Webwire: SK telcos fined for price fixing; Sprint splits with LightSquared

South Korea's FTC has fined operators SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ and vendors Samsung, LG and Pantech a combined $40 million, after finding that the companies colluded to inflate handset prices.

US operator Sprint Nextel has withdrawn from its $9 billion partnership with beleaguered wireless startup LightSquared, and will now pay a $65 million break fee.

Reuters 

A US radio show has retracted a segment broadcasting excerpts from a one-man show exploring working conditions at Chinese factories manufacturing Apple products, after it emerged that the monologue includes fabrications.

BBC News 

A report claims Vodafone is considering putting its embattled Australian subsidiary up for sale, but the group asserts that it remains fully committed to the Australian market.

Delimiter 

Sources say the US FTC has commenced a probe into whether Google bypassed Apple's privacy settings by planting cookies into the Safari web browser, as well as whether this move represents a breach of Google's privacy promises to the FTC .

Bloomberg 

US prosecutors have recordings of a Goldman Sachs employee leaking confidential data about technology stocks including Apple and Intel, made as part of an insider trading probe into Goldman Sachs executives, a lawyer for one of the defendants has revealed.

New York Times 

Nokia is rumored to be planning to launch its first tablet - which will also be the first tablet to run the Windows 8 OS - in the fourth quarter.

International Business Times 

Nokia Siemens has appointed Samih Elhage to the newly recreated post of COO. Elhage most recently served as an advisor to the private equity and management consultant segments.

BusinessWeek