http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=22726&email=text
If adopted, the proposals could well become a tsunami in the telecoms industry. Mobile operators will be the biggest losers, and Global Insight expects them to fight vigorously to dilute the proposal. However, the bill-and-keep initiative will free national regulators from the burden of regulating interconnection rates and settling resulting disputes.
The contracts cost about US$120 (€76) to activate - half a year's wages on the average state salary. And that does not include a phone or credit to make and receive calls.
But most Cubans have at least some access to dollars or euros thanks to jobs in tourism, with foreign firms or money sent by relatives abroad. Lines formed before the stores opened, and waits grew to more than an hour.
''Everyone wants to be first to sign up,'' said Usan Astorga, a 19-year-old medical student who stood for about 20 minutes before her line moved at all.
Getting through the day without a cell phone is unthinkable now in most developed countries, but Cuba's government limited access to mobile phones and other so-called luxuries in an attempt to preserve the relative economic equality that is a hallmark of life on the communist-run island.
President Raul Castro has done away with several other small but infuriating restrictions, and his popularity has surged as a result - defusing questions about his relative lack of charisma after his ailing older brother Fidel formally stepped down in February.
An article Friday in the Communist Party newspaper Granma said it was Fidel Castro's idea all along to lift bans on mobile phones, and that he was behind recent government orders easing restrictions that had prevented most Cubans from staying in hotels, renting cars, enjoying beaches reserved for tourists and buying DVD players and other consumer goods.
Wang's remarks indicate a slight shift in China Mobile's strategy for overseas expansion. In its only overseas acquisition so far, China Mobile last year bought a 100% stake in Pakistan mobile operator Paktel and renamed it CMPak. Since then, Wang has repeatedly said China Mobile is keen on overseas mergers and acquisitions, but that valuations in emerging markets are high. Although minor holdings would give China Mobile only limited sway over target companies, Wang said that entering into international telecom firms as small shareholders could still help China Mobile learn from others' experiences and gradually develop further.
http://businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb2008049_075033.htm
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=22568&email=text
BSNL is to deploy Nokia Siemens Networks multi play solutions, which will allow it to deliver cost effective high speed Internet access and Virtual Private Networks among others to its customers. The network will also enable BSNL to provide connectivity to CSCs (Community Service Centres) and other e-governance locations.
India today has 3.4 mln broad connections, of which 1.7 mln connections are provided by BSNL alone. With the expansion of broadband density in urban and rural areas using ADSL2+ technology, BSNL plans to cover more than 25000 villages broadband enabled shortly.
As part of the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks is deploying its Gigabit Ethernet-capable IP DSLAMs SURPASS hiX5625 (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers) and chassis based access switch (SURPASS hiD6615). Nokia Siemens Networks will also supply customer premises equipment that will enable BSNL to provide speeds of up to 8 Mbps using ADSL2+ for its subscribers over its existing copper infrastructure.
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=22413&email=text
