Euronews: Money, Money, Money

A throng of Scandinavian telecom players have unveiled their latest financials, with mixed results, plus Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB; Frankfurt: BTLA) in Spain, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) bites and more in today's tidy smorgasboard of Euro nibbles.

Disappointing results in Russia and Turkey hit the half-year financials of Sweden's Telia Company , reports Bloomberg, with net income dropping to 3.86 billion Swedish kronor (US$592 million), from 5.24 billion kronor ($808 million) a year ago. (See TeliaSonera Reports H1, Euro Carriers Get Cozy With Network Sharing and TeliaSonera v. Tele2.)

Swedish metro transport infrastructure specialist Transmode Systems AB continued on its steady growth path with its second-quarter financials, the first since its IPO in late May. The company reported revenues of SEK 215.6 million ($33.3 million), up 16.7 percent compared with a year earlier. (See Transmode Reports Q2 and Transmode Sticks to Growth Path.)

Pan-European fixed broadband and mobile operator Tele2 AB (Nasdaq: TLTO) reported half-yearly net profits down 19 percent year-on-year at SEK 2.3 billion ($354 million). Reduced termination rates in Norway didn't help its cause. (See Tele2 Reports H1, Swedish LTE Challengers Wield Unlimited Offers and Tele2 Snaps Up bbned.)

Comptel Corp. (Nasdaq, Helsinki: CTL1V), the Finnish Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) vendor, saw its half-yearly operating profit slip back to €1 million ($1.4 million), down from €4 million ($5.6 million) year-on-year. The company performed well in Africa and the Middle East, but back in Europe it was a different story, with a restructuring of operations taking some of the blame.

Spanish mobile operator Yoigo is deploying Tellabs' 8600 system for the expansion of its 3G network. The operator says it's hoping to gain 10 percent of the Spanish mobile market by 2015, largely at Telefónica's expense. (See Tellabs Wins Spanish Backhaul Deal , Euronews: Spanish Spectrum for Orange & Yoigo and Euronews: Telefonica on the Slide in Spain.)

After your eyes adjust to the dazzling display of numbers in Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s record-breaking third-quarter report, the figures show that in Europe the device maker generated $7.1 billion in revenue, up 71 percent compared with the same period last year. (See Apple Posts Strong Q3 on iSales and Apple iPhone: The Gateway Smartphone.)

U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom has reduced the wholesale price that incumbent BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) can charge rival Internet service providers (ISPs) in less densely populated areas of Britain, in what it hopes will be a recipe for cheaper rural broadband. The price reduction will be 12 percent below the rate of inflation per year. (See Ofcom Cuts BT Wholesale Prices, £1B Boost for British Broadband and Britain Talks Up Digital Future.)

Get a move on! The European Commission is beginning legal action against 20 European Union member states which, it claims, have still not implemented EC telecoms rules in full, despite the May 25 deadline. Naughty! (See EC Acts Against Rulebreakers.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading