Covering: Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 46

Vodafone Germany (VfD) was reported to be considering a bid for the broadcast rights to Bundesliga football matches, to boost the content line-up on its Vodafone TV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service (Vodafonewatch, passim).

In an interview with Horizont.net, Dhananjay Mirchandani, Director of Access and Home Video at VfD, reiterated that the OpCo (and Vodafone, globally) is making a push to expand Vodafone TV‘s programming (Vodafonewatch, #93), which may include competing for the right to broadcast the 2013-2014 season. He did not rule out entering a cooperation agreement with other Bundesliga rights holders.

More broadly, Mirchandani went on to say that content is a “lucrative business”, and one which the OpCo plans to “expand significantly”. To this end, VfD added three additional channels to Vodafone TV in January 2012: FOX; Romance TV; and Travel Channel.

DT, Sky among rivals

Negotiations over Bundesliga rights are recently reported to have been initiated by the German football association, Deutsche Fußball Liga. If VfD seeks to compete for them, it will almost certainly go up against incumbent rival, Deutsche Telekom (DT), which currently offers Bundesliga coverage on its competitive Entertain IPTV offering; and current, ‘basic’ rights holder, Sky Deutschland — which also recently expressed an interest in expanding its own Bundesliga content to IPTV and mobile subscribers. It is understood that the negotiations are likely to be completed by May 2012.

[Further reference: Deutsche Telekomwatch, #5; Exklusiv: Vodafone liebäugelt mit der Bundesliga / ausbau von Vodafone TV soll kundenzahl zeitnah verdoppeln -- Horizont.net, 11 January 2012; Vodafone TV programm wächst weite -- Vodafone, 11 January 2012.]

Vodafone and its rich web of OpCos — tracked and analysed worldwide.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Vodafonewatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Vodafone Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just the world's number-one mobile group and its many operating companies, but also its wider interests, including Verizon Wireless in the US, Vodacom in Africa, China Mobile, SFR in France, Polkomtel in Poland, Safaricom in Kenya, Partner Markets initiatives, and much more.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from UKP GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 46

1. GROUP: Vodafone received much-needed positive news in India, after the country’s Supreme Court dismissed the government’s high-profile, sizeable capital gains tax claim against the Group, in relation to its 2007 acquisition of Vodafone India. It was widely suggested that the move could prove transformative for VfIn, persuading Vodafone to up investment locally, and move towards a flotation of the OpCo — although the move far from wipes away all regulatory and operational problems faced in India. Further, wider ownership changes, beyond a listing, appear to remain on the cards for VfIn. [pp.33, 34.]
2. Vodafone highlighted a “strategic partnership” with French Polynesian startup operator Pacific Mobile Telecom, reviving links first flagged in 2009. PMT will join Vodafone’s Partner Markets programme and adopt Group branding, but it is not yet clear whether Vodafone has taken equity in the company. The move came as Polkomtel indicated it may also join Partner Markets, with Vodafone said to have pushed for a deal following its exit from the Polish operator in 2011. [pp.4, 5.]
3. Handset rivals Huawei and Research in Motion were among suppliers seeking to strengthen their Vodafone account teams — the former, to support its European terminal push, and the latter to expand work with Vodafone Global Enterprise. [p.7.]
4. Verizon Wireless used January 2012′s Consumer Electronics Show to trumpet a flowering of third-party machine-to-machine communications innovation around its Long Term Evolution network — activity that will have been watched with a mix of envy and anticipation by Vodafone (considering its growing enterprise ties with VZW, and own connected device efforts). VZW also boosted its M2M push by taking full control of its nPhase joint venture with Qualcomm. [pp.16-18.]
5. There was less positive LTE-related news for VZW after two more high-profile outages hit subscribers to the flagship service, with bugs in its underlying IMS platform again deemed responsible. [p.15.]
6. EUROPE: Vodafone Germany hinted at plans to compete for Bundesliga distribution rights, as Vodafone continues efforts to boost content for its fledgling Vodafone TV pay-television service in Europe. [pp.20, 21.]
7. Vodafone Spain and local rivals Orange and Telefónica declared plans to perform the Group’s first RCS-e platform launch in the coming months, with further deployments planned elsewhere in Europe. [pp.24-26.]
8. Vodafone continued to face considerable outlay on renewal of 2G licences that are expiring, en masse, throughout Europe and beyond. The Netherlands said it is to reserve resources for at least two new entrants when it sells existing and new rights in October 2012, increasing Vodafone Netherlands’ competitive threats. Romanian regulator ANCOM is also to auction Vodafone Romania’s expiring 2G licences, as part of a wider market shake-up, while Australia’s government proposed that Vodafone Hutchison Australia and rivals be obliged to pay large fees to renew 800MHz and 1800MHz rights. [pp.21, 22, 24, 25, 30.]
9. However, there was some good news for Vodafone UK in regulator Ofcom’s latest digital dividend auction proposals, with plans to give market leader Everything Everywhere priority access to 800MHz frequencies being dropped. [pp.27, 28.]
10. AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, AND ASIA-PACIFIC: Challenged Australian joint venture VHA furthered diversification plans, connecting its first customers in a trial of the government’s National Broadband Network, and highlighting a new suite of mobile TV services, offering free and paid-for programming. [p.31.]
11. The future of Vodafone Essar’s strategically vital 3G roaming deal with Indus Towers partners Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular remained in doubt, after the country’s Department of Telecommunications placed a ban order on the operators. The companies are challenging the decision to the country’s India’s Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal. [p.35.]
12. Uncertainty also continued over Vodacom’s plans to launch LTE in South Africa, with new proposals by regulator ICASA raising ownership complications for the company. Pieter Uys, Chief Executive of Vodacom Group, described an LTE launch as unlikely in 2012. [p.38.]
13. Uys’ comments came as it was confirmed that he faces a new competitive challenge from predecessor Alan Knott-Craig, who is to return to mobile sector as Chief Executive of South Africa’s number-three player Cell C. [p.6.]
14. Vodacom Tanzania mooted plans to outsource passive infrastructure, continuing African OpCos’ shift towards managed network services, amid rising cost pressures. [p.40.]

About Vodafonewatch

Report: #98
Covering: Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012
Published: January 2012
Next report: February 2012

Vodafone and its rich web of OpCos — tracked and analysed worldwide.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Vodafonewatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Vodafone Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just the world's number-one mobile group and its many operating companies, but also its wider interests, including Verizon Wireless in the US, Vodacom in Africa, China Mobile, SFR in France, Polkomtel in Poland, Safaricom in Kenya, Partner Markets initiatives, and much more.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from UKP GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 46

• Table of Contents
• Index
• About Vodafonewatch

Table of Contents

1 Executive brief

4 Group

4 Partner Markets
4 Group’s Polynesian venture resurfaces
5 People
5 People movement highlights
6 Global Enterprise
7 Suppliers
7 Supplier people movement highlights
8 Corporate
8 Terminals
8 Terminal highlights
9 Investments and associates
9 VZW “surprised” by iPhone 4S impact; profit takes hit
9 2.2 million LTE devices shifted
10 VZW targets new expense reductions, amid margin squeeze
11 VZW, Comcast move swiftly on multi-play partnership
12 Other partners yet to reveal plans
12 VZ clearing path for Vodafone merger — analysts
14 VoLTE launch now planned for 2013
15 M&A
15 More IMS bugs hit VZW LTE network
16 M2M, connected device innovations come to fore at CES

20 Europe Region

20 Germany
20 VfD freed for urban LTE rollout in Schleswig-Holstein
20 VfD mulls Bundesliga bid as IPTV content rivalry hots up
21 Netherlands
21 DT, Sky among rivals
21 Netherlands
21 Auction pencilled for October; new entrants get leg-up
22 Portugal
22 VfN sells BelCompany B2B unit
22 Portugal
22 VfP swaps out mediation system
23 Romania
23 ANCOM seeks windfall from 900MHz/1800MHz sell-off
23 VfR licence sees last minute extension
24 Spain
24 VfS and rivals prep RCS-e launch
25 RCS now needs to move beyond annual MWC PR puffery
26 Hungary
26 Ireland
26 A place for RCS in growth markets
26 Vodafone, rivals face MVNO pricing probe
27 United Kingdom
27 Turkey
27 Atos, Ericsson tie with VfT on app development
27 EE hit as Ofcom changes 800MHz plans again
28 EE offered 1800MHz LTE consolation, but still seen as main loser
28 EE hits out at Ofcom
28 Rural coverage obligations also to be tweaked

30 Africa, Asia-Pacific & Middle East Region

30 Australia — Vodafone Hutchison Australia
30 Australia — Vodafone Hutchison Australia
30 VHA hit as government seeks renewal windfall
31 VHA’s NBN pilot goes live, with TV partnership
31 VHA seeks jump on Optus with Mobile TV offering
32 Egypt
32 Ghana
32 VfEg updates subscriber data system
33 India
33 Vodafone prevails in CGT battle
33 Four-year worry removed
33 Essar payout due?
34 A turning point?
35 Kenya — Safaricom
35 Wrangling over 3G roaming deal goes on
36 Qatar
36 Regulator seeks to up QoS focus
36 Site-sharing revival?
38 South Africa
38 South African LTE picture remains muddied
38 1800MHz LTE rollout not in plan
38 ICASA proposals pose problems
39 More delays expected
39 Democratic Republic of Congo — Vodacom
39 Vodacom assures that Congo solution “getting closer”
40 Tanzania
40 VdT mulls tower outsourcing move
41 Zambia
41 AfriConnect taps Airspan for network revamp

