Press Clippings: December 2009
Major Industry items you might have missed
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Nuance buys SpinVox for US$102.5m.
Source: Telecompaper.
Nuance Communications has acquired the voice-to-text specialist SpinVox for US$102.5m. in cash and shares. The two companies have both developed products that utilize speech recognition and transcription workflow software to convert voicemails into text that can be sent to users as SMS or e-mail messages.
SpinVox customers include a number of major carriers such as Alltel, Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, Movistar, Optus, Vodacom, Vodafone Spain, Telstra and Skype.
Posted by Judith — 4:01 AM
AT&T asks FCC to set date to scrap old phone system.
Source: Reuters.
AT&T Inc told U.S. telecoms regulators that it should set plans for phasing out older telephone networks if the government wants to make high-speed Internet access available across the country.
Although more than 90% of the population has access to broadband, the company said that phone companies will continue to work to cover the rest of the country, but will need some encouragement from regulators.
Posted by Judith — 3:36 AM
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Nokia files ITC complaint over Apple patent infringement.
Source: Telecompaper.
Nokia has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, alleging that Apple has infringed Nokia’s patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.
Posted by Judith — 4:28 AM
Canada OKs Ciena bid for Nortel ethernet business.
Source: Reuters.
Canada’s industry minister has approved Ciena’s US$769m. bid for a unit of bankrupt Nortel Networks.stating that the deal was likely to be of net benefit for Canada.
Posted by Judith — 3:57 AM
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
US consumer groups ask FTC to block Google buy of AdMob.
Source: Telecompaper.
Two consumer groups have asked the FTC to block Google’s US$750m. deal to buy mobile ads provider AdMob on anti-trust grounds, adding that the acquisition raises privacy concerns. In a joint letter to the FTC, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy said Google is buying its way to dominance in the mobile advertising market and diminishing competition to the detriment of consumers.
Posted by Judith — 8:01 AM
Secret mobile phone codes cracked.
Source: BBC.
A German computer scientist has published details of the secret code used to protect the conversations of more than 4bn mobile phone users.
Karsten Nohl, working with other experts, has spent the past five months cracking the algorithm used to encrypt calls using GSM technology. GSM is the most popular standard for mobile networks around the world.
Posted by Judith — 6:29 AM
Swiss watchdog to examine Orange/Sunrise deal.
Source: Reuters.
Switzerland’s competition watchdog will examine closely the planned merger between France Telecom’s Orange and Danish-owned Sunrise to ensure the grouping does not dominate the Swiss mobile market.
Along with Swisscom, Sunrise and Orange are the main players in Switzerland’s mobile phone market. The planned merger, with a market share of 40%, would reduce the number of competitors to two from three.
Posted by Judith — 5:38 AM
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Firefox for mobile ‘days away’ from launch.
Source: BBC.
The first mobile phone version of the popular web browser Firefox is “days away” from launch, the head of the project has announced.
The browser, codenamed Fennec, will initially be available for Nokia’s N900 phone, followed by other handsets.
The open-source browser will be able to synchronise with the desktop version.
Posted by Judith — 3:19 AM
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
ChinaVision, People’s Daily form mobile TV JV in China.
Source: Telecompaper.
ChinaVision Media Group has signed an agreement with the People’s Daily Online to set up a joint venture company which will operate mobile TV business in China. This will also provide the group with a multi-billing network and mobile channel resources for promotion, enabling it to integrate visual entertainment media resources and introduce new digital products to mobile users in China.
Posted by Judith — 3:16 AM
Monday, December 21, 2009
Avaya completes acquisition of Nortel Enterprise Solution.
Source: Telecompaper.
Avaya has completed the acquisition of Nortel Enterprise Solutions (NES). The addition of NES further enhances Avaya’s strategic position in providing business communications solutions and services for enterprise customers.
Posted by Judith — 3:41 AM
Orange to launch cloud computing services.
Source: Telecompaper.
Orange France has introduced its cloud computing services. This includes real-time applications, collaboration, security, infrastructure, cloud-ready networking and vertical services for specific industries.
