Etisalat Group has said it will launch “the region’s first Internet of Things application development and device management platform”.

It is working with Oberthur Technologies and ThingWorx to build and manage the platform, which will “enable customers to develop and deploy innovative new IoT solutions for the growing machine-to-machine market”.

In a statement, the operator said that the platforms will enable it to provide standardised components that can be shared horizontally to support rapid development and lower costs to improve existing industry operations.

Microsoft is to cut 7,800 jobs, with the axe falling primarily on its phone business, as well as taking an impairment charge of US$7.6 billion relating to assets associated with the acquisition of the unit from Nokia.

The latest cull follows the company’s reduction of 18,000 jobs, or 14 per cent of its full-time workforce, almost exactly a year ago. That was the biggest layoff in the company’s history.

In addition to the huge impairment charge announced today, the company is also taking a restructuring charge of between US$750 million to US$850 million.

Last month it was announced that a new team headed by Terry Myerson called the Windows and Devices Group (WDG) would combine the existing Operating Systems Group and Microsoft Devices Group (MDG).

At the same time Microsoft announced four senior executives were leaving, including Stephen Elop, the former CEO of Nokia who headed Microsoft’s devices unit after its acquisition by the US company.

Microsoft will record a charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 for the impairment of assets and goodwill in its phone business, related to the acquisition of the Nokia handset unit.

This charge will have no impact on cashflow from operations and is non-deductible for income tax purposes, it said.

Based on the new plans, the future prospects for the phone business are below original expectations, it said. Accordingly, the company decided to take an impairment charge on the unit’s assets and goodwill of approximately US$7.6 billion.

The aim is to complete most of the redundancies and financial actions by the end of the calendar year and fully complete by the end of the Microsoft’s fiscal year (end June 2016).

Telecel Zimbabwe, a unit of wireless provider VimpelCom, has requested staff to take a wage cut or work a shorter week in an effort to reduce employee costs by 25 per cent and shore up finances.

Workers at the company, operated by VimpelCom’s Cairo-based unit Global Telecom Holdings, can choose between a range of options including a pay reduction of 20 per cent, deferment of 30 per cent of their salary until the end of 2016, or working a four-day week, according to a letter to staff.

Other offers to employees include taking about 20 per cent of their pay in airtime and working shifts to reduce their monthly wage package.

Telecel Zimbabwe had its operating licence cancelled by the country’s regulator in April, only for the ruling to be suspended by the High Court in Harare the following month. The company had been accused of not paying its US$137.5 million licence fee, but has since said it reached an agreement with the regulator to pay the fee in instalments, with one made in June, and another set to be made in December 2015.

MTN Group has announced that the chief executive of its South Africa operations, Ahmad Farroukh, has resigned.

MTN said his resignation is effective as of July 31, 2015.

Farroukh’s exit from MTN, which is Africa’s largest mobile network operator, also underlies how the telecommunications company is struggling to cement a CEO for its South African operations.

It was only in August 2014 that Farroukh replaced former MTN SA CEO Zunaid Bulbulia. At the time, MTN said the hiring of Farroukh as its South African unit’s CEO was in line with a management rotation policy at the company.

MTN veteran Farroukh joined MTN in 2006. He was also the former chief executive officer of MTN’s biggest African operation in Nigeria and headed up the company’s Ghana operations.

Orange reaffirmed ambitions to grow its presence across Africa and the Middle East via acquisition, as the company established a separate holding company for its operations in the regions, effective from this month.

The move, which has been mooted for over year, will see Orange launch a holding company for all its assets in both regions under a single legal framework. Orange operates in 19 countries across Africa and the Middle East and said it has ambitions to grow revenue by approximately five per cent per year through to 2018. It also aims to increase operating profit faster than sales growth.

The separate entity could potentially be used to attract new investors and strategic partners to team up with Orange. Most recently, the company said it was looking for investors in Egypt, while planning to increase its stake in Morocco’s Meditel.

Orange revealed its Africa and Middle East unit is presently the group’s most profitable, with a 33 per cent average increase in revenue, compared to 31 per cent in other regions.

It added that its strategy for Europe is based around convergence, which was reaffirmed by its proposed acquisition of Spain’s Jazztel. Orange also confirmed it was not looking to expand anywhere else, apart from its three core markets of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.