42 Index

Index

A
Aditya Birla Group
- Idea Cellular 34, 35
- – Indus Towers 35
Africa 9, 30, 32, 40, 41
- Congo 39
- Ghana 32
- Guinea 34
- Kenya 35, 40
- – Capital Markets Authority (CMA, Kenya) 30
- – Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) 35
- – Kenya Telecom Network Operators (KTNO) 35
- – Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) 35
- Morocco 32
- North Africa 32
- South Africa 5, 6, 32, 38, 39, 41
- – Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) 38, 39
- – Financial Services Board (FSB) 38
- – Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) 38, 39
- Tanzania 40
- West Africa 34
- Zambia 41
Airspan Networks 41
Alfa Group
- Altimo (Alfa Telecom Int. Mobile)
- – VimpelCom (see Telenor/separate) 6
Alpha Bank 24
Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (ATH)
- Vodafone Fiji 4
Americas
- USA 14, 18
- – Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 12
- – States
- – - Califormia 16
- – - Massachusetts 16
- – - Mississippi 5
- – - Washington 11
Amscreen Group Ltd 6
Anywhere Working Consortium 27
Appia 39
Apple 8, 9, 10, 16, 25
- App Store 16
- iOS 8, 21, 25, 30
- iPhone 8, 9, 10, 25
- iTunes 16
Asia-Pacific 9, 30, 34
- Australia 6, 30, 31, 34
- – Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) 30
- – Cricket Australia 30
- – Department of Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) 30
- – National Broadband Network (NBN) 31
- – National Rugby League (NRL) 31
- French Polynesia 4
- – Office des Postes et des Télécommunications (Office of Posts and Telecom) 4
- – - Tikiphone SA 4
- Hong Kong 34
- India 9, 11, 30, 33, 34, 35
- – Department of Telecommunications (DoT) 35
- – Income Tax Department 33
- – Legal 33
- – Licence Circles
- – - Andhra Pradesh 33
- – - Bihar 9
- – - Gujarat 9
- – - Karnataka 33
- – - Kolkata 9, 35
- – - Madhya Pradesh 9
- – - Maharashtra 9, 11
- – - Mumbai 9, 11
- – - North East 15
- – - Orissa 9, 35
- – - Tamil Nadu 34
- – - West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar 9
- – Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) 35
- – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) 33, 34
- South Korea 24
- Sri Lanka 5
Asia-Pacific Pacific
- French Polynesia
- – Office des Postes et des Télécommunications (Office of Posts and Telecom) 4
ASSA ABLOY AB 16
- HID Global 16
- Yale Locks & Hardware 16
Atos Origin 27
AT&T 9, 15
Australian Football League 31
Australian News Channel Pty Ltd (BskyB, Secen Media, Nine Entertainement)
- Sky News Australia 31
Avior Research 38
Aviva plc 8
Axiata Group Bhd (TM International)
- India (Idea Cellular, see also Aditya Birla) 34, 35

B

BelCompany 22
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) 35
Bharti Group 5, 9, 10, 11, 34, 35, 39, 40
- Airtel 5, 9, 10, 11, 34, 35, 39, 40
- Indus Towers 35
Bharti SoftBank Holdings Pte Ltd (BSB, see Bharti, SoftBank) 9
Bloomberg L.P. 6
BP plc 6
Brass Monkey 16
Bright House Networks LLC 5, 12
BT Group 26
- Spain 26
Bundesliga 20, 21

C

Carmel Ventures 17, 18
Cartoon Network 31
CellEra Inc. 17, 18
Cellular South Inc.
- C Spire Wireless 9
Cityhold Property AB (First and Second Swedish National Pension Funds) 8
Comcast Corp. 5, 11, 12
Comrex Corp. 16
Congolese Wireless Networks s.p.r.l. (see Vodacom Congo) 39
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
- Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 8, 16, 18
Cox Communications Inc. 5, 12
Cricket TV 31

D

Datatec Group 5
Deutsche Telekom 6, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 38
- Europe
- – Hungary (see Magyar Telekom) 38
- – Netherlands 21
- – Romania (see Cosmote Romania/OTE) 23
- – UK (Everything Everywhere) 7, 27, 28, 38
- Germany 20, 38
- Investments
- – Magyar Telekom (see seperate) 4
Diebold Inc. 17
Die Liga – Fußballverband e.V.
- Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH (DFL) 21
Digital Route AB 22
DLA 7
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG 8
- Porsche Design Group 8

E

Eaton Towers 32, 40
Eden Ventures 18
Effortel 32
EMC
- VMware 25
Enviu Foundation 21
Ericsson 9, 27
ESCORT Inc. 17
Essar Group 33, 34
- Vodafone India 5, 8, 33, 34, 35, 39
Europe 6, 7, 20, 23, 24, 26, 28, 34
- Austria 6
- Belgium 32
- France 4, 5, 6, 24, 25, 28, 39
- Germany 6, 14, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24
- – Berlin Brandenburg Airport 21
- – Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen (BNetzA, RegTP, FNA, or German Federal Network Agency) 20
- – Länder
- – - Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart) 20
- – - Bavaria (Munich) 20
- – - Berlin 21
- – - Hesse (Wiesbaden) 20
- – - North Rhine-Westphalia (Düsseldorf) 14, 20
- – - Saarland (Saarbrücken) 20
- – - Schleswig-Holstein (Kiel) 20
- Greece 23, 24
- Hungary 23, 26
- Ireland 7, 20, 23, 26
- – Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) 26
- Italy 23, 24, 32
- Jersey 31
- Luxembourg 6
- Macedonia 15
- Netherlands 21, 22, 23, 30
- – Ministry of Economic Affairs 21
- – Orange Cross 21
- Poland 6
- Portugal 22, 23
- Romania 23, 24, 30
- – Autoritatea Naţională pentru Administrare şi Reglementare în Comunicaţii (Ancom/ANC/ANRCTI/ANRC) 23, 24
- Russia 23
- Spain 7, 20, 23, 24, 26
- – Comisión Nacional de la Competencia (CNC) 26
- Sweden 7, 22
- – First Swedish National Pension Fund 8
- – Second Swedish National Pension Fund 8
- Switzerland 6
- Turkey 27
- United Kingdom (UK) 6, 7, 20, 23, 27, 28, 38, 40
- – Office of Communications (Ofcom) 27, 28
Everything Everywhere Ltd (see DT, FT) 7, 27, 28, 38

F

Facebook 38
Fetch TV Pty Ltd (see Astro All Asia Networks) 31
Finsphere Corp. 17, 18
France Télécom 5, 6, 25, 28, 39
- Orange 5, 21, 23, 24, 26
- – Congo (Congo Chine Télécoms) 39
- – Kenya (Telkom Kenya, see separate) 5
- – Romania 23
- – Spain 5, 24, 26
- UK (see Everything Everywhere) 7, 27, 28, 38

G

General Motors 18
- OnStar Corp. 18
GlobalOne Group LLC 6
Goldman Sachs 12
Google
- Android 8, 16, 18, 21, 23, 24, 30
Groupon Inc. 9
GSM Association
- Mobile World Congress 25
GSM Association (GSMA) 6, 24, 25, 26

H

Herbert Smith 7
Hogan Lovells 7
Huawei Technologies 7
Hutchison Whampoa 30, 31, 33, 34
- 3 Group
- – UK 6, 27
- HTIL 34
- Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Ltd (Hutchinson Telecom/HTHKH/3 Hong Kong) 34
- Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd (VHA, (see Vodafone) 6, 7, 30, 31, 34

I

IBM 10
Indus Towers 35
Intel 18
- Intel Capital 18

J

JVL Ventures, LLC (Isis) 8

K

KPN 21
Krusell International AB 7

L

LG Electronics 8
Linklaters 7

M

Machina Research 6
Macintosh Retail Group 22
Magyar Telekom (see DT)
- Macedonia
- – Makedonski Telekom 15
- Macedonia (Makedonski Telekom/T-Mobile) 15
- T-Mobile Hungary 38
Manley Solutions Inc. 17
Market segments
- Contactless payment (NFC) 16, 26
- M-health 17
- Mobile data 25, 28
- Mobile virtual network (MVNA/MVNE/MVNO) 11, 12, 26, 32
- M-payment 8
- Network-sharing 20, 36
- Outsourcing 32, 40
- Over-the-top (OTT) 25
- Value-added services (VAS) 6, 14, 28, 32, 33
- Voice 7, 11, 14, 22, 24, 25, 38
Microsoft 7, 8, 26, 27
- Skype 18
- Windows Phone 8, 26
Middle East
- Bahrain 4
- Egypt 32
- Israel 17
- Oman 32
- Qatar 8, 36
- – Supreme Council for Information and Communications Technology (ictQATAR) 36
Misys 8
Mondia Media Group GmbH 6
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. 8
MTN 38, 39
- South Africa 38

N

NDS Limited 32
News Corp.
- Fox Entertainment Group Inc.
- – Fox International Channels (FIC)
- – - Fox Channel 20
- Sky Deutschland AG (see seperate) 21
Nine Entertainment Co.
- Nine Networks 30
Nokia 8, 9, 26, 32, 38, 40
Nokia Siemens Networks 9, 32, 38, 40
Northland Securities Inc.
- Northland Capital Markets Inc. 14
Norton Rose LLP 7
NovaSom Inc. 17
Novatel Wireless 8, 17
- MiFi 8

O

Oger Telecom
- Cell C 6, 39
Olswang 7
OTE (Hellenic Telecom. Org. SA, see DT)
- Cosmote 23, 24
- – Romania 23

P

P3 Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH 36
Pacific Mobile Telecom (PMT) 4
Polkomtel 5
PortingXS International 40
- Kenya 40
Premier Media Group (News Corp./Consolidated Media)
- Fox Sports News 31

Q

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) 36
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) 36
Qualcomm 16, 24
- Qualcomm iSkoot Inc. 24

R

RCS & RDS SA 23
Reggefiber 22
Reitsma Financal Group LLC 22
Research In Motion 7, 8, 11, 33, 38
- BlackBerry 7, 8, 11, 33, 38

S

Saba Software Inc. 7
Safaricom 4, 5, 35, 40
- Executives
- – Collymore, Bob 5
- – Rerolle, Thibaud 5
- Ex-executives
- – Barorot, John 5
Sama Telecommunications L.L.C
- Samatel (Oman) 32
Samsung 7, 8
SBS 31
Seagate 17
Seven West Media
- Seven Network (Channel Seven) 31
Siemens 32
Singapore Telecom
- Optus (Australia) 6, 31
Sistema
- Mobile TeleSystems 23
Sky Deutschland AG (see News Corp.) 21
Slacker Inc.
- Slacker Radio 18
Slaughter and May 7
SoftBank Corp. 9
Solorz-Żak, Zygmunt (see Cyfrowy Polsat, Polsat) 5
SpectrumCo (Bright House Networks /Comcast/Cox/Time Warner Cable) 12
Sprint Nextel 9
Standard Bank 32
Statoil ASA 8
Supreme Court 33, 34
Swisscom
- Sicap SA 26

