This week, as the Australian election went down to the (broadband) wire, NBN chief Mike Quigley hitched his star to the government.
Quigley, who was appointed by the current government to head up the new state telco, waded into the campaign with a broadside at the opposition parties’ wireless broadband scheme. The starkly different broadband platforms are the main differentiator between the two main parties, who are running neck-and-neck ahead of tomorrow’s poll.
China Mobile tapped vice-president Li Yue as new CEO, replacing the respected Wang Jianzhou, who stays on as chairman. The company beat forecasts with a 4% rise in first-half profit.
Five Thai companies, including the three main incumbent operators, threw their hats into the ring for the pending 3G auction, due to be held late September.
Indian authorities attempted to prod Research In Motion (RIM) into a deal over access to encrypted BlackBerry data, as the parties remain in talks ahead of the government’s August 31 deadline.
Reliance Communications quarterly earnings plunged 85%, a result of India’s unrelenting price competition. PCCW boosted profit 17% thanks to higher mobile sales and cost-cutting.
LightSquared, the US hybrid LTE-satellite startup, said it would pay Inmarsat $338 million for use of its L-band frequencies.
Billing and messaging vendor Comverse warned it might run out of cash by next April.