Posted by Judith — 2:14 AM
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tele2, Telenor pick Huawei for LTE network deployment.
Source: Telecompaper.
Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei has won a contract at Net4Mobility, the joint venture of Tele2 and Telenor. Under the terms of the agreement, Huawei will supply Tele2 and Telenor with infrastructure and modems for the development of a LTE mobile communications network in Sweden. The network is scheduled for commercial launch in 2010.
Posted by Judith — 4:19 AM
Friday, December 18, 2009
Obama moves to boost U.S. broadband access.
Source: Reuters.
The Obama administration has released details of a US$2bn. program in grants and loans to help dramatically expand Americans’ broadband Internet access and create tens of thousands of jobs.
The funds, to be released over the next 75 days, are among US$7.2bn. set aside in President Barack Obama’s US$787bn. economic recovery package to bring broadband access to unserved or underserved U.S. communities.
Posted by Judith — 4:25 AM
Free wins France’s fourth mobile network licence.
Source: Telecompaper.
French telecommunications regulator Arcep has awarded Free Mobile a 3G mobile network licence. Free Mobile, a subsidiary of broadband group Iliad, was the only candidate for the 5 MHz licence in the 2.1GHz band in a procedure launched on 1 August. Free Mobile is paying EUR240m. for the licence.
Posted by Judith — 2:29 AM
Thursday, December 17, 2009
No increase in 3G charges says Indian Government.
Source: BWCS.
An Indian Cabinet panel has decided not to increase the annual charges levied on bandwidth from companies offering second-generation mobile services, even after they start providing third-generation services.
Currently, mobile operators in India operators pay between 2% and 6% of their adjusted gross revenue to the government as annual spectrum charges.
Posted by Judith — 3:19 AM
FCC previews NBP.
Source: TeleGeography.
US regulator the FCC has outlined a number of preliminary recommendations which will guide the development of the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
The interim report reveals that the NBP will include policy recommendations in ten key areas: universal service, infrastructure access, spectrum allocation, tribal lands, set-top boxes, consumer information, media, adoption of broadband, accessibility for people with disabilities, and public safety; while also addressing education, energy, health care and civic participation implications.
Posted by Judith — 2:32 AM
FTC sues Intel for abusing market dominance.
Source: Reuters.
The U.S. government has accused Intel of illegally using its market dominance to stifle competition in a lawsuit that seeks to stop the marketing practices that have helped maintain Intel’s status as the world’s biggest chip maker.
Posted by Judith — 2:07 AM
Eircom takeover by STT approved.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Federal Court of Australia has approved Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT’s) proposed takeover of Eircom Holdings, the parent company of Irish former monopoly operator Eircom. The decision effectively clears the way for STT to acquire the telco as planned in early January 2010 in a deal valued at around EUR140m.(US$204m.).
Posted by Judith — 1:58 AM
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
EU drops Microsoft browser charges.
Source: The Globe and Mail.
The European Union has announced that it is dropping antitrust charges against Microsoft after the company agreed to give Windows users a choice of up to 12 other Web browsers.
Under the terms of the deal with regulators, Microsoft will avoid further EU fines if it provides a pop-up screen that lets European users — from March — replace Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or add another browser such as Mozilla’s Firefox, or Google’s Chrome.
This will also allow computer manufacturers to ship PCs without Internet Explorer in Europe.
Posted by Judith — 4:16 AM
CMT fines Telefonica for delaying naked ADSL access.
Source: Telecompaper.
Spanish telecommunications regulator CMT has fined Telefonica for delaying the provision of naked ADSL wholesale services. The fine reaches EUR11m. CMT set regulations for naked DSL wholesale access in March 2008. The regulator granted Telefonica a period of four months from that date to start offering the service to alternative operators. The current sanction against Telefonica follows a series of complaints from Vodafone.
Posted by Judith — 2:36 AM
Bharti Airtel to take control of Warid Bangladesh.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Dhabi Group has agreed to an offer from India’s Bharti Airtel to buy a 70% stake in the Middle Eastern company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Warid Telecom (Bangladesh). Warid Telecom launched in Bangladesh in May 2007 and has become the fourth largest of the country’s six mobile operators in terms of subscribers.
