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Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas has expressed anger at the decision by India’s Supreme Court to revoke the mobile licence it jointly holds with Unitech. Baksaas told Reuters that the ruling is a very serious attack on Telenor’s investments, and withdrawing from the Indian market “is one alternative that is on the table.”

Baksaas

The court’s decision to cancel 122 mobile licences, which also impacts Etisalat, Russia’s Sistema and many local mobile operators, follows accusations that the licences were subject to corruption when sold in 2008.

But the Telenor CEO is adamant that his company is being penalised unfairly. “We met every inch of that regulation of that licence. We have brought competition to the Indian market … just to see a ruling that has significant retroactive consequences. It is an action that we have never seen in any country before.”

Baksaas added that the move created a high level of uncertainty, and would immediately impact activities with its partner Unitech that involves investments totalling billion in India. 

The CEO also stated that he would ask the company’s largest shareholder, the Norwegian government, to lobby the Indian government on Telenor’s behalf. “That is part of the tool kit,” said Baksaas.

One institutional investor told Reuters that securing the Norwegian state’s help would be the only route to salvaging Telenor from the situation.

Saeed Baradar, a telecoms specialist at Societe Generale in London, told Bloomberg: [Telenor] “really needs to get out because shareholders worry that capital discipline will be broken in India.” He estimated that the operator may have to pay an additional .1 billion to rebid for the mobile licences that have been withdrawn by the court.

However, the court ruling seems likely to benefit some of the larger mobile operators, such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone, which remain unaffected. Observers believe this upheaval could lead to much needed market consolidation. 

“This verdict is good news for established incumbent operators and, in the short term, we are likely to see some increase in tariffs,” a director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan told Reuters.

For more:
- see this Reuters article
- see this separate Reuters article
- see this Bloomberg article

Related Articles:
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Vodafone targets partnerships for global growth
Vodafone overhauls Asian partnerships
Report: Ericsson and NSN battle for supremacy in India

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RIM may release the BlackBerry codenamed Colt, its first QNX-based “superphone,” in the first quarter of 2012.

In order to get this smartphone horse to market quickly there will be some compromises, the BlackBerry Colt will have single-core processor and may be launched without BlackBerry Enterpirse server.  In order to use email on the QNX BlackBerry businesses will have to use Microsoft Active Sync.

RIM is reportedly aiming to release the BlackBerry Colt  some time in the
first quarter of 2012, obviously depending on how internal testing
goes which is currently in process now.

QNX software is supposed to help make BlackBerry smartphones more competitive.

QNX is full-featured robust that scales down to meet the constraints of real-time embedded systems.

WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Nokia may have shipped over 1 million Lumia handsets in the fourth quarter, and could boost this number to 3.2 million in the first quarter, according to a survey of analysts.

A Bloomberg survey of 22 forecasters had only one analyst predicting Lumia sales of below 1 million, with 1.3 million being a popular estimate for shipment made by the end of 2011. Expectations among the 22 analysts surveyed ranged from sales of 800,000 Lumia phones to 2 million, though the average expectations were above 1 million. Nokia will report its fourth-quarter earnings Thursday.

“The numbers look promising,” Espen Furnes, an Oslo-based fund manager at Storebrand Asset Management, told Bloomberg. “If Nokia is able to have a strong launch and surpass at least one million and keep that type of momentum, this would help put them in a credible position that is crucial to winning back investors.”

However, Nokia’s overall smartphones sales, which still rely heavily on Symbian, may have plummeted 36 per cent in the quarter, analysts said, and will likely have a damaging effect on Nokia’s overall revenue and profit. Industry watchers are already saying that the company is likely to have made a loss of €91.6 million in the fourth quarter, with sales down 21 per cent at around €10 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Commenting on the decline in Symbian sales, Goldman Sachs analyst Tim Boddy issued a note claiming that Nokia remains in a challenging transition period. “First-half device sales are likely to be soft as Lumia demand ramps up only gradually and Symbian declines steepen,” he wrote.

This worry regarding Lumia sales volumes has been highlighted by Neil Mawston, a director at research firm Strategy Analytics. Speaking to Dow Jones Newswire, Mawston said investors are focusing too much on Nokia’s latest smartphones so soon after their release, and given they’re only available in a handful of countries.