T

Technology
- 2.5G 30, 41
- 2G 9, 23, 28, 30, 34, 41
- – CDMA 8, 14
- – GSM 6, 8, 14, 24
- 3G 4, 8, 14, 23, 30, 33, 34, 35
- – DC-HSDPA 38
- – Evolved HSPA (HSPA+/I-HSPA) 38
- – HSPA 8, 38
- 4G 8, 9, 15, 16, 18, 27, 28, 41
- – Long-Term Evolution (LTE) 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 27, 28, 30, 38, 39
- – VoLTE (Voice-over-LTE) 14
- – WiMAX 41
- Cloud computing 6, 7, 16, 17, 18, 23, 33
- Femtocell 31
- Fibre 21, 41
- IM 24
- IMS 15
- IP 14, 15, 16, 20, 24, 25, 31
- IPTV 20, 21
- M2M 6, 16, 17
- Mediation 22
- MNP 32, 36, 40
- NFC 16, 26
- PC 16, 17, 23
- RCS-e 24, 25, 26
- R&D 27
- RSS 24
- SIM 6
- Smartphone 8, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 32, 33, 39
- SMS 11, 25, 33, 38
- Spectrum 8, 12, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 30, 34, 35, 38, 39
- – 700 MHz 30, 35
- – 800 MHz 15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 30, 38, 39
- – 900 MHz 21, 22, 23, 24, 35
- – 1000 MHz 28
- – 1800 MHz 21, 22, 23, 28, 30, 34, 35, 38
- – 1900 MHz 21
- – 2100 MHz 21, 22, 23, 35
- – 2500 MHz 30, 41
- – 2600 MHz 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 38, 39
- – Digital dividend 23, 27
- Tablet 8, 11, 14, 17, 18, 23, 31, 32, 38
- Telematics 18
- Windows 8, 26
- – Windows Phone 8, 26
- W-LAN 8
TechRadium Inc. 18
Tele2 21
- Netherlands 21
Telecom Italia 25
Telefónica Group 5, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28
- Europe
- – España 24, 25, 26
- – Germany 20
- – UK 5, 28
- Movistar 26
Telekom Austria Group 15
- Macedonia
- – Vip operator 15
Telenor ASA
- VimpelCom (see Alfa/separate) 6
TelePresence Tech 18
TeliaSonera 6
Telkom Kenya Ltd (Orange Kenya) 5
Telkom South Africa 39
Telstra 30, 31
Time Warner 5, 12
- CNN 31
Time Warner Cable Inc 5, 12
TomTom 6
TouchTunes Music Corp.
- TouchTunes Interactive Networks 18
Travel Channel (Scripps/Cox) 20
Travers Smith LLP 7
Trend Micro Inc. 14
Trio 17, 18
Twitter Inc. 38

U

Union Investment Group
- Union Investment Real Estate GmbH 8
UPC 21
Usaha Tegas Group Holdings Bhd
- Astro All Asia Networks plc
- – Fetch TV (see seperate) 31

V

Verizon Communications 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25
- DROID 8, 10
- LTE Innovation Program 16
- Verizon Wireless 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25
- – nPhase 16, 18
- – Shammo, Fran 9, 10
- Vodafone Omnitel 5, 32
Viacom Inc.
- MTV Networks 31
VimpelCom 6
VisionOSS (VOSS) 17, 18
Vivendi
- SFR (Société Française de Radiotéléphone) 4
Vodacom Group 5, 6, 38, 39, 40, 41
- Congo 39
- Executives
- – Bennett, Mark 41
- – Dittrich, Ivan 5
- – Meza, Rene 40
- – Uys, Pieter 38
- Ex-executives
- – Knott-Craig, Alan 6
- Gateway Communications 17
- Group 5, 6, 38, 41
- South Africa 5, 6, 32, 38, 39, 41
- Tanzania 40
- Vodacom Apps 39
- Vodacom Business 41
- – AfriConnect Zambia Ltd 41
Vodafone
- Africa, Middle East, and Asia Pacific Region (AMAP) 30
- – Africa 9, 30, 41
- – Asia 9, 30
- – Australia 6, 7, 30, 31
- – - VHA Pty. Ltd (see Hutchison Whampoa) 6, 30, 31
- – Congo 39
- – Egypt 32
- – - Arabia Mobile Services (Bladna) 32
- – Fiji 4
- – Ghana 32, 40
- – India 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 30, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40
- – - Indus Towers 35
- – Kenya (see Safaricom) 4, 5, 35, 40
- – Pacific 4
- – Qatar (see Vodafone and Qatar Foundation and Vodafone Qatar) 5, 8, 36
- – South Africa (see Vodacom) 5, 6, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41
- Europe Region 20
- – Czech Republic 8
- – Germany 6, 8, 14, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24
- – Greece 23, 24
- – Hungary 8, 23, 26
- – Ireland 5, 7, 20, 23, 26
- – Italy 5, 23, 24, 32
- – Malta 32
- – Netherlands 5, 21, 22, 23, 30
- – Portugal 22, 23
- – Romania 8, 23, 24, 30
- – Spain 7, 20, 23, 24, 26
- – Turkey 27
- – - Oksijen Ar Ge (Oxygen R&D) 27
- – UK 5, 6, 7, 20, 23, 27, 28, 38, 40
- – - Cornerstone 20
- Executives
- – Bianco, Francesco 5
- – Colao, Vittorio 33
- – Daly, Richard 5
- – Dennelind, Johan 39
- – Dolton, Tony 32
- – Fouladi, Babak 24
- – Halford, Andy 34
- – Ireland, Tobin 17
- – Jeffery, Nick 4
- – Mirchandani, Dhananjay 20
- – Shuter, Rob 5
- – Smits, Paul 5
- – Takkar, Ravinder 5
- Ex-executives
- – Evans, Mark 5
- – Gerchuk, Mikhail 6
- – Glaeser, Volker 6
- – Leach, Bobby 6
- – Maloney, Doug 6
- – Russell, Kevin 6
- Group 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 18
- – Marketing
- – - Internet Services 6
- – Partner Markets 4, 5, 15, 23, 34
- – - Austria (A1/Telekom Austria) 15
- – - Bahrain (Zain) 4
- – - Fiji (Vodafone Fiji) 4
- – - France (SFR/Vivendi) 4
- – - Hong Kong (Hutchison Telecom) 34
- – - Kenya (Safaricom) 4, 5, 35, 40
- – - Russia and CIS (MTS) 23
- – Vodafone Global Enterprise (VGE) 4, 6, 7, 18
- – Vodafone Ventures 17, 18
- – - CellEra (see separate) 17, 18
- – - Finsphere (see separate) 17, 18
- – - VOSS (see separate) 17, 18
- Investments & Associates
- – Americas (see Verizon Wireless) 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25
- Products
- – 1800 (Netherlands) 22
- – AppSelect 23
- – Cricket Live Australia 30
- – MobileTV 31
- – My Vodafone 30
- – Office 22
- – One 18
- – Terminals
- – - Smart 8
- – - Smart Tab 7 8
- – - Smart Tab 10 8
- – Vodafone Buzz 24
- – Vodafone Cloud 23
- – Vodafone Expand 31
- – Vodafone Office Voice 22
- – Vodafone TV 20, 21
- Retail
- – Smart Store 26
Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C. 5, 8, 36

X

XAnge Private Equity SA 18

Z

Zain (MTC) 4, 39
Zesko Holding BV
- Ziggo 21
Ziggo 4 (see Zesko, UPC) 21
Zon Multimédia (PT Multimedia)
- ZON Lusomundo 22
ZTE Corp. 39

About Vodafonewatch

Report: #98
Covering: Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012
Published: January 2012
Next report: February 2012

Vodafone and its rich web of OpCos — tracked and analysed worldwide.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Vodafonewatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Vodafone Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just the world's number-one mobile group and its many operating companies, but also its wider interests, including Verizon Wireless in the US, Vodacom in Africa, China Mobile, SFR in France, Polkomtel in Poland, Safaricom in Kenya, Partner Markets initiatives, and much more.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from UKP GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: January 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 46

Telefónica Digital signed a strategic partnership agreement with Joyent, a cloud services and technologies provider, including an undisclosed strategic equity investment.

The company said the partnership brings together Joyent’s self-developed cloud architecture with Telefónica’s global scale and infrastructure, and will particularly enhance Telefónica’s product offering to small- and medium-size enterprises and small office-home office customers.

The company was keen to emphasise that Joyent’s entire cloud software stack has been developed in-house from scratch, making it cheaper, more efficient, easier to operate, and show better performance than that of other cloud technology providers. Joyent currently has in excess of 12, 000 public cloud customers in the USA. A notable customer of the company, which was founded in 2004, is social network LinkedIn, which uses the Joyent platform for its mobile domain, and other subdomains of the main site. Joyent is also a Dell partner, providing technology with the vendor for a range of cloud software solutions.

“ This investment is further proof of our ambition in the area of cloud services and our strategy of working with the most innovative start-ups. Joyent’s technology fits perfectly with our in-house developed technologies and our cloud services model, and enables us to provide more competitive offerings to a broader range of customer segments. ”
– Matthew Key, Chief Executive, Telefónica Digital.

The strategic investment, made by Telefónica Digital’s Telefónica Ventures division, is the unit’s second investment since the creation of Telefónica Digital in September 2011, and forms part of a $85m (EUR65.3m) funding round for Joyent, led by European group Weather Investment II. In November 2011, the Telefónica division had declared an investment in Quantenna Communications, a specialist in Wi-Fi networking for home entertainment (Telefónicawatch, #60).

Joyent said that, throughout 2012, it will roll out a “collection of seamlessly connected, high-performance public clouds that serve global corporations with consistent computing services on every continent”. In bullish comments apparently designed to garner headlines, David Young, Chief Executive of Joyent, said he has his sights set on Amazon, the world’s largest provider of cloud computing services. He described Amazon’s cloud computing technology as a “junk yard” made up of all sorts of “taped together” technologies.

“ Amazon is the Kodak of the cloud. I don’t want to dump on Amazon, but I just don’t think you can look to a book seller and grocery store for cloud innovation. On the other hand, we’re building a cloud alliance around the globe. ”
– Young.

