The NSN/Motorola saga takes a turn, French regulator suggests dicing France Telecom, and an app spat breaks out in today's Euro roundup

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

March 9, 2011

2 Min Read
Euronews: March 9

Nokia Networks , Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI), VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP) and Orange (NYSE: FTE) are in the saucepan for today's Euro telecom news mash-up.

  • The completion of Nokia Siemens Networks' US$1.2 billion deal to acquire Motorola's wireless infrastructure business has been delayed again following an announcement from the Finnish vendor it is still awaiting approval from the Chinese regulatory authorities. And, this time, NSN hasn't even bothered setting a revised completion date. (See NSN's Moto Acquisition Delayed – Again , Moto's Asset Sale to NSN Delayed, NSN Updates on Moto Acquisition, Court Finds for Huawei vs Moto and NSN 'Has No Interest' in Huawei IPR.)

  • Arcep , the French regulator, has mooted the possibility of incumbent operator France Telecom being broken up to prevent it from gaining an unhealthily dominant position in the domestic fiber market, reports Reuters. Citing an article in Les Echos, Reuters says that the issue was raised at an ARCEP meeting Tuesday. (See France Telecom Updates on LTE, FTTH.)

  • Russian group VimpelCom says that it will focus on consolidation rather than further expansion in the short term if its controversial and protracted takeover of Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA gets the green light, reports Bloomberg. (See Euronews: Dec. 20.)

  • Well, it may have been dismissed by one analyst as little more than a "science project", but Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is still apparently committed to MeeGo, the handset giant's embryonic mobile operating system, reports Finnish website YLE. Sebastian Nyström, previously in charge of the Qt unit at Nokia, is replacing Alberto Torres as head of MeeGo Computer. Torres was a high-profile casualty of Stephen Elop's recent management reshuffle. (See MWC 2011: Adios, MeeGo, Nokia's New Top Team and RIP Symbian & MeeGo: Nokia Ties Future to WP7.)

  • A mobile app spat has apparently broken out between independent app store GetJar Networks Inc. and Norway-based mobile browser company Opera Software ASA . Now that Opera has gone and launched its own in-browser app store, GetJar has kicked it out of its own store, which the company announced via this Tweet early Wednesday morning. (See Opera Launches Mobile Store.)

    — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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