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Batelco exits India

airplane

Bahraini operator group Batelco has announced that it has sold its stake in India’s STel, due to the circumstances surrounding the country’s 2G scandal. The operator noted that it had been looking for a buyer of its share in the Indian carrier long before last week’s ruling from the Supreme Court of India to cancel the 122 spectrum licences awarded in a 2008 spectrum sale.

Middle East round-up: Du provides Metro wifi, Orange Israel seeks new owner, Batelco reviews India

A Dubai Metro station

In the Middle East, UAE operator Du has announced plans to provide Wifi access across the Dubai Metro, the majority shareholder in Orange Israel is looking to sell its stake in the firm and a Bahraini operator is left reeling after the Indian Supreme Court cancels its licence to provide 2G services in the country.

“We will do everything we can to stay in India,” says Telenor

Telenor wants to stay in India, despite having its 2G licences revoked

Nordic operator group Telenor has said that it will do what it can to keep Indian subsidiary Uninor operating in the country. Last week, the Supreme Court of India cancelled 122 telecoms licences that were awarded in a 2008 spectrum sale, citing corruption in the sales process of the licences.

Ofcom to force down wholesale broadband costs, but BT disputes decision

UK broadband prices could drop after regulator announces wholesale price cut

The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has said it will be forcing down the prices that Openreach, the wholesale division of incumbent BT, can charge for broadband and telephone rental. The proposed charge controls would reduce the cost of a “fully unbundled line” from £91.50 to £87.41, and shared unbundled line, where an ISP used the line just to provide broadband, would drop from £14.70 to £11.92, while the cost for phone rental services would drop from £103.68 to £98.81.

Vodafone pulls out of Greek merger

Vodafone pulls out of a proposed merger with Greek operator Wind Hellas

Vodafone Group has confirmed that it has abandoned its plans to merge its operations in Greece with local operator Wind Hellas, citing the uncertainty around the Greek market as a key reason.

Prey turns predator as European mobile consolidation takes hold

The consolidation momentum in the telecom sector is increasing

Late last week, Hutchison 3G Austria (3) finally announced the acquisition of Orange Austria in a deal valued at around €1.3bn. The market share of the newly-enlarged operator will reach around 22 per cent of total customers. This is more than double the market share of any other subsidiary of the 3 Group in Europe, but still places the operator a distant third to T-Mobile (~32 per cent) and Telekom Austria (~46 per cent) in a market that has effectively been reduced to just three players. The market had already been whittled down from five players to four in 2006 when T-Mobile Austria acquired tele.ring.

Telenor signs with ip.access for small cells

Telenor has signed an agreement with small cell vendor ip.access

Nordic operator group Telenor has signed a deal with ip.access which will see the vendor supply the operator its end-to-end small cell solutions. The agreement covers all 11 operators in the Telenor Group globally, and will see ip.access supply its 3G small cell solutions for the operator’s residential, business and public customers.

BT trials “FTTP on-demand”

The new trials will add flexibility to BT's FTTP rollout

UK telco BT has successfully trialled the delivery of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband on an on-demand basis in St Agnes, Cornwall, delivering speeds of up to 300 Mbps

The telecoms weather report

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Still three weeks out from MWC and the news has already gone colder than most of Europe. The mercury in the thermometer outside the Informer’s hovel has gone south of zero for the fourth time this week but it’s nowhere near as cold as for some of our cousins further east.

Hutchison to buy Orange Austria

This round of consolidation will bring 3 far closer to its Austrian rivals

Orange Austria, owned by France Telecom, is to be acquired by Hong Kong’s Hutchison, which competes with Orange through its 3 Austria operation. The deal, worth €1.3bn, consolidates the third and fourth players in the Austrian market.