Rostekhnologii to approach Samsung, Huawei, others for JV (Russia)
A Russian state-owned group Rostekhnologii is to approach South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Chinese telecommunications-gear maker Huawei Technologies Co., amongst other companies, on a tie up to produce 4G network equipment locally.
According to Head of state-owned Russian industrial conglomerate, Rostekhnologii Sergei Chemezov, they will talk about Samsung, Huawei and other companies on a potential joint venture that would produce the equipment for 4G networks in Russia.
NSN appoints Marco Schroter as new CFO
Nokia Siemens Networks has named Marco Schroter as its new financial chief, succeeding Luca Maestri, who will join Xerox Corp. The appointment will be effective from March 14.
Schroter, a 47-year-old German, was previously chief financial officer at logistics company Schenker AG and at German semiconductor maker Infineon Technologies AG.
Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between German conglomerate Siemens and Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. is restructuring amid ongoing price pressure from rivals, including Chinese vendors such as Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp.
According to the company’s CEO Rajeev Suri, Marco has a strong track record of disciplined financial management and helping deliver growth and shareholder value. As the company continues their turnaround, he is confident that he has the right skills and experience to help take Nokia Siemens Networks to the next level of performance.
Apple and Google to bid for Nortel LTE patents
Apple and Google are reported to be bidding for Nortel’s LTE patents.
According to reports, Nortel expects to select an initial bidder (from at least five interested parties) within three weeks. The deal is expected to be worth around US$1 billion. Apple and Google are also in the mix of buyers, as are Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., two Chinese telecom-equipment makers.
EU expects major Chinese govt support for Huawei, ZTE
If reports are to be believed, the European Commission believes Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., China’s largest telecommunications equipment makers, benefit from massive credit lines from Chinese state-owned banks and other significant government support.
The findings are likely to fuel further debate regarding the treatment of the large subsidies that–according to western governments and companies–Chinese businesses receive from the Chinese government. Western trade experts state that Huawei, which has rapidly grown to become the world’s No.2 telecommunications equipment maker, is a compelling example of a Chinese company that has been nurtured to global dominance using such subsidies.
The commission document, circulated to European Union national governments this week, explains that the preliminary results of commission investigations into unfair Chinese trade practises alleged by Option NV, a small Belgian maker of wireless modems. The commission in the document proposes to close the investigations without finishing them, because Option withdrew its complaints in October.
The document concludes that nevertheless, several important issues have come to light which remain unanswered by the major exporting producers of this product.
The major European Union producers of telecommunications equipment–Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent–have seen their margins squeezed by stiff competition from Huawei and ZTE. Their rapid growth has prompted discussion among western firms that they are probably benefiting from extensive Chinese government support.
Over the last five years Option saw its share of the EU wireless modem market nearly disappear due to competition from Huawei and ZTE, which now control almost the entire European market.
Wireless modems, which connect computers to wireless Internet networks, are a relatively small business for Huawei and ZTE. The more important market is large network equipment such as Internet base stations for mobile networks–where the two Chinese firms compete with Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel Lucent.
The subsidies in question appear to be helping all parts of the Chinese firms’ business.
As per the document, the commission had the opportunity to investigate ZTE more thoroughly than Huawei before stopping the investigations. ZTE states it has access to credit lines of an enormous magnitude relative to its annual sales.
Hutchison Whampoa Eyeing Expansion in 4G Telecom Market
Hutchison Whampoa Limited a company chaired by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is looking to deploy its business in the potentially-huge 4G telecom market when its 3G operation is making a turnaround.
Hutchison 3G (Hi3G), a 3G telecom service unit of Hutchison Whampoa, has entered into a contract with ZTE Corporation and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. for the commercial operation of long-term evolution (LTE) network.
Under the contract, the two leading telecom equipment makers will deploy 2.6GHz LTE TDD/FDD networks in Sweden and Denmark for Hi3G, according to Hutchison Whampoa, noting that it is the first time that the Hutchison 3G unit has made its push into the LTE technology arena heard.
The cooperation between Hi3G and Huawei and ZTE signals a debut of Chinese power in the global 4G market, pointed out market observers. The advanced 4G technologies including LTE have been winning increasing favor of mobile telecom operators around the world, although it has been a short time since the 3G technology was put into commercial operation.
The presence of Hi3G in the LTE business makes Sweden the first country in the world to set up an extensive LTE network. Telenor Group and Tele2, two telecom operators in Europe, have unveiled plans to expand the LTE network that they are operating to 100 new localities within 18 months.
