Google, Jolla and Telkom SA Ltd. proffer something for the weekend in today's trawl of the EMEA headlines.
Google is hardly flavor of the month in Europe, what with its ongoing tax tribulations an' all. And now it's facing further pressure from Brussels. According to a report in the Financial Times (subscription required), the European antitrust watchdog is investigating the Android licensing deals the search giant struck with various device makers, after rivals complained that some of them were clearly below "cost" price.
Still on the Brussels beat, the Daily Telegraph reports that by this time next year roaming charges in Europe will have become a thing of the past, according to an unnamed source in the corridors of power who was privy to the deliberations of 27 European Commissioners at their gathering on Tuesday. (See Regulators Reshape Europe's Roaming Market.)
Finnish operator DNA Oy is to be the first in the world to offer the Jolla smartphone, which runs the Sailfish operating system (OS), with a launch due later this year. Sailfish is a descendant of MeeGo, the Nokia Corp. OS that was ditched in favor of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone. (See Jolla to Take on Apple & Android With OS Launch.)
A survey of more than 90 service provider executives attending Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) vendor
WeDo Technologies' recent annual user event found that 57 percent of respondents "feel less prepared for the transition to LTE/4G/NGN and managing the associated opportunities and risks than they should be." Intriguingly, that percentage has risen since the same survey was conducted a year earlier. For more details, see this press release.
Telkom Kenya, which operates Orange's mobile and fixed-line services in the African nation, has struck a 15-year tower management and licensing deal with Eaton Towers. Telkom Kenya plans to add to its current portfolio of more than 1,000 towers.
Telkom SA suffered a big drop in earnings in its latest full-year results, with EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) down from 8.54 billion South African Rand (US$864 million) to ZAR7.10 billion ($719 million) year-on-year. The familiar tale of a decline in fixed-line voice call revenue was the principal reason for the slump.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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John Chambers is still as passionate about business and innovation as he ever was at Cisco, finds Steve Saunders.
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