Euronews: VimpelCom Postpones Euro Listing

VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and Telekom Austria AG (NYSE: TKA; Vienna: TKA) lead us off in today's run through the EMEA headlines.

VimpelCom, the Russian mobile operator, has put off seeking a listing in Europe until an ongoing dispute between its two principal shareholders has been resolved, reports the Financial Times (subscription required). Altimo -- the telecom arm of Russian conglomerate Alfa Group -- and Norwegian operator Telenor Group (Nasdaq: TELN), the two shareholders in question, have been battling over control of VimpelCom for years. (See Telenor, Altimo Make Peace.)

Nokia has issued a dismissive response to Standard & Poor’s ' decision to lower its credit rating from "BB+" to "BB-", with a "negative" outlook. In a statement, the handsets giant said: "The impact of Standard & Poor's decision on the company is limited. As we continue our transition, we are applying a strong focus on cash conservation while simultaneously reducing our operating costs and making our operating model stronger and more agile." (See Euronews: Fitch Junks Nokia, Nokia's Moody's Blues and Euronews: S&P Downgrades Nokia Debt.)

Half-yearly group revenues at Telekom Austria AG (NYSE: TKA; Vienna: TKA) fell 4.9 percent year-on-year to €2.1 billion (US$2.5 billion), prompting the operator to revise its revenues outlook for 2012, from €4.4 billion ($5.4 billion) to €4.2 billion ($5.1 billion). (See Telekom Austria Posts €81M Profit in H1.)

Also on the Austrian front, Hutchison 3G Austria GmbH is less than thrilled with the rate of progress on its attempted takeover of Orange Austria Telecommunication GmbH. , reports Reuters. Canning Fok, managing director of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (Hong Kong: 0013; Pink Sheets: HUWHY), is complaining that the European Commission is placing "unacceptable" contraints on the deal.

Research by U.K. regulator Ofcom has concluded that the average residential broadband speed in Britain has now reached 9 Mbit/s, more than double that recorded in November 2008 when Ofcom began carrying out its speed tests. (See Great Britain? I Don't Think So.)

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) has clinched a smart-metering deal with Elektrilevi, an Estonian electricity distribution network operator. Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will supply services on the Baltic state's 2G/3G mobile network and deploy 630,000 smart meters. (See Ericsson Does Smart Meters in Estonia.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading