Nokia is "exploring options for a structured exit from the mobile financial services business" including its own brand Nokia Money service, the company said in a statement. As part of the withdrawal, Nokia is to close its flagship mobile money service in India as the handset manufacturer focuses on its core business. The company has announced plans to shelve Nokia Money only three months after launching it across India. Previously the service was launched regionally in various parts of the country. Nokia Money is a basic service that enables users to make payments for items such as utility bills, prepaid top-ups, insurance premiums and tickets. The company was even planning to expand Nokia Money to other emerging markets. Instead it has chosen to exit the mobile money business to concentrate on the revamp of its core handset business.

In addition to Nokia Money, the company also offers two more sophisticated mobile money services in India in partnership with local banks Yes Bank and Union Bank. According to The Hindu Business Line, the two services may continue as the banking partners might take over their running.

Zain Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) announced the appointment of Fraser Curley as CEO with immediate effect, taking over from Khalid Al-Omar who retires following a career spanning over 26 years within Zain Group.

Curley is an experienced executive with over 29 years in the telecommunications industry, 20 years of which have been in mobile cellular markets. He has held senior executive positions within the European telecommunications industry, including Deutsche Telekom’s Detecon Group, where he was responsible for all mobile telecommunications. He successfully launched the German operator’s US consulting subsidiary and has experience of bringing innovative solutions in highly penetrated mobile telecommunications markets.

Mr. Curley has also held senior executive positions throughout the Middle East, CIS and other developing markets.

Outgoing CEO, Al-Omar became MD and CEO of Zain KSA in October 2011, following the departure of Saad Al Barrak.

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is cutting jobs following the end of a managed services deal, and outsourcing some of its R&D activities, as the company continues with a restructure that will see it focusing on fast-growth areas such as mobile broadband.

The company is cutting 3,500 jobs in Brazil, following the end of a managed services agreement with operator Oi. It gained 3,000 staff from the operator and third parties as part of the 2009 deal, Bloomberg reports.

The cuts are allegedly coming on top of previously announced staff reductions, and will help contribute to NSN’s overall cost-cutting efforts.

The telecom technology vendor has also signed an agreement with Nordic IT services company Tieto to outsource part of the maintenance, technical support and R&D for NSN’s mobile network operations support system (OSS) and subscriber data management (SDM) activities in Finland.

This deal will see 240 staff transferring to Tieto, a company which already employs 18,000 staff.

NSN is also reported to have partnered with Juniper Networks for the launch of their Integrated Packet Transport Network solution, which is intended to “address the need of service providers to simplify the network architecture by integrating multiple layers into a simple, scalable design that improves the economics of the core network infrastructure.”

NSN is supplying optical packet transport equipment.

Nokia announced the appointment of Vithesh Reddy as its new general manager for the Lower Gulf region, replacing Tom Farrell, who assumed the position in April 2011, and has been promoted to vice president for the Middle East.

Reddy will be responsible for the development of Nokia’s business operations in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

Prior to his appointment as GM, Reddy was head of sales for Nokia Lower Gulf.

Oman telco Nawras announced the signing of a new funding deal worth US$149 million. With a five-year tenure, the consortium for the refinancing facility consists of Bank Muscat, DBS Bank Ltd., Qatar National Bank (Doha and Muscat), and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.

The new facility comprises of a term loan of US$87 million and revolving credit facility of OMR24 million (US$62 million).

The company used this opportunity to refinance the whole of its existing facility from a project financing to a corporate financing structure based on its strong balance sheet and operating results. The deal will allow Nawras to refinance its existing indebtedness on more flexible terms and facilitates future investments.