Euronews: Huawei Tops LTE Chart in 2011

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) and VimpelCom Ltd. (NYSE: VIP) help start the week in today's canter through the EMEA telecom headlines.

Research from In-Stat reveals that Huawei came out on top in Europe in 2011 in terms of LTE macro base station business, reports EE Times. The Chinese vendor narrowly beat Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Nokia Networks , which ranked second and third, respectively, according to the report. Huawei's LTE momentum in the region is also evident in Light Reading Mobile's report 2011 Rewind: Where in the World is LTE?

The European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) estimates that telecom operators invested around €46.7 billion (US$59.6 billion) in 2011, 5 percent more than in 2010, according to its latest annual report. (See More Pain, No Gain for Europe's Telcos.)

Netflix, the U.S. video-streaming service, has launched in the U.K. and Ireland, offering monthly subscriptions costing £5.99 ($9.24) and €6.99 ($8.92) respectively. Its main rival in these countries will be LOVEFiLM International Ltd. (See Netflix Launches in UK & Ireland and Netflix Stock Soars on Stats & Speculation .)

U.K.-based mobile giant Vodafone has unveiled plans to develop more relationships with other mobile operators worldwide through its Partner Markets division, with a particular focus on Asia and South America. Its partnership with French operator SFR, announced in June 2011, is now fully operational, while it has also recently sealed a deal with Pacific Mobile Telecom of French Polynesia. (See Vodafone Boasts Partnerships and Vodafone's Key Data Points.)

Russian operator VimpelCom has entered into an agreement with the Algerian government relating to the possible sale of VimpelCom's majority stake in Orascom Telecom Algerie. Through its acquisition of Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA , VimpelCom owns 51.7 percent of Orascom Telecom . (See VimpelCom Board Approves Wind Deal.)

U.K.-based satellite broadcaster Sky has formed a partnership with zeebox , which launched its eponymous 'augmented TV' service app in October 2011. The zeebox service, available on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s iPhone and iPad, as well as on the Web, offers up social media feeds and conversations via Twitter and Facebook relating to what's on the box. (See Sky Partners Zeebox.)

Telefónica Digital, the recently created global business unit of Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF), has signed a lease on some fancy new office space in London's swinging Regent Street. Around 400 employees will take up their positions in the AirW1 development over the summer. (See Telefonica Holds Key to Digital Model, Telefonica Restructures, Creates New Units and Telefónica's Looking Trendy.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading