MPT to expand network with funding from Japanese partners
Myanmar’s state-owned operator plans to expand its network by increasing the number of base stations from 2,000 to 5,000 by Q2 next year.

Its Japanese partners KDDI and Sumitomo will contribute JPY200 billion ($1.6 billion) to the upgrade plan.

Myanma Posts & Telecommunications (MPT) is the market leader with a 47 per cent market share, but it is losing customers to rivals Telenor and Ooredoo, which launched mobile service almost a year ago.

MPT also plans to increase the number of retail stores from five to 50 in Q2.

China Telecom plans VoLTE in 2017
China Telecom plans to launch Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) by the end of 2017, after its 4G coverage matches its 3G coverage.

The company’s chairman, Wang Xiaochu, said at a recent event that this year it will set the technical specifications, conduct verification tests and start developing the programme. In 2016 it will carry out large-scale network construction as well as tests and adjustments on the chips, devices, networks and interconnections.

FPT awarded telecoms licence in Myanmar
FPT, one of the three largest ISPs in Vietnam, has been given a licence to provide fixed telecoms and internet services in Myanmar, making it the first 100 per cent foreign-owned firm to operate in the country’s telecoms industry.

Myanmar’s Communications and Technology Ministry granted FPT a 15-year licence, which also allows the company to offer online games, e-news and e-commerce services, FPT said in a statement.

Foxconn sales up 10% in Q2
Hon Hai Precision – better know as Foxconn and an assembler of Apple’s iPhones — reported that revenue in Q2 increased 10.6 per cent to TWD972.62 billion ($31.14 billion).

Its revenue for the first half of the year rose almost 13 per cent to TWD1.98 trillion.

Docomo and GE partner on industry equipment analytics
GE Energy Japan and NTT Docomo have formed a partnership to combine GE’s wireless router for industrial equipment with the operator’s communication module to gather real-time data from remote locations.

The combination of GE’s MDS Orbit platform with Docomo’s embedded communication module will enable organisations to monitor real-time operational data such as temperature and vibration on infrastructure equipment, the companies said.

By combining the operation data acquired by the Orbit platform with Docomo’s application on the Internet of Things cloud platform, users will be able to manage the data on their smartphones and tablets. This feature can serve as a predictive diagnostic tool to prevent failures and assist in preserving aging facilities.