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Around the world in 80 seconds – We take a look at some of the biggest stories from across the global telecoms industry this past weekend
Australia – Australia’s government has confirmed that it will put 125MHz of spectrum in the 3.6GHz band up for auction later this year, as the country prepares for the roll out of 5G services.
Incumbent users will be given two years to vacate the band in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. Operators in Perth will be given 5 years to vacate.
The auction is expected to get underway in October 2018.
The Philippines – Filipino telco PLDT has returned some of its spectrum to the government of The Philippines, as the country prepares to make way for the entry of a third player into its telecoms sector.
"PLDT has fully complied with its divestment of 10 Mhz of the 3G radio frequency that was previously assigned with CURE. This frequency is now available to a new major telco player," Department of Information and Communications Technology officer-in-charge, Eliseo Rio, said in a post on Facebook on Saturday.
PLDT is believed to be waiving its right to compensation for the returned spectrum.
India – Ericsson’s head of network infrastructure, Nishant Batra, predicts that India will be a "fantastic market" over the next five years, following an intense period of consolidation.
Speaking to The Economic Times of India, Batra said that India’s current tight market conditions would soon give way to a new era of investment and profitability for telcos on the subcontinent.
"India is going through consolidation which other markets have seen. At the end of this consolidation, with our investment in cost innovations and India trying to participate in global technology race, I see India becoming a fantastic market in coming 5 years for us.
Romania – Orange has boosted speeds in its LTE-A network in Romania, increasing maximum speeds of the network from 375Mbps to 500Mbps.
Orange is the second largest network operator in Romania. It’s maximum speed boost will apply to customers in 95 towns and cities across the country. Orange has also boosted its maximum upload speed on the network from 50Mbps to 75Mbps.
Oman – Oman’s state backed telecoms provider, Omantel, has signed a cybersecurity agreement with EY, to help bolster the Sultanate’s online security.
The agreement will see the two firms work together to provide effective solutions to meet the security needs of corporate clients and the government sector in Oman.
Omantel will utilise EY’s CaaS system, which offers heightened threat detection and response capabilities.
“Organisations today, whether public or private, are increasingly introducing digital technologies to expedite processes and increase efficiencies. Against this backdrop, the threat arising from cybercrime is now more real than ever. The digitisation of the Sultanate, however, continues to remain the top priority, thereby underscoring the need for secure systems and techniques,” said Fadi Nasser, GM of Omantel’s ICT division.
