Euronews: Ericsson Bags Backhaul Deals

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), ARM Ltd. and PacketFront AB head the list on today's smorgasbord of EMEA telecom tidbits.

Ericsson has notched up a brace of mobile backhaul wins, both of them for subsidiaries of Dutch incumbent KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN). One is for E-Plus Service GmbH & Co. KG in Germany and the other for KPN Group Belgium, and together the deal will see more than 15,000 of Ericsson's Mini-Link transmission nodes being installed. (See Ericsson Wins KPN Backhaul Deals, Ericsson Suffers Margin Crunch, Analyst Acclaims New Ericsson CTO and KPN Lowers 2012 Profit Outlook.)

British chipmaker ARM has cause to feel pleased with itself: Fourth-quarter profits (before tax and one-time charges) are up 45 percent year-on-year to £69 million (US$109 million), while full-year earnings are up 37 percent year-on-year to £229.7 million ($362 million) -- a reflection of the soaraway success of the iPhone, which is powered by ARM chips. Overall, ARM shipped 1.2 billion chips into mobile phones and laptops/tablets, up 10 percent year-on-year (See ARM Posts £69M Profit in Q4 and ARM Unveils Energy-Saving Chip.)

PacketFront, the Swedish access equipment vendor, made a profit in 2011 -- but only just. A statement puts its operating profit at "approximately" 1 million Swedish kronor ($148,000), which its CEO admits "ideally should have been higher." Restructuring costs are fingered as a significant negative factor on the balance sheet. (See PacketFront Boasts Profit in 2011 and PacketFront Creates SPIT Unit.)

Sky , the U.K. triple-play provider, posted half-year operating profits up 16 percent year-on-year at £601 million ($948 million). But as it becomes harder to add new customers, BSkyB is launching an Internet-based video-on-demand service aimed at those people who don't want a full-on subscription to Sky, but might be tempted to pay on a one-off basis for, say, a particular soccer match or movie. (See Sky Puts Movies on Mobiles, Tablets.)

Swisscom AG (NYSE: SCM) has launched HD voice calls on its UMTS network: if both callers use HD voice enabled mobiles on the network, the call will automatically be in HD quality at no extra cost. Yodel-ay-ee-oooo! (See Swisscom Offers HD Voice and FastWeb Impairment Hits Swisscom Net Income.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading