Mobile operator strategies - 18/01/07

With 23m subscribers and a network capacity of 24m lines, and orders for additional 45m lines delayed by court decision following Motorola petition (see Telcoflash N133), BSNL (India) is experiencing a tough time in the race against Reliance, Hutchison Essar and Bharti Airtel, ... For the first time, BSNL saw a 30% slowdown in terms of subscriber addition in Dec. 06.

Sprint Nextel, with Motorola, has launched two dual mode iDEN/CDMA PowerSource mobile phones, using Nextel network for walkie-talkie services and the Sprint nationwide CDMA network for voice and data services.

KDDI (Japan) is offering two mobile phone models for children, allowing their parents to locate them even when the phone is turned off.

Oi (Brazil – a unit of Telemar) targets to reach 1.5m customers for its mobile banking service, called Oi Paggo.

Vodafone and Reliance are said mulling to by a stake in Hutchison Telecom instead of buying a stake in Hutchison Essar.