Mobile Commerce,  Asia,  The Philippines:  The proliferation of mobile communications in developing countries has the potential to bring a wide range of financial services to an entirely new customer base, according to a new report commissioned by the Information for Development Program (infoDev) in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the GSM Association.

Awards,  GSM,  Pakistan:  Pakistan has won this year’s GSMA Government Leadership Award, which recognises exceptional work by governments globally in the field of mobile communications policy.

Markets, Regulation, 3G Roll-out, CALA, Brazil: Users of mobile phones in Brazil will experience less interference if spectrum is allocated efficiently. The GSM Association has advised Brazilian regulator Anatel that it can build on its already successful spectrum policy if its allocation of the IMT-2000 core band in Brazil is consistent with global standards.

Wireless networks,  GSM, Latin America, Brazil:  Just three and a half years after it first arrived in Brazil, GSM is now used by more than 50% of Brazilian mobile phone users. According to the Brazilian regulator Anatel, of the 86 million people with mobile phones in Latin America’s largest country, more than 44 million are connected to GSM networks.

Satellite, Antarctica Central to the joys of amateur radio operations is making contact with radio stations all over the world. Antarctica is no longer the exception, for nine temporary radio stations are to be set up on Peter I Island, a remote uninhabited ice-bound island near Antarctica.

Internet Broadband, Central Europe, Czech Republic:  During the first week of January this year, the number of ADSL-based broadband Internet subscribers in the Czech Republic reached 275,000, that is to say an increase of 175% over January 2005 - almost 3 fold growth.

Corporate, Mobile, Africa, Madagascar: Celtel International, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s leading mobile operators, is to acquire a majority stake in Madagascar’s mobile telecom operator Madacom.

Wireless, Russia: GlobeTel will be installing wireless networks in 30 Russian cities. The company will complete this provision of high-speed communications by the start of 2009 and will be acting on behalf of LLC Internafta in order to supply broadband, VoIP and several other services.

Networks, Mobile, North Korea: Although GSM-based mobile phones have been accepted in North Korea for ten years in the Rajin-Sonbong economic area, North Korea has had a totally hostile attitude towards mobile technology.

Networks, North Korea / South Korea: North and South Korea’s first-ever telephone link, connecting the South with the North’s Kaesong Industrial Complex, has led to South Korea lobbying for a massive expansion of the service.

Forecasts, IP Broadcasting, China: Siemens has predicted that in four years time global investment in Internet Protocol television (IPTV) could touch US$1 billion. Prime mover will be China which will account for 25% of world spend.