VimpelCom acquires Cambodian operator Sotelco

Russian and CIS mobile operator VimpelCom has acquired a 90 percent stake in the Cambodian operator Sotelco, which owns a GSM 900/1800 licence and related frequencies for the local market. VimpelCom's largest shareholder Altimo has acquired the majority stake in Sotelco's parent company, Atlas Trade Limited, for USD 28 million. The remaining 10 percent of Atlas will remain with a local partner, a Cambodian entrepreneur. In addition, VimpelCom has acquired a call option to purchase the 10 percent interest from the local partner.

China Telecom adds 890,000 broadband subscribers in June

China Telecom's local access lines in service in June fell to 214.89 million from 215.47 million lines in May. Broadband subscribers grew to 39.95 million compared to 39.06 million at the end of May. The figures include 320,000 local access lines and 90,000 broadband subscribers at Beijing Telecom, which was acquired in June.

Zon Multimedia launches free Wi-Fi community in Portugal

Cable operator Zon Multimedia has launched the Zon@Fon Free WiFi Community, a free Wi-Fi service that will allow Zon Netcabo's customers to be part of the Fon Wi-Fi community. The service is based on the idea of a massive Wi-Fi network, built through the contribution of individual customers to allow everyone free access to the internet. Zon@Fon will be Portugal's largest Wi-Fi network and will consist of over 2,500 hotspots. Zon@Fon aims to have over 100,000 hotspots in Portugal and provide ubiquitous connectivity to the internet. Zon Netcabo will deploy access equipment with embedded Zon@Fon functionality that will allow customers to host their own hotspot at no additional cost. The internet connection provided by Zon Netcabo will carry all the hotspot's traffic but will be separate from the user's traffic and will not reduce bandwidth from internet access.

Sony Ericsson sees net profit evaporate to EUR 6 mln

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications shipped 24.4 million mobile devices during the second quarter of this year, in line with the 27 June interim announcement of 24 million units, but 500,000 less than the mobile phone manufacturer shipped during Q2 2007. At the same time Sony Ericsson revenues dropped by 9 percent year-on-year to EUR 2.82 billion, due to unfavourable exchange rate fluctuation, continued slowing market growth in mid- to high-end phones and increased competition. The quarterly operating loss of EUR 2 million compares with an operating profit in the second quarter of 2007 of EUR 315 million, while Sony Ericsson’s net profit dropped from EUR 220 million in Q2 2007 to EUR 6 million in the second quarter of this year. The profits dropped due to a less favourable product mix, with particular impact in Europe, and increased price competition in general, as well as due to higher R&D investments as a percentage of sales. The Average selling price (ASP) for Sony Ericsson decreased year-on-year from EUR 125 to EUR 116, due to the impact of a greater proportion of lower priced phones in the product portfolio, as well as increased price competition in the market for mid- to high-end phones. Sony Ericsson estimates that its global market share for the second quarter is to be around 8 percent

LG handset sales grow 38.6% in Q2

LG Electronics reported second-quarter revenues from its mobile communications business of KRW 3.85 trillion, up 34.3 percent from a year earlier. Handset sales rose 38.6 percent to KRW 3.75 trillion. The handset operating margin improved to 14.4 percent thanks to growth in high-end models and improvements in operational efficiency. The Korean company shipped in total 27.7 million phones during the quarter, up from 24.4 million in the first quarter, led by its popular Black Label series and growth in North America and strong emerging markets such as the Middle East, India, the CIS and Latin America. The strong mobile results helped LG's total quarterly sales increase 22.1 percent to KRW 12.74 trillion and net profit to grow to KRW 707 billion from KRW 385 billion a year ago. For the third quarter, LG warned that the global economic slowdown could impact sales. The market slowdown could lead to tougher competition and pressure on selling prices. LG said it will respond to market demand with "appropriate" prices and focus its marketing on its premium phones, while maintaining double-digit profit margins

MTN ends talks with Reliance

African mobile operator MTN Group and India's Reliance Communications have been unable to reach agreement on a proposed merger, and the companies have mutually decided to end their talks. MTN and Reliance Communications started exclusive negotiations on 26 May. The decision to stop talks was due to "certain legal and regulatory issues" around the deal, MTN said in a statement. Reliance was facing a claim on its shares by Mukesh Ambani, estranged brother of Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani, and the recent sharp drop in share prices created obstacles to completing a deal. A deal would have created an emerging markets operator with activities in about two dozen countries and around 120 million subscribers. The failure to reach a deal with Reliance follows a decision by India's leading mobile operator Bharti Airtel in late May to also end talks with MTN. Bharti said it had called off the talks after MTN proposed a new structure which would have seen the Indian group becoming a unit of the South Africa-based group.

HTC Benelux taps budding smartphone market

Since HTC launched mobile handsets under its own brand on the Benelux market, the company's performance has been quite good. HTC's 74% increase in the number of mobile devices sold in the first six months of this year is impressive. According to Mark Moons, the country manager for HTC Benelux, the Apple 3G iPhone will have only a limited impact on HTC sales, and the iPhone introduction will help to develop the smartphone segment in the Netherlands. This research brief is based in part on a Telecompaper interview with Mark Moons.