Argentina Decides to Create its Own Mobile Company

Argentina's government apparently is canceling an auction for third generation (3G) spectrum that represents about a third of all potential 3G spectrum in Argentina.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has greatly expanded the state's role in the economy since she took office in 2007.

Kirchner shocked investors earlier in 2012 when she seized a controlling stake in Argentina's biggest oil company YPF SA  from Spain's Repsol SA.

Now telecommunications appears to be the next sector that will see an increased government presence, some would argue. 

Argentina boasts one of the highest rates of mobile-phone ownership in the world, with about 55 million wireless subscribers in a country of almost 41 million people.

Instead of licensing that spectrum, the Argentine government will go into business as a service provider itself using the state-owned satellite company ARSAT for backhaul and core network.  So far, it is not clear whether that means Argentina will operate the network directly, or have a business partner do so. 

Argentina's $14 billion mobile phone market is now lead by America Movil's Claro, Telecom Italia's Personal Telefonica's Movistar. The canceled spectrum auction is a blow to Argentina's four incumbent wireless carriers--Telecom Argentina SA and subsidiaries of Mexico'sAmerica Movil SAB de CV, Spain'sTelefonica SA  and U.S.-based NII Holdings Inc. that submitted bids.

Claro, owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, was the only company seen as having the resources to build a network using the new spectrum allocation, and letting Claro win "would have led to more concentration," Argentina says. 

The government also is studying other ways of reducing what it claims is "monopoly control in the telecommunications business," citing the dominant positions of Telefonica and Telecom as an example. 

The government was initially planning to award 30 MHz of spectrum in the 1,900 MHz band for an area covering the provinces of Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Misiones, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Chaco, Formosa, Catamarca, La Rioja, Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy and Santa Fe.

For the southern provinces of San Juan, San Luis, Mendoza, La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, parts of Santa Fe and certain areas in Buenos Aires, the government planned to award 35 MHz in the 1,900 MHz band.

For the greater Buenos Aires area, the government was looking to award 7.5 MHz of spectrum in the 850 MHz band and 30 MHz in the 1,900 MHz band.

"This is not a state takeover," the Argentine government says. 

Smart Meter Shipments Grow 34% in Second Quarter 2012

Global smart meter shipments in the second quarter of 2012 grew 33.6 percent over the previous quarter, and were up nearly 51.3 percent year over year, according to  IDC Energy Insights. By the end of 2016, IDC expects worldwide annual meter shipments to surpass 130 million units.

The U.S. market continues to recede, after receiving an artificial bounce with the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, with growth in the smart metering market now shifting to Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

In Europe,  many European Union member states have signaled their comitment to embrace smart metering in compliance with the European legislation mandating deployment of smart meters where economically feasible. These states are now in the process of finalizing the regulatory framework for their respective national rollouts, which are to be completed by 2020.

Apple iOS Devices Consume 8 Times More Web Content Than Some Samsung Devices

Though the comparison is in some ways unfair, Apple iOS users consume about eight times as much Web content as users of eight older Samsung models, including the Galaxy S 4G, Galaxy S II AT&T, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S II T-Mobile, Galaxy S II Epic 4G, Galaxy S Showcase, Droid Charge, and Galaxy Prevail. 

On the Chitika ad network between August 18^t and August 24^t, 2012,  iPhone users generate nearly eight times the Web traffic. 

Some of us might argue that the comparison in many ways pits heavier users (iPhones) with lighter users (the eight older Samsung models), and devices with low share against a single device with leading market share. 

EU Might Reduce Support for Broadband Deployment

To the extent that European Union broadband plans for 2020 rely on financial support from the European Commission, it now appears those plans might slow, as the EC itself now says infrastructure funding is shifting to transport and energy projects. 

It appears that funding levels originally foreseen now cannot be provided at the original levels. "The Presidency recognizes that it is, therefore, inevitable that the total level of expenditure proposed by the Commission, including all elements inside and outside of the MFF, will have to be adjusted downwards."

Translation: less money for the EC broadband plan. 

