Nokia completes deal with Sasken over German unit
Nokia completed the transfer of its adaptation software R&D unit based in Bochum, Germany, to Sasken Communication Technologies, a Reuters report said.
Nokia announced the deal in January as part of its decision to close its cellphone plant in Bochum, cutting 2,300 staff.
“The transaction will enable continuance of the employment for 35 employees of the software R&D entity in Bochum,” Nokia said in a statement.
MRV deploys optical multi-service platform for Softbank
MRV Communications has completed the rollout of a Fibre Driver optical multi-service platform for Softbank Telecom as the basis for the latter’s nationwide ATM access network in Japan. The deployment was completed using bi-directional single fibre capability that allows the telco to reduce its overall fibre requirements and lower its operating costs.
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iPhone takes 19% of US smart phone market
Apple’s iPhone took 19.2% of the US market for smart phones in the first quarter of 2008, according to research firm IDC.
That was down from 26.7% of smart phones sold in the fourth quarter of last year, which included the holiday shopping season, IDC, quoted by an Associated Press report, also said.
Much of the slack was picked up by Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, which took 35.1% of the market in the fourth quarter and then 44.5% in the first.
The report further quoted IDC analyst Ramon Llamas as saying the BlackBerry is now strong in the “prosumer” segment, as RIM has successfully widened the appeal of the device beyond the professionals who have been its core customer group.
IDC did not reveal the total number of smart phones sold in the quarter.
Apple said it sold 1.7 million iPhones in the first quarter, including overseas sales.
Palm, a pioneer in the category along with RIM, also picked up market share in the first quarter, when it grabbed 13.4% of smart phone sales, up from 7.9% in the fourth quarter, IDC said.
No. 4 in market share in the most recent quarter was Samsung Electronics, with 8.6%, up from 5.1% in the fourth quarter, a rise Llamas credited to the availability of the BlackJack on Verizon Wireless.
Motorola, which is struggling in the overall mobile phone market, did poorly in smart phones as well, dropping from a 7.5% share in the fourth quarter to 2.6% in the first, the Associated Press report said.
Hong Kong’s PCCW to combine telco, media units
Hong Kong’s PCCW plans to fold its media and telecoms businesses into a separate firm and sell 45% of the new company to investors, a Reuters report said.
The plan is part of its latest effort to hive off core assets, the report added.
Shares of PCCW surged more than 11%, ending 9.4% higher, on hopes of a separate listing of the assets that have a current market worth of around US$3.9 billion (€2.51 billion).
PCCW said it will group its main media and telecoms divisions into a new firm called HKT Group Holdings, and invite proposals from potential investors, the report said.
Analysts noted several benefits of the plan, including slashing a crippling tax burden and speeding up the possible listing of its more valuable telecoms assets separately from its Pacific Century Premium Developments property unit.
“Apparently, they will put everything except properties into the new company,” said Kelvin Ho, an analyst at Nomura International, quoted by the report.
“This is a way to unlock the value of its assets.”
The reorganization does not need the approval of shareholders as it is an internal group shift and there is no change of ownership of the assets, PCCW said.
The company said it may use proceeds of the possible stake sale for investments in further growth initiatives in telecoms, media and technology.
It did not identify any potential investors.
OTE may sue Siemens for overcharging
OTE, Greece’s largest telecom group, which is partly owned by Deutsche Telekom, may sue Siemens for damages for allegedly overcharging, a Reuters report said.
The report quoted German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung saying that OTE has contacted lawyers in Germany and Greece to examine and prepare all necessary steps, which include a claim for damages.
Siemens was not immediately available for comment.
Earlier this week, former Siemens manager Reinhardt Siekaczek told a court that he had been asked by superiors to construct a slush-fund network to disguise payments to foreign telecoms companies after such bribes became illegal in Germany in 1998, the report said.
Such payments may have helped Siemens’ telecoms equipment division, of which OTE was a major customer, win contracts against rivals such as Cisco , Nokia and Ericsson, the Reuters report suggested This is bad news for Siemens which is already embroiled in court cases over alleged bribery and fraud.
