The Australian government plans to auction off 125MHz of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band in October this year for use in 5G implementation across urban and regional areas of the country. Australia’s telecom regulator, the ACMA, will determine the terms of the auction based on its recommendations and those of the public.
Industry News
Philippines publishes draft criteria for third operator
The Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has published draft criteria for interested parties to bid for a license to operate as the country’s third telecom operator. The NTC will hold a public consultation on the proposed rules in early March in Quezon City, Philippines.
Airtel acquires India leg of GBI’s India–Middle East–Europe submarine cable
Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecommunications service provider, and Gulf Bridge International (GBI), a global cloud provider for the Middle-East and Europe, announced a strategic agreement to unlock the capacity on GBI’s India-Middle East-Europe submarine cable system.
ZTE hits back at US government over spying allegations
Chinese vendor ZTE has hit back amidst allegations from the US government that they pose a serious threat to national security. A number of prominent Republican politicians and leading spy experts have expressed their concern over the influence of Chinese technology companies in the US.
ZTE partners with IDC to examine the role of AI in future 5G networks
Chinese multinational telecommunications vendor ZTE which is a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet has partnered with market research firm IDC to jointly issue an "Expediting AI for Operations in the Networks of Future" white paper.
SK Telecom and Alibaba to enter discussions over development of ICT blueprint
South Korean telecommunications incumbent SK Telecom and China’s global e-commerce Alibaba have entered into discussions in an effort to develop a blueprint for new ICT industries.
ZTE and Belarussian operator deploy world’s first 5G-ready network
Chinese multinational telecommunicator vendor ZTE and velcom, the Belarusian telecommunication operator have deploed the first commericial 5G-ready virtual core network in Belarus. Due to superior technical results, the project is one of the shortlisted nominees for the Best Network Software Breakthrough award of the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2018 (MWC).
Mobile makers select Qualcomm 5G modem for 2019 device launches
Mobile phone manufacturers from China, South Korea and Japan including ASUS, Samsung, OPPO, LG and Sony have selected Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G New Radio (NR) modem for standard-compliant 5G NR mobile device product launches starting in 2019.
Huawei confirms it has signed 5G-MoUs with 45 operators
Chinese multinational telecommunications vendor Huawei has announced that it has penned 5G MoUs with 45 operators which spans across three continents - Asia, Europe and North America. Huawei’s rotating CEO Ken Hu made the confirmation during Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona. In addition to this Hu also revealed that the Chinese vendor is already conducting pre-commercial trials with 30 mobile players.
Report projects that APAC Fintech market will reach $72 billion by 2020
Active support and initiatives by financial regulators such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Bank Negara Malaysia and Bank Indonesia has enabled the Asia-Pacific Fintech ecosystem to grow significantly in 2017.