Users 10 to 19 Drive Telekomunikasi Indonesia Growth

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia operates in a market where there are 250 million mobile subscribers out of a population of  240 million, and its fortunes illustrate the gradual shift to wireless modes of communications among users of virtually all ages, with significant growth form users 10 to 19 years old.

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia operates fixed wireline, fixed wireless and mobile networks, serving about 130 million subscribers for the year ended 2011.

At the end of 2011, the company earned about 16 percent of revenue  from its fixed wireline business, but total wireline revenues dropped by almost seven percent, largely due to increased smart phone use and a rising mobile penetration in Indonesia.

That is not too surprising, as most fixed network operators face increased product substitution from mobile alternatives.

The company's fixed wireless revenues also declined significantly in the financial year ended 2011. An intense competitive environment in the region, as well as deterioration in voice revenues, led to the 31 percent decrease in fixed wireless revenues. The company is facing competition from local telecom companies, with every company introducing new and cheap packages for its respective text messaging and voice call services.

The company's mobile business also experienced a slight deterioration in 2011 as well, despite the increase in its mobile subscription base, at least partly because prepaid revenue contribution is less predictable than provided by postpaid accounts.

Total subscribers grew by almost 14 percent in the year as compared to 2010.

Mobile data was largely responsible for offsetting the drop in revenues from other segments, growing by almost 21 percent in the financial year ended 2011.

Overall, mobile customer base grew almost 15 percent in 2011, reaching 117 million subscribers with total additions of 10 million, according to Seeking Alpha.

1/2 of all Humans Will Use Internet by 2017

Broadband, computing and Internet access now have taken the place of the older concern about access to voice communications. In fact, almost nobody worries about whether most humans will be using voice communications. These days, it is access to the Internet and computing that occupies policymakers.

Keep in mind that, just a few years ago, five of the the six billion people on Earth did not have access to computing or the Internet. But that is changing very rapidly, as well.

Although Africa, for example, lags in terms of other forms of computing and communications usage with an estimated 100 million Internet users, between 2000 and 2011 the growth of Internet usage in Africa exceeded 2,000 percent, which is more than five times that for the rest of the world.

Some 2.4 billion people across the world now use the Internet on a regular basis, at least once a month, from home, school, work, or any other location using a PC or a non-PC (mobile) Internet access device, Forrester Research says.

This is expected to grow to 3.5 billion by 2017, representing nearly half of the 2017 overall world population of 7.4 billion.

In some countries — mostly developed economies, such as the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands — Internet penetration as a percent of the overall population is very high; more than 80% of the population are regular Internet users.

In other, mostly emerging markets — such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Nigeria — Internet penetration ranges between 10 percent and 50 percent.

A key point to note is that while higher PC penetration has driven the adoption of Internet in developed economies during the past two decades, faster mobile penetration in the emerging economies is helping increase the Internet population, thanks to “mobile-only” Internet users.

DOCOMO buying Guam Cable Operator

The proposed purchase of Guam's cable TV service provider by NTT DOCOMO, the parent company of Guam-based DOCOMO Pacific, illustrates a couple of themes in the global telecom  business. First, expansion often must come from "out of territory" assets, as most "home markets" are intensely competitive and offer relatively tough growth prospects.

So expansion out of market is a logical step. The other theme is the choice of network platforms out of market that are different from those of the home market. Most out of market expansion tends to rely on wireless, rather than fixed network facilities, for example.

The proposed purchase of MCV Guam Holding Corp., which does business as MCV Broadband, might seem to be out of character. It isn't. MCV Broadband has the largest mobile market share on Guam. Nor is NTT unfamiliar with the Guam market. 

NTT DOCOMO's entry into the Guam market began when it bought GuamCell, SaipanCell and HafaTel for about $71 million in 2006.

Nor is competition in the Japan domestic market unrelated. Many would say MCV Broadband's main competitor is GTA TeleGuam. 

The principal owner of GTA TeleGuam is Advantage Partners LLP, the largest private equity investment firm based in Japan.