One of Zain’s shareholders has initiated legal proceedings in an attempt to prevent the sale of a 46% stake in the company to rival operator Etisalat, in a move that threatens the proposed US$12 billion deal between the two Middle Eastern firms...

The Indian regulator TRAI has announced that it will publish a consultation paper that focuses on the country’s VAS market which it hopes will “see how to bring VAS into the active mainstream”...

The GSMA has elected Franco Bernabè, Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Italia, as its new Chairman for a two-year term, from January 2011 through December 2012...

 India’s 2G spectrum licensing scandal has provoked many observers into giving their opinions on the country’s telecoms sector, and now the chairman of Tata Group, Ratan Tata, has commented on the events...

Developing Telecoms recently examined some of the factors that have led to mobile banking’s success across many African markets. Mobile money transfers in particular represent a far more secure alternative to handling devalued currency in a cash economy, and for this reason adoption has been widespread. However, the informality of mobile banking infrastructure in Africa can appear challenging to the developed world, and raises serious questions about the potential impact of fraud in the mobile finance sector...

One of the key bones of contention in the VimpelCom – Orascom merger has been the Algerian government’s claim that it was promised ownership of Orascom’s Algerian operations, branded Djezzy...

In a bid to attract subscribers, China Unicom has halved the monthly fee that it charges for its 3G service. The operator’s cheapest monthly 3G tariff – formerly CNY96 – has now been reduced to CNY46...

Mobile phones have the power to change lives in emerging markets, but attitudes towards gender are in some cases impeding progress. Cat Barton looks at how the advent of mobile phones in Bangladesh is plagued by a 'gender gap'...

TeliaSonera has increased its shares in TeliaSonera Asia Holding, purchasing US$160 million of assets and raising its stake to 75.45%...

India’s government has begun investigations into the 2008 issue of 2G licences, a process which has been under scrutiny since the scandal which resulted in the resignation of telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja...

India’s Department of Telecommunications is preparing to dispute the eligibility of 85 licensees who reportedly did not meet the requisite criteria when their licences were issued in 2008...

The vendor Alcatel-Lucent has stated its belief that commercial LTE deployments may take place in India as early as 2011...

The startup Indian operator Reliance Industries has switched allegiances from WiMAX to LTE. Having successfully completed trials of TD-LTE services, Reliance is now preparing for a commercial launch...

A new in-depth look at Israel’s telecommunications market indicates that its size has nearly peaked, but that growth possibilities still remain...

Mobile penetration in two central Asian countries is nearing 100% following healthy growth over the past decade...

A pilot mobile number portability (MNP) scheme has launched in two Chinese provinces, the northern municipality of Tianjin and the southern province of Hainan...

Vietnam’s telecommunications sector is witnessing healthy growth with the advent of 3G. Operators are keen to offer the new technology, and increasingly liberalised regulation is attracting foreign firms to the market, according to Pyramid Research. Mobile data services are growing in popularity due to the proliferation of 3G services, and a CAGR of 13.4% is forecast through to 2015...

The same three vendors that are deploying Bharti Airtel’s 3G infrastructure in India have been awarded contracts to expand the operator’s African networks following its acquisition of Zain Africa...

The Indian 2G licensing scandal that resulted in the resignation of the country’s telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja will has seized the attention of several government ministers and regulators, who have declared their intention to punish those involved...

Tunisia’s largest operator, Tunisiana, is now completely owned by Qtel. The Qatari operator already owned a 50% stake following a joint venture with Orascom, and the Egyptian conglomerate has now sold its stake to its partner as part of an effort to reduce its overall debt before it completes its merger with VimpelCom...

Updates for the fourth quarter of 2010 are now available for the telecommunications sectors in Kenya and Sudan. Covering mobile, fixed-line and internet sectors, the reports from BMI Research feature the latest market data released by service providers and regulators...

Cambodia has managed a remarkable transition in building a vibrant telecom market. Despite the country's status as one of the least developed nations in the world and whilst it remains one of the poorer countries in Southeast Asia, Cambodia's efforts to expand and upgrade its telecom infrastructure have certainly been bearing fruit. ..

Market research outlining Azerbaijan's telecommunications sector indicates that the country’s economic dynamism is driving growth...

The number of LTE connections in Asia Pacific will exceed 120 million by 2015, according to new data released today by Wireless Intelligence. This aggressive growth will be spearheaded by China with the country expected to account for nearly half (57.9 million) of the total number of LTE connections in Asia Pacific during this period. Major Asian countries are currently driving HSPA and LTE Mobile Broadband uptake to boost productivity, enhance GDP and build more efficient, information-based economies...

New market reports for two West African nations – Gambia and Burkina Faso – suggest that both countries have weathered the global financial crisis well. Telecoms and internet offerings are set to improve over the next few years with the advent of new fibre-optic cables...

As part of its ongoing dispute with India’s tax authorities, Vodafone has been ordered to pay a deposit of INR 25 billion (£345m) of an INR 112.18bn tax claim...

 India’s Department of Telecoms has been hit by allegations that have forced the country’s telecoms minister, Andimuthu Raja, to resign. The department is believed to have sold 2G spectrum licences for far less than they were worth, thereby costing India billions of dollars...

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries lead the European ranks in terms of fibre to the home/building (FTTH/B) subscriber growth. The fastest adoption of these technologies can be observed in countries where local loop unbundling (LLU) has either not been implemented or not gained much popularity. In the long term, investment in FTTH/B technology will become one of the major competitive weapons for all fixed broadband operators in the ongoing battle against mobile broadband providers...

 The Bank of China has agreed to loan a total of US$591 million to Cambodia’s largest mobile operator, in a financing agreement unprecedented in the Southeast Asian nation’s history...

 The Kuwaiti operator Zain has accepted a preliminary offer by UAE market leader Etisalat to take a majority stake in the firm...

ITU has dispatched thirty broadband satellite terminals to Haiti as the country prepares for hurricane Tomas...