Hughes Network Systems, a player in broadband satellite networks and services, has announced that its Brazilian operating unit, Hughes do Brasil, has signed agreements with two Brazilian cellular operators to provide satellite backhaul services connecting remote cellular base transceiver stations (BTS) to their GSM networks.

The two contracts call for providing turnkey managed services for connecting a total of 79 BTS sites over a 60 month period.

The service commenced in May and is expected to eventually provide cell phone access to approximately half a million consumers and businesses in the central and northeastern regions of Brazil, the company informed.

Ericsson and Ukrainian operator Kyivstar have signed a three-year network modernisation deal under which Ericsson has been assigned the task of expanding and modernising Kyivstar’s GSM/EDGE network.

Ericsson informed that it will help boost capacity and coverage of the operator’s radio access and core network. By increasing capacity, Kyivstar hopes to manage the anticipated uptake of mobile data in the network.

The core network capacity is expanded by using the Ericsson Mobile Softswitch Solution, which also enables migration to an all-IP network. The deal also covers microwave transmission, network deployment, systems integration and support services, as well as competence development for staff, Ericsson added.

Kyivstar and Ericsson have also joined forces in the area of advanced mobile technologies.

Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded a contract by Vinaphone, a mobile operator in Vietnam, to upgrade its GSM network in 16 northern provinces with advanced EDGE broadband data functionality.

In addition, Alcatel-Lucent’s solution is expected to provide Vinaphone with the flexibility to introduce new technologies in the future, including EDGE+, W-CDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, and LTE.

The contract was signed through Alcatel-Lucent’s flagship company in China, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell. The deployment is currently underway and the expanded network will begin providing commercial services in April 2009.

The company informed that upon commercial launch, this network upgrade and modernisation project will boost the capacity and coverage of Vinaphone’s network and enable the operator to offer its customers a range of advanced services in the future.

Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will design, deploy and maintain its GSM/EDGE radio access solution including its latest Base Station Controller platform and TWIN transceivers.

Alcatel-Lucent has signed a contract worth $52.87m with China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China obile, to expand its existing GSM/EDGE network. The expansion, which is now underway, will allow CMPak to provide improved commercial services in northern Pakistan by the end of the first quarter of 2009.

Alcatel-Lucent will have the full responsibility for building the network, providing design, deployment and integration services. The company will also provide project management and maintenance services to help CMPak lower its network operational costs.

Alcatel-Lucent, through its flagship company in China Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, will supply CMPak with its GSM/EDGE radio access solution including its latest Base Station Controller platform and TWIN transceivers, along with microwave transport solutions for improving interconnection among base stations and providing mobile traffic backhauling capabilities.

The company will also provide a comprehensive suite of network integration services such as network optimisation, system support and general project management, to enable CMPak to introduce new technologies and services in the future.

Samsung, a player in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies, has selected Spreadtrum Communications, a wireless baseband chipset provider in China, as a new chipset supplier.

Spreadtrum’s QS520 GSM/GPRS and QS1001 EDGE transceivers have been designed into Samsung’s mobile phone models that are to be shipped internationally. The company has commenced volume shipment of these two products to Samsung.

Spreadtrum claims its QS520 GSM/GPRS and QS1001 EDGE chips are advanced in terms of radio performance and power consumption. These chips feature integrated quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE radio frequency (RF) transceivers and temperature sensors, the company said.

Ericsson has signed a three-year frame agreement with Telekomunikasi Selular Indonesia (Telkomsel), a mobile operator in Indonesia, to supply, deploy and integrate GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA radio access networks (RAN) in the country.

With Ericsson’s mobile technology, Telkomsel hopes to expand existing network coverage, boost capacity and improve performance. This contract extends the existing business partnerships between the two companies and the rollout begins this month.

Ericsson has been a key supplier to Telkomsel since 1995 and was recently selected to supply Telkomsel’s combined (2G and 3G) circuit core network using mobile softswitch technology.

Alcatel-Lucent has won a contract from Tata Teleservices, a unified telecommunication provider in India. This contract, covering over 7 years will enable Tata Teleservices to expand its CDMA /GSM network in 22 states pan India.    

Alcatel-Lucent said that its solution will enable Tata Teleservices to deliver data, voice, video and multimedia services. Based on its flexible optical multi-service node technology, the Alcatel-Lucent optical multi-service node solution will help the operator respond quickly to customers’ requirements, the company said.

Further, the company informed that the equipment is suitable for a range of applications, including data communications, voice, imaging, video and multimedia services. Its particular characteristic of being scalable makes it suitable for the traffic demands for services like multimedia expected on the network as the expansion progresses, it was added

Ericsson is using its WCDMA/HSPA technology to help BSNL, a telecom operator in India, to launch 3G services across 11 cities in the country. The commercial launch of the 3G services in India is expected to allow consumers to experience improved communications including rich voice, video and data services.

As part of its roll-out strategy, BSNL plans to launch 3G services using WCDMA/HSPA technology across more than 700 cities in the first phase. Ericsson is BSNL’s strategic partner for 3G roll-out in over 400 of these cities.

The mammoth roll-out is also expected to strengthen BSNL’s position as a player with an offering including Wireline, GSM Mobile, CDMA mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service, MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP services, IN Services to Indian consumers.

Visa Europe and Visa, a retail electronic payments network, have announced plans to work with the GSMA to advance the delivery of mobile financial services around the world.

As part of the collaboration between the two organizations, the GSMA has selected Visa as a provider for mobile money transfer solutions globally, and is working to execute an agreement to formalise participation terms.

A key aspect of the collaboration between Visa and GSMA will be the creation of standards for mobile money transfer, mobile payments and related services.

Enfora, a supplier of intelligent wireless networking solutions, has announced that Nitax, a Spanish manufacturer of automatic taxi dispatch systems, has selected Enfora’s Enabler III embedded wireless platform for use in Nitax’s fleet management system in Spain.

The Enabler III product will be supplied to Nitax through Enfora’s channel partner, Venco Electronica, based in Barcelona.

The Enabler III is a certified quad-band OEM embedded wireless platform that packs GSM/GPRS/EDGE functionality into a compact footprint. The embedded software environment uses a built-in rules engine, a network router and various control and automation functions to provide sophisticated mobile connectivity and device intelligence capabilities.

The Enabler III is compatible with Enfora’s Services Gateway, which allows the user to link the Enabler devices in the field to the user’s existing enterprise applications (such as MS SQL Server, MySQL and various Oracle applications).