Huawei has committed to increasing its U.K. workforce by 20 percent, to more than 1,000, by the end of next year. The joyous news was announced just as the livestock-heavy London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony was about to kick off on Friday evening -- a lucky coincidence or a clever bit of media planning? You be the judge. (See Huawei Affirms UK Commitment.)
Canning Fok, the managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, has made it clear that the Hong Kong-based group has its sights set on further European expansion, reports Bloomberg. "If there is ever a consolidation to be done, then we are the consolidator, not the consolidated," said Fok, taking no prisoners. Hutchison is currently attempting a takeover of Orange Austria Telecommunication GmbH. (See EC Looks Again at Orange Austria Takeover.)
Dubai-based Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co. (du) posted second-quarter profits up 57.1 percent year-on-year to AED651 million (US$177 million). The growth of mobile data played a large part in this rise -- second-quarter mobile data revenue increased 84.8 percent year-on-year to AED278 million ($75 million). (See Du Reports Q2 Profit of AED651M.)
Richard Branson has decided that Poland will be home to his next mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) venture. He has teamed up with a group of telecom investors as well as former Virgin Mobile and Lebara B.V. executives, to form Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe (VMCEE) to target the Polish market. (See Virgin Mobile Plans Polish MVNO.)
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading