China launches internet investment fund
China launched a CNY100 billion ($14.5 billion) internet investment fund, raising CNY30 billion so far from state-owned banks and enterprises including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), with an investment of CNY10 billion.

According to Xinhua, the Cyberspace Administration of China and Ministry of Finance private-equity fund will support internet companies and the country’s Internet Plus plan.

ICBC together with the China Development Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China will provide financial services and CNY150 billion in credit to enterprises which attract investment from the fund, the agency reported.

Globe cuts capex by 25%
Globe Telecom, the largest mobile operator in the Philippines, reduced its capex budget for 2017 by 25 per cent from a record $1 billion in 2016.

The operator, with a 52 per cent market share, increased its capex by $300 million last October to speed up its network expansion. The company and rival Smart jointly acquired the telecoms assets of San Miguel, which included spectrum in the highly efficient 700MHz band. In December Globe said it hit its target of deploying 500 LTE sites using the 700MHz band.

Globe CEO Ernest Cu told BusinessWorld the 2017 capex will be used to continue to expanding its mobile and fibre data networks.

Massive MIMO verified on FDD network
China Unicom and Huawei deployed FDD-based massive multiple-input multiple-out (MIMO) technology on a commercial two-antenna terminal using 20MHz of spectrum to deliver a peak transmission rate of 697.3Mb/s.

The companies said the field verification test was the industry’s first and the speeds achieved were 4.8-times faster than with traditional FDD-LTE.

Huawei said massive MIMO is the most promising technology to boost spectrum efficiency as it can greatly enhance wireless network capacity by maximising existing sites and spectrum resources, and is one of the key solutions for its 4.5G technology.

Indosat partners with Thuraya
Indonesia’s second largest operator Indosat Ooredoo agreed to partner with satellite services provider Thuraya to develop a range of enterprise services.

The services include enabling Indosat’s SIM cards to roam on the Thuraya satellite network as well as bundling satellite devices with the operator’s digital applications. The two companies also plan to develop additional use cases for the emerging Internet of Things market.

Herfini Haryono, Indosat Ooredoo’s director of wholesale and enterprise, said it looks forward to working with Thuraya to offer communication services beyond a terrestrial reach.