Research In Motion (RIM) will sell its forthcoming tablet device, the BlackBerry PlayBook in more than 20,000 retail outlets in the USA and Canada, commencing April 19.

"The Blackberry PlayBook is an amazing tablet that is already being widely praised as a multi-tasking powerhouse with an uncompromised web experience and an ultra-portable design," said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of RIM. "Given the high level of customer interest in the BlackBerry PlayBook, we are particularly pleased to be working with such an amazing line-up of retail partners."

The BlackBerry PlayBook with Wi-Fi will be available in three models and will feature a manufacturer’s suggested retail price starting at US$499 in the US and Canada.

Comviva, the mobile VAS provider, today announced that it has signed an MoU with Starfish Mobile International Inc., one of the leading content aggregators and mobile marketing agencies in Africa. This tie-up with Starfish Mobile will further strengthen Comviva’s RBT (Ring Back Tone) content portfolio in the region.

With this partnership, both Comviva and Starfish Mobile bring their expertise and resources to the table with the content strategy that allows mobile operators to drive the quantity of users on their networks and to achieve sustainable usage of their services.

Comviva’s RBT content portfolio enables operators to provide a wide range of personalised mobile music applications, allowing subscribers to reflect their personality and emotions using Comviva’s RBT applications.

The MoU with Starfish Mobile forms part of Comviva’s active push into Africa. Earlier this month the company also announced entering an MoU with Inmobia, a provider of technology platforms and content for mobile operators. The deal is set to see Inmobia help Comviva provide its RBT content portfolio in Africa.

Etisalat has said it has shelved plans to acquire 46 per cent of Zain Group.

"Due to the results of due diligence done by Etisalat’s financial advisers and legal experts, the political turmoil in the region, the absence of a consensus between Zain’s shareholders, and the effect of the law binding offers that is due to be issued in Kuwait…Etisalat conditions that were announced on November 3 are no longer applicable," Etisalat said in a statement.

Key Zain shareholder, Al Khair National Co. for Stocks and Real Estate, which is controlled by Kuwait’s Kharafi Group, was leading discussions with Etisalat on its bid for Zain.

Etisalat launched its original offer for Zain, worth about US$11.7 billion, last September. It missed its first self-imposed January 15 due diligence deadline due to what it said at the time was a "lack of information." Its second due diligence deadline expired at the end of February.

T-Mobile USA has been sold to AT&T for US$39 billion in a transaction that took the market by surprise. Although a possible sale of T-Mobile had been rumoured for years, AT&T had not factored into the list of potential candidates.

Under the terms of the deal, Deutsche Telekom will receive US$25 billion in cash and US$14 billion in AT&T shares. As structured, Deutsche Telekom will become the largest minority shareholder in AT&T with an eight per cent stake. However, AT&T has the right to increase the portion of the purchase price paid in cash by up to US$4.2 billion with a corresponding reduction in the shares component.

The agreement between the two companies also includes that Deutsche Telekom is to receive one seat on the board of AT&T.

T-Mobile USA is valued at seven times the adjusted EBITDA of the business year 2010 in this transaction.

The merger still needs to be approved by both, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the US regulation authority Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the first six months of 2012.

After the closing of the transaction Deutsche Telekom plans to use approximately €13 billion (US$18.4 billion) of the proceeds to reduce its debts. Approximately €5 billion is planned to be used for share buybacks after closing and required resolutions in accordance with the legal requirements. For Deutsche Telekom this transaction leads to a further consolidation of the balance sheet.

Batelco Group CEO, Peter Kaliaropoulos has reiterated Batelco’s confidence in its ability to raise sufficient funds to pay for its share of Zain Saudi Arabia. Last week Zain Group accepted a non-binding offer for its 25 per cent stake in Zain Saudi from a consortium comprising Kingdom Holding Company and Batelco. The consortium offered US$950 million in cash, which does not include any undertakings of the US$3.8 billion of Zain Saudi debt.

Kingdom and Batelco are to form a joint venture vehicle to hold their stake in Zain Saudi, with Batelco assuming a 60 per cent participation in the JV and Kingdom the remainder.

Kaliaropoulos expressed surprise at news stories suggesting that the Batelco was finding it difficult to raise the necessary funds for its joint purchase of Zain Saudi due to the political climate in the region.

“I would like to express our complete surprise on such highly speculative, unfounded and erroneous comments. Batelco, based on proposals received from financial institutions, is confident that it has the capability to raise debt up to US$ 1.2 billion,” Kaliaropoulos said.

“In 2010 Batelco delivered US$387 million in EBITDA and US$289 million cashflow. As at February 28, 2011 the telco had effectively zero debt on its balance sheet.”

“Events in the last few weeks may increase in the short term the cost for such financing but based on feedback from GCC and international banks, there is healthy interest and a competitive spirit, from banking partners to deliver the required financing,” Kaliaropoulos added.
“Upon completion of the due diligence exercise, detail funding arrangements will accompany the binding offer from the consortium and will be communicated to all the stakeholders,” he concluded.