SMS prices in India are set to drop significantly, according to the Times of India. Following an editorial featured in the popular newspaper alleging that SMS prices were very significantly higher than was necessary for the operators to recoup the costs incurred and make a profit, it is now reporting that the telecoms regulator TRAI is reviewing the pricing policy on SMS, and may consider intervening to bring prices down. Read Full Story

The minister of posts and telecommunications, So Khun, has renewed calls for greater co-operation and infrastructure sharing between mobile networks in Cambodia, reports cellular-news. Speaking at a conference, the minister emphasised the need to avoid the unnecessary building of multiple antennas. Read Full Story

Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Commission (Cofetel) has published details and terms regarding the long-delayed auction of wireless spectrum. The regulator is to sell nine blocks of spectrum in the 1,850-1,990MHz band in eight regions, while seven blocks in the 1,710-2,170MHz range will be offered in all nine regions of the country. The latter is of particular interest, as it gives successful bidders the potential to offer 3G services. Read Full Story

Mobile operators in Spain are urging the country's regulator to clarify regulation relating to the frequencies that will become available once analogue TV signals are switched off in April 2010. Operators require clarification in order to plan their investments for the next few years. Mobile operators are keen to acquire additional spectrum to enable them to cater to the ever growing demand for mobile data services. Read Full Story

The CEO of Batelco, Peter Kaliaropoulos, has reaffirmed the firm's intention to look for new international expansion opportunities in Asia and Africa, reports Trade Arabia. At an investment conference in Singapore, Kaliaropoulos indicated that Batelco's Indian unit, so far its only major operation outside the Middle East, was almost ready for launch, Kaliaropoulos also said that Batelco was also looking to extend its geographic presence, with a particular focus on Asia and Africa. Read Full Story

New data published by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) show that the value of mobile handsets imported into the country in the 2008/09 financial year fell for a second consecutive year, from US$446mn to US$130mn. In 2006/07 imported handsets had reached a value of US$670mn. There have been two main reasons for this decline. Firstly, the government raised taxes on sales of mobile phones in order to help its growing debt burden, and secondly the global recession began to force co... Read Full Story

The Latin American market has settled of late with fewer changes throughout our rankings. Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina lead our rankings while Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras remain at the bottom. While we see some movement in the middle of the table, there are only few changes reported. Read Full Story

The Bernama news portal reports that the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) has unveiled a proposal for a new submarine fibre-optic cable system that would link the Philippines with countries in the East Asia Growth Area (EAGA). The proposal was put forward by EA Trilink at a recent meeting of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines (BIMP)-EAGA Working Group on ICT. Read Full Story

Since a deal was first announced in April 2009 for China Mobile to buy a 12% stake in Taiwanese mobile operator Far EasTone (FET), little more has been heard about the proposed US$529mn transaction, which has, apparently, been stonewalled by the government of Taiwan. Considering the brittle political relationship between China and Taiwan, this is not particularly surprising, but Reuters recently quoted Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile, as saying that the deal is still under negotiation... Read Full Story

The possibility of the Mexican telecoms market being opened to foreign investment has again been raised by the country's lawmakers. At present there is a 49% limit on foreign ownership of landline telecoms operators. The proposals were first talked about in the latter half of 2008 although little has been said since. Part of the enthusiasm behind increasing the foreign ownership limit is to drive competition in the telecoms market, with at least one operator able to compete against Telmex's d... Read Full Story