Bouygues Telecom Launches LTE in Channel Tunnel

French operator Bouygues Telecom has launched LTE service in the Channel Tunnel for subscribers traveling from the U.K. to France, using the 1,800 MHz band. The operator said that its customers will be able to access LTE in the northbound side of the tunnel starting in May 2015, due to a roaming agreement to be signed with an unnamed U.K. operator.

Bouygues’ launch of LTE in the Channel Tunnel is part of a roaming partnership with rail operator Eurotunnel and U.K. operators EE, O2 and Vodafone. Bouygues is the only French operator to offer the high-speed mobile service to its subscribers, though for the time being it is only available in the southbound side of the tunnel. The fact that Bouygues rolled out its domestic LTE service on the 1,800 MHz band made it “the natural choice of partner for Eurotunnel, alongside other telecoms operators,” as a press release from the operator stated. Olivier Roussat, Chairman and CEO of Bouygues, said, “For us, it is further proof that our decision to use the 1,800 MHz frequency band was a pertinent strategy.”

Bouygues, as well as French operators Orange and SFR, launched 3G connectivity in the tunnel in the northbound direction in 2012, in time for the London Olympics. Full 3G connectivity in both directions took until May 2014, due at least in part to the technological challenges inherent in routing wireless signals to a tunnel that lies 100 meters below sea level. As of mid-December, subscribers of the three British MNOs have LTE access in both directions of the tunnel.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

Global Developments in Telecommunication

Asia/Pacific

Singaporean operator StarHub has partnered with multinational social ebook reading service Bookmate to offer StarHub customers a book streaming service of over 500,000 ebooks from 600 publishers. Users need to download the Bookmate app for iOS or Android and can subscribe to either the Standard tier or Premium tier service. The Standard tier, which costs SGD 9.98 (US $7.61) per month, provides fiction and non-fiction titles. The Premium tier’s monthly cost of SGD 15.98 (US $12.19) adds business and professional books.

Europe

From early 2015, French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom will offer Sweden-based Spotify’s music streaming service to subscribers of its higher-end mobile plans. Through its Spotify offerings, Bouygues Telecom is trying to introduce more customers to its 4G service and encourage them to switch to larger data packages.

Latin America

Brazilian mobile operator Oi has reached the 1 million mark for the deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots across Brazil. This represents a 112 percent year-over-year increase over the number of hotspots deployed at the end of 2013. Users can connect to Oi’s Wi-Fi network via the operator’s Wi-Fi app, which they can download at no cost for iOS and Android. Oi’s hotspots are located in restaurants, airports, shopping malls, public places and tourism sites.

Middle East/Africa

The Cameroonian government has partnered with mobile operators MTN and Orange to launch a tax service called Mobile Tax. The service will enable those of Cameroon’s taxpayers who are subscribers to either operator to pay their property taxes through mobile money accounts. The government has experienced a good deal of property tax evasion. While property taxes will be the first type of taxes that can be paid through mobile money accounts, the Cameroonian government will eventually expand Mobile Tax to enable users to pay all types of Cameroon’s taxes.

North America

U.S. regional mobile operator C Spire has introduced Pay-As-You-Go Rolling Data plans, which will enable its subscribers to roll over any unused data—up to the plan maximum—to use during the following month. The plan’s monthly costs are US $40.00, US $55.00 and US $65.00 for 2 GB, 4 GB and 6 GB of rolling data, respectively.  All plans include unlimited voice minutes and SMS.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx