Latest article

Telecom Ping-Pong in Virginia

When I traveled to Beijing last June, it was not the Beijing I remembered. Back in 1990, the streets were flooded with heavy bicycle traffic, the “Friendship Store” was the only place in town where we could buy our croissant and salami supplies and telephone connection was unbearable. Seventeen years had passed and I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was a totally new city with ubiquitous skyscrapers, ever growing car traffic and huge construction sites. On top of all these infrastructure upgrades Beijing has also become China’s telecommunication hub connecting hundreds of millions of subscribers in its massive broadband networks. more

Recent articles

Sino-Russian Mahjong

Sino-Russian cooperation in telecom sphere is evolving in China’s favor. Large Russian telecom groups backed by the government started their China pitch back in 2001. At that time North-Western GSM (currently MegaFon, Russia’s third largest mobile operator) asked the Russian government to assist in obtaining Chinese license for mobile services. more

The First Broadband Olympics

As a nine-year old kid, I was lucky to be at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Being at the opening ceremony, seeing the soccer finals (where GDR and Czechoslovakian teams fought a nice battle), watching boxers and rowers competing for gold medals, was simply a “dream-come-true” moment. I can only imagine how cool it would be to send a live video of the flying Olympic “Mishka” mascot to my school mates! Well, Chinese telecom companies promise just this at the Beijing Olympics. more

“Great and Terrible”: VAS Market in China

“The VAS market in China is both great and terrible,” explains Ben Joffe, President of Plus8Star, a boutique consulting group engaged in innovation consulting in Asia. Stating that the VAS market grow at a fast pace, as 20% of China Mobile's ARPU comes from data, Joffe shares that the mobile content market was estimated close to 1 billion USD in 2006 and keeps growing. more

The Art of 3G: Survival of the Most Patient

Have you ever tried Kau Cim or “Chi-Chi” sticks? All you have to do is to shake a bamboo cylinder filled with a few incense sticks, and get one stick out. Translate the Chinese characters scribbled on the stick and quickly find out your fate. At least, for one Chinese calendar year. When you are looking for some clue on 3G license issuance in China, you’d better check these sticks! more

China’s Great Broad Band

“Broadband development in China has had significant growth,” said Mr. Chongjian Zhang, Chairman of the Board and President of China Netcom Group, opening the Broadband Asia Forum 2007 in Beijing. “We have over 20 million broadband users,” added Zhang, “and we are ready to make an even bigger leap. We are taking part in several large government-backed projects, one of which is the infrastructure support for the Beijing Olympics, where China Netcom Group was chosen as an official partner.” more

The Fate of China's Telcos: The Chef's Final Word

Like giant pandas in a well-run national park, enjoying tender bamboo leaves yet unable to change their destiny, large Chinese telcos enjoy surging subscribers and profits but are left to ponder their fate. In China the fate of big business is solved only by the upper heavens. The rumors of China Unicom, China’s second largest mobile operator, being split into two entities, with its CDMA business going to China Telecom and its GSM part united with China Netcom, fueled a wave of speculations just a few months ago. Everyone, from telecom analysts and media to the Chinese government officials kept whispering this “news” to me during the Broadband Forum in Beijing. more

China Mobile and China Unicom: How to Swim in a “Blue Ocean”

As of June 2007, China Mobile and China Unicom provided services to over 330 million and 151 million subscribers respectively. “The China Mobile subscriber base surpasses China Unicom’s by far,” said Mr. James Shen, General Manager of UNICOM-Brew joint venture. “However, China Mobile is operating only in GSM standard, while China Unicom owns two networks, CDMA and GSM standards. Considering that most of the Chinese population live in rural areas, the numbers that you see show that China’s mobile communication market is quite developed. The mobile penetration level in China’s largest cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, has reached saturation, now over 100%. And this means that currently mobile operators target mainly rural areas,” says Shen. more

