Alcatel-Lucent has announced plans to cut a further 10,000 jobs by the end of 2015 as it seeks to slash costs by €1 billion (US$1.4 billion) per year.

The cuts represent about 14 per cent of the total workforce of 72,000 employees.

All geographic areas where Alcatel-Lucent operates will see job losses, with the reduction of 4,100 positions in Europe, Middle East and Africa, 3,800 in Asia Pacific and 2,100 in the Americas.

The job losses are deeper than would initially appear, with a union claiming that 15,000 jobs are expected to be cut, but the company then expects to hire 5,000 staff in different roles, leading to the net loss of 10,000 staff.

The company said that it would be reallocating R&D investment to next-generation technologies that should represent 85 per cent of R&D spend in 2015, as opposed to 65 per cent today.

It will also be reducing R&D spend in legacy technologies by 60 per cent, and reducing administrative, sales and support functions to what it said were industry standards.

The latest round of job cuts is in addition to the 5,000 losses announced in July.

Business activities in France dealing with service providers will be concentrated in two main sites – Villarceaux, south of Paris, which will become Alcatel-Lucent’s primary R&D centre in Europe and one of the world’s largest R&D campuses, and Lannion, which will specialise in ultra-broadband mobile access and subscriber data management (SDM) technologies.

Vodafone is expected to take advantage of relaxed foreign ownership rules to buy out the minority shareholders in its Indian subsidiary.

Industry sources said that Vodafone is expected to apply to the Foreign Investment Permission Board (FIPB) for authorisation to raise its stake in Vodafone India from 74 per cent to 100 per cent.

Technically, Vodafone Group owns a 64.4 per cent stake in a holding company, also called Vodafone India, and a further 20.1 per cent of the mobile network through other uncontrolled subsidiaries.

Other shareholders in Vodafone India include Piramal Healthcare with 11 per cent and Max India’s founder Analjit Singh owns around six per cent, with an unspecified stake owned by Vodafone India’s non-executive chairman.

Piramal Healthcare has said several times recently that it is looking to sell, and only saw itself as a short-term investor in the company. It also has a put option that would force Vodafone to buy its stake if a stock market listing does not take place by February 2014.

Vodafone’s buyout of its minority partners could cost an estimated US$2 to $2.7 billion.

The company had also previously said that it is looking to list shares locally. It is unclear if buying out the minority shareholders is simply a tidying up exercise before an IPO, or an intention to retain full ownership in the long term.

Zain Bahrain has signed a four-year managed services agreement with Ericsson, to manage its network and enhance its customer support services.

The new partnership will see Ericsson managing the day-to-day operations of Zain’s network across the country.

"At Zain, providing customers with advanced technologies that enhance their mobile experience is of a paramount importance. With that ultimate aim in mind, we selected Ericsson to manage our network operations," said Mohammed Zainalabedin, GM, Zain Bahrain.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

South Africa’s Wireless Access Providers’ Association (WAPA) says that it would object to any attempt by Vodacom to buy the country’s second largest landline operator, Neotel and said it was watching developments carefully before formulating a formal response.

WAPA believes that the acquisition would stifle competition, lead to job cuts, and do little to reduce the digital divide that it believes should be the country’s top priority with regard to broadband.

"The growth in smaller operators is good for the customer and good for the country," said Christopher Geerdts, chairperson of WAPA. "It increases competition, creates jobs and drives rural broadband penetration. Larger operators tend to cut jobs and cherry-pick customers in the most lucrative suburbs and business parks."

Taiwan based smartphone manufacturer, HTC has reported its first ever quarterly loss as the company continues to struggle to turn around its shrinking market share.

The company posted a net loss of NT$2.97 billion (US$100 million) for the three months to the end of September. A year ago, the company had posted a profit of NT$3.9 billion.

Revenues came in at NT$47 billion, sharply down on the NT$70.2 billion from a year ago.

The company does not give any indication of its handset sales breakdown in its financial statements.