The telco reached 6.61 million mobile subscribers in March
Swiss mobile operator Swisscom recorded 2.88 billion francs (about $3 billion) in revenues for the first quarter of 2016, down slightly compared to 2.89 billion francs in the same quarter last year. The telco’s Q1 net profit...
Qatar-based Ooredoo reached 118 million global subscribers
Qatar-based telecom group Ooredoo posted QAR 7.88 billion ($2.16 billion) in revenues during the first quarter of 2016, down 2% from QAR 8.04 billion in the same quarter a year ago. The group’s net profits for the period totaled...
The telco revenues grow 5% year-over-year in the quarter
Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor ended the first quarter of 2016 with 208 million subscribers in the 12 European and Asian markets in which it operates. During the period, the telco added a total of 5.4 million...
Orange reaches 8.7 million 4G subs in its home market
French mobile operator Orange said it reached 8.7 million LTE subscribers in its domestic market at the end of the first quarter of 2016, up 95% year-over-year. The carrier's overall mobile connection base in France totaled 28.42...
Zain was impacted by social unrest and tax increases in Iraq
Kuwait-based telecom operator Zain recorded 277 million dinars ($919 million) in consolidated revenues during the first quarter of 2016, nearly flat compared to the same quarter last year.
The group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and...
The French telco acquired a controlling stake in Groupama Banque
French telecom group Orange announced an agreement to acquire a 65% stake in compatriot financial institution Groupama Banque and launch a mobile-only banking service.
Under the terms of the agreement, the new legal entity should become...
Goal is to commercially launch LTE-Advanced Pro in 2017
Swiss mobile telephony operator Swisscom has successfully tested LTE-Advanced Pro, reaching a peak connection speed of 1 Gbps. The trial was carried out on its live mobile broadband network in partnership with Swedish vendor Ericsson.
The European operator said...
Telia Company’s Swedish operations accounted for over 43% of overall revenues
Swedish telecom operator Telia Company (formerly TeliaSonera) posted a net profit of 3.76 billion kronor ($467.4 million) in the first quarter of 2016, up 1.4% compared to a net profit of 3.71 billion kronor...
Equipment provisioning, network maintenance, CVM and more covered by managed services agreement
Swedish vendor Ericsson and Oman mobile operator Omantel have signed a four-year managed services contract in which Ericsson will operate and maintain Omantel's network as the sole managed services supplier.
The Arab telco...
The telco aims to cover 98% of indoor population by end-2017
U.K. operator O2 said that its 4G LTE services now cover 6,000 towns across the country, providing 87% coverage to the outdoor population. The telco said that its 4G network had been launched in...
Finnish vendor Nokia and Turkish mobile telephony operator Türk Telekom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate the development of 5G radio access network technology.
Under the terms of the MoU, both firms will work together on testing 5G and Internet of Things...
Network rollout to be completed in the first half of the year
Finnish vendor Nokia and Swedish mobile telephony operator 3 Sweden announced plans to deploy TD-LTE-Advanced mobile broadband technology to improve the operator’s quality of service in the European country.
3 Sweden will use...
Municipal services, business climate targeted by smart city projects in Jeddah
Saudi mobile telephony operator Zain KSA and Finish vendor Nokia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a smart city initiative in Jeddah.
Under the terms MoU, Nokia and Zain will...
Looking to rebrand its marketing message and drive new subscriber business for T-Mobile Netherlands, parent company Deutsche Telekom could emulate the success of subsidiary T-Mobile US' "Un-carrier" branding, according to Bloomberg.
Industry watchers attribute the success of T-Mobile US to its aggressive "Un-carrier" marketing campaign...
QIVICON smart home platform reaches more than 40 partners
German company Gigaset Elements has jointed Deutsche Telekom’s QIVICON smart home platform, which will add new protocols in the coming months.
The QIVICON platform has an open architecture and is designed to integrate with multiple connected devices...
Huawei to develop safe city solutions with government
Huawei signed a strategic alliance with Malta to establish an innovation center in that country focused on safe city solutions including nationwide surveillance. In July 2015, Huawei and the Malta government signed a memorandum of understanding, which led...
The telco secured five megahertz of 700 MHz spectrum
French telecom operator Bouygues Telecom installed its first 700 MHz antenna in Paris, according to a company statement. Mobile operators Orange, Bouygues, Numericable-SFR and Free Mobile secured 700 MHz spectrum in an auction held by telecom...
Up to 15,000 Nokia employees could lose their jobs by 2018
A year after announcing plans to acquire Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Networks is looking to save $1 billion in costs in part by cutting up to 14% of its approximately 104,000-strong global workforce, according to reports.
Nokia and...
Telenor aims to expand investments in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines
Norwegian telecom operator Telenor is currently in talks with potential bidders to sell its stake in international mobile operator VimpelCom.
“We are in contact with potential buyers,” Bloomberg quoted Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke as saying. “We are not dumping...
Etisalat targeting additional verticals with LPWA and NB IoT
Huawei and Middle East telecom operator Etisalat conducted a trial of smart parking technology in the United Arab Emirates. The live trial of narrow-band "Internet of Things" technology used the end-to-end infrastructure based on Etisalat's live...
The French telcos started talks in January
French telecom operator Orange decided to put an end to merger talks with smaller rival Bouygues Telecom, according to Orange.
“After in-depth discussions, the board of directors of Orange has concluded that an agreement regarding a possible consolidation with...
How will proposed merger affect competition, prices?
The European Commission opened an investigation to assess whether the proposed joint venture between the Italian telecommunications businesses of Hutchison and VimpelCom is in line with the European Union regulations. The commission said it needs to make sure...
Swedish firm looks to deploy VEPC in the cloud by Q3 2016, as it prepares for 5G
Swedish telecom operator Tele2 announced the launch of its network functions virtualization strategy, through which the telco is looking to have the first live application in the form...
UK regulator Ofcom rolled out a pair of proposals designed to ease mobile number portability for wireless customers
U.K. telecom regulator Ofcom proposed a pair of new rules designed to simplify the process for mobile customers looking to switch wireless carriers. The proposals include a...