"WiMaxing" in China

I met Mr. Mohhamad Shakouri, the WiMax Forum Deputy Chairman, at many forums and conferences. He is an excellent speaker, especially when he begins to speak about WiMax technology. On this topic he can easily put both Tony Robbins and Zig Zaggler to shame! During the plenary session at the Asia Broadband Forum, Shakouri told me that in the next year or two China will witness a serious breakthrough in WiMax. “You see, presently all the efforts of the Chinese government are thrown into ensuring the success of Beijing Olympics 2008. Once it’s over, I see only a green light for WiMax in China, there is no doubt,” explained Shakouri. more

Telecom in the Middle Kingdom: The 3G Dynasty

The Chinese government has forecasted that by 2010 the share of electronics in exports will total 35%. It also estimated that by 2010 the ICT output will be about USD 301 billion, or 10% from its GDP. By then, China believes it will boast one billion telecom service subscribers and 200 million Internet users. All rural dwellers will have access to telephone services and Internet. In the meantime, Chinese authorities promise that the 3G launch will coincide with the deepening of telecom reforms, growing competition and strengthening of the monitoring policy. more

“Zhongguo Zhizao”: Telecom Standards “Made in China”?

China is following the principle of “zizhu chuanxin”, which literally means independent and self-reliant innovation policy with the emphasis on three key elements: originality (completely new product), integration (combination of existing elements into a new product) and assimilation (improvement of imported technologies via the principle of “import, internalize and add innovation”). China almost regularly comes up with new technologies, but so far it has been a mixed blessing: most of these new technology standards require further fine-tuning to successfully compete with existing global technologies. more

"We ensure a level playing field" - An exclusive interview with Mr. Nripendra Misra, TRAI Chairman

In his exclusive interview for "Standard" magazine, Mr. Nripendra Misra, TRAI Chairman, shared his thoughts on the role of TRAI in the Indian telecom market, 3G developments, digital TV and much more... more

"Success is in our DNA" - An exclusive interview with Mr. Manoj Kohli, Bharti Airtel Limited, President

In his exclusive interview to ComNews/GidaByte, Mr. Manoj Kohli, President of Bharti Airtel Limited, shared his views on Bharti’s business, its formula for success and much more... more

"I am a telecom man" - An exclusive interview with A.K. Sinha, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director

BSNL has surprised everyone by jumping to the No. 2 spot on the Indian mobile market. In his exclusive interview for "Standard" magazine, Mr. A.K. Sinha, BSNL Chairman & Managing Director explained to Andrey Gidaspov how this company is planning to become No. 1.. more

"To be successful - one must anticipate!" - An exclusive interview with Mahesh Prasad, Reliance Communications, President – Applications, Solutions & Content Group

Mr. Mahesh Prasad, President for Applications, Solutions and Content Group at Reliance, knows well how a modern mobile operator in India can win against the tight competition. Mr. Prasad provided his personal views on the success of Reliance Communications in India.. more

"My focus is on customers, people and the market place" - An exclusive interview with Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, Bharti Airtel Limited, President – Mobility

Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, Bharti Airtel Limited, President, Mobility, shared his success formula with me, and explained why the Indian mobile market will grow even faster and how Bharti Airtel's mobile department prepared for that... more

"I just enjoy what I am doing" - An exclusive interview with T.V. Ramachandran, COAI, Director General

Mr. T.V. Ramachandran, Director General of COAI, was really excited about the Indian mobile market growth. Just how this growth will impact the whole country, the origins of this dynamic development of the telecom market in India and much more in this exclusive interview for "Standard" magazine.. more

"If ContentSutra weren't independent, I wouldn't be working here" - An exclusive interview with Mr. Nikhil Pahwa, ContentSutra Editor

In this interview, Nikhil Pahwa of ContentSutra shares with me what is it to be an independent social media hub in India. Enjoy the interview.. more

My “Journey Beyond the Three Seas”: An Indian Telecom Travelogue

I love Tver. My parents live in Tver. There are cute neighborhoods in town. Not very good roads, but where have you seen good roads in Russia? Especially refreshing is the crisp pine air in a little forest near Ordzhonikidze Street where we live. Tver is a typical quiet Russian provincial city. It is located a couple of hours by car from Moscow. Nowadays, its old churches and the bank of the Volga River are the only witnesses of Tver’s long and diverse history. What is interesting, though, is that Tver is connected to India... more