Posted by Judith — 2:10 AM
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
France to invest EUR 4.5 billion in digital economy.
Source: Telecompaper.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that the government will invest EUR4.5bn. to support the rollout of very high-speed broadband and the development of innovative services as part of a EUR35bn. bond issue known as the “grand emprunt”.
Posted by Judith — 3:43 AM
Monday, December 14, 2009
Google employees test new mobile phone.
Source: Telecompaper.
Google confirmed in a blog that it was testing a new concept mobile phone, writing that it was “dogfooding” the devices, an expression that comes from the idea that companies should eat their own dog food, or use their own products. The company declined to disclose any product details and said it would discuss the product more after the test period. Google began distributing new phones to employees on 12 December.
Google is reported to have kept at least two carriers, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, informed about its new phone, and left open the possibility of distribution with an operator.
Posted by Judith — 3:30 AM
First LTE network goes live.
Source: BWCS.
Nordic telecoms company TeliaSonera has announced the commercial launch of what it is claiming to be the World’s first LTE mobile networks in Stockholm and Oslo. The kit for the new 4G systems has been supplied by Ericsson in Sweden and Huawei in the Danish capital.
Posted by Judith — 2:54 AM
Vodafone Group to sell indirect stake in Bharti Airtel.
Source: TeleGeography.
UK-based Vodafone Group has called on interested parties to submit bids for its 4.39% indirect holding in Indian mobile network operator Bharti Airtel. If successful in its attempts to sell the holding it is expected that Vodafone could raise up to US$2bn. Such a sale opens up an opportunity for both Bharti founder Sunil Mittal’s family and Singtel to emerge as the largest shareholder in the cellco; the Mittals hold an approximate 30% stake at present, while SingTel has around 30.5%, although this will rise to around 32% after a recent deal announced last month to acquire a further 1.52% indirect stake in Bharti.
Posted by Judith — 2:50 AM
EU signals it warms to Oracle-Sun deal.
Source: Reuters.
EU regulators have signalled that they could clear Oracle’s US$7bn. takeover of Sun Microsystems after the U.S. software company promised measures to ease competition concerns.
The European Commission had previously objected to the deal, citing possible competition constraints on Sun’s MySQL database after the takeover.
The Commission has until January 27 to clear or block the deal. Its approval would avert a rift with the U.S. Department of Justice, which has approved the deal.
Posted by Judith — 2:45 AM
KCC gives nod to merger of LG trio.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Korea Communications Commission has given its approval for the proposed merger of the LG Group’s three telecom subsidiaries - LG Telecom, LG Dacom and LG Powercom.
As part of the regulator’s approval for the tie-up however it has ruled that Korea Electric Power Corp, South Korea’s state-owned power company, must divest its 38.8% stake in LG Powercom by 2012.
Posted by Judith — 2:19 AM
Orange inaugurates LION undersea cable.
Source: Telecompaper
Orange has officially inaugurated the LION (Lower Indian Ocean Network) cable in Reunion. The 1,000 km fibre optic cable connecting Madagascar, Reunion and Mauritius was lit on Reunion on 16 November. France Telecom, Orange Madagascar and Mauritius Telecom financed the WDM cable.
Posted by Judith — 1:25 AM
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Ottawa rewrites the rules on telecom ownership.
Source: Globe and Mail.
Ottawa has decided to let Globalive Wireless Management become the country’s newest cellphone company this month, even though the Canadian company is mostly owned by Egyptian wireless giant Orascom Telecom. No other Canadian telecom company has been given such a provision until now. But after the federal telecom regulator blocked Globalive’s bid in October, the debate was elevated to the highest levels of government a few weeks ago, culminating in a cabinet decision to allow the company into the market.
It is the clearest sign yet that the Harper government is willing to take whatever steps necessary to push through competition in the phone industry, which has been dominated by three national giants: Rogers Communications, Bell Canada and Telus.
Posted by Judith — 4:10 AM
Friday, December 11, 2009
Firms including Google to build Asia undersea cable.
Source: Independent.
