Starlink secures 10-year operating permit in Mexico
08 October 2021
Starlink, entrepreneur Elon Musk’s wireless satellite internet service, finally received authorisation to operate in Mexico for 10 years.
It will run from October 28, 2021, when users in the north American country will be able to start using the service.
Find out more Saudi Arabia gives licences to expand mobile telecom services
08 October 2021
Saudi Arabia awarded licences to two new mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), bringing the total number of mobile telecom companies operating in the kingdom to seven.
The new companies to be given the licences, after winning a competition announced by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in February are Integrated Telecom Mobile Company (ITC Mobile) and Future Networks Communications Company.
In 2014, CITC awarded the MVNO licences to Virgin Mobile KSA and Etihad Jawraa.
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Australia’s Telstra to sell 49% of tower business for A$2.1bn
08 October 2021
Australian telco Telstra said it will sell a 49% stake in its mobile tower business for A$2.1bn and return half the sale proceeds to investors, sending its shares to their highest level in over a year.
A consortium of Australia’s sovereign wealth Future Fund and pension funds Commonwealth Superannuation Corp and Sunsuper would buy the stake in InfraCo Towers, Telstra said, in a deal valuing the entire business at A$5.9bn.
The deal would allow Telstra to focus afresh on its retail business after years of costly competition in infrastructure with its ageing poles and wires pitted against the state-owned broadband network, analysts said.
Find out more KT fined for slow internet
08 October 2021
South Korea’s telecommunications regulator fined telecom giant KT ₩500m for providing internet services that were slower than what users had been promised.
A joint investigation by the Korea Communications Commission and the Ministry of Science and ICT, found that KT erroneously set speeds for 24 of its high-speed internet service users, leading to slower-than-expected speeds.
The operator also frequently did not conduct speed tests when opening new internet services. Where it did, there were numerous cases in which speeds did not meet the minimum limit.
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