact of the May 12 earthquake. China will deepen the reform of the structure of its telecommunications sector, said MII, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance in a joint written statement Saturday. MII and the other agencies said they encouraged China Telecom to buy China Unicom’s CDMA mobile network, and China Unicom to merge with China Netcom, creating two China Mobile competitors. China Mobile, the country’s No. 1 carrier, said in a written statement that it believes the reform will lead to a “rational and healthy competition framework.” Investors are concerned about the potential for increased regulation on China Mobile in addition to the restructuring moves, but many of the concerns are “hysterical” given the “slow” pace of change in China, said a Pali report. Investors should take advantage of the near term concerns to buy China Mobile’s stock, it said. It believes China represents a “rare high” growth opportunity in the global wireless industry and China Mobile should be a “core” position of any telecommunication and growth manager, said the report.
Vodafone has no plans “whatsoever” to consider acquiring Huawei’s mobile assets, said a Vodafone spokesman. He was responding to a South China Morning Post report that Vodafone, AT&T and private-equity firms were looking at Huawei’s handset unit. The story said Huawei had decided to put up to 50 percent of its handset business on the market, to raise about $2 billion and overcome U.S. concerns about security issues related to Chinese companies. Vodafone called the article “incorrect.” AT&T won’t comment on rumors or speculation, a spokesman said. Huawei couldn’t be reached immediately. The Chinese handset maker said it contracted in 2006 to supply Vodafone-branded 3G handsets in 21 nations for “at least five years.” Last year, Huawei tried to buy computer networking equipment maker 3Com with private-equity firm Bain Capital. Bain cancelled the deal early this year due to opposition by the U.S. Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment.
China Mobile had strong net subscriber additions of 7.4 million in April, a 40.5 percent year over year rise, said the company. Total subscriber growth accelerated for the 12th month running to 24.3 percent. Market share of net additions rose to 87.4 percent in April from 83.4 percent Q1. Pali Research analysts called the subscriber growth “truly impressive” given that the company’s subscriber base is 400 million. China is in the midst of accelerating subscriber growth such as was seen in Latin America in recent years and in Europe and the U.S. in the late 1990’s, said a Pali research report.