Pakistan sets base price for 850MHz auction
Pakistan set a reserve price of $395 million for 2x10MHz of 850MHz spectrum to be auctioned by the end of June.

The finance ministry has pushed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to conduct an auction this fiscal year after postponing the sales twice last year.

The country’s Finance Minister last week approved a proposal to auction off the 850MHz band before holding an auction for the 1.8GHz spectrum that was unsold in the 4G sale in 2014.

Singtel opens cyber security training centre
Singtel, the largest mobile operator in Singapore, has set up a training institute to enhance the cyber security skills and preparedness of businesses and governments in Asia Pacific.

The Cyber Security Institute, which it claims is a first-of–its-kind in the region, will occupy 10,000 square feet of space and will train boards and C-suite level participants in the area of cyber threat awareness, risk management, business continuity planning and crisis communications preparation.

Bill Chang, Singapore CEO for enterprise, said based on its engagements with companies in Singapore, more than 85 per cent do not have robust cyber response plans nor the opportunity to conduct realistic drills to test and sharpen such plans.

“We know we have to help companies secure themselves against a potential slew of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks,” he said.

Hutchison 3 selects Nokia for core upgrade
Hutchison 3 Indonesia has contracted Nokia to expand its core network to meet increasing demand for mobile data, which is doubling approximately every nine months.

Nokia will supply Hutchison 3 with packet core technology in major cities, such as Surabaya, Semarang, Solo and Yogyakarta.

Globe partners with Astro
Globe Telecom and Astro Malaysia are partnering to launch the Tribe over-the-top (OTT) video service to customers in the Philippines.

The two firms said they will collaborate on content opportunities that will be distributed on Tribe and other platforms across Asia.

Astro COO Henry Tan said both firms recognise the importance of local and differentiated content, with Tribe and Globe collaborating on content tailored to the Filipino audience.

Astro aims to expand the Tribe video service and recently launched in Indonesia, offering live and on-demand content comprising live sports, Asian movies and TV series.