Welcome to your personal issue of This Week, Australia's only easy to read FREE weekly summary of the the top news stories on wireless communications in Australia and New Zealand. Don't forget if you can't wait for the latest information you can always visit our web site where This Week is updated daily. You can also visit our archive where you can see stories posted since mid-2003. Our search engine is an easy way to locate a specific topic. For those that want to know more, click through hyperlinks are embedded in each story enabling you to view the source information. Note some of these links may require you to subscribe to the publication that provides the source material.

Australia

WiMAX delay sours Unwired's maiden profit

24 August, 2007

Despite recording its first EBITDA profit for its full-year ended June 30, Unwired's expansion plans beyond Sydney and Melbourne are now on a 12-month hold due to reports that the development of WiMAX technology is slower than expected.

Tesltra deflects criticism over 'misleading' advertising

24 August, 2007

Telstra refuses to concede that an ACCC claim for misleadingly advertising the true extent of its NextG network coverage prompted the decision by the telco to stop using taglines such 'Everywhere you need it' and 'Get the coverage you need', claiming they were replaced "weeks ago".

Broadband and 3G now driving mobile growth

23 August, 2007

The Australian mobile market is poised for growth of 10 per cent this financial year as the four big mobile operators compete with new wireless broadband and 3G services.

FoneZone picks up Apple reseller in wake of Telstra

23 August, 2007

Mobile phone dealer FoneZone has been forced to diversify and acquire Apple specialty chain Next Byte as it seeks to fill the revenue hole left by the demise of its retail partnership with Tesltra.

Myer becomes Vodafone's store

22 August, 2007

As part of Vodafone's aggressive retail expansion strategy that will see the mobile phone retailer virtually double its presence in Australia over the next two years, agreement has been reached with retailing giant Myer to open 60 new stores inside Myer department stores.

One.Tel evidence ready for judicial review

22 August, 2007

Following the Australian Securities and Investment Commission's final submissions to the Supreme Court in relation to the $92 million claim that Mr Rich and Mr Silbermann misled the One.Tel board as to its true financial position, judge Robert Austin has begun reviewing the entire evidence, including 17,000 pages of transcript and 4500 pages of written submissions.

Sol wants politics taken out of NextG approval

22 August, 2007

While having to defend the NextG network roll out against complaints on a government helpline set up to assist consumers forced to switch to Next G once it is fully up and running CEO Sol Trujillo has asked that the phase out of the old CDMA network to not be politicised.

Mobile diagnosis in a heartbeat

20 August, 2007

The Royal North Shore and Westmead hospitals in Sydney are deploying mobile technology to enable information about a patient's condition to be instantly transmitted from an ambulance thus giving doctors time to be best prepared on arrival.

New Zealand

Mobiles endemic in jails

23 August, 2007

Corrections Department head Barry Matthews foresees that the successful implementation of mobile blocking technologies in jails will help curb problems that extend much further than the cells and walls.

The greater good

23 August, 2007

The Government report outlining potential reforms to the telecommunication service obligations (TSO) has opened the possibility for other telcos to provide wireless services to remote areas in return for funding.

Telcos tackle mobile misuse in prisons

22 August, 2007

At the completion of 12 months of trialling a range of technical solutions to combat the unauthorised use of cellphones in prisons] Vodafone, Telecom and the Department of Corrections have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the most effective methods for a number of facilities.

CallPlus rejects Vodafone's wholesale offer

20 August, 2007

Notwithstanding reaching agreement with state-owned Orcon, junior telco Compass Communications and Australian telco M2 to wholesale its mobile network, Vodafone's similar offer to CallPlus has been rejected on the basis it was commercially unacceptable and New Zealand's third largest fixed- line phone company will now look to sign with Telecom.

Mobiles version of Yellow Pages becomes 'Chrome'

20 August, 2007

Wellington company Chrome Pages is looking to go international with its mobile version of the Yellow Pages offering users the ability to upload business listings along with photos and videos tailored for viewing on mobiles.

What's new on our site?

Comarco's new automated wireless network test system results integrated onto Google Earth video

To really know how a network is performing… Get inside the phone!

In today’s competitive wireless environment, it’s critical to understand what customers are experiencing on the network. With the Comarco QuOTA system, service quality can be monitored from the customers’ perspective – by using the phone itself.