A consortium including Google and KDDI has signed a deal to build and operate an international undersea cable system, estimated to cost US$400m.
Globe Telecom, part owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, and units of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are also part of the consortium.
The cable system, named Southeast Asia Japan Cable, has a design capacity of 17Tbps upgradeable to 23Tbps, the highest capacity system ever built so far.
Posted by Judith — 4:19 AM
Egypt approves sale of Mobinil to France Telecom.
Source: Telecompaper.
Egypt’s financial regulator has approved the sale of mobile operator Mobinil to France Telecom. France Telecom will be allowed to buy all Mobinil shares at a price of EGP245(US$45)per share.
Posted by Judith — 3:47 AM
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Nokia to close U.S. flagship stores.
Source: Reuters.
Nokia is to close its two flagship stores in the United States, saving costs on a market where the world’s top cellphone maker is struggling to gain ground.
Nokia has opened 12 stores in major cities around the world, hoping to copy the success of Apple’s retail stores.
Nokia said it would close the stores in New York and Chicago as part of its retail strategy revamp to better focus on co-operation with telecom operators and with retailers. The company is also closing one of its two stores in London and its Sao Paolo store.
Posted by Judith — 4:03 AM
Telefonica plans to invest over BRL2bn. in Brazil.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telefonica plans to invest more than BRL2bn.(US$1.15bn.) in Brazil in 2010 and will focus on its broadband business. To meet increased competition and the expected arrival of Vivendi on the market through its takeover of GVT, Telefonica is preparing a more aggressive price policy for broadband.
Posted by Judith — 2:26 AM
7-Eleven trials mobile marketing.
Source: BWCS.
One of the major retail chains in the US, 7-Eleven, has announced it is to test mobile marketing services at 200 of its San Diego stores. If successful, the shop-group may roll the service out across America and beyond. The scheme invites potential customers to send a text to 7-Eleven HQ and receive a free beverage at any store in return.
Posted by Judith — 2:03 AM
Internode mulling mobile voice services.
Source: TeleGeography.
Australian broadband provider Internode has revealed its plans to introduce mobile voice services next year. The report suggests that the telco plans to initially offer a resold, SIM-only mobile voice service in the first half of 2010.
Posted by Judith — 1:45 AM
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
AOL Time Warner splits after near 10-year marriage.
Source: BBC.
AOL and Time Warner have formally split after almost 10 years as one company.
Under the terms of the deal, qualifying shareholders will receive one AOL share for each 11 Time Warner they own.
Posted by Judith — 5:38 AM
Sprint completes iPCS acquisition.
Source: InformationWeek.
Sprint Nextel has finalized the acquisition of iPCS, and the US$831m. deal will enable the mobile operator to continue to operate and roll out networks in the Midwest markets.
The completed merger means iPCS will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint, and more than 700,000 iPCS subscribers will be counted as Sprint customers.
Posted by Judith — 4:57 AM
Ericsson axes 1,000 more staff.
Source: Light Reading.
Ericsson has unexpectedly announced news of staff cuts in Sweden that will see more than 900 employees lose their jobs.
The majority of the cuts, which aren’t part of the previously announced headcount reductions, will see 856 jobs go at a 3G base station plant in Gävle, while 90 staff are being laid off in Boras.
Posted by Judith — 4:50 AM
3G tests put DAVE on schedule for early 2010 launch.
Source: TeleGeography.
Canadian mobile start-up DAVE Wireless has announced the successful completion of tests on a 3G network built by Ericsson, putting it on schedule for a commercial launch in early 2010. DAVE is licensed to offer wireless services in the 2GHz frequency range in ten of the country’s 13 largest cities.
Posted by Judith — 3:41 AM
Romtelecom awards managed services contract to Ericsson.
Source: Telecompaper.
Romanian fixed-line operator Romtelecom has awarded a five-year managed services contract to Ericsson. Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for corrective and preventive field maintenance of switching and power systems. As part of the same deal, about 400 employees from Romtelecom will be transferred to Ericsson.
Posted by Judith — 2:08 AM
Samsung launches Bada.
Source: BWCS.
