Fixed broadband costs over five times more relative to average incomes in BRIC countries than in developed nations. In an interview with Developing Telecoms, Dr Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of the ITU, called on developing and emerging markets to lower the cost of broadband relative to monthly incomes in order to narrow the ‘broadband divide’...

Subscribers of China Mobile will soon be able to enjoy consumer BlackBerry services, as the world’s largest telecoms operator has partnered with manufacturer RIM to launch the services across China...

Haitian operator MultiLink S.A. has extended high-quality data services such as Voice over IP (VoIP) to a large number of subscribers across Haiti. With Nokia Siemens Networks’ microwave radio network, the Caribbean service provider has enhanced its network capacity and coverage...

Two of Thailand’s biggest telecoms operators will be allowed to bid in the country’s upcoming 3G auctions, even though they should be disqualified due to restrictions on foreign ownership...

 A new report from Research and Markets details the growth and popularity of mobile services in the Philippines, examining why mobile has eclipsed fixed-line across the archipelago...

New Q310 information on the telecoms markets of Qatar and the UAE is now available, and the results, while mixed, indicate positive growth and a bright outlook for the future...

Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) has become the first privately owned Indian operator to secure a deal for 3G network equipment. The firm has commissioned Nokia Siemens Networks to provide technology and expertise pertinent to its 3G rollout...

A new push email service has been launched in the Philippines by Smart Communications, the archipelago’s largest mobile operator...

Two new entrants to the Russian telecoms market may be awarded LTE spectrum this week – a potentially controversial development since both Osnova Telecom and RusEnergoTelekom (RET) are backed by the Russian government...

Huawei’s continued attempts to break into the US market have hit another setback as US authorities move to stymie a potential contract between the Chinese vendor and the American operator Sprint Nextel...

Thailand’s 3G auctions, set to take place on the 28^th and 29^th of September, have so far attracted eight bidders...

Having identified an increasing demand for mobile satellite products throughout the continent, Gilat Satcom is set to expand its operations in Africa...

Mexico’s most recent spectrum auction has awarded the winning bidder with a nationwide allocation of 30MHz in the 1710MHz to 2170MHz frequency band. The winning bid was placed by a partnership between the media company Grupo Televisa and the mobile operator NII Holdings (Nextel)...

Orascom Telecom has reportedly increased the coverage of its North Korean network, Koryolink, to encompass ‘several’ additional cities...

The prohibitive costs of high-end smartphones, high-speed internet and additional memory have long stymied the development of mobile social networking in the developing world. A new service named MyXenzo aims to remedy this issue, claiming to offer a consistent user interface on 80% of handsets with even the most basic Internet access...

China Mobile is now moving into the mobile search engine market. The operator has announced a joint venture with Xinhua, China’s government-owned official state news agency, which will see the two parties create a search engine in an attempt to rival market leaders Baidu and Google...

Subscribers of Movistar, Argentina’s largest mobile carrier, now have access to Windows Live Messenger Java, a new service which allows clients to use Windows Live Messenger through their mobile phones by downloading a Java-based client from Synchronica...

Uzbekistan’s second commercial LTE network has been deployed by Ucell, a subsidiary of Swedish firm TeliaSonera. The network uses equipment supplied by ZTE...

The Indian Government has set August 31^st as the deadline for Research In Motion (RIM) to bring its BlackBerry email and messaging services in line with India’s security criteria...

The security concerns that have lead the Indian government to propose a ban on Chinese-made telecoms equipment has drawn a surprisingly mixed reaction from vendors...

The UAE’s well-publicised security concerns over Research In Motion’s BlackBerry devices have threatened to develop into a crackdown that could envelop the Middle East region and spread well beyond it. However, RIM have been granted some respite by Saudi Arabia’s telecoms regulator, which has stated that it will allow the continued operation of the BlackBerry instant messaging service within the Kingdom...

Reports from Pakistan suggest that the country’s telecoms regulator, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), is preparing to auction 3G spectrum, with the bidding expected to take place in three to four months...

Gongqing, in China’s Jianxi Province, has been selected by DigiEcoCity Ltd as the site of the world’s first digital eco-city. The initiative aims to develop Gongqing into a model city based on the principles of sustainable development that uses digital technology to provide a high quality of life to its residents...

China Unicom will reportedly launch a WiFi-capable version of the Apple iPhone – a significant step in the heavily regulated Chinese market...

East Africa’s only triple-play operator, the Wananchi Group, has signed a contract for the purchase of network technology solutions and services from Cisco.

Telefonica, one of the largest mobile operators in Spain and Latin America, saw its profits rise by 16% in the second quarter of 2010, with a weaker Spanish market being offset by an increase in revenue from Latin America...

Telecom Personal, the mobile subsidiary of Telecom Argentina, has launched a new push email service that will allow consumer, prosumer and business subscribers access to push email and synchronisation services without the need to upgrade or replace their existing mobile handsets...

Huawei were reportedly outbid by Nokia Siemens Networks for the acquisition of Motorola’s networks business, but this may not be the true reason for the Chinese vendor’s failure to procure the US-based business...

The Russian operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has launched commercial LTE in Uzbekistan, making it the second operator in the world to launch the next-generation technology...

The second quarter of 2010 saw global smartphone shipments increase by 64%, according to the research firm Canalys, with Android devices demonstrating a very respectable 886% year-on-year growth rate...

Having previously threatened to do so, the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has officially banned Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry smartphones, citing security concerns. There are indications that other major markets, both in the Middle East region and globally, could impose a similar ban on the devices...

Over the last year, China has seen a rapid expansion in triple-play services, following the launch of a massive FTTH network by China Telecom. Shanghai Telecom – an operating unit of China Telecom which began a triple-play programme in June 2009 - is now preparing to launch HD IPTV services over this network...

As part of its drive to create new broadcasting infrastructure across Slovenia, the commercial broadcaster Norkring Slovenia has commissioned NEC Corporation to provide its PASOLINK NEO ultra compact microwave communications system...

Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC will soon roll out its first own-branded handsets in China, among them two models designed exclusively for China Mobile...