Telefónica making its presence felt through promised partnerships

On the launch of the Telefónica Digital division, it was stated that the unit would be working to bring flexibility to the telecoms giant through investments and partnerships with companies in emerging new markets and technologies. The Joyent investment is another example of the telco putting up the funds to back claims, and building a network of influence in areas it is targeting for growth.

Cloud services have seen the most headlines so far in terms of partnering, with a deal with start-up FeedHenry also flagged (see separate report), and an agreement to deploy Cisco Systems’ solutions in new offerings being developed for Telefónica’s newest data centre site in Spain (see separate report).

[Further reference: Telefónica boosts cloud capabilities with strategic investment in Joyent, Inc. -- Telefónica, 23 January 2012; Joyent secures $85m in venture funding to fuel global growth and continued innovation -- Joyent, 23 January 2012; Joyent grabs $85M from Weather Investment II, Telefónica to take on Amazon in cloud computing -- Venturebeat, 23 January 2012.]

Ongoing tracking and insight into Telefónica Group; delivering valuable insight into the labyrinth that is Spain’s global telco giant.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Telefonicawatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Telefonica Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just a leading European and Latin American integrated telecoms group and one of the world's top-five players and its many operating companies, but also its wider interests, including the Atento contact centre business, Vivo in Brazil, Telecom Italia, Portugal Telecom, and China Unicom.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from UKP GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: January 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 46

1. O2 UK faces a potential backlash and regulatory penalties after being exposed inadvertently passing customers’ mobile phone numbers to all websites visited by its customers while browsing from their handsets. The operator apologised quickly for the error, while acknowledging that it was standard practice to send mobile number details for age verification sites and to support billing for trusted content partners. However, while this explanation fostered continued alarm among the media and customers, the sharing of the data for the company’s loyalty and reward schemes was somewhat brushed under the carpet. This is perhaps understandable because the privacy breach casts doubt on O2′s abilities to act as a reliable bridge linking content providers and businesses with its customer base. It is also a timely reminder of the sensitivity of customer details, as the telco builds its plans to position itself as a financial services provider. [pp.31-32.]
2. Telefónica Digital is making its presence felt in the cloud services sector, and announced a partnership with, and strategic investment in, Joyent, a cloud services and technologies provider, with plans to offer the service provider’s cloud architecture to SME and SoHo customers across the Telefónica footprint. The division is also to launch a new cloud-based mobile applications development platform targeting UK enterprise customers, and enable them to create and deploy their own applications through a partnership with Irish startup FeedHenry. On a larger scale, Telefónica flagged the anticipated deployment of Cisco’s new CloudVerse products at its major new data centre in Madrid, which will be used to support a virtual data centre offering for major corporate clients. [pp.9-11.]
3. Telefónica España is to participate in the launch of the GSM Association’s RCS-e service in Spain. The rich communications offering is expected to provide enhanced messaging, live video-sharing and file-transfer services, which could be used across Spain’s major mobile networks, and on a range of smart devices. The launch, which will also be supported by France Télécom’s Orange, and Vodafone, is set for the first half of 2012, and likely to be followed later in the year by a launch in Germany. Telefónica is once of five major European telcos backing the re-focused RCS offering, and, while there is considerable scepticism surrounding the future of the platform within the industry, the telco has indicated that it sees potential for RCS-e services to bloom in the emerging Latin American smart device market. [pp.14-15.]
4. Telefónica Germany agreed a deal with Deutsche Telekom to use the telco’s fibre infrastructure to boost backhaul capacity, and tackle recent network performance weaknesses. Telefónica previously had a roaming agreement in Germany with the incumbent’s T-Mobile business, which suggests a good working relationship could be maintained between the parties, but the agreement raises questions over the effectiveness of Telefónica’s network investment in recent years. Telefónica Czech Republic, which already partners T-Mobile on network sharing, trumpeted the benefits of its deal, which has seen the roll out of 337 new base stations by each operator in 2011 — with a further 306 expected to be added in 2012. [pp.24, 25-26.]
5. As Telefónica Group continues to adapt to the new organisational structure announced in 2011, a new holding company was created for the Spanish and UK elements of Telefónica Digital, and Telefónica Europe restructured its board, reducing the number of directors from fifteen to seven. [p.5.]
6. Telefónica Digital confirmed earlier reports that its new headquarters will be at the AirW1 site in the West End of London. The central facility is expected to become a showcase for the division’s emerging capabilities, and the decision to bypass the East End’s nascent Silicon Roundabout suggests the site will be more about deal-making and image-building than a hub for innovation. The Digital division is also searching for a global public relations firm, to help the new business build its reputation and help underscore Telefónica’s credentials in a digital world. [p.8.]
7. Telefónica UK’s launch of its O2 Wallet mobile contactless payment application was postponed, as the company took the decision to instead extend internal trials in order to ensure an adequate customer experience. [p.13.]
8. Telefónica Digital’s technology incubator programme Wayra signalled its intention to launch within O2 territories, with the appointment of former O2 UK SME head Simon Devonshire as Head of Wayra Europe. [p.16.]
9. Telefónica in Latin America agreed a second MVNO deal with Virgin Mobile, which will see the global brand launch services using Movistar networks in Colombia in 2012, as well as Chile. Further Virgin Mobile regional launches are planned in countries such as Mexico and Peru, but whether the network partnership between the companies will also expand is unclear. [p.17.]
10. Telefónica signed an agreement with Sony Pictures to distribute the film company’s content via its video-on-demand platforms in Latin America. [p.17.]
11. Telefónica in Brazil said that it has now connected one million broadband customers under the federal government’s Plano Nacional de Banda Larga national broadband programme, and intends to expand its PNBL coverage to an additional 71 cities in São Paulo state in 2012, taking the total to 300. Mobile business Vivo trumpeted its progress in rolling out 3G coverage across the country, but nevertheless appears to be falling behind on its schedule. [p.18, 19.]
12. Movistar Mexico launched a second-line service, using technology from Movius, a specialist in unified communication solutions. [p.20.]
13. Telefónica del Perú paid EUR38m to Sunat, Peru’s tax agency, as part of an ongoing dispute over a claim for over EUR570m in unpaid back taxes. The telco is continuing its legal challenge to the government’s levy, while it also negotiates a licence renewal. [p.22.]
14. BNA, the German telecoms authority, cleared Telefónica Germany to expand 800MHz-based services to urban areas in the northern region of Schleswig Holstein. The company has now fulfilled its rural coverage obligations in seven of the country’s 16 states. [p.26.]
15. Movistar España launched a mobile television application integrated with RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger social platform, called Imagenio Movistar Móvil, which enables customers to chat and access interactive features while watching TV. The integration of Social TV features could be a boost to mobile TV services, and there are reports the Spanish business may also be overhauling its IPTV offering, through closer partnership with Microsoft. [pp.13, 27-28.]
16. Telefónica España successfully concluded testing on DWDM channel speeds of 400Gbps on a live fibre-optic network, although it added that it does not anticipate a commercial launch of the 400Gbps links until 2013 at the earliest. [p.29.]
17. Telefónica España, along with mobile rivals, is to face a pricing investigation from CNC, the Spanish competition authority, following a complaint from BT España over high call origination and termination charges. [p.29.]
18. Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, once again revised the rules of its forthcoming 4G spectrum auction, amid ongoing wrangling over the terms of the sale. This time Telefónica UK is seen as a significant beneficiary of the revision, which saw abandonment of plans to give market leader Everything Everywhere priority access to 800MHz frequencies, and dilution of previous restrictions on the amount of spectrum operators can acquire. The Czech telecoms regulator also gave an early indication of its intentions regarding the forthcoming 800MHz spectrum auction, slated for later in 2012. The ČTÚ said its goals include seeing that 90% of the Czech population have access to 4G services within three years, raising funds for the state, and improving competition, possibly through the entrance of a fourth player. [pp.23, 31-32.]
19. Telefónica UK’s O2 Enterprise unit, in partnership with Fiberlink, launched Joined Up People, a new ‘Bring Your Own Device’ mobile management service. O2 Unify, Telefónica UK’s joint venture with IT services provider 2e2, won a three-year contract worth “several million pounds” from Network Rail to refresh the rail operator’s Cisco switch and router estate across 450 sites. [pp.33-34.]
20. O2 UK pulled of a coup by winning a contract with Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, to create what it claims will be the largest free wireless hub in Europe, as part of its wider plan to roll out its the O2 wifi service nationwide. O2 beat incumbent provider BT Openzone to secure the deal. [p.35.]
21. China Unicom achieved its goal of adding at least 25 million 3G subscribers in 2011. The company hit the target with a month to spare, after adding 3.4 million in November 2011. While the operator is outperforming rivals on adds, it is costing significant sums in handset subsidies as the product portfolio is expanded across a range of price points. [pp.41-42.]
22. Telecom Italia Mobile has overtaken Vodafone Italia as mobile market leader, according to the regulator. In Brazil, TI’s mobile unit is also seeing its market share grow, as it focuses on a mobile-only strategy while its rivals (including Vivo) integrate and bundle. [pp.42-43.]

