Three smartphone makers – Hon Hai (Foxconn), Lenovo, and Xiaomi – reportedly will be granted licences to operate as MVNOs in China.

White-goods producer Haier and Hainan Airlines also are on the list of potential MVNOs.

According to media sources in China and Taiwan, because Hon Hai is a Taiwanese company it is required to have a local partner, which has not been made public.

The Chinese government last month took steps to open the country’s largely monopolised telecom sector by giving another six private firms licences to resell mobile services.

The move comes six months after the Industry and Information Technology Ministry (MIIT) first granted licences to 19 private firms in December and January and is part of its efforts to restructure the industry to create more competition and innovation.

MIIT issued guidelines a year ago in June to open up the telecom sector to private capital, with the long-term goal of giving consumers more choice and better service.

The new MVNOs certainly face a challenge as wholesale charges have remained stable while the big three operators have cut their rates.

Delta Partners Capital announced today that a definitive agreement has been signed for an investment of up to €10 million (US$12.9 million) by Delta Partners Emerging Markets TMT Growth Fund II into Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe (VMCEE). IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and CEE Mobile Capital LLC are also participating in this funding round on the same basis as the fund.

VMCEE is an early-stage MVNO providing innovative, affordable broadband mobile services to the youth and aspires to be the leading youth lifestyle and consumer-champion brand in the region.

Delta Partners Capital, based in Dubai, is the investment arm of Delta Partners Group, the leading emerging markets-focused telecom, media, and digital advisory and investment firm. Delta Partners has approximately 200 employees operating from Barcelona, Bogota, Dubai, Johannesburg, Palo Alto and Singapore.

Transaction terms were not disclosed. The fund’s capital will be used to fund the further growth and international expansion of VMCEE.

Etisalat Nigeria has renewed its managed services contract with Nokia Networks for three more years with expanded services scope. Under the contract, Nokia Networks will manage the operator’s 3G and GSM networks and improve network efficiency, ensuring the best possible mobile broadband service experience for end users.

Nokia Networks has been providing managed services to Etisalat Nigeria since 2008. With Nigeria and Etisalat being a main focus in Nokia Networks’ strategy in Middle East and Africa (MEA), the company is committed to helping the operator and the country provide world class mobile broadband services.

Under the scope of the contract, Nokia’s managed services capabilities such as network planning and optimisation, operations and maintenance services as well as care services will be provided to Etisalat Nigeria to manage its GSM and 3G networks. Nokia’s NetAct network management system will monitor, manage and optimise the operator’s multi-technology networks.

In Nokia’s current managed services contracts, two out of three of them are multi-vendor. Altogether, these contracts cover approximately 200 million subscribers and 35,000 sites. About 40 per cent of these subscribers are supported by operators who are new managed services customers to Nokia Networks.

Nokia Networks is today managing more than 230,000 sites and 500 million subscribers across the world.

Nawras has announced that it will rebrand to Ooredoo by the end of this year, with the telco explaining that its customers will enjoy added benefits from being part of the global group, which successfully connects over 95 million customers across 15 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and South-East Asia.

The rebrand reinforces the company’s long-term commitment to provide the best value and offers to customers in Oman and investing in the country’s future. It will further bring consistency to the customer experience.

Vittorio Colao, Vodafone Group CEO, said the company would consider a “transformational” merger or acquisition in the future if the price was right, according to a Financial Times report.

Speaking at an investor event in New York, Colao explained that the company’s investment in its networks and wider consolidation in the sector are likely to leave Vodafone in a better position to consider such deals in the longer term.

Vodafone has recently been linked with a number of large potential deals, including tie-ups with AT&T and TIM Participacoes in Brazil, which is controlled by Telecom Italia. It has also been linked to major cable company Liberty Global.

Having sold its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications for US$130 billion a year ago, there has been considerable interest in what Vodafone will do with the proceeds.

Soon after the Verizon transaction was completed, the company embarked on the GBP7 billion (US$11.4 billion) Project Sprint network investment programme.

It has also acquired several fixed providers — Ono in Spain and Kabel Deutschland — as it pursues a quad-play strategy in which it provides mobile fixed telephony, broadband and TV.

Most recently it inked a deal to acquire a majority stake in Greek fixed and broadband player Hellas Online. It also reached a fibre-sharing agreement with rival Portugal Telecom in July.

Colao noted that Vodafone may face competition in the UK from BT, which is believed to be preparing to launch discounted mobile services, via an MVNO agreement with EE, later this year, allowing it to offer a similar breadth of services.