Mobile operator strategies 05-18-05

Maxis (Malaysia) would invest $53m in expanding network coverage and providing GPRS within two next years.

NTTCom (NTT fixed line arm) plans to start offering an IP (Internet Protocol) telephone service for cellular phones this month to corporate customers before expanding it to retail customers by summer.The service will be available to any cell phone, regardless of the service provider.

Vodafone announced the launch of The Vodafone Travel Promise, offering simplicity and better value for roaming services. The service includes Vodafone Passport that allows voice calls at domestic rates when traveling in Vodafone subsidiary and selected affiliate markets.

EVN (Electricity of Vietnam and mobile operator) could invest some $200m this year in expanding its CDMA-based network.

Telenor wants to increase stake in Vimpelcom to 45% from 26%. The news comes amid mounting speculation that either Alfa Group could sell its stake to Telenor or Alfa succeeds to merge Vimpelcom with three Central Asian mobile operators: Uzmacom,  Buztel GSM and Bitel. In both camps, the strategy is how to control Vimpelcom. Alfa has 33% stake in Vimpelcom and Telenor is holding 27%.