Efforts by Telenor to bid in the upcoming Indian spectrum auctions as a separate entity have been dealt a blow by a court ordering that it is only allowed to participate with its estranged local partner, Unitech.

According to India’s Economic Times newspaper, the District Court of Gurgaon backed a petition by Unitech blocking Telenor from bidding in the auctions independently of the pair’s existing JV, Unitech Wireless (Uninor).

The court has barred Telenor from "participating, negotiating, engaging in or financially being interested in the auction processes conducted by the government/government agencies for fresh allotment of licences/spectrum, other than through Unitech Wireless."

Telenor has escalated the matter to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in an attempt to overturn the Gurgaon court order. “We will continue to argue our case in court," said a spokesperson.

Uninor’s licences were among the 122 revoked by the Indian Supreme Court in February; Telenor now wants to wind down the venture in time to bid as a new entity in the forthcoming re-auction of the cancelled spectrum. Telenor owns 67.25 per cent of Uninor, while Unitech holds the remainder.

Earlier this month, Telenor had invited bidders to express interest in its Uninor arm, effectively allowing the Norwegian firm to bid again for the assets and drop Unitech as a partner – but the move was blocked by India’s Company Law Board following a successful challenge by Unitech.

Telenor is now hoping that the situation is resolved in time for it to bid in the upcoming auctions. According to the latest Department of Trade schedule, potential bidders must submit their application by October 19, while bidding starts on 12 November.

Zimbabwe’s Econet Wireless says it has received large shipments of network equipment as part of the push by the cellco to expand its capacity to 10 million customers.

The new expansion drive by Econet is also expected to see its investment in Zimbabwe exceed US$1 billion, the largest ever in the country’s history.

It follows the approval by the Econet board to "mop up" the remaining demand for lines in the Zimbabwe market.

Econet said shipment of the equipment, which began in the last few days, was expected to continue well into next year. The equipment is being supplied by Ericsson and ZTE.

Econet has also stepped up its efforts to diversify its activities into new business areas that depend on its network. By far the largest investment effort is in EcoCash, its mobile banking platform.

Econet is developing EcoCash to address the acute shortage of cash in the economy by making it easier to buy and sell goods without the need for cash.

Another major new business area is the provision of solar powered lighting which depends on the cell phone network. A new service, called the HomePowerStation, has gone into full pre-commercial trials in Zimbabwe for the first time.

STC Group has announced the resignation of Ghassan Hasbani from his position as CEO International Operations as his contract period approached its end. He is reported to have expressed interest in exiting the company to pursue other opportunities.

STC International Operations will now report to the Group CFO Krishnan Ravi Kumar effective September 1, 2012, until a permanent structure is identified as STC remains committed to its international investments and growth strategy. Kumar joined the Group early last July and brings with him 25 years of experience gained at senior positions at a number of international companies.

Hasbani will continue to support the organisation during a handover period which is expected to end in October. Hasbani was appointed to his role at STC International Operations in January 2010.

STC embarked on an international growth strategy in 2008 and by 2011 International Operations contributed 32 per cent of total Group revenues, with a particularly notable double digit growth in subscriber base reaching over 130 million.

Apple has won its patent and design lawsuits against Samsung, although it has been awarded less than half the damages it had claimed.

The US jury awarded Apple US$1 billion in damages after deciding that Samsung had infringed several of Apple’s patents. Apple could also now seek a ban on sales of infringing products in the US. However, Apple will be able to openly claim that Samsung copied its designs, which could be the bigger victory for the company.

Samsung has already said that it is planning to appeal.

"We will move immediately to file post-verdict motions to overturn this decision in this court and if we are not successful, we will appeal this decision to the Court of Appeals," a statement from Samsung said.

The jury deliberated for less than three days after the two sides closed their arguments in court.

In addition to ruling that Samsung had infringed Apple patents, the jury also said that the infringement was "wilful" in some cases.

The jury more controversially also ruled that Samsung had copied some aspects of the design of Apple’s iPhone, including the system used for icons and text, but dismissed the same allegations against Samsung’s tablets.

The jury also rejected all of Samsung’s claims against Apple.

Most of the offending models have now been discontinued anyway; such is the duration of legal cases compared to the speed of turnover in the smartphone market.

Samsung added in a statement that "It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies."

It is widely expected that Apple will use the victory to pursue a case against Android based smartphone vendors as well.

Vodafone Group is said to be close to signing a marketing deal with Kuwait’s Zain Group that would see the Vodafone brand expand across the Middle-East.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported that the partnership would cover Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Bahrain.

Zain has previously been in a partnership arrangement with Vodafone, when it was known as MTC-Vodafone. That deal was signed in September 2002, and ended exactly five years later, in September 2007 when MTC rebranded as Zain, although the company is still listed as a partner on the Vodafone Group website.

Typically Vodafone partnerships see the networks co-branded while the network operator gains access to Vodafone roaming agreements and bulk-purchasing discounts. Speculation suggests that the new talks would see an apparently on-going partnership expanded to include the co-branding as well.

Zain Group has confirmed that it is advanced stages of negotiations with Vodafone over a strategic partnership agreement, stating it would provide more details on its partnership arrangement in early Autumn.

The agreement will be a non-equity deal.