In a statement supporting BlackBerry’s latest quarterly results, CEO John Chen said the company has “significantly streamlined operations” as it looks to produce break-even cash flow results by the end of the current fiscal year.

BlackBerry reported reaching its expense reduction target one quarter ahead of schedule, and Chen said the company is looking to “maintain its strong cash position”, as well as continuing to look for opportunities to cut costs.

The company announced a loss for the quarter to March 1 of US$423 million, compared with a prior-year profit of US$98 million, on revenue of US$976 million, down from US$2.69 billion.

In the prior sequential quarter, BlackBerry lost US$4.4 billion, on revenue of US$1.19 billion.

For the full year, BlackBerry’s loss was US$5.87 billion, compared with a US$646 million prior-year loss, on revenue of US$6.81 billion, down from US$11.07 billion.

Reflecting the weakness in demand for its BlackBerry smartphones, around 37 per cent of revenue in the quarter came from hardware, with 56 per cent for services, and seven per cent for software and other revenue.

In comparison, in the same quarter last year, 61 per cent of revenue came from hardware.

BlackBerry recognised hardware revenue on “approximately 1.3 million BlackBerry smartphones”, compared with 1.9 million in the prior quarter.

It said that approximately 3.4 million smartphones were sold through to end customers during the period, reducing its inventory in channel, but of these the bulk – approximately 2.3 million – were BlackBerry 7 devices.

Nokia Solutions and Networks today announced the appointment of Farooq Azam as head of Jordan. He takes charge of the company’s operations in the country, leading the end-to-end customer team responsibilities, including sales, delivery, operations, customer relationship and financial operations. Farooq is an experienced business leader who has worked with leading telecom operators, infrastructure vendors and consulting organizations across the globe and delivered improved operational efficiency and business growth.

Previously at NSN, Farooq held the roles of principal consultant and customer team head in the Middle East and Africa, where he led the sales, delivery and governance of NSN portfolio of solutions and services.

Prior to NSN, he held various consulting, customer facing and R&D operations management roles at Telus, a Canadian operator, Alcatel-Lucent, and his own business venture Kazam Technologies where he successfully prototyped and sought funding for two communications products.

Stephane Richard secured a second four-year term as CEO of Orange, after the board of directors renewed his mandate to lead the France-based operator group.

Richard has been CEO of the group since March 1, 2010 with his remit extended to include the chairman role a year later. He joined the group in September 2009 and was appointed deputy CEO overseeing French operations in October that year.

Under Richard’s leadership, the company changed its name from France Telecom to Orange in July 2013 and is following a policy of “prudent and selective acquisitions, concentrating on possible consolidation and disposals in the markets in which it operates”. 

Orange operates in 30 countries with a total customer base of 178 million mobile customers as of December 31, 2013.

Richard has also been involved in politics as chief of staff to the French minister for the economy, industry and employment between 2007 and 2009.

He is subject to an ongoing investigation regarding his role in an arbitration case during this period, in which businessman Bernard Tapie was awarded a large pay-out from the state.

Bahrain’s operators are being hampered from competing with OTT rivals, partly because they are limited by regulation, according to a report from the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

In a report jointly prepared with Detecon Consulting, the regulator noted “if competition was working, the telcos would change their tariff plans in line with market demand”. The fact this is not happening demonstrates competition is “dysfunctional”.

“The research shows that this is a situation found throughout the world and for which there is not yet a patent solution – although the root cause apparently lies in the combination of flat rate tariffs based on business plan assumptions that no longer hold true in combination with apparently non-sustainable competition from OTT players and regulatory obligations that make it impossible for the telcos to react freely to the commercial changes demanded of them,” said the strongly worded conclusion to the report.

“It must be a central regulatory task to analyse this dysfunctionality thoroughly and to introduce measures to eradicate the problem,” it concludes.

However there is a tendency, said the regulator, to label OTT players as “free riders”. This is “not entirely accurate”. Operators are paid for data transport, it points out, albeit by a flat rate from the user.

But the loss-making models of OTT players puts pressure on operators’ margins. One model is to encourage alternative business models for OTT firms, such as working with local ISPs, an approach backed in the UAE, as a means of bringing more regulatory control.

Nevertheless the Bahrain regulator argues that OTT applications should remain licence-free. It said the “destructive nature” of their competition will reduce as investor pressure forces them to purse profits.

“A ban would destroy competition and limit innovation – in a functional market it should absolutely not be necessary”, it said.

The three mobile operators in Bahrain are Batelco, Viva and Zain. Many of the report’s conclusions also apply to the country’s fixed market.

Nokia Solutions and Networks today announced the inauguration of a new office in Lagos, the largest and most populous city in Nigeria, to expand its operations in the country. The company has also renovated its existing office in the capital city Abuja. Nigeria is a priority country in the Africa region for NSN, and these modern offices aim to enhance the company’s operational agility for delivery of its mobile broadband infrastructure for all operators in the country.

The opening of this office in Nigeria further strengthens NSN’s presence in Africa and reiterates the company’s commitment to help operators in the Middle East and Africa region build world-class mobile broadband infrastructure.