“It’s too soon to judge,” Mawston said. “If you look back to Apple’s iPhone performance in 2007 and Google’s Android in 2008, they had a sluggish start the first quarter after launch and people started to write them off, but new models came a year or so later and sales rocketed.”

For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Dow Jones Newswire article

Related Articles:
Report: Nokia under pressure to slash Lumia 710 pricing in UK
Nokia, Microsoft boosted by bullish Credit Suisse report on Windows Phone
Nokia’s Elop: Boosting Windows Phone volumes is the top priority
Rumour Mill: O2 reverses course, agrees to sell Nokia’s Lumia phones in Germany

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Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) next version of its iPad tablet will support LTE networks and arrive in March, according to a Bloomberg report. An LTE version of the iPad would be Apple’s first LTE product.

The report, which cited three unnamed sources familiar with the device, said that Apple will deliver an LTE iPad before an LTE iPhone because the tablet’s larger battery can more easily handle LTE’s power requirements. Given the release timeframe mentioned in the report, it’s likely that Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) will remain Apple’s U.S. carrier partners–at least for now. Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), which started selling the iPhone in October, is not expected to launch LTE service until mid-year. 

An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report also said that the next iPad will support a higher resolution screen than the iPad 2 and will run on a quad-core processor. Mass production of the iPad 3 started this month in China and will break for the Chinese Lunar New Year this month before ramping up to a peak in February.

The higher resolution screen, plus the inclusion of LTE, are steps Apple is taking to keep the iPad competitive with other devices such as LTE tablets from Samsung and Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI). Apple, which reports its quarterly earnings Jan. 24, sold 25 million iPads through the first three quarters of 2011.

For more:
- see this Bloomberg article

Related Articles:
Apple sells 17M iPhones in Q4, expects an iPhone sales record in December
Report: Apple preps next iPad for early 2012 release
Apple to dominate tablets through 2015, says Gartner

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LAS VEGAS–T-Mobile USA received three gifts for Christmas: billion in cash, AWS spectrum and some interesting roaming deals. That was the message from Philipp Humm, T-Mobile USA’s president and CEO, during a press event at the Consumer Electronics Show here. Humm noted that the breakup of the company’s anticipated billion acquisition by AT&T (NYSE:T) led to several concessions including T-Mobile receiving a large package of AWS mobile spectrum in 128 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), including 12 of the top 20 markets.

Humm, who admitted the company had been fairly quiet during the past nine months after AT&T announced its planned (and later failed) acquisition of the company, said that nevertheless T-Mobile has been working hard to keep its focus on its business in the interim. He noted that the company had invested in 250 more T-Mobile-branded retail stores, built partnerships with companies such as SAP and also invested in its 4G network.

On its network specifically, T-Mobile announced it doubled the speed of its 4G network in 12 additional markets, offering HSPA+ 42 to 12 additional markets. The move brings its HSPA+ 42 network to 184 million POPs in 175 markets. In addition, T-Mobile expanded the reach of its nationwide HSPA+ 21 network to nine additional markets, now covering 217 markets across the country and reaching more than 200 million people.

Humm admitted that the company has been impacted by churn and that the brand has been impacted. However, he pledged to reinvigorate the brand and also strengthen T-Mobile’s business-to-business space. Interestingly, Humm also said that the company is open to MVNO businesses and will be focusing on keeping its 4G services thriving. “T-Mobile is back,” Humm proclaimed.

For more:
- see this release

Related Articles:
After collapse of the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, what is AT&T’s Plan B?
AT&T pulls the plug on B acquisition of T-Mobile USA
Report: AT&T’s attempts to sell off T-Mobile assets hit dead end
Dish CEO: We could partner with T-Mobile if AT&T deal collapses 
Justice Department wants to postpone AT&T/T-Mobile trial 
AT&T’s Stephenson: Blocking AT&T/T-Mobile will lead to higher prices

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Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) will launch LTE service in 10 markets by mid-year using its new Network Vision multi-mode base stations, according to CEO Dan Hesse. 

Speaking at the Citi Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference, Hesse said that four of those 10 markets will be Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston, Texas. He added that the company is confident it can deploy LTE as planned but added that sometimes big network transitions do have difficulties, alluding to Verizon Wireless’ (NYSE:VZ) recent spate of LTE network outages.

