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Huawei allegedly developed a spy-friendly phone network for North Korea
If Huawei was hoping to mend its reputation in the wake of the de facto US ban, it's about to be disappointed. The Washington Post and 38 North have published joint reports indicating that Huawei helped build Koryolink, North Korea's highly restrictive cellphone network that went live in 2008. According to documents, Huawei partnered with China's state-owned Panda International Information Technology on projects in North Korea for at least eight years, with cooperation starting when then-dictator Kim Jong Il visited Huawei's headquarters in 2006. Huawei provided elements like cellular infrastructure, network management and encryption, while Panda provided software and transported Huawei gear.
Wind Mobile to lose CEO, come under Egyptian telco's wing
We're only a few days into 2013, but that's not stopping Canada's Wind Mobile -- the Great White North's fourth largest carrier -- from announcing big changes for the year ahead. The firm just struck a deal with Egypt's Orascom that'll see the foreign telco gain control of the company through a stock deal and have Wind's founder and CEO, Anthony Lacavera, step down from his post. Barring hiccups in regulatory smell tests, the pact is expected to be rubber-stamped by the end of the year. As for Lacavera, he'll stay onboard as honorary chair and will spearhead a new effort dubbed Globalive Capital to invest in budding technology, telecom and media companies.
Vimpelcom moves forward with $6 billion Wind Mobile merger, intends to hurdle regulatory snags
If you thought Verizon Wireless and Alltel's marriage underwent a good bit of scrutiny, you'll soon be swearing that Vimpelcom and Wind Mobile are on some sort of global watch list. The Amsterdam-based Vimpelcom has taken a giant leap towards the completion of a $6 billion merger with Wind Telecom, the latter of which has around 117 million subscribers spread across Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, North Korea and Canada. If and when the two link hands, the combined effort will be home to a staggering 173 million customers, creating the fifth largest mobile operator by subscriber count. Wind Mobile's head honcho seems more than enthused about the news, and he's hoping that the tie-up will allow prices to sink for just about everyone involved. Claiming feats such as "more access to international cooperation for roaming and long distance services" and the ability to utilize "more leverage and increased scale" to drive down prices, Anthony Lacavera isn't showing any public signs of worry when it comes to regulatory hurdles. In months past, the CRTC took issue with Globalive Wireless -- operator of Wind Mobile -- starting up in Canada, primarily due to the company's largest lender (Orascom) residing outside of the Great White North. As of now, things seem to be sailing right along, but you can bet this marriage won't be formally recognized before a borderline-obnoxious amount of investigating goes down behind the scenes. [Thanks, Kelvin]
Mobilicity gets the green light from CRTC, looks to launch in Toronto soon
Right on cue, the artist formerly known as DAVE Wireless has been given approval to begin operations in Canada. Just as we heard earlier in the year, Mobilicity is looking to add some much-needed competition in the mobile operator space up north, and as predicted, the CRTC has given the initial stamp of approval needed for it to move forward with business operations. The company has to make a few minor changes up the ladder in order to appease the Canadian overlords that regulate this stuff, but the outfit's top brass have stated that they have "no issues" whatsoever in complying. If all goes well, the carrier plans to start up service in Toronto before the summer swings in, with Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa to get covered later in the year. Here's hoping those blasted three-year contracts vanish for good, eh? [Thanks, Adam]
Reversed decision enables Globalive to enter Canada's cellphone market 'immediately'
Tired of being badgered by your contemporaries over in the Northwest Angle about having to deal with those silly "three-year contracts?" Buck up, 'cause a new player has just been cleared to go head-to-head with the likes of Telus, Bell and Rogers in the Great White North. In a surprising reversal of an October CRTC ruling, the federal government in Canada has cleared Globalive to begin operations as a wireless cellphone operator in the country. The most amazing part? No changes are required in the outfit's debt structure or ownership hierarchy. You see, Canada generally requires that its wireless carriers be Canadian-owned, but as it stands, the majority shareholder in Globalive is Egypt's Orascom. Whatever the reasoning, we're just stoked to hear that the company can kick open the doors "effective immediately," and we're hoping to hear that it's doing just that in short order. [Thanks, Martin] Update: Whoa, that was quick! Looks like WIND (the brand this will all fall under) already has a site ready to rock. No sales or anything yet, but it looks like they won't be taking this reversal of fortunes lightly. Thanks, Leon!
CRTC blocks Canada's WIND from launching over ownership concerns
Globalive, which has recently been ramping up to launch a national Canadian phone service under the WIND brand using spectrum won in last year's auction, has been dealt a hell of a blow by the CRTC this week. The organization -- essentially the northern equivalent of the FCC -- has strict rules demanding that Canadian wireless networks be Canadian-owned, and an investigation of WIND's structure has apparently raised enough concern to cause it to call off the service's launch. Egypt's Orascom Telecom (which, strangely, also runs North Korea's Koryolink) owns some 65.1 percent of the operation and apparently "holds the overwhelming majority of the outstanding debt" for which Globalive is responsible, so yeah, we can see how that might not qualify as "Canadian-owned." For its part, Globalive says that it's "extremely disappointed" in the decision and "will be evaluating [its] options on how to proceed," but in all likelihood, that's going to have to mean cashing out a good chunk of Orascom if it's serious about making this happen. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Read - CRTC decision Read - WIND response
North Koreans love their spotty cellphone service
It's been nary a year since the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (aka "the North") got its very own 3G network, and now the Daily NK is reporting that -- no surprise -- cellphone use has taken the capital by storm. "Demand for mobile phones has been increasing" said one source. "Almost 30 percent of Pyongyang citizens seem to be using them." Still, this is the same country that refers to Kim Jong-Il as "Dear Leader," so while things are certainly looking up for Pyongyangites, there are any number of restrictions. For instance, not just anybody with disposable income can pick up one of these things -- the devices are still off-limits to cadres in the Central Committee of the Party and foreigners. In addition, using two phones simultaneously is illegal, as well as using a phone in someone else's name. And you thought the T-Mobile store was a pain in the ass? When an individual or a group of workers buy a phone, they must get a stamp from their home village, and then submit an application to the Communications Center -- all this for the privilege of having the government listen to their phone calls. There is no word on what phone / phones are available, but we do know that one will cost you between $90 and $120. Charges are reportedly ₩3,000 (around $20) a month for eight hours of talk time, with an additional €15 (also around $20) surcharge if you go over. Service is currently only available in Pyongyang and Sariwon, but apparently the service in Sariwon "kinda sucks." So really, service is only available in Pyongyang. And you know what? If you're reading this, you're probably not in Pyongyang.
Orascom flips on 3G network in North Korea
North Korea can't even figure out how to sufficiently feed all of its citizens, yet Kim Jong Il and his comrades are about to read this on 3G speeds while throwing back a fifth of SoCo and catching a pirated Bollywood flick on BetaMax. Egypt's Orascom Telecom is about to flip the switch on the first 3G network in the nation, which was announced back in May. The outfit is expected to invest a staggering $400 million building it out over the next three years, thought it's expected to really only benefit the evil elite. Too bad it's easier to get out of a maximum security prison than it is to hop a flight into Pyongyang and see if this is more than some elaborate hoax to show the world how much life in the Hermit Kingdom is improving.[Via textually]
