The beleaguered merger proposal between Zain and Etisalat could be back on track, with Zain reportedly agreeing to sell its Saudi Arabian operations...

Two Indian operators have received notices of cancellation from the country’s Department of Telecommunications regarding the licences which they hold in certain regions, following their failure to comply with the requisite 2G network deployment criteria...

A major Indonesian provider of wireless communications infrastructure has strengthened its focus on acquiring and leasing network infrastructure to telecom operators...

The Russian mobile broadband service provider Yota is readying its first LTE modem for launch next month. The firm aims to follow this launch with mobile routers, embedded laptops and smartphones...

The CEO of VimpelCom, Alexander Izosimov, has made it clear that while he expects the firm’s shareholders to greenlight its planned merger with Wind Telecom next week, the Russian operator will not be pursuing any more large scale acquisitions for some time thereafter...

The State Grid Corporation of China is building a Qinghai-Tibet power grid to improve and optimise power allocation in the region...

Iraq’s government is aiming to raise around US$2 billion by auctioning off the country’s fourth national mobile licence by the end of 2011...

Subscribers of one of the Caribbean’s leading service providers, United Telecommunications Services (UTS), are now able to access improved data services...

The Chinese government has proposed tracking the location of smartphones as a means of managing and ameliorating heavy traffic in Beijing...

The global Average Selling Price (ASP) for approximately 70% (4.8 billion) of active mobile phones will fall under USD 100 by 2015...

Consumers in Paraná, Brazil, will soon have access to high-speed, affordable data services following the deployment of a 3000km optical fibre network by regional telecom operator Copel...

The gravity of India’s 2G licensing investigation is becoming increasingly apparent, with another high-profile industry member resigning after being implicated in the scandal...

A leading wireless communications provider in the Philippines has unveiled a new smartphone designed specifically for emerging markets...

The Republic of Congo’s third largest telecommunications operator, Warid Congo SA, is launching Voice SMS services across its network. The offering is based on technology from Kirusa, a developer of mobile VAS...

An online survey conducted by social & market research firm Macroscope has revealed that, while a third of internet users in the Baltic States would be willing to pay for digital products that they are interested in, almost 70% would first try all possible ways of getting the product they are interested in for free...

On International Women’s Day, the GSMA urges all members of the mobile industry, the international development community and the public to support women’s freedom to connect by signing the GSMA mWomen Charter...

The Honourable President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil today launched ‘Sanchar Shakti’ - the Gender Budget scheme for Mobile Connectivity & ICT related livelihood skills for Self Help Groups – an initiative by Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular services provider under the aegis of Universal Service Obligation Fund of the Department of Telecommunications...

The newest entrant to the Indian 3G market is Aircel, with the operator announcing that it has begun offering services in Chennai...

Thailand could see 3G auctions by the end of 2011, according to statements from Natee Sokonrat, the commissioner of the country’s new regulator...

New international IP and content distribution services will be enabled in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East following the announcement of a strategic long-term agreement between Middle East operator Saudi Telecom and Level 3 Communications...

Following on from allegations originating from European vendors that Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE are receiving state funding, China’s Ministry of Commerce has accused the EU of the same thing in a new study...

With Thailand beset by ongoing political problems on top of a sluggish economy, the country's telecom sector seems to have lost direction...

A Zimbabwean internet and VoIP provider will now also provide WiMAX services following a deal with mobile broadband solutions provider Greenpacket. Aptics Trading has signed a WiMAX modem supply contract with the firm...

One of Poland’s largest telecoms operators has launched a new video-on-demand service for its subscribers. INEA’s new Wypo?yczalnia Filmów service is running on the open converged Service Delivery Platform (cSDP) from SeaChange|eventIS, which also served as systems integrator on the project...

In the face of strong competition to its commercial mobile business, Vodafone Essar is attempting to make inroads into India’s fixed-line arena, as well as incorporating business services into its strategy...

Kuwait’s largest mobile operator, Zain, will soon be able to offer its customers new and personalised services more rapidly. The operator has unified its customer data that was previously distributed across the network into a single database based on Nokia Siemens Networks’ One-NDS platform...

Mobile commerce and financial services are currently being trialled in Libya as part of a new global partnership between Nokia Siemens Networks and MoreMagic Solutions...

A new cable system that stretches between Europe and India is set to enhance diversity between the two territories. Launched by Bharti airtel, the Europe India Gateway (EIG) system has received investment of around $700 million and has a capacity of 3.84 terabits per second...

The main challenge now in emerging markets is to deliver mobile internet affordably, both to urban elites and to presently unserved remote areas. To do this, operators will need to be innovative...

If there is such a thing as the hot topic in telecoms, Mobile World Congress is where you will find out about it. And right now the issue that is taking up more time than anything else in the minds and engineering departments of service providers as well as vendors it is the explosion of data over mobile networks...

The Bahraini operator Batelco has had its offer to buy a 25% in Zain’s Saudi operations rejected by the Kuwaiti firm. This development is yet another setback for Etisalat’s bid to purchase a controlling stake in Zain...

The South African operator Cell C has partnered with network optimisation specialists Aircom International to empower its customers to play a direct role in enhancing user experience...

Three Chinese operators have deployed new networks offering high speed internet access. Sichuan Telecom, Guangxi Telecom and Inner Mongolia Mobile have all launched networks based on Wavion’s Beamforming Wi-Fi base stations...

Vodafone has unveiled three own-brand handsets aimed at extending access to a range of mobile and data services in emerging markets, including money transfer, the mobile internet and a localised content offering...