Russia’s largest operator VimpelCom and Egyptian operator Orascom have confirmed that they are holding talks to discuss the possibility of a US$25 billion merger...

Strong growth in the Asian telecommunications market has seen a correspondingly strong development of infrastructure. Research and Markets have conducted an in-depth examination of the telecoms infrastructure in each of the region’s economies...

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...

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...

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)...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

The Chinese search engine giant Baidu looks unlikely to relinquish the mobile search market to competitors, with new data showing that the engine registered the most mobile searches of any company in China during Q2 2010...

A Telecom Advisory Services (TAS) report delivered in conjunction with the GSMA has revealed how mobile sector-specific taxation is impacting on the development and deployment of Mobile Broadband in developing countries...

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has purchased Motorola’s networks business for the sum of US$1.2 billion. The acquisition is reportedly aimed at raising NSN’s profile outside of Europe, and particularly in the US and Japan. However, NSN’s winning bid should have an interesting impact on emerging markets, particularly China...

 WiMAX has seen phenomenal growth throughout the MENA region since it was first launched in Algeria in 2007. The service is now offered by 26 of the 55 operators licensed to provide it, and is now commercially available in 11 countries in the Arab world...

The Indian government has apparently banned the purchase of telecoms equipment from Chinese suppliers, in a move likely to unsettle many Chinese operators with an interest in the Indian market...

Growth of broadband in Africa and the Middle East will be driven by mobile broadband, due largely to poor wireline services and conscientious branding from mobile operators...

The ongoing saga of Thailand’s 3G auctions may finally be drawing to a conclusion, as the final draft of the licensing process has been approved by the country’s regulator...

The ITU is leading an internation effort to speed up reconstruction of Haiti’s crucial telecommunications and ICT infrastructure destroyed in the earthquake of 12 January this year...

Following the publication of data by all key mobile network operators in Bangladesh, a new report has found that the country’s telecoms industry saw a slight decline in growth between 2009 and 2008...

Despite underdeveloped services, Turkmenistan's telecoms sector has been steadfastly expanding in recent years, with a new report from Research & Markets showing that the country's teledensity rate doubled between Q108 and Q109...

Nokia Siemens Networks and Nokia have jointly conducted the world’s first end-to-end LTE data call with Nokia Siemens Networks’ commercial equipment on the 800 MHz frequency band...

The fourth quarter of 2009 saw Tanzania’s mobile market continuing the growth of Q309, demonstrating a convincing return to healthy growth after a notable slip in the first half of the year...

Pankaj Agrawal, Associate Director of Analysys Mason, weighs up the options available to operators for sustaining growth in emerging markets...

Revenue from mobile broadband in the MENA region is likely to quadruple by 2014, according to a new report from Onda Analytics. Although handset-based revenue is expected to be slow, mobile broadband will have a major impact on operators’ financials with over 20 million subscribers in the region forecast by 2014...

Colombia’s mobile broadband market took off last year but speeds are reportedly erratic and rarely reach 1Mb/s - even in the major cities. These are key conclusions from the brand-new Research and Markets report, Colombia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts.

SevenHills Health City near Mumbai is now India's first paperless hospital, helped by 802.11n Wi-Fi from Ruckus Wireless. The new network will support a wide range of critical-care applications within a three-million square-foot “health city” spanning 17 acres...