BlackBerry has reported quarterly figures for the three months to the end of August that were down by 45 per cent from a year ago at US$1.6 billion. As predicted last week, the net loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $965 million, as compared to a loss of $229 million a year ago.

During the second quarter the company recognised hardware revenue on approximately 3.7 million BlackBerry smartphones. Most of the units recognised are BlackBerry 7 devices, in part because certain BlackBerry 10 devices that were shipped in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 will not be recognised until those devices are sold through to end customers.

That the company is not recognising the revenues on unsold devices have raised concerns about the company’s confidence that those devices will in fact be sold. Although the volumes are such that they almost certainly would be sold, the lack of confidence is stark.

During the quarter, approximately 5.9 million BlackBerry smartphones were sold through to end customers, which included shipments made prior to the second quarter and which reduced the company’s inventory in the channel.

"We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure," said Thorsten Heins, president and CEO of BlackBerry.

The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was US$2.6 billion as of August 31, 2013, compared to US$3.1 billion at the end of the previous quarter.

The company is now in the process of discussing going private in a deal that would see it bought by a consortium of private equity investors.

Nokia is reportedly looking at a possible tie-up with Alcatel-Lucent once it has completed the disposal of its handset business to Microsoft.

Citing several people familiar with the issue, Reuters said that no formal talks between the two companies have started yet, although the two sides have spoken in the past.

Nokia, under the leadership of interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa, has already begun internal discussions on future strategy, the sources said, adding that a decision could be months away.

Nokia is in a "period of reflection trying to figure out what they want to do," one of the sources said.

They said there were possibilities for Nokia such as having "the option to buy the entire Alcatel-Lucent or just the wireless business … Nothing is imminent."

The two companies have long been seen as potential merger targets, with Alcatel-Lucent folding into the NSN infrastructure division. At the time, Siemens was a 50 per cent shareholder in NSN, but has since sold its stake to Nokia, making negotiations between future targets easier as they will be dealing with two boards of directors, rather than three.

As Nokia will shortly dispose of its handsets business, Alcatel-Lucent also no longer manufacturers phones, although it does license its brand name to a Chinese manufacturer.

A merger NSN-Alcatel-Lucent would be likely to command a network infrastructure market share of around 30 per cent, just behind Ericsson, and ahead of Huawei.

Batelco has selected Ericsson as the sole supplier for its LTE and WCDMA expansion plans in the country. The network will be expanded to cover new areas, and upgraded to provide faster mobile broadband connections for subscribers.

Ericsson will install LTE base stations in the new areas and upgrade the Evolved Packet Core network. Support for LTE roaming is also being introduced by means of the new Ericsson Diameter Signalling Controller.

Ericsson has been awarded a contract to deploy Iraq’s first TDD based LTE network in the country, on behalf of the Internet and communications provider, Tishknet.

The service will be launched in the north eastern Kurdistan region.

The agreement includes the Ericsson RBS 6000 family of base stations along with the company’s Evolved Packet Core network, with Evolved Packet Gateway on the SSR 8000 family of Smart Services Routers.

Tishknet is a new customer to Ericsson and both companies will work together to establish a long term plan for LTE across Iraq.

Egypt’s Orascom Telecom has changed its name to Global Telecom Holding.

The company was obliged to change its name as part of the Wind Telecom and VimpelCom merger, under which the company and its subsidiaries were required to cease the use of the Orascom name, designs and logos.

Ahmed Abou Doma, Group CEO of Global Telecom Holding commented: "Our new name and corporate identity are intended to provide a modern look and feel, and emphasise our specific strengths as an international telecom group. Global Telecom Holding’s new corporate identity allows our group to leverage on the goodwill, the strong growth and outstanding performance of our parent company VimpelCom and will provide our organisation with a solid platform to build upon in our upcoming endeavours and growth potential in the telecom sector."