TIMELINE

Websites blackout

A number of high-profile Internet sites, including Wikipedia, staged a blackout in January to protest against planned US anti-piracy legislation SOPA and PIPA.

NETWORKS

China Telecom UK MVNO near Everything Everywhere will host China Telecom (Europe) on its UK mobile network. The Chinese company plans to launch its mobile service sometime during the first quarter.

DoCoMo plans spending spree Following a major network outage, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo said it will spend an additional ¥50 billion (€500 million) over the next three years to strengthen its mobile infrastructure.

French FTTH deal France Telecom-Orange inked a deal with Bouygues Telecom that will enable the latter to use the horizontal network segment of its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure in very densely populated areas and to share the terminal segment elsewhere.

Hungry handsets

iPhone 4S users download 2.76 times as much data as iPhone 3G users, and upload 3.2 times as much, according to a new study from Arieso. New Android devices are also placing a much greater strain on data networks than earlier models.

Alcatel-Lucent Saudi LTE deal Saudi Telecom company (STC) contracted Alcatel-Lucent to deploy and manage its LTE network in the northern region of Saudi Arabia. STC claims it will become the first in the country to launch a commercial LTE service, following a trial in September.

4 Tahiti tablet

Orange UK has launched its first own-branded tablet, the Huawei- made, Android-powered Tahiti. The device is available with a data plan in its own right or bundled with Orange’s low-cost Android smartphone, the San Francisco 2.

China’s half billion China’s online population hit 513 million in 2011, up 12.2% on the previous year, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

Nigeria TD-LTE rollout Huawei will deploy a mobile network based on the TDD

France gets Free Free Mobile launched as France’s fourth mobile operator, offering a €19.99 per month unlimited calls, messaging and Internet tariff. Orange immediately responded with price cuts.

Hungarian LTE launch Magyar Telekom launched Hungary’s first LTE network when it started offering services in Budapest.

LTE phone home Telecoms operators and vendors unveiled a raft of LTE-enabled smartphones, dongles and portable WiFi hotspots at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel showed off devices from the likes of Nokia, Sony, LG, Samsung, HTC, and Motorola.

Viettel investing abroad Vietnam’s Viettel Group plans to invest $400 million over 10 years in projects to build mobile networks in Mozambique and Peru, according to local media reports. It is also seeking to take part in a $273.3 million telecoms network project in Mali.

variant of LTE for Nigeria’s Zodafones.

Voda tops M2M ranking Vodafone is the mobile operator best placed to take advantage of the machine-to-machine opportunity, according to Machina Research, which ranked it top in a new operator survey.

Virgin broadband upgrade Virgin Media will spend £110 million to double the speed of broadband connections for 4 million customers. The upgrade will take place over 18 months.

PEOPLE New RIM CEO

Thorsten Heins was named as new chief executive of RIM, replacing under-fire co-CEOs and chairmen Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. Lazaridis becomes vice chairman of RIM’s board, while Balsillie remains a director.

KPN CFO quits Carla Smits-Nusteling, chief financial officer at KPN, will leave her post on 1 April. She resigned following a dispute over the Dutch telco’s new organisational structure, which came into effect on 1 January.

CEO change at Telecom Egypt Telecom Egypt appointed company insider Tarek Aboualam as its new chief executive, replacing acting CEO and managing director Mohammed Abdel Rehim Hassanein.

New CFO for LightSquared LightSquared named insider Marc Montagner as its new chief financial officer, replacing Michael Montemarano. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel has given LightSquared until 30 January to get FCC clearance to operate its network.

GREAT SCOTT Yahoo fi nally appointed a new CEO some four months after it parted company with Carol Bartz. Scott Thompson, president of eBay’s PayPal business, joined the troubled Internet company in January. Reactions to Thompson’s appointment were mixed. The news that Yahoo now has a permanent CEO in place was greeted positively, but many expressed concerns over the newcomer’s lack of expertise in display advertising. Indeed, speaking on a conference call with analysts, Thompson sidestepped questions on display advertising and the content business, noting that it was “too early...to have any informed opinion” on that side of the business. According to Thompson, Yahoo needs to focus on “providing the great experience that fully engages our users. Everything else fl ows from that.” As CEO it will fall to Thompson to see Yahoo through its ongoing strategic review process. “The board is considering a wide range of opportunities for the company’s businesses, which may include specifi c invest- ments or dispositions [sic] of assets,” Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock said as he an- nounced the new CEO’s ap- pointment. Yahoo will update on progress at a later date, he added. Bostock also paid tribute to Yahoo’s interim CEO Tim Morse, who returns to his post as CFO. Thompson will receive a $1 million salary, plus $1.5 million cash bonus and $22.5 million in potential stock awards. Almost as soon as Thompson took the reins, Yahoo announced that co- founder Jerry Yang is leaving the company, a move many believe will facilitate a sale or break-up of the company.

www.totaltele.com February 2012