Xiaomi cracks top 5 smartphone vendors
Gartner has released its third-quarter report on mobile phones, which reveals that smartphone sales grew 20% in Q3 of 2014. Sales in emerging markets showed the most growth ever, while sales in Western Europe declined.
Three of the top five smartphone vendors were Chinese. Huawei, Xiaomi, and Lenovo grew their market share by just over 4%. Xiaomi cracked the top five for the first time with sales up 336%.
Bharti Airtel to sell 1,100 towers
Bharti Airtel has announced plans to sell and lease back more than 1,100 towers in Africa. The towers, located in Zambia and Rwanda, will be sold to African company IHS then leased back to Bharti. The deal includes a 10-year renewable contract.
Deutsche Telekom slam dunks 40,000 new customers
Deutsche Telekom has picked up 40,000 customers for its over-the-top subscription channel, which features basketball games in the Basketball Bundesliga Live league. The figure includes both customers subscribing to the product for a fee as well as Deutsche Telekom customers who are granted access without additional payment.
Tele2 launching 4G-only network
Tele2, a Sweden-based operator, has announced plans to launch a 4G-only network in the Netherlands early next year. Tele2 will begin the 4G rollout in an area stretching from Rotterdam to Amsterdam before expanding across the entire country. The project is expected to be complete by spring of 2016.