About Telefonicawatch

Report: #62
Covering: January 2012
Published: January 2012
Next report: February 2012

Ongoing tracking and insight into Telefónica Group; delivering valuable insight into the labyrinth that is Spain’s global telco giant.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Telefonicawatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Telefonica Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just a leading European and Latin American integrated telecoms group and one of the world's top-five players and its many operating companies, but also its wider interests, including the Atento contact centre business, Vivo in Brazil, Telecom Italia, Portugal Telecom, and China Unicom.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from UKP GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: January 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 46

• Table of Contents
• Index
• About Vodafonewatch

Table of Contents

1 Executive brief

4 Group

4 Financial reports
4 S&P downgrades Telefónica outlook
5 Organisation
5 Telefónica formalises Telefónica Digital structure
5 Telefónica Europe restructures board
5 Financial reports
6 People
6 People movement highlights
7 Devices
7 Device highlights

8 Telefónica Digital

8 Operations
8 Telefónica Digital reveals new London HQ
8 New offices focused on making a big impression
9 Cloud services
9 Telefónica ties with FeedHenry for mobile cloud platform
9 BlueVia
10 Telefónica invests in Joyent for cloud services
11 Telefónica making its presence felt through promised partnerships
11 Telefónica signs up to Cisco CloudVerse
13 IPTV
13 Rumours of Microsoft deal to upgrade Imagenio
13 Mobile commerce
13 O2 Wallet launch postponed as testing continues
14 Rich communications
14 Telefónica and rivals launch RCS-e services
14 Wayra
15 RCS now needs to move beyond annual MWC PR puffery
15 A place for RCS in Telefónica’s growth markets
16 Wayra appoints European head

17 Latinoamérica

17 Regional
17 Movistar and Virgin build LatAm links with Colombia deal
17 Telefónica ties with Sony Pictures for LatAm content
17 Argentina
18 Brazil
18 Telefónica reports one million PNBL subscribers
19 Chile
19 Latest phase of American Tower deal completed
19 Boost for Telefónica as Entel/GTD merger scuppered
20 Costa Rica
20 Telefónica accuses ICE of anti-competitive practices
20 Mexico
20 Telefónica launches second line service with Movius
22 Telefónica calls for regulatory hard line in Mexico
22 Peru
22 Telefónica pays PEN 134m in tax dispute
22 Colombia
22 El Salvador

23 Europe

23 Czech Republic
23 ČTÚ sets out spectrum auction goals
23 Possibility for new player in market mooted
24 O2 Czech Republic: smartphones dominate sales
24 Symbian still dominates, Android closing for O2 Czech Republic
24 O2 praises T-Mobile network-sharing deal
24 Germany
25 Telefónica agrees network-sharing deal with T-Mobile
25 T-Mobile agreement confirms previous hints from O2
26 Operators revive earlier ties, but questions raised over O2 network
26 O2 freed for urban LTE rollout in Schleswig-Holstein
27 Telefónica selects Anite for LTE device testing
27 Spain
27 Movistar brings social mobile TV to BlackBerry
28 Mobile leading social TV drive
28 Telefónica launches universal broadband offer
29 Telefónica tests 400Gbps networks
29 Telefónica España, rivals face MVNO pricing probe
29 Ireland
29 Slovakia
31 United Kingdom
31 O2 faces customer anger over number leaks
31 O2 holds hands up and explains the cause…
32 …but may have brushed significance for loyalty schemes under the carpet
32 Privacy breaches pose risk to relationships, and financial services ambitions
32 O2′s responsiveness may not be enough to end matter
33 O2 launches Joined Up People; picks Fiberlink’s MaaS360
33 Joined Up continues to raise game for Vodafone challenge
34 O2 Unify wins Network Rail contract
34 O2 expands presence in Network Rail, pushing out BT?
35 O2 ties with London councils for free Wi-Fi
36 Ofcom revises 4G auction rules again
37 Rural coverage obligations also to be tweaked
37 EE offered 1.8GHz LTE consolidation, but still seen as main loser
38 Telefónica seen as likely buyer of EE 1.8GHz spectrum
38 Analyst reaction
39 O2 UK appoints new Chief Financial Officer

41 Associates and investments

41 China Unicom
41 Unicom achieves 2011 3G targets
41 China Unicom launches cheaper smartphones
42 Higher end devices still key element in portfolio
42 Telecom Italia
42 TIM Brasil focused on core services
42 Telecom Italia
43 TI takes the lead in mobile subscribers

44 Index

Index

Symbols

2e2, 34

A

Agcom (Italy), 43
Alcatel-Lucent, 13
Algar Telecom, 18
América Móvil, 22, 42
– Claro, 19, 20
American Tower, 19, 20
Anatel, 19
Anite, 27
Apple, 7, 9, 15, 24, 36, 42
Arsenal Football Club, 31
Automobile Club Argentino, 17
AGCOM (Italy), 43

B

Bango.net, 31
BT Group, 29, 34, 35, 36
Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen (Germany), 26

C

China Mobile, 41
China Telecom, 41
Cisco Systems, Inc., 11, 34
Cluttons, 8
CMT (Spain), 27, 28, 29
CNC, 29
CTU (Czech Republic), 23

D

Dell, 10
Deutsche Bank, 42
Deutsche Telekom, 15, 24, 25, 26, 37, 38
– T-Mobile, 7, 23, 24, 25, 26
– - Czech Republic, 24, 25
- – Germany, 24
Diageo, 9
Digicel, 22
DirecTV, 42
Drillisch, 24

E

Eastman Kodak, 10
Eckoh, 31
EMC
– VMware, 15, 33
Entel, 19, 20
Ericsson, 29
Euro RSCG, 23
Eurosport, 27
Everything Everywhere (Orange/T-Mobile UK), 36, 38

F

Facebook, 15, 25, 27, 36
Federal Communications Commission, 18
FeedHenry, 9, 11
Fiberlink, 33
fonYou, 20
France Télécom, 15, 29, 37, 38
– Orange, 11, 14, 27, 29
– - Spain, 14, 27, 29
Fujitsu, 11

G

Google, 7, 9, 36
– Android, 7, 9, 24, 36, 41, 42
GSM Association (GSMA), 14, 15, 25
– Mobile World Congress, 15
GTD, 19, 20

H

High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), 7
HSBC, 5
Huawei, 41
Hutchison Whampoa, 38
– H3G
- – UK, 36, 38

I

ICE (Costa Rica), 20
Informa plc / Ovum, 38
Information Commissioner’s Office (UK), 32
Inmobiliaria e Inversiones el Coigue, 19
– GTD, 19, 20
Innova, 14, 15

J

Joyent, 10, 11
JPMorgan, 5

L

Lenovo, 41
LG, 7
LinkedIn, 10

M

Mediapro
– Gol TV, 27
Microsoft, 9, 13, 15, 24
– Mediaroom, 13
– Windows Phone, 7, 9, 15, 24
– Xbox, 13
Motorola, 7
Movius Interactive, 20
MTV, 27

N

NEC, 11, 18, 20
Network Rail, 34
Nexus, 9
Nokia, 7, 9, 15, 24

O

O2 Arena, 29
Ofcom (UK), 32, 36, 37, 38
Olympic Games, 35
Optimus, 7
Osiptel, 22

P

Peckover, Lewis, 31
Plano Nacional de Banda Larga (Brazil), 18
PricewaterhouseCoopers, 9
Pulso StartUp, 9

Q

Quantenna Communications, 10

R

Regions
– APAC / China, 41, 42
- EMEA
– - Czech Republic, 5, 17, 23, 24
- – Europe, 5, 6, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, 20, 23, 25, 28, 35, 37
- – France, 14, 15, 29, 37, 38
- – Germany, 5, 6, 7, 14, 17, 24, 25, 26, 27
- – Ireland, 5, 7, 9, 25, 29, 39
- – Israel, 5
- – Italy, 14, 43
- – Slovakia, 29
- – Spain, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 27, 28, 29
- – UK, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 25, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39
– Latin America, 4, 9, 11, 15, 17, 20
– - Argentina, 16, 17, 18, 20
- – Bolivia, 17
- – Brazil, 5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 42
- – Chile, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20
- – Colombia, 16, 17, 22
- – Costa Rica, 20
- – Ecuador, 7
- – El Salvador, 22
- – Mexico, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22
- – Peru, 16, 17, 20, 22
- – Uruguay, 17
- – Venezuela, 7, 16
– North America
– - USA, 5, 9, 10
Research In Motion, 7, 9, 24, 27
– BlackBerry, 7, 9, 24, 27, 28
Royal Bank of Scotland, 38
Royal KPN / E-Plus, 24

S

Samsung, 9, 22
Sercomtel, 18, 19
Sony, 7, 17
Standard and Poors, 4
Subtel (Chile), 19, 20
Sunat (Peru), 22
Sutel (Costa Rica), 20
Symbian, 24

T

TalkTalk plc, 6
TCL, 41
TDLC (Chile), 19
Technologies
– 2G, 25, 27, 37, 41
– - CDMA, 22
- – GSM, 14, 22
– 3G, 7, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 41, 42
– - 3.5G, 22
- – HSPA+, 22
- – UMTS, 25
– 4G
– - LTE, 23, 25, 26, 27, 36, 37, 38
– Bluetooth, 7
– Broadband, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28, 41, 42, 43
– - ADSL, 31 / 28
- – VDSL, 28
– Cloud computing, 8, 10, 11, 14, 41
– DWDM, 29
– e-Health, 8, 14
– Ethernet, 28
– GPS, 7
– IN, 11
– IP, 13, 14, 15, 20, 34, 36
– IPTV, 13, 20
– M2M, 8, 14
– Mobile TV, 27
– MORAN, 24
– NFC, 7
– NGN, 43
– Private circuits, 25
– RCS, 14, 15, 25
– SIM, 20, 24, 43
– SMS, 14, 23, 25
– TV, 20, 27, 28
– VoIP, 20
– WLAN
– - WiFi, 7, 10, 31, 35, 36, 41
Telecom Italia, 11, 15, 26, 42, 43
– Entel, 19, 20
– Telecom Italia Mobile, 43
– TIM Brasil, 42
Telefónica Group
– Associates and investments
– - China Unicom, 41, 42
- – Telecom Italia, 11, 15, 26, 42, 43
– Atento, 6
– Digital
– - BlueVia, 9
- – Innova, 14, 15
- – Mobile commerce, 32
- – Telefónica I+D, 8
- – Terra, 5
- – Wayra, 6, 14, 15, 16
– Europe
– - Czech Republic, 23, 24, 25
- – Germany, 6, 7, 24, 25, 26, 27
- – GiffGaff, 31, 33
- – HanseNet Telekommunikation, 26
- – Ireland, 7, 29
- – O2, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39
- – Slovakia, 29
- – Spain, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 27, 28, 29
- – Think Big, 6
- – UK, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39
– Executives
– - Abellan , Juan Antonio, 22
- – Aguilera, Javier, 14
- – Alierta, César, 27
- – Álvarez-Pallete Lopez, Jose Maria, 5, 16
- – Appelquist, Daniel, 39
- – Ashford, Sally, 5
- – Barahona, Claudio, 14
- – Cobiana, Patricia, 5
- – Devonshire, Simon, 6, 16
- – Dunne, Ronan, 5, 6, 36, 39
- – Dvorjancansky, Jiri, 23, 24
- – Evans, Mark, 6, 39
- – Evans, Sarah, 32
- – Gamé, Juan, 6
- – Giner Garcia, David, 5
- – Key, Matthew, 8, 9, 10
- – Ledesma, Gustavo, 20
- – Lopez, Pilar, 5
- – Martin-Villa, Gonzalo, 16
- – McManus, Derek, 35
- – Meader, Dan, 6
- – Medina, Enrique, 5
- – Muñoz, Claudio, 20
- – Nicholas, David, 8
- – Nieto, Ezequiel, 5
- – Pérez Soto, Alfonso, 17
- – Plumb, David, 33, 34
- – Poston, Richard, 5
- – Ros, Ramon, 39
- – Schuster, Rene, 25, 26
- – von Bothmer, Claudia, 6
- – Wilkins, Nick, 8
- – Zaplana, Eduardo, 5
– Global Resources
– - Cornerstone, 25
– Latinoamérica, 14, 17, 19, 20
– - Argentina, 17, 18
- – Brazil, 18, 19, 42
- – Chile, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20
- – Colombia, 17, 22
- – Innova, 14, 15
- – Media Networks L. America, 20
- – Mexico, 20, 22
- – Pegaso PCS, 19
- – Peru, 7, 22
- – Venezuela, 7
- – Vivo, 7, 18, 19, 42
– Products and services
– - Aplicateca, 18
- – Imagenio, 13, 27, 28
- – Joined Up, 33, 34
- – O2 Blue, 25
- – O2 o, 16
- – O2 Unify, 34
- – O2 Wallet, 13
- – O2 wifi, 35
- – pay-TV, 17, 18, 19, 20, 42
- – Priority Moments, 13, 32
- – Speedy (Latinoamérica), 17
– T. Digital, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 39
– - Joyent, 10, 11
- – O2 Labs, 36
- – Quantenna Communications, 10
- – Telefónica Ventures, 10
– Telefónica Learning Services, 5
– Terra, 5
– - Rumbo, 5
– Wayra, 6, 14, 15, 16
Telemar, 18 / Oi, 18, 19
Telstra, 11
Tesco / Tesco Mobile, 31
The Crown Estate / AirW1, 8
Tigo, 22
Time Warner / CNN, 27
Twitter, 27

