Sony Ericsson, the Sweden-based handset joint venture, is blaming supply constraints brought about by the earthquake in Japan for a net second-quarter loss of €50 million (US$70.6 million), compared with a €12 million ($16.9 million) profit in the same period last year. The number of units shipped was substantially down, from 11 million in the second quarter of 2010 to 7.6 million in the most recent financial period. Initially it had been thought that the vendor had maintained an even keel in the post-quake aftermath, as it reported a profit for the first quarter of this year, but it seems now that the optimism was a little premature. (See Sony Ericsson Stays Profitable Despite Quake.)

MTN, South Africa's largest mobile operator, is launching trials of Long Term Evolution (LTE) in partnership with Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , reports Reuters Africa. The trials will take place in the province of Gauteng, which takes in the city of Johannesburg. (See Scrambling for Africa, M&A-Style.)

Telefónica has agreed to pay the Spanish government €350 million ($496 million) to cover the unemployment benefit costs of laying off around 6,500 of its employees over the next three years, reports Reuters. The breakdown in its domestic market has made the job cuts unavoidable, says the carrier, though its Latin American operations remain comparatively buoyant. (See Euronews: Telefonica to Cut 6,500 Jobs and LatAm Saves Telefonica in Q1.)

A study, sponsored by U.K. incumbent BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA), has concluded that e-commerce and mobile commerce are the top IT priorities for British retailers. The IT in Retail report found that e-commerce/mobile commerce have overtaken investment in store systems as the retailers' primary IT focus.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading