A while ago I was told by an executive from one of the big network equipment vendors that he had seen proof that a Chinese competitor was spoofing network performance in a competitive trial to try and win business. One conclusion can be drawn from this accusation, valid or not: Things are getting desperate in the infrastructure supply sector. Falsifying performance data would be a drastic act, after all—but then so would slandering the opposition.

Bengt Nordstrom, founder of industry consultancy NorthStream, shares a series of predictions for the mobile industry in 2013. In this second instalment he suggests that European regulators will become more open to consolidation among operators, helping to revitalise the European market.

Dutch incumbent KPN has called off the sale of its Belgian subsidiary Base after failing to receive a high enough offer. The firm said Wednesday morning that the sale was discontinued because “current difficult market conditions are reflected in unsatisfactory non-binding offers for Base.” KPN announced plans to sell the operation in June. It is also looking to divest German operation E-Plus.

US operator AT&T has announced that it is to acquire NextWave Wireless, which holds spectrum licences in the US AWS and WCS bands. AT&T will pay $650m NextWave, $600m of which covers NextWave’s debt.

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.

The owners of handset joint venture Sony Ericsson are to part company, with Japanese electronics firm Sony acquiring the 50 per cent share of the JV held by Sweden’s Ericsson for €1.05bn. The announcement comes ten years after the formation of Sony Ericsson, which saw two struggling handset units combined in the hope of marrying Sony’s consumer electronics expertise and Ericsson’s telecoms experience.