U

UBS, 5
Usablenet, 32

V

Verizon Communications
– Terremark, 11
– Verizon Wireless, 15
Virgin Group, 7, 17, 19, 36, 39
– Virgin Media, 36, 39
– Virgin Mobile, 7, 17, 19
– Virgin Mobile Latin America, 17
Virgin Media, 36, 39
VMware, 15, 33
Vodafone Group, 6, 7, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 43
– Germany, 24, 25, 26
– Spain, 14, 27, 29
- UK, 7, 37, 38

W

Weather Investment II, 10, 11
WhatsApp, 25
Wormhole IT, 18
WPP plc
– OgilvyOne, 23
Wunderman, 23

X

Xiaomi Technology, 42

Y

Yankee Group, 9

Z

Zacks Investment Research, 5
ZTE, 41

About Telefonicawatch

Report: #62
Covering: January 2012
Published: January 2012
Next report: February 2012

Ongoing tracking and insight into Telefónica Group; delivering valuable insight into the labyrinth that is Spain’s global telco giant.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Telefonicawatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Telefonica Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just a leading European and Latin American integrated telecoms group and one of the world's top-five players and its many operating companies, but also its wider interests, including the Atento contact centre business, Vivo in Brazil, Telecom Italia, Portugal Telecom, and China Unicom.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from UKP GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 42

Hungary’s Nemzeti Média és Hírközlési Hatóság (National Media and Infocommunications Authority/NMHH) revealed that four companies are to bid in the country’s upcoming 900MHz spectrum auction (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #1-#3), with T-Mobile Hungary (TMHU) among them.

The sell-off — which is to take place in January 2011, with a total of 10.8MHz, “technology-neutral” frequency rights up for grabs — will see the participation of the market’s incumbents: TMHU; Telenor Hungary; and Vodafone Hungary (VfH).

Also competing for the spectrum will be a consortium of state-owned companies, comprising: development bank Magyar Fejlesztési Bank; energy firm Magyar Villamos Művek; and postal operator Magyar Posta, which has a distribution relationship with Vodafone. Business newspaper Napi Gazdasag reported that Magyar Posta will control 10% of the consortium, and the other two players 45% each.

The NMHH declined applications to participate from: Romanian cable operator RCS&RDS (which operates a mobile virtual network operator on Telenor’s infrastructure, and is a growing Group rival in southern and eastern Europe); and expansive Vietnamese operator, Viettel Group (which was also recently mooted as a potential new rival to T-Mobile Slovakia — Deutsche Telekomwatch, #4).

As outlined by the NMHH in August 2011, three levels of spectrum holdings will go up for sale: a 5MHz ‘A’ block, with a reserve price of HUF 4bn (EUR13m); 1MHz ‘B’ rights reserved at HUF 700m apiece; and 0.8MHz ‘C’ rights at HUF 560m.

It is currently unclear what (if any) restrictions the NMHH will place on the incumbents during the sale — previous reports suggested prospective new entrants will be given some level of priority over at least some of the frequencies.

Consortium criticised

The participation of the state grouping will be a boost to the regulator, which has long been eager to bring a fourth player into the mobile market, but failed to attract sufficient interest to go ahead with a planned auction in 2009.

However, the move raised controversy domestically, in light of the country’s stretched finances, and that government intervention is already a live topic in Hungary, around its recently implemented “crisis” tax on telecoms players (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #1 and #3). Gergely Palffy, a Hungary-based Analyst at KBC Securities, described the consortium’s participation as “unnecessary”, noting that to set up a fourth player would add to strains on the public budget.

[Further reference: Vodafonewatch, passim; Hungarian state firms to enter mobile telecoms market -- Dow Jones, 7 December 2011; Magyar Telekom files auction bid for 900MHz frequency blocks -- MTI, 8 December 2011; Hungary may 'squander' $400 million on mobile provider, KBC says -- Bloomberg, 9 December 2011; Nyilvános a 900 MHz-es sáv árverésére jelentkezők névsora -- NMHH, 9 December 2011; Magyar Telekom, Telenor, Vodafone to bid for Hungary mobile spectrum -- Dow Jones, 9 December 2011; Magyar Telekom, Telenor, Vodafone OK to bid for Hungary mobile spectrum -- Dow Jones, 2 January 2012.]

Central Europe’s communications titan — surveillance, analysis, insight.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Deutsche Telekomwatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Deutsche Telekom Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just Germany's integrated telcoms leaders and all of its international operating companies, but also its wider interests, including OTE in Greece, Magyar Telekom in Hungary, and much more.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 42

1. GROUP: Deutsche Telekom bowed to the inevitable and abandoned efforts to secure clearance for the $39bn mega-merger of T-Mobile USA and AT&T, knocking recent Group strategy back by a year, or more; and turning attention onto whether management will now ‘stick or twist’ with its challenged American OpCo. The rumour mill remained split over whether DT will now pursue a sale to another, less powerful competitor, or offload assets, either in Europe, or the USA, to fund an aggressive new push to cancel out TMUS’s “investment overhang”. [pp.4-6.]
2. Oddly, despite these strategic challenges, the Group decided not to seek a direct replacement for recently departed Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Edward Kozel, and will instead divide his responsibilities between Chief Executive, René Obermann, and Head of Europe, Claudia Nemat. [p.7.]
3. Thomas Berlemann took over from Bart Weijermars as Chief Executive of T-Mobile Netherlands, as the OpCo seeks a grip on multiple competitive challenges in the country. The move came as the Dutch government confirmed plans to reserve sizeable tranches of spectrum for new entrants in the country’s upcoming multi-band auction, due to take place in October 2012. [pp.8, 27, 28.]
4. DT furthered a recently flagged push to revamp its portfolio of consumer Internet Services by teaming with online discount aggregator Groupon on European roll out of the latter’s high-profile daily deals offering. The Group also tied with US mobile video specialist MobiTV on “converged media services”. [pp.10, 12.]
5. Group investment arm, T-Venture, remained an active spender, contributing to a financing round in USA-based device maker Jawbone. [p.13.]
6. GERMANY: T-Mobile Deutschland was one of two additional OpCos to strike network-sharing deals, as the Group seeks out efficiencies across Europe. The OpCo is to provide backhaul capacity to rival Telefónica Germany, while T-Mobile Austria agreed a 2G/3G national roaming deal with competitor 3 Austria, seemingly replacing the sharing pact it highlighted with Orange Austria in 2011. [pp.14, 15, 17.]
7. Telekom Deutschland gained a boost in efforts to dislodge cable rivals’ entrenched housing association relationships, by agreeing a “strategic innovation” tie-up with property group Deutsche Annington. The deal gives the OpCo the opportunity to provide broadband and television services to around 171, 000 households. [pp.16.]
8. EUROPE: Activity around LTE continued to bubble away, with T-Mobile Hungary becoming the third Group OpCo to officially introduce the technology, following a previously flagged customer trial in the capital, Budapest. [p.22.]
9. T-Mobile Czech Republic also began piloting LTE, in Prague; while UK joint venture, Everything Everywhere, claimed success in its own ongoing trial of the technology, taking place alongside BT Wholesale. On the services side, T-Mobile Croatia began running robotics trials with the University of Rijeka, using its pilot LTE network; and Audi highlighted tests of in-car communications across T-Mobile Deutschland’s LTE infrastructure in Cologne, furthering existing, 3G-based collaboration with the Group. [pp.14, 18, 20, 31.]
10. DT’s eastern European investments continue to face disruption and uncertainty, as hard-up regional governments attempt to exploit sales of new and expiring spectrum rights. Romania published proposals to put up for sale, rather than automatically renew, Cosmote Romania and main rivals’ 2G licences, via an auction scheduled for the first half of 2012. Controversy also arose over Hungary’s upcoming 900MHz auction, with state-owned companies setting up a consortium to bid for the new frequencies. [pp.23, 28, 29.]
11. DT and Magyar Telekom agreed to make sizeable payments to regulators in the USA, as part of settlements to end long-running, high-profile investigations into bribery allegations in Macedonia and Montenegro. [p.24.]
12. OTE continued efforts to boost cash flow, by selling its 20% stake in incumbent Telekom Srbija, and agreeing a deal with unions on a new voluntary retirement programme at its remaining operations. [p.30.]
13. Everything Everywhere confirmed a previously mooted mobile wholesale partnership with Chinese CDMA and fixed-line carrier China Telecom, potentially furthering wider efforts by DT to boost ties in the Far East. However, the joint venture received a blow after UK regulator Ofcom dropped plans to reserve 800MHz frequencies for it in the country’s upcoming spectrum auction. [pp.32, 33, 36.]
14. SYSTEMS SOLUTIONS: T-Systems continued to highlight cloud services traction with key enterprise partner SAP, flagging customer agreements with: Correos, Spain’s national postal operator, with on-demand IT services from the software provider; and air charter company Jet Aviation. [p.37.]
15. USA: DT came under further pressure from labour organisations over representation of its US employees, receiving criticism from the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development over corporate responsibility claims. [p.38.]