Hesse added that Sprint can decide whether to deploy LTE faster or slower than anticipated depending on what it deems is optimal for its cash spend.

Earlier this year Sprint announced that it had deployed its first multi-mode base station in Branchburg, N.J., and its first LTE network cluster in Kankakee, Ill., about 50 miles south of Chicago.

Sprint’s extensive Network Vision upgrade will deploy LTE using the company’s 1900 MHz spectrum. The company plans to have 250 million to 277 million POPs covered with LTE by the end of 2013. Sprint also plans to launch at least 12 LTE devices this year.

Hesse added that Sprint has enough spectrum for its Network Vision plans through 2014. The company also envisions using Clearwire’s (NASDAQ:CLWR) TDD-LTE buildout to augment its own FDD-LTE network, which means it will have enough spectrum through 2016 or 2017.

Last year Sprint agreed to pay Clearwire up to an additional 0 million in a series of pre-payments over a period of up to two years for LTE capacity if Clearwire achieves certain buildout targets and network specifications by June 2013.

For more:
- see this webcast
- see this release

Related Articles:
Sprint deploys first LTE cluster, multi-modal base station
Sprint will deploy LTE-Advanced in the first half of 2013
Sprint to launch LTE on 1900 MHz spectrum by mid-2012

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Huawei announced a new smartphone the Huawei Vision with it’s own customer 3D UI and Android 2.3 Gingerbread which looks like Nexus S with an HTC style.

The Huawei Vision has a 1GHz processor(Qualcomm’s MSM 825) a 3.7″ touchscreen, a unibody frame that’s 9.9 millimeters at its thinnest.

Features includea 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and a full range of messaging capabilities including SMS, MMS, Email, Push Mail and IM.

It comes in rose gold, silver or charcoal. The news release stated that the Huawei Vision will be available in selected markets from September. Because the smartphone recently was filed with the FCC it could have a September release date in the U.S.

Huawei is best known for making affordable smartphones and the Huawei Vision may come from the many affordable prepaid carriers.

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WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

HTC and AT&T are rolling out an over-the-air update for the HTC inspire 4G to update it to Android 2.3 Gingerbread and HTC Sense features.  HTC Inspire owners will get an notification on their smartphones. 

The HTC Inspire update includes:

• Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread
• New HTC Sense features including udated Application Tray,  FriendStream and added Quick Settings in the Notifications window.
• Improved Power Management functions.
• Improved media experience.
• Various minor bug fixes.

The list of features in the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update are impressive,
with the addition of download manager, active app management,
shortcuts, one-touch copy/paste, widgets, icons, app groups, updated
calendar options, camera geotagging, improved email synching, and camera
auto-focus improvements.

Users can  check for this update by going to
Home>Menu>Settings> AT&T Software Update > HTC Wi-Fi
software update > Check now. The system update can also be
downloaded  and manually applied.  Performing the system update manually will delete all information
from the device.  Ensure all information is backed up before
proceeding.  Information saved on the microSD card will not be affected.

Read HTC Sense Tips.

WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

The news: While the year opened quietly, the appointment of a new chairman at Vodafone that was skilled in transforming companies was an indication of what was to come. The hiring of Gerard Kleisterlee, the outgoing CEO of Philips, was welcomed by the stock market given his track record of simplifying the previously unwieldy Philips conglomerate.

In March, Russia’s Vimpelcom pushed through a billion merger with Wind Telecom to become the world’s fifth-largest operator with 173 million customers. Analysts said the deal had strategic merit and would allow having Vimpelcom gain access to rapidly growing mobile operators in Africa, Asia and Italy.

Days later came the announcement AT&T planned acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for billion. If it has been consummated, the deal would have remade both AT&T and Deutsche Telekom by allowing AT&T to become the dominant player in the United States, and allowing Deutsche Telekom to focus on its core assets in Europe.As the year wore on though, regulatory hurdles, first from the US Department of Justice and then from the telecoms regulator, the FCC, kept cropping up. Earlier this week, AT&T pulled the plug on the deal, handing Deutsche Telekom billion in cash and billion in spectrum and roaming agreements.

