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TIMELINE


A roundup of the major stories in telecoms in the past month, as reported in our daily news service www.totaltele.com


BUSINESS


NSN slashes 17,000 jobs Nokia Siemens Networks plans to cut 17,000 jobs in a bid to save €1 billion by the end of 2013. The move is part of a restructuring programme that will see NSN focus entirely on its mobile broadband-related operations; other businesses will be divested or managed for value. The vendor sold off its WiMAX business to NewNet Communication Technologies in late November.


Telstra opens digital division Telstra has created a new digital division to consolidate its media assets. Telstra Digital Media will incorporate Sensis, BigPond, Trading Post, IPTV and Foxtel. The telco plans to invest A$100 million over four years to upgrade its media infrastructure.


AT&T, T-Mo setback AT&T and T-Mobile USA have withdrawn their merger application with the FCC for the time being after the regulator called for a hearing into the tie-up. In addition, AT&T expects to take provisions of $4 billion in Q4 to account for the break-up fee payable to Deutsche Telekom should the deal fall through.


Ev Ev to go it alone UK mobile operator Everything Everywhere agreed new bank financing facilities of £875 million that will enable it to repay loans from parent companies Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom. The move is the telco’s latest step towards becoming an independent entity.


Swedish telcos come together Sweden’s four main mobile network operators have formed a joint venture to create a unified m-payment platform. Telia, Tele2, Telenor and 3 plan to launch services in summer 2012.


All eyes on Yahoo


A number of bidders are lining up to buy Yahoo, according to various reports. Alibaba and Softbank are said to be teaming up with private equity firms to bid for the whole company; THL is pursuing a leveraged buyout of its US operations; and a Microsoft-led group will make an offer for a minority stake.


PCCW IPO raises US$1.2bn Hong Kong telco PCCW priced the initial public offering of its telecom trust at the bottom end of its projected range, raising a total of US$1.2 billion. Chairman Richard Li had aimed to raise as much as $1.6 billion.


US wireless subscribers


120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0


n T-Mobile n Sprint n Verizon n AT&T


Telecom Italia sees job cuts Italian telecoms operators will have to cut staff due to weakness in the country’s fixed-line and broadband sectors, Telecom Italia chairman Franco Bernabe warned.


HTC cuts revenue view HTC predicted that revenue in the fourth quarter will be flat compared with the year- ago period, having previously forecast growth of 20%-30%. The move reflects weakening global demand and competition in the smartphone space.


NZ Telecom, Chorus split New Zealand’s Telecom Corp and infrastructure unit Chorus officially completed their demerger to become standalone companies.


Google Music unwrapped Google took its music service a step further, unveiling Google Music in the US. It has partnered


with Universal Music, Sony and EMI, in addition to a number of independent labels, to enable users to purchase digital music.


SK buys Hynix stake SK Telecom has agreed to pay US$3.05 billion for a 21.1% stake in Hynix Semiconductor. The companies aim to close the deal in the first quarter of 2012.


Honduras deal done America Movil has closed the acquisition of Digicel’s operations in Honduras, while selling its own Jamaican ops to Digicel.


3UK complains of m-pay JV The UK’s 3 has complained to domestic and EU regulators about its exclusion from the mobile payments venture created by rivals Vodafone, Everything Everywhere and O2. It insists the venture is anticompetitive.


Symantec exits Huawei JV Huawei will pay$530 million for partner Symantec’s 49% stake in their security, storage and systems management joint venture.


Brazil’s GVT gets loan Brazil’s national development bank has approved 1.2 billion reais ($664 million) in loans for GVT to fund its three-year investment plan. The telco aims to expand to new cities and launch pay TV services.


2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: Moody’s


Following the FCC’s decision to call for a hearing into AT&T’s planned US$39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA, Moody’s lowered its probability rating on the transaction closing to below 50%. Should the deal fall apart and should Deutsche Telekom decide to remain in the US, the firm has outlined a number of possible scenarios for T-Mobile USA, the most likely, it believes, being that the status quo would be maintained; T-Mobile USA would collect its break-up fee, invest in LTE rollout on its own, and potentially sell off its towers portfolio.


December 2011/January 2012 www.totaltele.com


China ahead on smartphones Smartphone shipments in China reached 24 million in the third quarter, compared with 23.3 million in the US, according to Strategy Analytics.


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