About Deutsche Telekomwatch

Report: #6
Covering: Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012
Published: January 2012
Next report: February 2012

Central Europe’s communications titan — surveillance, analysis, insight.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Deutsche Telekomwatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Deutsche Telekom Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just Germany's integrated telcoms leaders and all of its international operating companies, but also its wider interests, including OTE in Greece, Magyar Telekom in Hungary, and much more.
• Our ‘watch' titles are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.

Covering: Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 42

• Table of Contents
• Index
• About Vodafonewatch

Table of Contents

1 Executive brief

4 Group

4 M&A
4 DT back to drawing board after TMUS deal collapse
5 Break-up compensation eases pain
6 Assets in play as DT looks for TMUS cash injection?
7 People
7 DT reshuffles board duties as Kozel departs
7 Nemat, Clemens widen responsibilities
8 Berlemann to take over from Weijermars at TMNE
8 Competition challenges will top agenda
9 People movement highlights
10 Products and services
10 Technology and innovation
10 Products and services
10 DT becomes Groupon’s first mobile carrier partner
12 Technology and innovation
12 Deutsche Telekom makes foray into palliative care
12 DT preps multi-screen service with MobiTV tie-up
13 Terminals
13 T-Venture
13 Terminals
13 Terminal highlights

14 Germany

14 Marketing
14 Partners
14 Network
14 Audi trials in-car comms on Cologne LTE network
14 TMDE, O2 agree network-sharing deal
15 Operators revive earlier ties
15 TMDE chosen over Vodafone
16 Products and services
16 TDE inks bulk fibre deal with housing group
16 Competition over bulk cable clients heats up

17 Europe

17 Austria
17 Bulgaria
17 Austria
17 TMAT, 3 team up on national roaming deal
18 Croatia
18 Croatia
18 LTE network supports robotics trial
20 Czech Republic
20 Czech Republic
20 Preparations underway for DC-HSPA+, LTE launches
21 Greece
21 Greece
21 Union deal reached over worker exit scheme
21 DT seeks more savings
22 Hungary
22 Hungary
22 TMHU steals march on rivals with New Year LTE debut
23 State grouping plots mobile challenge
23 Consortium criticised
24 DT, MT settle bribery lawsuits
25 Poland
25 Ixia gains network testing contract
25 Macedonia
25 No new entrant emerges from digital dividend sell-off
27 Netherlands
27 Montenegro
27 Huawei secures transmission upgrade contract
27 Netherlands
27 Auction pencilled for October; new entrants get leg-up
28 Netherlands
28 TMNE exits mobile wallet tie-up
28 Operator protests over allocation ignored
28 Romania
28 ANCOM seeks windfall from 900MHz/1800MHz sell-off
29 Netherlands
29 Slovakia
29 Orange, Vodafone hit out over timeframe
30 Serbia
30 OTE firms up Serbian exit
31 United Kingdom
31 United Kingdom
31 BT and EE update on LTE trials
31 Next steps for triallists unclear
32 United Kingdom
32 EE preps customer service revamp
32 EE hit as Ofcom changes 800MHz plans again
32 EE offered 1800MHz LTE consolidation, but still seen as main loser
33 EE hits out at Ofcom
33 Rural coverage obligations also to be tweaked
35 EE moves closer to 1800MHz sale
36 EE firms up China Telecom partnership
36 German expansion mooted
36 DT seeks place within developing global alliances

37 Systems Solutions

37 Partners
37 Customers
37 Contract highlights
37 Correos shifts to SAP/T-Systems cloud
37 Jet Aviation extension gained
37 Vueling turns to T-Systems for tech support

38 USA

38 Isis
38 Partners
38 Corporate
38 Unions hit out over DT corporate responsibility claims
39 Products and services
39 Regulatory
39 TMUS embroiled in Carrier IQ “spyware” controversy

40 Index

Index

A

ABN Amro 28
Agora SA
- Gazeta.pl 25
Aliph Inc.
- Jawbone 13
American Express Company 28
AFL-CIO 38
American Tower Corp. 6
Americas
- Canada 38
- USA 4, 5, 6, 13, 16, 24, 38
- – DoJ 4, 5, 24
- – FCC 4, 5, 39
- – SEC 24
Andreessen Horowitz 13
Apple 39
Aras Corp. 37
Asia-Pacific
- China 36
AT&T 4, 5, 6, 12, 36, 38, 39

B

Beyondsoft Corp. 36
Blyk 31
BMW 14
BT Group 31, 35

C

CareerBuilder LLC
- JobScout24 10
Carrier IQ Inc. 39
CeBIT 10
Celeno Communications 13
China Mobile 36
China Telecom 36
China Unicom 36
Cisco Systems 7
Citigroup 16
Comms. Workers of America (CWA) 38
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 10
Continental AG 10
Correos y Telégrafos SA 37
COUPIES GmBH 10
Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI) 6

D

Deutsche Post 10, 37
Deutsche Telekom
- Europe
- – Austria 17, 22
- – Bulgaria (see OTE) 13, 17, 21
- – Croatia (Hrvatski Telekom) 9, 18
- – Czech Republic 15, 20
- – Greece (see OTE) 21
- – Hungary (see Magyar Telekom) 9, 13, 22, 23, 24, 25
- – Montenegro (see MT) 27
- – Netherlands 8, 27, 28, 29
- – Poland (Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa/PTC) 25
- – Romania (see OTE) 13, 21, 28
- – Serbia (see T. Srbija/OTE) 30
- – Slovakia (Slovak Telekom/T Mobile) 23, 29
- – UK (Everything Everywhere) 6, 9, 13, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 39
- Executives
- – Berlemann, Thomas 8
- – Boezel, Jerry 9
- – Clemens, Reinhard 7
- – Höttges, Timotheus 21
- – Kozel, Edward 7
- – Nejedl, Ralk 9
- – Nemat, Claudia 7
- – Obermann, René 7
- – van Damme, Niek Jan 8
- – Wössner, Dirk 8
- Ex-executives
- – Weijermars, Bart 8
- Germany 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 25, 31
- – InteractiveMedia 16
- – T Online 14
- – T-Online 14
- Investments
- – Magyar Telekom (see seperate) 9, 22, 23, 24, 25
- – OTE (see seperate) 21, 30
- Management Board 7
- Product and Innovation
- – Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs) 10
- Products and services
- – App Taxi! 17
- – Connected Car 10
- – De-Mail 10
- – Dynamic Services Platform 37
- – Entertain 12, 13, 16
- – LIGA total! 16
- – LiveMAG 14
- – My T-Mobile 27
- – Net&Roll 4G 22
- – Rodina v bezpeci 20
- – Tactful Calling 10
- – T-Home 22
- – T-Mobile TV 12
- Strategy
- – Fix – - Transform – - Innovate 7
- – Growth Areas 10, 12
- – Save for Service 7, 21
- Systems Solutions 9, 37
- – T-Systems 7, 9, 14, 36, 37
- T-Venture 12, 13
- – Jawbone (see Aliph) 13
- – Portavita 12
- USA 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14, 28, 36, 38, 39
DHL Worldwide Express 10, 37
Drillisch AG
- eteleon e-solutions AG
- – discoTel 14

E

emuse Corporation Ltd 16
Ericsson 27
Europe
- Albania 21
- Austria 17, 22, 35
- Belgium 9, 17
- Bulgaria 13, 17, 21
- Croatia 9, 18, 29
- – University of Rijeka 18
- Czech Republic 17, 20
- Denmark 17
- France 17, 32, 33, 35, 36
- Germany 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 28, 31, 35, 36, 38, 39
- – Bundeskartellamt 16
- Greece 21, 29, 30
- Hungary 13, 22, 23, 28, 29, 35
- NMHH 22, 23
- Ireland 15
- Italy 30
- – Posta Italiane SpA 37
- Luxembourg 9
- Macedonia 24, 25
- – AEK 25
- Montenegro 24, 27
- Netherlands 8, 9, 10, 12, 17, 25, 27, 28, 29
- Poland 25
- – UOKiK 25
- Romania 21, 23, 28, 29
- – ANCOM 28, 29
- Serbia 30
- Slovakia 29
- – TÚ SR 29
- Spain 15, 37
- Switzerland 17, 37
- United Kingdom (UK) 6, 15, 28, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36
- – Ofcom 31, 32, 33
European Union
- European Commission 24, 28
Everything Everywhere Ltd (see DT, FT) 6, 9, 13, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36
- Executives
- – Allera, Marc 9
- – O’Leary, Jackie 32
- – Swantee, Olaf 31, 32
- Ex-executives
- – Hay, Duncan 9
- – Ralston, Andrew 9
- Orange Shots 31
- Orange UK 13, 31
- T-Mobile UK 13, 31, 39
- You Choose 31
eVigilo 25

F

Facebook 18
France Télécom 32, 33, 35, 36
- Orange 13, 17, 28, 29, 31
- – Austria 17
- – Romania 28
- – Slovakia 29
- – UK (see EE, DT) 6, 9, 13, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36
FreeMove Alliance (DT-FT-TeliaSonera-TI) 21
- Service Central Report 21

G

Gemalto NV 38
General Dynamics / Jet Aviation 37
Google 35, 39
- Android 10, 13, 17, 27, 39
- YouTube 10, 39
Groupon Inc. 10