Samsung has launched its new Linux-based, open source, mobile platform: Bada. The company clearly hopes that Bada will grow to rival the current crop of successful mobile operating systems, such as Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile, all of which are also sold by Samsung.
Samsung’s open platform is designed to help the company bridge the gap between complex, high-end, smart phones and simpler handsets.
Posted by Judith — 1:58 AM
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Etisalat DB and Allianz Infratech prepare merger.
Source: TeleGeography.
Two of India’s yet-to-launch mobile network operators, Etisalat (formerly Swan Telecom) and Allianz Infratech, have announced that they are to merge. On completion of the tie-up the newly formed company will hold licences to operate in 15 of India’s 22 telecom circles, as Etisalat currently has 13 Universal Access Service Licences while Allianz has two.
Posted by Judith — 11:51 AM
Cox rolls out initial wireless test markets.
Source: FierceWireless.
Cox Communications has started trialling its wireless offering in three markets as part of a prelude to a larger wireless expansion scheduled for next year. The initial test markets are in Hampton Roads, Va., Omaha, Neb., and Orange County, Calif.
The cable company paid US$304.6m. for 22 spectrum licenses covering areassuch as California, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas.
Posted by Judith — 11:30 AM
FNA outlines VDSL access regulation.
Source: TeleGeography.
Germany’s telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA), has unveiled the conditions under which incumbent telco DT must provide competitors access to its VDSL network, after the European Court of Justice ruled that the agency must no longer grant DT a ‘regulatory holiday’ regarding its fibre-optic infrastructure.
Posted by Judith — 10:53 AM
RIM expands BlackBerry distribution in China.
Source: Telecompaper.
Chinese IT services provider and product distributor Digital China has signed a distribution agreement with RIM for BlackBerry smartphones in China. This strategic business initiative is expected to help RIM further expand its business in China by leveraging Digital China’s local expertise and nationwide distribution network.
China Mobile and RIM have also announced plans to launch BlackBerry Internet Service and BlackBerry smartphones for SMB’s and professional consumers.
Posted by Judith — 2:59 AM
AT&T asks iPhone users for help with network testing.
Source: Telecompaper.
AT&T has launched the AT&T Mark the Spot application for iPhone that enables customers to provide feedback on AT&T network performance in a specific location. The application enables users to indicate the nature of the situation and add notes to describe the situation if desired, when a network service issue is encountered. From there, the application automatically notes the location, time of day and type of device used, and the report is directly sent to AT&T’s network planning team.
Posted by Judith — 2:19 AM
Chinese firms create OSS giant.
Source: Light Reading.
Two of China’s leading providers of telecom software and systems integration services are merging to create a company with more than 8,000 staff and annual revenues of more than US$400.
AsiaInfo Holdings Inc. and Linkage Technologies International Holdings Ltd., are combining to form AsiaInfo-Linkage Inc.
Posted by Judith — 1:47 AM
Monday, December 7, 2009
Dell to establish communications division.
Source: Telecompaper.
Computer maker Dell is setting up a communications unit as part of a reorganisation.
The new communications unit will focus on developing more wireless products. The company already sells the Mini 3 smartphone via China Mobile and will launch the phone with America Movil’s Brazilian unit this year.
Posted by Judith — 3:49 AM
Apple acquires music service Lala.
Source: Reuters.
Apple has acquired digital music service Lala, as the dominant online music retailer explores new models for selling songs.
Internet search giant Google Inc recently partnered with Lala to provide users song samples along with links to purchase the music.
Lala has also partnered with Facebook to offer music through the social networking site..
Posted by Judith — 3:15 AM
Commerce Commission fines NZ Telecom over false broadband claims.
Source: TeleGeography.
Incumbent operator Telecom New Zealand will face an outlay of over NZ$8.9m. (US$6.37m.) after admitting to 17 charges of breaching the Fair Trading Act by making false claims about the speed of its broadband internet service. The firm faces an initial fine of NZ$500,000 after pleading guilty to the allegations in an Auckland court and will also pay over NZ$8.4m. in compensation to 98,700 affected customers.
