Euronews: NSN Sued in 4G Patent Case

Nokia Networks , Adaptix Inc. and Telenor Group (Nasdaq: TELN) start the week in today's helping of EMEA telecom headlines.

Mobile technology patent specialist Adaptix, which has just been acquired for US$160 million, is suing LightSquared and Nokia Siemens Networks for the infringement of five separate patents. (See Adaptix Sues LightSquared, NSN and Acacia Buys Adaptix.)

A study by Citigroup has concluded that the writing is on the wall for SMS messaging in Europe, the Financial Times reports (subscription required). According to Citigroup, SMS messaging constituted 14 percent of mobile service revenue in Europe in the third quarter of 2011, but analysts predict this figure is set to shrink rapidly as Facebook, Twitter and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s iMessaging service begin to take over the mobile chat-carrying role.

Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas has been using Bloomberg to explain how the Nordic operator is planning to become less of a "dumb pipe" and more of a service portal through a series of strategic partnerships with the likes of Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) and Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD). (See Telenor Reports Q2, Euro Carriers Get Cozy With Network Sharing and Swedish Operators Join Forces in LTE Race.)

Russian carrier Rostelecom has partnered with KDDI Corp. to launch a 10Gbit/s wavelength service with what the pair claims is the shortest latency between Japan and Europe. (See KDDI, Rostelecom Boast Low-Latency Link, Rostelecom's 100G Hedge and Keep Your Eyes on Russia.)

Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc (London: CW) subsidiary THUS plc (London: THUS), which provides smaller businesses in the U.K. with data and cloud services, has found itself a new managing director in the shape of Sean Mahon. Mahon has been with storm-tossed C&WW for four years. (See C&W Worldwide Names New CEO and Pluthero Back in C&W Hot Seat.)

O3b Networks Ltd. , the satellite-based network hopeful, has formed partnerships with a number of vendors that can provide customer premises access systems that will hook up to O3b's network, which is due to go live in 2013. General Dynamics Corp. 's SATCOM Technologies, Comtech EF Data Corp. , Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT) and ViaSat Inc. (Nasdaq: VSAT) have all signed on the dotted line. (See O3b Seals Access Terminal Deals and Google-Backed Satellite Startup Secures $1.2B.)

Swisscom AG (NYSE: SCM) is beefing up its TV offer, adding more catch-up services and an app that allows iPad owners to use their beloved devices as the TV remote. Hard to lose that down the back of the sofa, we reckon.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading