THE WRAP: China fallout hits Android

Robert Clark | January 22, 2010

telecomasia.net

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This week Google’s China skirmishes continued, while Skype ate up more of the

voice market.

In week two of the Google-China showdown, Google and Unicom delayed indefinitely the launch of the first Android handsets because of the uncertainty over its entire China business.

Google probed its Beijing staff to see if they were involved in the attacks on its servers, while China said that the issue should not be linked to its diplomatic relations with the US. Motorola said Baidu would be the default search engine on its Android phones in China. On the upside for Google, it posted a 17% increase in fourth quarter sales as earnings rose fivefold.

SingTel joined Google and other Unity Cable partners to build the $400 million Southeast Asia Japan Cable – with design capacity of up to 23 Tbps it is touted as the biggest ever.

The recession helped Skype increase its share of the global call market. It now carries 13% of all international call minutes.

Mobile downloads will top $6 billion this year, says Gartner.

It says 99.4% of all mobile downloads last year were to iPhones.

3 and Ericsson announced plans to roll out the world’s fastest HSPA network in Denmark and Sweden, with maximum bandwidth of 84 Mbps.

M1 tapped Nokia Siemens to run Singapore’s first LTE trial.

Service providers worldwide were most concerned about sophisticated DDoS attacks and the rapid depletion of IPv4 addresses, Arbor Networks’ annual security survey found.

Tablet fever mounted as Apple dropped broad hints that it was ready to unveil its much-hyped internet tablet.

PCCW said it would join rivals iCable and Hong Kong Broadband in seeking a free-to-air TV license in Hong Kong. Wharf T&T tipped $128 million into upgrading its Hong Kong fiber network and rolling out cloud services.

China’s 3G price cuts continued, with Beijing Telecom offering packages starting from 36 yuan ($8.64). China launched its third Beidou navigation satellite and said the service would start by 2012.

Thailand’s 3G auction could be pushed back after it was revealed that a recent appointment to the NTC was under investigation for corruption.

SKT launched its first Android smartphone.

The French government offered up $2.8 billion in loans to help broadband rollout in underserved areas. UK cellco O2 said it would offer fixed-line voice services.

And a US man said his life was saved by an iPhone first aid app after being buried in rubble for 65 hours by the Haiti earthquake.

Source:

telecomasia.net

Robert Clark

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