Webwire: NZ quake rocks networks; iPad 2 rumors

Telecom services in the New Zealand city of Christchurch were badly hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake yesterday, a severe aftershock from the 7.1 quake which struck the city in September.

Conflicting rumors about the successor to the iPad claim Apple will either unveil the device on March 2, or delay the launch until June.

 

Mike Quigley, CEO of Australia's NBN Co, rejects suggestions that 4G technologies could threaten the National Broadband Network project, stating that fixed-line networks will remain “the workhorse of data download.”

Google faces fresh antitrust action in Europe, with the creator of legal search engine Ejustice.fr filing a second complaint with EU regulators accusing the search giant of breaches including unfair listings and retaliation.

Developers have expressed skepticism about the ability of the Wholesale Applications Community to compete with the established platforms from Google and Apple.

Online music service Spotify has raised about $100 million in a new financing round that values the company at $1 billion.

US regulator FCC has ordered Verizon to provide a full assessment of the error that caused connection failures for around 10,000 emergency services calls in the state of Maryland during a January snowstorm.