Webwire: Vivendi $9.6b SFR bid; Iraq to sell 4th mobile license

Vivendi hopes to pay $9.6b for SFR stake

Vivendi is unwilling to pay much more than £6 billion ($9.6 billion) for Vodafone's stake in their joint venture SFR, but Vodafone shareholders may be expecting closer to £6.7b.

Financial Times

Iraq plans $2b auction of 4th mobile license

The Iraqi government plans to raise $2 billion from the auction of a fourth mobile license. The winning bidder will receive a 40% share of the operator, with 35% going to the public and 25% to the state.

ITP

Zain accepts bid for Zain Saudi: sources

Insider sources say Zain has finally accepted an offer for its 25% stake in Zain Saudi Arabia, a sale which will clear the way for Etisalat to acquire control in Zain for $12 billion.

Bloomberg

Bharti pulls out of bidding for Hexacom stake

Bharti Airtel has withdrawn from the bidding to buy out the government's 30% stake in its subsidiary, Bharti Hexacom, leaving only one participant left and potentially derailing the sale process.

Economic Times

NZ operators upgrading in Christchurch

New Zealand operators are upgrading their infrastructure in Christchurch, to help meet the needs of those businesses and residents still in recovery mode after last month's major earthquake.

NZ Herald

Nokia to pay Elop $6m for joining

Nokia will pay Stephen Elop over $6 million as a signing-on bonus, on top of his €1.05 million ($1.45 million) base salary and other bonuses.

Wall Street Journal

Anonymous threatens to leak BoA emails

Hackers from internet group Anonymous, which is sympathetic to the Wikileaks cause, have revealed they plan to publish emails obtained from the Bank of America which allegedly detail “corruption and fraud.”

Herald Sun

DoCoMo offers to unlock phones

NTT DoCoMo has revealed it will allow users to unlock their phones from its network for a small fee.

Akihabara News