Posted by Judith — 2:46 AM
Saturday, December 5, 2009
TeleCommunication Systems to acquire navigation firm.
Source: InformationWeek.
TeleCommunication Systems has announced that it is acquiring Networks In Motion for about US$170m.
Networks in Motion specializes in enabling mobile operators to enhance or offer navigation services for cell phones and smartphones with GPS chips. The privately held company developed a navigation platform that is used in by Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS, Telus, and Virgin Mobile.
Posted by Judith — 6:29 AM
Cisco reaches 91% of Tandberg shares.
Source: Telecompaper.
Cisco has acquired over 90% of the shares in videoconferencing group Tandberg, allowing the company to take control of the Norwegian firm.
Posted by Judith — 4:39 AM
Friday, December 4, 2009
Cisco gets 89% of Tandberg shares.
Source: Telecompaper.
Cisco has acquired 89% of the shares in videoconferencing group Tandberg at the close of its public takeover offer for the Norwegian company. This is less than the 90% set out in the public offer, but Cisco said it has decided to waive that condition and go ahead with the takeover. Cisco plans to buy the remaining stock on the open market and acquire options or other contracts for Tandberg shares.
Posted by Judith — 3:45 AM
CSL puts its head in the cloud.
Source: TeleGeography.
Hong Kong-based cellco CSL, a subsidiary of Australia’s Telstra, has signed a deal with SIMtone for the implementation and development of the latter’s ‘cloud’ computing services over CSL’s ‘Next G’ 3.5G wireless network in Hong Kong.
Posted by Judith — 3:44 AM
Australia begins 6,000km fibre roll-out.
Source: Telecompaper.
The Australian government has unveiled a plan for 6,000km of regional fibre broadband backbone links as the first building blocks of the planned national broadband network on mainland Australia. The communications ministry has signed an agreement with Nextgen Networks to construct the new broadband backbone infrastructure under the AU$250m. Regional Backbone Blackspots Program.
Posted by Judith — 3:18 AM
Comcast, GE form new NBCU joint venture.
Source: Telecompaper.
Comcast and General Electric have agreed to form a 51:49 respectively owned joint venture, managed by Comcast. The joint venture will consist of the NBC Universal (NBCU) businesses and Comcast’s cable channels, regional sports networks and certain digital properties and unconsolidated investments.
Posted by Judith — 3:00 AM
Thursday, December 3, 2009
AT&T, Verizon quit legal battle over ad claims.
Source: FierceWireless.
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless agreed to have litigation between them over advertising claims dismissed in federal courts in both Georgia and New York, according to legal filings.
The litigation that was dismissed in Georgia centered on Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” advertising campaign, which compares the two companies’ 3G network coverage.
The two companies also dismissed a separate lawsuit filed in July. In that case, submitted to a New York federal court, Verizon asked a judge to determine whether its “America’s Most Reliable 3G Network” ads are truthful, a claim AT&T said is misleading.
Posted by Judith — 4:05 AM
NSN hopes dashed as Ciena/Nortel deal approved.
Source: Light Reading.
Courts in Canada and the U.S. have dismissed an objection from NSN and confirmed the sale of the Canadian vendor’s Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) unit to Ciena.
Nortel has announced it has received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for the sale of its Optical Networking and Carrier Ethernet businesses to Ciena, and the far less contentious sale of its GSM and GSM-R businesses to Ericsson and Kapsch CarrierCom.
Posted by Judith — 3:20 AM
NSN challenges Ciena’s Nortel bid.
Source: Telecompaper.
NSN has challenged Ciena’s bid for Nortel Networks’s optical networking business and submitted a new bid of US$810m. in cash for the assets. NSN lost an auction for the assets to Ciena which agreed to pay US$530m. in cash and issue US$239m. in convertible notes. NSN previously bid US$770m. in cash with One Equity Partners. NSN claims in its objection that the convertible notes in the Ciena bid should be discounted, making the bid even lower.
Posted by Judith — 3:19 AM
Ireland’s competition authority approves Eircom takeover.
Source: TeleGeography.