A deal that went more smoothly was the sale in April of Vodafone’s 44 per cent holding in SFR. Majority owner Vivendi had long coveted outright ownership of SFR, and Vodafone was able to extract €7.95 billion from the sale.

In the same month, both France Telecom Orange and KPN began making noises about acquisitions. FT Orange confirmed it would continue to look for expansion in the Middle East and Africa via two to three acquisitions per year–a target it failed to meet in 2011 perhaps due to political unrest in some regions.

KPN, meanwhile, said it would look to expand into Europe where governments were planning to sell state-run telecom assets, or where other large operators, such as seen with Vodafone, wanted to divest minority shareholdings. Nothing more cameof this in 2011, perhaps due to economic unrest in the region.

By July, FT Orange had put its Swiss, Austrian and Portuguese operations up for sale, claiming that it wasn’t interested in operators where it didn’t have majority control or where the subsidiary wasn’t ranked among the top two mobile operators within that country. However, the company did register an interest in making acquisitions in Spain.

In the same month, Vodafone managed to quietly slip away from its 24 per cent holding in the Polish operator Polkomtel, scoring €896 million in the process.

in August, Telecom Italia was rumoured to be bidding for 3 Italia in a deal that valued the Hutchison-owned mobile operator at around €4.3 billion. But this rumour didn’t last long, with Hutchison MD Canning Fok squashing any plan for a sale, saying in October: “This looks to me more like somebody’s wish than the reality.” Instead, Hutchison’s Austrian subsidiary made a €1.4 billion bid to acquire Orange Austria in a deal that could be approved by late December or early 2012.

Why it was significant: The year was dominated by Deutsche Telekom’s effort to remove itself from its troubled operations operations in the United States–a saga that came to a sticky end as the year drew to a close. Opposition from federal regulators there proved too difficult, delivering bad news for AT&T, though not quite as dire for Deutsche Telekom, which scored a billion breakup fee. However, moves by Vodafone and FT Orange to divest themselves of minority holdings is an indication of a renewed focus on generating profits from businesses that are under their control, and it appears they are intent on selling off minority stakes in unappealing regions. KPN and Telefónica made the headlines by announcing M&A intentions–which proved nothing more than that. However, both companies now need to take action to rejuvenate their sagging fortunes–more so than ever before. The days when European operators roamed the globe opening subsidiaries or buying up local operators are long gone. The year demonstrated that breadth of operations is becoming less important, and control, focus and driving for profits are the watchwords entering 2012.

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Nokia’s flagship Lumia 800 smartphone is generating little interest among European consumers so far, according to a survey by the French brokerage firm Exane BNP Paribas.

Click here for pictures and specs of Nokia’s Lumia 800.

The brokerage cut end-user sales forecasts of the Windows Phone-powered Nokia Lumia to just 800,000, significantly lower than its earlier “ballpark estimate” of 2 million sales, according to Reuters. This compares, said Exane BNP Paribas, with sales of between 3.5 million and 4 million for Nokia’s previous flagship smartphone, the N8, during the first quarter when it was available.

The company said that it had surveyed 1,300 consumers in five markets where the Nokia Lumia 800 had been offered for sale in the week beginning Dec. 5. However, BNP Paribas reduced the survey sample to 456 to those declaring an intention to purchase a smartphone in the next month.

“With only 2.2 per cent of surveyed buyers firmly intending to purchase the Lumia, Nokia’s first flagship Windows Phone is…far behind the current blockbusters, Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy S II,” said BNP Paribas analyst Alexander Peterc in a note to investors.

Following this information, the French brokerage firm cut its price target on Nokia shares to €3.30 from €3.70 and retained its underperform rating on the stock.

Nokia has said that it is pleased with the sales so far of the Lumia 800, and reported that the device sold out in the UK after going on sale there last month. So far the Lumia 800 is available in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

For more:

- see this Reuters article

Related Articles:
Nokia claims Lumia sales excellent; UK sold out
Analysts predict lower-than-expected sales of Nokia’s Lumia smartphones
Nokia’s Elop: Boosting Windows Phone volumes is the top priority
Report: Nokia asks Goldman Sachs to sell off luxury Vertu unit

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