H

Hawe SA / Hawe Telekom Sp zoo 25
Hewlett-Packard 9
High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) 39
Hrvatski Telekom (see DT, Croatia) 9, 18
- Combis d.o.o. 9
Huawei Technologies 13, 18, 22, 27, 31, 36
Hutchison Whampoa / 3 Group
- – Austria 17
- – UK 9, 32, 35

I

ING 28
International Airlines Group SA
- Vueling Airlines SA 37
Ixia 25

J

J.P. Morgan Asset Management 13
JVL Ventures, LLC (Isis, USA) 28, 38

K

Kabel Baden-Württemberg GmbH 16
KBC Group N.V. 23
Khosla Ventures 13
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers 13
KPN 27, 28

L

Lahn-Dill Hospitals 12
Leap Wireless International Inc. 6
Lebara Group 36
LG Electronics 39
Liberty Global Inc. 16, 22
- Chello Central Europe Zrt 22
- Unitymedia GmbH 16
- UPC Broadband 28
Lycamobile Ltd 36

M

Magyar Fejlesztési Bank Rt (MFB) 23
Magyar Posta Pal Szabo 23
Magyar Telekom (see DT) 9, 22, 23, 24, 25
- Makedonski T./T-Mobile 8, 9, 24, 25
- Montenegro (Crnogorski Telekom) 27
- T-Mobile Hungary 13, 22, 23
Magyar Villamos Művek Zrt. (MVM) 23
MasterCard 28
MEDICA 12
MetroPCS Communications Inc. 6
Microsoft / Windows Phone 13
Milner, Yuri 13
MobiTV 12
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. 13

N

NASDAQ 10
National Farmers Union (NFU) 31
neopost SA 37
NMa (Netherlands) 27
Nokia 13
Nokia Siemens Networks 31

O

Olympic Games 2012 (London) 36
one2many 25
ONE Telekom. uslugi AD (T. Slovenije) 25
OECD 38
OTE (Hellenic T. Org. SA, see DT) 21, 30
- Bulgaria (Globul) 13, 17, 21
- Cosmote 13, 21, 28, 29
- – Albanian Mobile Comms 21
- – Greece 21
- – Romania 13, 21, 28
- Serbia (see Telekom Srbija) 30
- Tsamaz, Michael 30

P

Portavita BV (see T-Venture) 12

R

Rabobank 28
RCS&RDS SA 23, 29
Research In Motion / BlackBerry 27, 39
Roam Mobility 38
Royal Bank of Scotland plc, The 35

S

Samsung 16, 39
SAP 37
SAZKA, a.s. 20
Sequoia Capital 13
Shebang Technologies Group Ltd 9
Siemens AG 9
Sierra Wireless 14
Slovak Telekom (see DT, Slovakia) 29
Sprint Nextel 4, 6, 12, 39

T

Taxi 40 100 Taxifunkzentrale GmbH 17
Technology
- 2G 15, 17, 28, 29, 33, 36
- 3G 5, 13, 15, 17, 20, 29
- – Evolved HSPA (HSPA+/I-HSPA) 20, 22
- – - 64QAM 20
- – HSPA 20, 22, 27
- – UMTS 14
- 4G 13, 22, 25, 31, 32, 33, 39
- – Long Term Evolution (LTE) 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 31, 32, 35
- DSL 31
- Ethernet 25
- Fibre 14, 16, 25
- IP 25
- IPTV 13
- NFC 28, 38
- Personal computer 12, 25, 31
- – Netbook 13
- RF 31
- Smartphone 10, 17, 25, 27, 31, 39
- SMS 17, 20, 25
- Spectrum
- – 800 MHz 20, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33
- – 900 MHz 23, 27, 28, 29
- – 1000 MHz 32, 33
- – 1800 MHz 14, 22, 27, 28, 29, 32, 35
- – 1900 MHz 27
- – 2100 MHz 27, 29
- – 2600 MHz 22, 27, 28, 29, 33
- – Advanced Wireless Spectrum 5
- – Digital dividend 20, 25, 28, 31, 32
- W-LAN 13, 31
Tele2 28
- Netherlands 28
Telecom Italia 30
Telefónica Group 14, 15, 20, 32, 35, 36
- Europe 14, 15
- – Czech Republic 15, 20
- – Germany 14, 15
- – UK 32, 35
Telekom Austria 30
- A1 17
Telekom Slovenije, d.d.
- Macedonia (ONE) 25
Telekom Srbija a.d. (see OTE/DT) 30
Telenor ASA / Hungary 22, 23
Terra Firma Capital Partners (TFCP)
- D. Annington Immobilien GmbH 16
TIE Holding NV 29
TNT NV 10
Trade Union Advisory Comm. to the OECD 38
Transatel SA 36
TRAVIK (Sixpack) 28

V

Value-added services 10, 25, 33, 36
ver.di (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft) 38
Verizon Communications 4, 12, 38
- Verizon Wireless 4, 12, 38
Viettel Group 23
Virgin Media 35
Visa 28
Vodafone 8, 15, 20, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 32, 35, 36
- Europe Region
- – Czech Republic 20
- – Germany 15
- – Hungary 22, 23
- – Netherlands 8, 27, 28
- – Romania 28
- – UK 32, 35, 36
Volkswagen AG
- Audi AG 14

Y

YouMail Inc. 39

Z

Zesko Holding BV (Ziggo) 28
Ziggo 4 (see Liberty/UPC, Zesko) 28

About Deutsche Telekomwatch

Report: #6
Covering: Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012
Published: January 2012
Next report: February 2012

Central Europe’s communications titan — surveillance, analysis, insight.
A unique monthly report for the industry.

• Deutsche Telekomwatch is the only independent monitor of everything and anything to do with Deutsche Telekom Group, worldwide. Nothing else comes close. Thorough, impartial, accessible, and time-saving.
• Covering not just Germany's integrated telcoms leaders and all of its international operating companies, but also its wider interests, including OTE in Greece, Magyar Telekom in Hungary, and much more.
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Covering: Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2012
Published: 10-12 times a year
Next report: February 2012
Pages: 36

Vodafone UK is closing its Vodafone at Home fixed-line broadband and voice business, and is switching customers to Plusnet, BT Retail’s low-cost broadband service provider, from February 2012.

Vodafone’s At Home service had been stagnating for several years, with revenue hovering for some time at around £30m-per-year — although the start of the 2011-12 financial year recorded a notable bump up in revenue to £10m for quarterly revenue, up from the norm of £7m-£8m.

Vodafone emailed customers subscribing to the service in December 2011 informing them of the change in service provider, and introduced a section to its website answering questions on how the change would affect them. Switching customers are being offered free bundled voice services from Plusnet for six months as part of the move. Vodafone customers will be entitled to switch to an alternative service provider rather than Plusnet on request, but would face a £25 fine to end the service altogether.

It appears that customers will see download caps and some inclusive minute features enhanced with the switch from Vodafone to Plusnet, and the Yorkshire-based service provider will see another boost to its consistently growing customer numbers. The usage cap is to be set at 60GB. Vodafone had an “unlimited” use claim in place, although it appears this was effectively capped by a 40GB fair use policy. Plusnet acknowledged its traffic management policies will be applied to Vodafone joiners, although these principally relate to shaping traffic in peak evening hours. It was noted that Plusnet customers’ use of their connection between midnight and 8am does not count towards their usage total.

“ While we believe Vodafone At Home provides great service and value-for-money to customers, the residential phone and broadband market in the UK is not a strategic focus at the present time. After assessing the whole market, we chose Plusnet as the provider that can best support Vodafone At Home customers in the future. ”
– Vodafone statement on the switch.

Plusnet a good advertisement for a ‘hands-off‘ approach at BT

The Plusnet business is a strong example of BT being able to exploit demand for low-cost services from a provider ostensibly acting independently, and the Vodafone deal can be seen as another victory.

Keeping Plusnet at arm’s length has worked for BT Retail’s consumer business in contrast to companies bought to serve business customers. These units have fared less well, and the division is still attempting to integrate the businesses Basilica Computing, DABS, and Lynx Technology into its operations through BT Engage IT (see separate report).

On the negative side for BT Group, the Vodafone move will see responsibility for the mobile operator’s fixed-line customers shift from BT Wholesale to BT Retail, which can be seen as another small, but meaningful, blow to the wholesale business. The division has recently experienced a rapid exodus of customers, and difficulty in providing profitable services on its managed services contracts (BTwatch, #223), and the Vodafone decision only adds to woes.

[Further reference: Questions about Plusnet support from 7th February 2012 -- Vodafone, December 2011; Vodafone UK scraps home broadband service and migrates users to PlusNet -- ISPreview, 20 December 2011.]

For comprehensive coverage of BT Group worldwide, nothing comes close to BTwatch. Independent and unbiased, BTwatch offers unparalleled scope, valuable analysis and a considered view of BT’s corporate, domestic and international activities.

• BTwatch provides a thorough yet accessible grounding in the state of BT now, and where it is going. Following BTwatch enables our clients to get up to speed quickly, and stay ahead of their game.
• BTwatch provides comprehensive analysis and insight into everything relating to BT, including its Divisions -- BT Retail, BT Wholesale, BT Global Services, and BT Openreach -- and its European and wider international operations. Also covered in-depth are strategy, financials, and associates and investments (such as Tech Mahindra).
• Our ‘watch' report services are repeatedly described by clients and end-users as the single most valuable source of third-party sales intelligence, and are considered invaluable by many high-achieving commercial teams and account directors.
• A unique source of valuable opportunities, knowledge, planning, strategy, and much more, the reports represent both tactical tool and strategic reference, providing input and even a springboard for corporate planning, reporting, and meetings.
• A ‘must-have' for sales teams focused on high-value sales, maintaining strategic relationships, and managing extended sales cycles. Just one nugget, insight, or validation can pay for the service many times over.
• Pricing is typically USD $8.2k / EUR 5.7k / UKP £5k per year for an Account Team Licence, and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and situation. Copies of individual reports are also available, priced from GBP £999 (USD $1,650 / EUR 1,100). Multiple purchasing options available, including payment cards.
• Delivered electronically 10-12-plus times a year, with back issues also available, providing unparallelled reference and insight into major events, strategic initiatives, financials and KPIs.
• Contact us for further information, including samples and evaluation trial requests. info@marketmettle.com / +44-20-7183-0111.