Telenor Group and Tele2 worked together to set up Net4Mobility, a joint venture in Sweden, in an attempt to fight against TeliaSonera AB, the biggest telecom operator in the country. TeliaSonera, which rolled out LTE services in 2009, has made the service available in 28 cities and skiing resorts in Sweden.
The fast-growing demand for mobile Internet will pave the way for Hutchison Whampoa to make a push in the 4G market, said market observers. The Hong Kong-based company saw its 3G business expand continuously in the wake of a brisk growth in mobile Internet user number.
Such a speedy expansion, according to some analysts, is boosted by a widely adoption of intelligent terminals such as iPhone4, iPad, and other smartphones. Hutchison Whampoa, which has poured tens of billions of US dollars into the 3G operation since 2000, had had more than 20 million 3G users by 2009.
A total of 17 telecom operators in the world have launched commercial LTE services by far, said Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), predicting that the number is likely to touch 64 by the end of 2012.
Huawei sues Motorola over unit sale
Huawei Technologies Co. has sued Motorola claiming that it would improperly transfer the Chinese company’s intellectual property.
Motorola has since split into two companies, agreed in July to sell the bulk of its network-equipment business to Nokia Siemens Networks for $1.2 billion.
In a suit filed Monday in federal court in Chicago, Huawei has asked a judge to hold up the sale until its intellectual property claim can go through arbitration.
According to Nokia Siemens previous statements, Motorola’s deal with Nokia Siemens, originally expected to close last year, has been delayed into the current quarter, as the antitrust arm of China’s Ministry of Commerce reviews the transaction. Huawei was among the companies that explored buying the business.
According to the Chinese company, Motorola has sold rebranded Huawei equipment since 2000; and Huawei argues the Nokia Siemen’s deal would turn its technology over to one of its biggest competitors.
According to Bill Plummer, Vice President of External Affairs for Huawei, the company has had a 10 year agreement with Motorola but they have no agreement that allows them to deliver their intellectual property to any third party.
As per Huawei, it signed deals under which Motorola rebranded and sold $878 million worth of Huawei technology over roughly the past decade. The technology involves equipment for GSM network technology, as well as for advanced UMTS networks, that Motorola sold in markets including China, Russia and Ukraine. The agreements require that disputes be settled through arbitration at a tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva.
Nokia Siemens can’t meet Indian security demands
Finland’s Communication Minister Suvi Linden has stated that Nokia Siemens Networks, the network-equipment joint venture of Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG, finds India’s demand to get access to hardware and software design documents impossible to meet.
According to Suvi Linden, Finland can understand that India wants to be careful with network security, but it is important that restrictions are not too tough so that companies can’t be here.
India altered its phone-license rules this year, requiring equipment vendors to allow authorities to inspect telecommunication source code in design documents for security threats. Escrow accounts were proposed as a mechanism for this. The country this year blocked Chinese companies Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. from selling equipment to domestic phone carriers, citing espionage concerns.
According to Nokia Siemens spokesman Ben Roome, the escrowing of their source code is unacceptable to them as an option for meeting security concerns in India. They have suggested alternate means and are hopeful that the Indian government will consider those suggestions.
According to the new license rules released in July, mobile phone companies would face a penalty equivalent to the value of their equipment contracts if inspectors find security breaches.
Vodafone to invest US $1.3 billion in Italy network
Vodafone Group PLC is planning to invest more than US$1.3 billion in Italy in order to complete its coverage of the country for wireless broadband services.
According to Paolo Bertoluzzo, head of Vodafone’s Italian operations, the mobile phone giant wants to reach in three to four years an estimated 12% of the population that still don’t have adequate Internet access. It aims to offer speeds of at least two Mbps using the mobile technology HSPA+. This population,of about seven million people, lives in remote or rural areas, adding that those living in about 1,800 towns don’t have broadband at all.
Italy falls back the rest of Europe in broadband diffusion, Vodafone and other operators have been debating with the government over how to help the country catch up, such as building a fiber-optic network.
According to Bertoluzzo, Vodafone’s latest project was separate from its plans to help build this network. The company confirms the commitment. Vodafone will continue to discuss the rules and follow this course (toward an eventual agreement to build a fiber-optic network).
Earlier this year, Vodafone joined other alternative operators to plan a fiber-optic network of their own.
According to Vodafone spokeswoman, the operator would announce a deal with China’s Huawei Technologies Co. to set up a research center in Milan. The deal will be announced when Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao meets the Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi.
With 30 million users, Vodafone is one of the biggest of the four mobile phone operators in the country.
