NTT DoCoMo has announced that it is placing its entire 26.5 per cent stake in Indian mobile network operator Tata Teleservices (TTSL) up for sale.

NTT DoCoMo bought the stake in TTSL in 2008, and had a number of put-options in place, one of which enables it to force a sale of its stake if certain performance targets are not met.

The mobile network has struggled in recent years, and while the performance targets are not publicly known, it is widely thought that they were missed by a very large margin.

NTT DoCoMo said in a statement today that it will exercise the option to sell the stake, although at the moment it is unsure how that will proceed.

Under the terms of the agreement, it can force the mobile network to buy back its stake for 50 per cent of the acquisition price, which amounts to INR 72.5 billion (US$1.2 billion ) or a fair market price, whichever is higher.

However, the debt laden and poorly performing TTSL is unlikely to be in a strong enough position to be able to buy the shares back without negatively impacting the mobile network’s long term prospects.

NTT DoCoMo paid US$2.7 billion for its 26.5 per cent stake in 2008 and paid a further US$176 million in 2011 to maintain its holding when the company carried out a fund raising exercise.

Ericsson has reported a sharp decline in its first quarter sales with reductions in North America and Japan although profits rose substantially.

The company recorded first quarter revenues of SEK47.5 billion (US$7.2 billion), down by seven per cent on the previous year. Sales declined year-on-year, primarily in North America and Japan but partly offset by China, Middle East and Latin America.

The decline in sales impacted the Networks segment as well as the Global Services network rollout business.

However, net profit rose by 41 per cent to reach SEK1.7 billion. All segments also showed improved operating margins.

Gross margin increased year-on-year, primarily due to a business mix with a large share of mobile broadband capacity projects with higher hardware margins. Lower restructuring charges, increased IPR revenues and lower Network Rollout sales also contributed positively to the gross margin.

With current visibility, Ericsson warned that key contracts awarded will gradually impact sales and business mix, mainly in the second half of the year.

Political unrest prevails in parts of the Middle East and Africa and is still impacting sales. There is also an increased political uncertainty in Russia and the Ukraine. In 2013 Ericsson had SEK 5.9 billion worth of sales in Russia and Ukraine. The current political uncertainty has not impacted sales in the first quarter.

WhatsApp, the over-the-top (OTT) messaging service, has announced that it now has over 500 million active users.

In a short statement, the company said that in the last few months, it has grown fastest in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia, and users are also sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every single day.

The OTT platform was founded only in February 2009, and had signed up 200 million users by February 2013. A little more than a year later, it has more than doubled to 500 million users.

It recently agreed to a takeover bid from Facebook that valued the company at US$19 billion, despite offering most of its services for free, or at most, a nominal charge of just US$1 per year.

Zain Group has confirmed that it is facing a US$4.5 billion lawsuit that stems from its 2007 acquisition of an Iraqi mobile network operator in 2007.

In a statement, Zain confirmed that it had received the lawsuit last August from Korek Telecom, which alleges that Zain’s purchase of Iraqna in 2007 blocked its own rival offer.

Back in 2007, Zain bought Iraqna for US$1.2 billion from Orascom Telecom after the Egyptian telco lost out in the auction to renew its mobile license.

Zain has been providing mobile telephony in Iraq since December 2003 (previously under the name of MTC-Atheer). In August 2007, the company acquired a 15-year nationwide licence for US$1.25 billion, followed by the acquisition of Iraqna.

In January 2008 Zain Group merged Atheer with Iraqna under the new brand name Zain.

As a consequence of the new lawsuit, an Iraqi court has ruled that that revenues from the Iraqna part of the merged company be put into a holding account and not released pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

"Zain Iraq believes its position in the case is strong as the claimant company has failed until now to produce any evidence to back its claim," Zain said in the statement.

Zain also noted that Korek Telecom is also suing the Iraqi government for a further US$1 billion.

Zain Group reported adding 2.1 million net additions over the last twelve months to end-March to serve 46.2 million customers at the end of the period, reflecting a five per cent growth rate year-on-year. The operator remains market leader in six of its eight markets of operation by customer numbers.

Consolidated revenues for Q1 2014 amounted to US$1.1 billion (KD 311.1 million) up 4% when compared to the same period in 2013. EBITDA for the quarter reached US$469 million, up four per cent year-on-year. Net income for the quarter amounted to US$198.4 million, reflecting an eight per cent increase year-on-year.