Alcatel-Lucent reported a net loss for its second quarter and announced that it is planning to reduce its headcount by 5,000 in an effort to further cut costs. The results make it the latest infrastructure vendor to suffer at the hands of the economic downturn, along with Ericsson and Huawei.

The company reported a net loss of €254 million (US$ 313 million) for the second quarter on the back of revenue of €3.55 billion. The loss was particularly severe when the previous quarter’s €398 million net profit is taken into account.

Revenue was down 7.1 per cent from €3.82 billion reported in Q211 but up 10.6 per cent from the previous quarter’s €3.21 billion.

Revenue for the wireless network business amounted to €877 million, up 11.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter but down 18.7 per cent year-on-year. The decline in wireless revenue over the past year was attributed to “moderate or delayed spending of service providers” on 2G and 3G technologies. However, the company’s LTE business more than tripled its revenue during the course of the year.

North America and Europe provided the bulk of the company’s total revenue during the period but have declined 8.3 per cent and 15.6 per cent respectively compared to a year ago. The only region to have increased revenue in the past 12 months is the rest of the world with Central and Latin America recording a seventh consecutive quarter of double digit growth. All geographies were up compared to the previous quarter.

Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen said the second quarter performance confirms the company’s strong position in “many attractive market segments” such as IP, next-generation optics and broadband access, but also the effects of the global economic situation.

Verwaayen commented that Alcatel-Lucent had launched "The Performance Program" to achieve a further €750 million cost reduction to bring total savings to €1.25 billion by the end of 2013. The plan includes the reduction of 5,000 roles in the organisation and the exit or restructuring of unprofitable managed services contracts and markets.

The company is targeting a strong positive net cash position by the end of 2012.

Etisalat today announced a net profit after federal royalty of AED 1.9 billion (US$518 million) for the Q212 to June 30, up three per cent quarter-on-quarter, and 17 per cent a year-on-year. Group consolidated revenue for the period amounted to AED 8.25 billion, up four per cent year-on-year.

Consolidated EBITDA increased by 16 per cent to AED 4.3 billion over the same period last year, while EBITDA margin improved six points to 52 per cent.

Revenue from international operations grew by 14 per cent to AED 2.3 billion while their contribution to the top-line reached 28 per cent.

Etisalat Group aggregate subscriber numbers grew to 172 million by the end of June representing year-on-year growth of 22 per cent and quarter-on-quarter growth of two per cent. Subscriber growth was mainly driven by new products and services in the mature markets and by further market penetration in growth markets.

In the UAE, Etisalat’s active subscriber base grew to 8.9 million, up seven per cent year-on-year and two per cent quarter-on-quarter. Mobile subscribers grew to seven million, up nine per cent year-on-year.

The Indian government has agreed to lower the proposed base prices for new 2G licences, with a government body known as the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) having recommended a base price in the upcoming auctions of between INR140 billion to INR160 billion (US$2.5 billion to US$2.9 billion) for a pan-Indian licence. That is below the INR36.22 billion/MHz proposed earlier this year by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which would have required local operators to shell out  more than INR180 billion for a nationwide 5MHz licence.

According to local press reports, operators will still be required to pay existing spectrum usage charges of 3-8 per cent on top of the licence fee.

However, the EGoM has reportedly agreed to allow operators to pay for licences in instalments with GSM operators only required to pay 35 per cent up front, and CDMA players 25 per cent.

The EGoM’s recommendations will need final approval from the Indian cabinet before they can be introduced in time for the scheduled start of the auctions on August 31.

The new licence awards will replace those cancelled by India’s Supreme Court in February after a controversial earlier auction was ruled “totally arbitrary and unconstitutional,” and deemed to have lost the Indian government as much as US$39 billion in potential income.

But the new auctions have been heavily criticised by local operators, which claim that the expected steep costs involved in acquiring the airwaves will see them take on huge debts, and could lead to higher prices for end consumers.

Telenor announced solid results for the second quarter of 2012, with the company set to refocus its Indian operation in order to move it toward self-sufficiency. It also said it is looking at the long game for its investment in Russian operator VimpelCom.

For the period to end-June, the company reported a profit of NOK2.07 billion (US$339 million), down 54 per cent from NOK4.49 billion in the prior year, on revenue of NOK25.36 billion, up from NOK24.36 billion. Telenor counted 151 million mobile subscribers at the end of June, compared with 128 million at the end of Q2 2011.

In the second quarter of 2011, Telenor’s bottom line benefited from a greater contribution from VimpelCom, as well as an accounting gain related to the VimpelCom/Wind Telecom deal, and foreign currency movements.

With regard to its Uninor business in India, the company said that due to the uncertain regulatory environment, it is “reallocating resources in the nine most profitable circles”. The intention is to shorten the time and reduce the cost for this business to become self-financed, reducing the risk of Telenor’s India investment.

In the second quarter of 2012, Uninor saw an operating loss of NOK619 million, compared with a prior-year loss of NOK1.21 billion, on revenue of NOK1.03 billion, up from NOK698 million. This unit has a total subscriber base of 33.7 million.

The company said that moving forward; it is still evaluating its funding options in India, both for Uninor and for the creation of a “NewCo” venture in this market.

Elsewhere, Telenor saw “continued good development in Telenor Pakistan and in DiGi in Malaysia with strong growth and margins”.

Less positively, “challenging” market conditions in Denmark and Bangladesh resulted in weaker than expected development during the period.

Telenor also said it is taking a “long term perspective” on its ownership of Russia’s VimpelCom. This includes supporting “necessary investments” to strengthen its position in its home market.

The Qtel Group today announced the launch of 3G services by Tunisiana, the leading mobile operator in Tunisia, which is part of the company’s portfolio of operations.

With launch coverage extending to 48 per cent of the population, Tunisiana will offer 3G services in the regions of Tunis, Sfax, Sousse, Djerba, Cap Bon, Hammamet and Nabeul. The aggressive rollout will soon be extended to cover 71 per cent of the population by the end of the year, with 87 per cent coverage planned for early 2013.

Tunisiana’s license allows the company to deploy an HSPA+ network on both 900MHz and 2100MHz bands, providing for deeper indoor coverage for customers and high definition voice quality.

The Tunisiana offering will include flexible tariffs allowing for daily, weekly and monthly usage.