Editor’s Note: Wireless operators are a busy bunch, and as such RCR Wireless News will attempt to gather some of the important announcements that may slip through the cracks from the world’s largest carriers in a weekly wrap-up. Enjoy!
–U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom reported that the country provided consumers with lower communication services prices than those offered in major European countries and the United States.
The report noted that across “five typical household profiles” U.K. telecom services in 2013 were priced either the lowest or second lowest across four of the five profiles. Mobile phone services were judged the least expensive, with Ofcom noting U.K. consumers were paying substantially less than similar services in the United States.
“For example, a typical handset with 200 minutes, 50 texts and 200 [megabytes] of data costs on average ($23) per month in the [United Kingdom]. In the [United States] this would cost ($93.61) – four times as much,” the report claimed.
Overall, the United Kingdom came out No. 1 in the Ofcom ranking, ahead of Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United States.
–Alaska’s GCI said it plans to deploy the state’s first gigabit-speed Ethernet service in Anchorage by 2015. The company noted that the offering was in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s challenge to make gigabit Internet service speeds available in every state by 2015.
In addition to the 2015 plans, GCI said it would be increasing currently available broadband speeds as well as reduce pricing.
“Fifty megabits per second is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of Alaskans who depend on the Internet for bandwidth-intensive innovative services,” explained GCI President and CEO Ron Duncan. “Therefore, as of today, we’re doubling our download speeds to 100 Mbps and reducing the price by 12.5%. This is the first of a series of free speed increases.”
GCI announced in mid-2012 plans to combine wireless operations with rival Alaska Communications Systems Group under a new entity dubbed Alaska Wireless Network. AWN is expected to provide coverage to more than 95% of Alaska’s population and provide service to more than 250,000 customers across both operators.
The deal is expected to provide fiscal relief for both operators that are seeing increased competition in the Alaskan market by a expected launch from Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless previously relied on a roaming agreement with ACSG, and picked up a 700 MHz spectrum license covering Alaska from Triad in 2010. Verizon Wireless earlier this year signed a deal with Ketchikan Public Utilities, which is a municipally-owned telecom provider currently offering fiber-to-the-home services in Ketchikan, to offer LTE services as part of Verizon Wireless’ LTE in Rural America program.
–Myanmar operator Ooredoo is set to launch nationwide 3G services next year across the country working with equipment provider Nokia Solutions and Networks. NSN is providing Ooredoo with radio and core equipment and services.
The two-year deal calls for NSN to build a complete 3G radio access network using 900 MHz and 2.1 GHz spectrum bands. The scope of the deal includes network implementation, planning and optimization, systems integration and care services including hardware, software and competence development services.
Financial terms were not released.
–Singapore operator SingTel said it has deployed Ericsson’s SON Optimization Manager to help manage its W-CDMA network. The carrier explained that the deployment would provide customers with a 20% increase in wireless broadband speeds and 40% reduction in dropped calls in normally congested areas.
Ericsson noted that its self-organizing networks solution includes self-optimization
features such as coverage capacity optimization and load balance and automatic neighbor relation handling. Self-healing functions are also being developed to automatically compensate for cell outages by adjusting the neighboring cells to find the optimal configuration.
Additional carrier news can be found on the RCR Wireless News “Carriers” page.
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