Eurobites: Nokia Completes Panasonic Unit Acquisition

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telenor feels the anti-corruption heat; Asiacell launches '3.9G' in Iraq.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

January 5, 2015

1 Min Read
Eurobites: Nokia Completes Panasonic Unit Acquisition

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telenor feels the anti-corruption heat; Asiacell launches '3.9G' in Iraq.

  • Nokia Networks has completed the acquisition of Panasonic System Networks, the radio access network (RAN) division of the Japanese consumer electronics giant. The acquisition includes Panasonic's 4G and 3G wireless basestation business, related assets and more than 300 Panasonic employees. Nokia is hoping that the acquisition will strengthen its hand in Japan's mobile market -- Panasonic's main RAN equipment customer was Japan's leading mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc. (NYSE: DCM). Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. (See Nokia Networks Completes Panasonic Unit Acquisition and Nokia Networks Buys RAN Assets in Japan.)

    • Executives at Nordic group Telenor Group (Nasdaq: TELN) might be feeling a little shame-faced following the criticism of Norwegian business practices by Transparency International, a body that seeks to expose corruption, reports the Financial Times. Last month, Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas resigned from the board of Russia's VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP) following allegations that Telenor turned a blind eye to bribes paid by VimpelCom in Uzbekistan.

    • Iraqi mobile operator Asiacell Telecommunications Co. Ltd. is launching what it calls "3.9G" services -- in other words, 3G services that, it claims, have the potential to reach 4G-like speeds. The operator says it has spent more than $1 billion on system modernization and 3G licenses for additional spectrum. Asiacell has more than 12 million subscribers across Iraq. (See Asiacell Enhances 3G in Iraq.)

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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