Last Train to Pakistan: Pakistan Telecom Sector Still Offers Unique Opportunities to Foreign Investors ("Standard" Magazine)

In liberalization of its telecom market Pakistan is ahead of many other world countries, let alone their regional neighbors. However, the lack of full and objective information about this country led to cautious behavior by foreign investors, who appeared only recently on the local telecom market, and rather in single cases. At the same time, the country’s economy is growing; its large territory and population makes investment in the telecom infrastructure very effective. With a population of 164 million (which is 1.12 times larger than Russia’s) the territory of Pakistan is only 796,000 sq km (which is 21 times smaller than the Russian territory). This report is published courtesy "Standard" Magazine more

Success Story: DIALLOG with Pakistan ("Standard" Magazine)

In November 2004 during an open auction, Great Bear International Services (Pvt) Ltd. received the right to create and exploit the fixed wireless communication network of CDMA-450 in the five largest license region of Pakistan. It is interesting that Great Bear is the company with 100% of foreign capital, and among its investors are Belorussian and Ukrainian citizens. Great Bear’s CEO is Mr. Artem Orange, who previously headed Belorussian CDMA operator BelCel. Artem Orange came to Pakistan for the first time in August of 2003; at that time it appeared that deregulation of the Pakistan telecom market was upcoming. During the meetings with advisors to the Prime Minister, PTA head and Minister of IT and Comms, the information about the upcoming reform was confirmed. “Aside from that, it was evident for me that Pakistan is a modern and dynamically developing English speaking country, where one may comfortably work,” remembers Artem Orange. more

GidaByte and ComNewsGroup Prepare Special Coverage - Overview of the Hong Kong Telecom Market

In a series of interviews with top government officials, leading telecom industry players and associations, GidaByte (Hong Kong) and ComNewsGroup (St. Petersburg, Russia) recorded the latest trends of the telecom industry in Hong Kong. The report includes interviews with OFTA, CSL New World Mobility, China Mobile Peoples Telephone Company, SmarTone Vodafone, AsiaSat, HKWDC and HKWTIA. more

GidaByte and ComNews Group Special Hong Kong Telecom Market Coverage: Interview with Mr. Y Ha, OFTA Deputy Director General

This exclusive interview with Mr. Ha, OFTA Deputy Director General was provided for GidaByte and ComNewsGroup's special HK telecom market coverage for the Russian press. more

Gidabyte's Exclusive Interview with Mr. Peter Jackson, CEO of AsiaSat

In this exclusive interview for GidaByte, Peter Jackson, CEO of AsiaSat, shared his views on the latest trends in the satellite industry, as well as provided his insights on the AsiaSat's plans for Russia. more

GidaByte and ComNews Group Special Hong Kong Telecom Market Coverage: Interview with Mr. John Chiu, Chairman of the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA)

This is an exclusive interview for GidaByte by Mr. John Chiu, HKWTIA Chairman more

GidaByte and ComNewsGroup Special HK Telecom Market Coverage: Interview with Dr. Tony Seeto, Director of Business Development, CSL New World Mobility

Dr. Tony Seeto shared CSL's success story on 3G video services and much more in this exclusive interview to GidaByte and ComNewsGroup more

GidaByte and ComNewsGroup Special HK Telecom Market Coverage: Interview with Mr. Chris Lau, Director of Future Services, SmartTone Vodafone

Mr. Chris Lau gave an exclusive interview to GidaByte & ComNewsGroup for the special issue of "Standard" Magazine sharing his views on the mobile industry development in Hong Kong... more

GidaByte and ComNewsGroup Special HK Telecom Market Coverage: Interview with Mr. Charles Henshaw, CEO of China Mobile People Telephone Limited

In this exclusive interview for GidaByte and ComNewsGroup, Mr. Henshaw shared his insights on the latest developments in the HK mobile industry, as well as China Mobile Peoples Telephone Limited's take up on 3G and other issues more

GidaByte and ComNews Group Special HK Telecom Coverage: Interview with Mr. Anthony Tang, Director of HKWDC

This is an exclusive interview for GidaByte by the Director of HK Wireless Development Centre. more