The Irish Competition Authority (CA) has cleared the proposed takeover of Eircom’s parent company Eircom Holdings Ltd by Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT). It is understood the CA reached its decision following a comprehensive review of the deal, concluding it did not raise any competition concerns as STT’s only other business in the Republic is Global Crossing.
Posted by Judith — 3:03 AM
Telenor launches operations in India.
Source: Telecompaper.
Telenor Group’s Indian mobile operation Uninor launched its mobile services in seven Indian telecommunication circles, covering a footprint of close to 600 million people. Uninor services were launched simultaneously in the circles Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh east, Uttar Pradesh west and Bihar.
Posted by Judith — 2:46 AM
BT and BSNL partner to offer global conferencing solutions to Indian corporates.
Source: BTplc.
BT and BSNL, India’s largest public sector communications company, have partnered to offer Global Conferencing Solutions.
BSNL is expanding its “Managed Enterprise Business solutions” offering and has now partnered with BT to provide audio and web conferencing solutions to its customers.
There can be 40 concurrent dial-ins from any country across the globe in a single virtual conferencing supporting audio and web. Each of these dial-ins locations can have multiple users in the conference.
Posted by Judith — 2:13 AM
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Google to limit free news access.
Source: BBC.
Newspaper publishers will now be able to set a limit on the number of free news articles people can read through Google, the company has announced.
The concession follows claims from some media companies that the search engine is profiting from online news pages.
Posted by Judith — 2:58 AM
Amoi to auction off handset business.
Source: Telecompaper.
China’s Amoi Electronics will sell off its core handset manufacturing business. The company will hold an auction on 8 December for the assets, brand and patents, which are valued at around CNY800m. (US$117m.). The company will also auction off its 75% stake in Amoi Mobile, including the company’s current handset inventory and manufacturing facilities.
Posted by Judith — 2:13 AM
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
MVS to bring WiMax to Mexico.
Source: BWCS.
Mexican telecoms operator MVS Comunicaciones has announced plans to invest US$700m. into launching WiMax services in 23 Mexican cities. According to reports, the company will work with US WiMax giant Clearwire and technology company Intel to launch the network south of the Rio Grande in the second half of next year.
Posted by Judith — 3:57 AM
France Telecom loses in European court.
Source: FT.com.
France Telecom, Europe’s third-largest telecoms group, has lost its court appeal against a European Commission order to repay about €1bn. (US$1.5bn.) of state aid to the French government that Brussels had deemed illegal.
The EC’s competition department ruled in 2004 that tax concessions enjoyed by the telecoms group a decade ago amounted to state aid and infringed European Union rules.
Posted by Judith — 2:48 AM
Virgin Mobile sole company shortlisted to manage MTNL’s 3G network.
Source: TeleGeography.
UK-owned Virgin Mobile has been shortlisted by India’s MTNL to manage the state-run telco’s 3G network in Delhi and Bombay, after the only other bidder, the Spice Group, was dropped due to a lack of experience in 3G operations.
Posted by Judith — 2:38 AM
Nokia ousted at NFC technology company.
Source: BWCS.
German technology company Giesecke & Devrient has bought out Nokia to become the sole shareholder in Venyon Oy, one of the leading lights of the emerging mobile near field communications (NFC) market.
Posted by Judith — 2:03 AM
IBM confirms acquisition of database security vendor Guardium.
Source: eWeek.
IBM has confirmed that it is acquiring Guardium. The acquisition brings Guardium’s database activity monitoring and data security capabilities into IBM’s software portfolio.
The acquisition is the 28th purchase IBM has made as part of its Information Management strategy, and brings a new level of real-time enterprise database monitoring and data protection to IBM’s portfolio.
Posted by Judith — 1:24 AM
Starent settles suit over Cisco bid.
Source: eWeek.
Starent Networks, which Cisco Systems wants to buy for US$2.9bn., has settled one of several lawsuits seeking to block the sale. Starent agreed to provide more information to shareholders in exchange for the suit being dropped. There are more lawsuits that have been filed involving the proposed sale. Starent would help Cisco with its mobile Internet plans.
Posted by Judith — 1:02 AM
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