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Friday, October 1, 2010

Financial Times
ERICSSON IN FT LEX COLUMN
FT writes about the difficulties that Nokia and Ericsson have faced in the smartphone era. Nokia’s problem is as simple as failing to make handsets that live up to the competition. Ericsson, however, ought to be reaping the benefits of the exponential growth in mobile data traffic that is straining networks. Yet its network division’s first-half revenues were almost 15 percent lower than in the same period a year ago, FT writes. Ericsson, which is a late-cycle business, wasn’t helped by component shortages. But a greater problem is that customers are maturing, and Credit Suisse estimates that the global increase in revenue for mobile operators will only be four percent annually for the next few years -- a third of the average annual rate between 2004 and 2008. That has resulted in a spending slowdown. The competition also remains tough; Ericsson’s Chinese competitor Huawei has forced down Ericsson’s pricing power, causing its operating margin to drop by 500 basis points in the last few years. NSN and Alcaltel-Lucent, however, are making no money at all, FT writes. But while Nokia’s products fail to be competitive, Ericsson’s equipment and services, however are competitive.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ANNOUNCES CUTS JOBSEverything Everywhere, the product of Orange’s merger with T-Mobile’s UK business, said 7.5 percent of its UK workforce, or 1,200 jobs, will be shed in the process of combining the back office divisions of the two companies. Although the cuts will span all departments, divisions such as IT and legal will be more affected as the company wants to maintain the separate faces of the two brands, writes FT.
 
ORASCOM FACES EXTRA ALGERIAN TAX BILL
Orascom Telecom says it has received notification from the Algerian authorities that its subsidiary in the country, Djezzy, owes an extra USD230 million on top of the USD600 million in fines and back taxes it has already paid for 2008 and 2009. Orascom says it plans to challenge the demand. 


BT IN GBP132 M PUSH FOR RURAL BROADBAND
BT is working with local authorities in Cornwall on a GBP132 million project that will create a high-speed broadband network covering most of the county’s homes and businesses. The Cornwall project is a public-private partnership that could potentially be copied in other rural areas. BT is contributing GBP78.5 million to the GBP132-million project, with the remainder of the money coming from the European Union’s regional development funds, reports FT.

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