Running as a software application directly on smart phones, the QuOTA client allows standard commercial handsets to act as QoS measurement probes, measuring the performance of voice, data, and video services

QuOTA gives wireless service providers the ability to monitor the quality experienced by their customers, where they live, work, and travel…the most critical areas of the network.

CLICK HERE to view the video

TeleResources presents 'Look@Me™' a user generated video content platform for personal broadcasting

Look@Me™ is a market-oriented application based on Vidiator’s suite of Xenon products including the Xenon Live Encoder and Xenon Streamer. The technology has proven its stability and interoperability by major operators around the world to deliver a consistent and quality multimedia service to subscribers.

Look@Me™ as an application integrated with Vidiator’s core technologies provides an easy and fun service that takes advantage of the enormous trend of sharing and publishing user generated content. Look@Me™ is the perfect market-oriented service platform that subscribers want and the marketpace demands.

CLICK HERE for more info

Upcoming Events

Next Generation Low Cost Handsets (LCH) Asia 2007

4-6 September 2007
New Delhi, India

Low Cost Handsets Asia will once again bring together leading operators, handset and contract manufacturers, technology and content providers and application developers to address commercial and technical strategies to Harness Ultra Low Cost, Entry Level, and Low Cost 3G Solutions to Penetrate Emerging Markets.

It will also assess challenges faced by and provide solutions to operators in their need to maintain profitability and ARPU maximization in the highly competitive emerging markets.

For more information and to register please visit: www.informatm.com

Mobile Payments Asia 2007

2-4 October 2007
Bangkok, Thailand

Informa’s Mobile Payments Asia 2007 is back and promises to be bigger and even more focused this year with a comprehensive 3 day programme that will look at all the key issues pertaining to market adoption and technology advancement. Mobile Payments Asia 2007 is a uniquely valuable opportunity for participants to put across their vision of how to meet challenges and maximise opportunities faced by players and stakeholders eyeing the rich potential of the Asian mobile payments market!

For more information and to register please visit: www.informatm.com

Transport Networks for Mobile Operators Asia Pacific

8-11 October 2007
Hong Kong

Transport Networks for Mobile Operators will be led by senior transport professionals from the Asia Pacific region, who are driving network evolution and rolling out new deployments. Themed sessions include optical core evolution, 3G & HSPA deployment, 3G transport & backhaul optimisation, IP transport evolution, Ethernet RAN and MW backhaul

For more information and to register please visit: www.iir-events.com

HSPa towards LTE Asia 2007

9-10 October 2007
Hong Kong

This established event, endorsed by 3GPP, GSA and UMTS Forum, will provide current updates on the industry progress from implementation, deployment and commercialization of HSxPA networks and services as well as evaluate the future evolutions of this technology towards LTE.

For more information and to register please visit: www.informatm.com

WiMax Summit Australia 2007

22-25 October 2007
Sydney

WiMax Summit Australia 2007 is the first in the region that will bring together international and domestic service providers to evaluate best practice, assess business models and discuss the projected impact of WiMAX on the Australasian broadband market.

CLICK HERE for registration details and to receive your 15% off be sure to quote TELERE15

IPTV Australasia 2007

22-24 October 2007
Sydney, Australia

IPTV Australasia is the leading destination for the converging ecosystems of broadband and entertainment. Covering IPTV, video on demand and webTV, this event delivers the most comprehensive examination of the convergence of communications and entertainment and its impact on service providers.

For more information and to register please visit: www.terrapinn.com

IIR’s Billing & Revenue Management Asia Pacific

22-26 October 2007
Hong Kong

IIR's forthcoming Billing & Revenue Management (RM) event will provide you with the unique opportunity to hear exclusive Pan-Asian and European telecom operator case studies. Leading operator speakers will be sharing their valuable and hard won experiences on optimising Billing and RM processes for meeting the requirements of next generation services and capturing maximum revenues.

For more information and to register please visit: www.iir-events.com

Mobile Entertainment Markets (MEM) Asia

6-7 December 2007
Singapore

The mobile and entertainment industries are increasingly merging, so why not have an event which brings together the leaders of both industries. Creating ONE Market-Place for both the mobile and media spheres.

The longest standing and most established event in the global mobile content industry. With market-leading speakers representing: mobile music, games, social networking and advertising, it will be an event not to be missed.
3 days, 6 events, unrivalled networking and a multitude of opportunities to do business!

For more information and to register please visit: www.memasia.com