NTT DoCoMo plans foreclosure action
NTT DoCoMo is threatening to foreclose on former partner Tata Sons’ assets if the company fails to buy back its stake in Tata Teleservices. Tata Sons had agreed to sell its 26.5% stake in Tata Teleservices last year after five years of losses, but has not been able to find a buyer.
NTT DoCoMo submitted the request for arbitration at the London Court of International Arbitration on Jan. 3.
The Hindu BusinessLine reports that Telenor may be negotiating a deal to buy NTT DoCoMo’s 26.5% percent stake in Tata Teleservices. The report indicates that Telenor may be considering the deal to merge the stake with its Indian subsidiary Uninor.
China drops export limits on minerals used in mobile phones
China has dropped its export limits for rare earths after losing a case brought by the World Trade Organization. The change is found in the Ministry of Commerce’s 2015 trade guidelines. The guidelines will require an export license, but will not place a limit on the amount that can be sold abroad.
The limits were enforced in 2009, causing supply concerns for technology companies around the world. Several countries were forced to redevelop or open new rare-earth mines.
Bharti Airtel Africa appoints management
Airtel Africa has announced the appointments of Farhad Khan as chief commercial officer and Daddy Mukadi Bujitu as chief regulatory officer. Khan is joining Airtel from the MTN Group where he served as the chief sales and distribution officer of MTN South Africa.
Bujitu was previously positioned as the executive head of international regulatory affairs and international commercial legal affairs of Vodacom.
Huawei and China Telecom Sichuan rolls out ‘4K ultra HD’ network
Huawei and media company China Telecom Sichuan have commercially launched a “4K ultra HD ITV” network service in China. The two corporations have used the HEVC (H.265) video coding protocol to transmit 4K signals to a smart TV set-top box that delivers 4K content to a subscriber’s ultra-high-definition television.
4K.com reports that the companies claim their 4K ultra HD metropolitan backbone networks enable them to transmit 100 gigabits per second of optical services along with 400G IP services.
