Subsea cablecos oppose FCC USF tax plan
A group of subsea cable operators with a presence in US have objected to a proposal from the FCC to abolish their exemption from contributing to the Universal Service Fund. If the proposal is implemented, the cable operators will have to pay 15.7% of their interstate revenue into the fund.
Nokia sues RIM in Germany again
Nokia has filed a fourth patent violation lawsuit against RIM in Germany, using three additional patents covering over-the-air updates, transferring resource information and storing multimedia tags.
Taobao sellers taking iPhone 5 pre-orders
Sellers using Chinese e-commerce portal Taobao have started taking pre-orders for the yet-to-be-announced but hotly anticipated iPhone 5, including mock-up photos and rumored technical specs in the sales listings.
Samart unit to resell TOT 3G as an MVNO
A subsidiary of Thailand's Samart Corporation has clinched the exclusive rights to 40% of state-owned TOT's 3G network capacity. The unit, I-Mobile Plus, will offer services using the capacity through an MVNO model.
Microsoft said to swing axe on ad sales jobs
Sources claim Microsoft has cut hundreds of jobs, mostly in advertising sales and marketing, following its $6.2 billion writedown on its acquisition of aQuantive in 2007.
Teletalk to launch 3G in September
Bangladeshi state-owned operator Teletalk will launch 3G services in September, initially in capital city Dhaka, the company's managing director has revealed.
India's Aircel won't bid in 2G auction
Indian operator Aircel won't bid for 2G spectrum in the court-mandated auction due to conclude at the end of August, and has dismissed reports that its parent company – Malaysia's Maxis – is in talks to sell part of its stake to Russia's Sistema.
DoCoMo may pursue overseas acquisitions
Japan's NTT DoCoMo is considering making more international acquisitions to support its goal of growing overseas sales ninefold in the next four years, according to CEO Kaoru Kato.