Swedish kit vendor Ericsson has hit out at UK communications regulator Ofcom, claiming that the watchdog’s plans for the proposed 2.6GHz spectrum auction could devalue the frequencies on offer. “There is a danger of spectrum fragmentation, which will take years to sort out,” said Mikael Halen, director of government and industry relations for the Swedish […]
Fourth placed mobile handset vendor Sony Ericsson warned of continued market pressures this week, as the Japanese / Swedish joint venture said it would only break even during the second quarter. The company said that its net sales and net income before taxes would continue to be negatively affected by poor sales of its mid […]
Finnish handset vendor Nokia made what appears to be a reactionary move on Tuesday morning, buying up the rest of Symbian and uniting it with S60, UIQ and MOAP. In what some see as a long anticipated move, the world’s biggest handset vendor snapped up the remaining 52.1 per cent of Symbian that it didn’t […]
Leading mobile handset vendor Nokia said Monday that it has agreed to acquire German start up Plazes for an undisclosed sum. Plazes is a privately owned company consisting of just 13 people that runs a ‘context-aware social-activity service’, as they call it, or geo tagging application, as we call it. The service basically allows users […]
Infrastructure vendor Alcatel-Lucent said that it has taken its relationship with software firm Motive to the next level, agreeing to buy the firm for a cash price of $67.8m. US-based Motive develops service management software for broadband and mobile data platforms, and the acquisition builds on a three year relationship between the companies. Previously, Alcatel-Lucent […]
Canadian equipment vendor Nortel Networks watched its shares soar 13 per cent on Wednesday, after the company announced plans to shift its 4G focus to LTE, rather than WiMAX. Nortel will offload its WiMAX initiative into a strategic agreement with WiMAX kit vendor Alvarion, supplying core network solutions, backhaul, applications, and global services, to be […]
One year into its operation as a merged entity, monster vendor Nokia Siemens Networks is still facing a challenging market. Competition is strong and the growth outlook is not good, as chief executive Simon Beresford-Wylie readily admits the carrier was caught on the back foot. “In 2006, at the time of the merger, the market looked like it was growing. But this wasn’t the case,” he says.
The world’s biggest handset vendor, Nokia, and two outsiders, RIM (BlackBerry) and Apple, stand to gain most by pioneering fresh revenue streams for the mobile handset industry with their emerging push into value added services such as navigation, email and music. Industry analyst Strategy Analytics said Wednesday that Nokia, BlackBerry and Apple are the first […]
WiMAX kit vendor Alvarion said this week that it has won a contract to deploy infrastructure in the 3.3GHz spectrum for UK network provider Metranet. Metranet is operating in this frequency through a Non-Operational Temporary license from regulator Ofcom. Alvarion’s BreezeMAX base stations and CPEs will enable Metranet to provide backhaul for it network of […]
US chip vendor Qualcomm said Wednesday that it has made a strategic investment in femto and picocell manufacturer, ip.access. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. The Big Q joins existing investors Cisco, Intel Capital, ADC, Motorola Ventures, Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild Gestion and Amadeus Capital Partners, with funding for ip.access’ latest bit of kit, […]
Embattled kit maker Motorola had a bit of good news on Wednesday, after a judge ruled that the outcome of the nine year old Iridium bankruptcy fight will not cost the company a penny. Satellite operator Iridium went bust in 1999 and a creditors committee has been chasing Moto since 2001, accusing the company of […]
Swedish kit vendor Ericsson said Tuesday that it has struck a deal with PC manufacturer Dell, to supply mobile broadband modules for next generation laptops. Dell said it will offer built in HSPA as part of its laptop portfolio from the second quarter. The module Ericsson is supplying also has a GPS receiver, which could […]
Canadian handset vendor Research In Motion (RIM) stepped up its game on Monday with the unveiling of its latest BlackBerry baby, the Bold. This latest BlackBerry is the first to support tri band HSDPA as well as wifi and GPS. In terms of looks it’s been called RIM’s answer to the iPhone, with its smooth […]
Hoping to cash in on the boom in managed services, struggling infrastructure vendor Alcatel Lucent announced a partnership with Indian carrier Reliance Communications on Monday that will see the firms create a global joint venture. The joint venture company intends to make a play for the fast growing $16bn managed network services industry, catering to […]
Mika Vehvilainen is under no illusions about the challenges facing infrastructure vendors in today’s telecommunications market. “This is a very tough industry to be in,” he says. “The growth outlook is not great.”
Between them, Andy Zimmerman and members of his team from Accenture’s Global Communications division had 275 meetings at February’s Mobile World Congress. With clients from all areas of the industry – mobile operators, infrastructure vendors, content and media players, service providers – Zimmerman was exposed to the full breadth of opinion on how the mobile industry will evolve. The fears and aspirations of all players are clear, he says, speaking to telecoms.com just days after the event’s conclusion.
When you hear of a company that provides service to 185 million cellular customers, your thoughts turn to large international carriers like Vodafone and Telefonica, or maybe a major market giant operating in China or India. In fact, 185 million is the number of subscribers supported by Swedish vendor Ericsson through its portfolio of managed services contracts, according to the firm’s own figures.
Finnish handset giant Nokia moved to acquire Scandinavian mobile Linux developer Trolltech on Monday, further boosting its internet services business. At the heart of the deal is Trolltech’s Qt cross platform application framework, which will allow the Finnish firm to further develop its online services strategy. With Trolltech on board, Nokia and third party developers […]
Finnish vendor Nokia posted happy financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2007 on Thursday, racking up a 67 per cent increase in profit for the year. Net income reached Eur7.2bn in 2007, compared to Eur4.3bn in 2006, while revenues for the year jumped 24 per cent to Eur51bn even as the company […]
Over 15,000 people took to the streets in protest against the closure of Nokia’s German handset plant on Tuesday, according to police estimates. The march took place at the plant’s location in Bochum, in the industrial district of the Ruhr region of Germany. Nokia’s decision to close the handset manufacturing plant and make up to […]
