Mobile Asia Congress Makes Waves

The GSMA Mobile Asia Congress is hitting the headlines around the world. Here’s a round up of the biggest stories unearthed at the event where the region’s major players have been striking deals this week.

China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou says his company is in talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to China (reported by BusinessWeek, AP). The iPhone's music-download and Web-surfing capabilities may help China Mobile lure higher-income users, reported Bloomberg, after China Mobile added record customers in September by focusing on rural areas and cutting prices.

Meanwhile, Telstra wants to be the only carrier to offer the iPhone when it’s released in Australia, CEO Sol Trujillo has said (Smarthousenews.com)

MarketWatch reports that NTT DoCoMo is willing to spend between $5 billion and $8 billion to acquire minority stakes in operators in emerging markets. Senior VP Toshinari Kuneida told Dow Jones Newswires: “There are many Japanese tourists travelling in Southeast Asia and we can benefit from offering services in countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and New Zealand.”

Ericsson expects revenue from its Greater China operation to increase more than ten per cent a year in 2007 and 2008. Ericsson accounts for about 35 per cent of the network supply contracts for Chinese mobile operators, Ericsson Greater China President Mats H. Olsson told Dow Jones Newswires.

Meanwhile, Huawei expects contract sales to come in at US$16 billion this year, beating the company’s pervious target by nearly seven per cent (Reuters)