Friday Network News: January 3

January 03, 2014 02:30 AM

Capacity brings you the latest network news. If you have network developments you'd like us to share, please tweet us @capacitymag or email editorial@capacitymedia.com.

		Polish telecoms regulator UKE has announced details of its LTE auction planned for February. UKE hopes the auction, which includes five licences in the 800MHz band and 14 licences in the 2.6GHz band, will help boost mobile broadband coverage in rural areas of Poland. [read more]
		Indian operator Aircel has signed an agreement with Chinese equipment vendor ZTE to roll-out its 4G LTE network in India. During the first phase, ZTE will deploy the LTE network in Chennai, Rest of Tamil Nadu (RoTN) circle and a number of other important regions. [read more]
		Egypt's telecoms regulator, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has announced that it will issue unified telecoms licences. The move would allow a company to operate fixed-line as well as mobile networks, and the decision is subject to ratification and final approval by the cabinet. [read more]
		Qatari carrier Ooredoo has launched what it claims to be the first commercial 3G network in Algeria. The network covers 10 major cities across the country, including Algiers, Constantine, Oran, Ouargla, Setif, Djelfa and exclusively in Bejaia, Chlef, Bouira and Ghardaia. [read more]
		The US national security agency (NSA) has reportedly tapped into the Sea-Me-We-4 cable. The Sea-Me-We-4 connects Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and 'top secret' reports from the NSA have allegedly been discovered, claiming that the US agency has been successfully spying on the route. [read more]
		Nepal Telecom (NT) and Ncell – Nepal's largest mobile operators by subscribers – are thought to be competing to roll out 3G networks across the country. Due to increased demand for faster mobile internet speeds in Nepal, the two companies were this week reported to be racing to deploy their services. [read more]
		Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has partnered with Ooredoo Myanmar to support the launch of 3G services in the country in 2014. Under the two-year agreement, NSN will be the Qatari telecoms giant Ooredoo's key supplier for its radio and core equipment services for the 3G network. [read more]
		The South Korean government has announced that it plans to launch 5G services in 2020, following demonstrations of pre-5G mobile network service in 2015 and network trials in 2018. The South Korean ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning will invest KRW 500 billion over the next seven years on 5G development. [read more]
		Huawei expects to double its revenue from 4G services in 2014, compared to 2013. The Chinese vendor expects revenues of around $4 billion from its 4G mobile network unit – compared to $2 billion for this year – and also expects its overall wireless market revenue to notably increase. [read more]
		UK-based euNetworks has announced that it has renewed a multi-year contract with German insurance company Huk-Coburg to provide Ethernet services to over 47 locations across Germany. The insurance provider has been using euNetworks' bandwidth infrastructure for the last three years. [read more]