Apple and China Mobile today announced they have entered into a multi-year agreement to bring iPhone to the world’s largest mobile network. As part of the agreement, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available from China Mobile’s expansive network of retail stores as well as Apple retail stores across mainland China beginning on January 17, 2014.

China Mobile now has over 1.2 million 2G/GSM, 3G/TD-SCDMA, 4G/TD-LTE base stations and over 4.2 million Wi-Fi access points, providing broad coverage to quality networks for iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c customers. China Mobile is rolling out the world’s largest 4G network. By the end of 2013, China Mobile’s 4G services will be available in 16 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. By the end of 2014, China Mobile plans to complete the rollout of more than 500,000 4G base stations, which will cover more than 340 cities with 4G service. The collaboration between Apple and China Mobile will give a big boost to the development of China’s home-grown 4G/TD-LTE technology. iPhone on China Mobile supports major cellular network standards, making a global phone a reality for China Mobile customers.

China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile services provider by network scale and subscriber base, serving over 760 million customers.

BlackBerry announced its fiscal Q3 2014 to November 30 results, with the company revealing a US$4.4 billion GAAP-adjusted loss for the quarter, which included a write-down on current inventory of around US$1.6 billion. BlackBerry “recognised revenue” on only 1.9 million handsets, compared to 3.7 million in the same period a year ago, but it claims that it sold around 4.3 million BlackBerrys through to end-customers, of which 3.2 million were BlackBerry 7 handsets.

BlackBerry stressed the growth of Enterprise Services, Messaging, and QNX Embedded OS in auto and cloud as high points, and noted a change in corporate structure in which those are given more equal weight against its Devices unit. And as for the Devices unit, BlackBerry announced a partnership with Foxconn that will span five years and kick off with a smartphone unit designed specifically for “Indonesia and other fast-growing markets in early 2014.”

This partnership could offload the majority of BlackBerry’s hardware inventory management duties to Foxconn, and Mexico is named as another early target for devices coming out of the arrangement.

Essentially, it sounds like BlackBerry is making Foxconn a licensee with control over its smartphone division, while it continues to work on services and software in-house.

The government of the Ivory Coast is planning a swathe of privatisations that also includes Cote d’Ivoire Telecom.

In total, some 15 companies will see stakes sold in an effort to reduce the national debt, as well as introduce competition into some markets.

The sale is expected to take place within the next few months, and shares will be listed on the local stock exchange.

President Alassane Ouattara told Reuters in an interview this month that he was "in a hurry for it (the sell-off) to be finished."

The government currently owns just under half of Cote d’Ivoire Telecom and is expected to reduce its stake by 28 per cent; raising around CFA4.3 billion (US$9 million). The majority owner with 51 per cent is Orange, with a fraction of a per cent held by the employees.

The company recently agreed to outsource its tower operations to IHS, although it retains ownership of the infrastructure.

Qualcomm today announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved Steve Mollenkopf CEO-elect of Qualcomm, and appointed to its board. He will continue to serve as the company’s president. Effective March 4, 2014, Mollenkopf will become CEO and in this role, he will assume overall responsibility for Qualcomm, including all lines of business and all functional groups in the company. On that date, current CEO Paul E. Jacobs will assume the role of executive chairman, helping guide development of new technology and Qualcomm’s long-term opportunities. Jacobs has been CEO of Qualcomm for nine years.

In his nearly 20 years at Qualcomm, Mollenkopf has held a variety of leadership positions including leading the chipset business (QCT), successfully driving innovation and record growth. Under his leadership, Qualcomm became the world’s largest mobile chipset supplier and the global leader in LTE technology.

Etisalat Group announced today the expansion of its mobile phone-based commerce service Flous through its subsidiary Etisalat Moov in Benin.

Flous, which means money and is known as Flooz in Benin, enables customers to use their mobile phones like digital wallets to pay for goods and services, transfer money to the friends and family members, withdraw and deposit cash, top-up mobile phones and manage bank accounts.

Customers can also use their mobile phones as debit cards and manage funds directly from their handsets. The service, offered in partnership with Banque Atlantique du Bénin, is designed to be secure and flexible – requiring a password for each transaction – and gives customers instant access to money 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Service can be accessed on even the most basic mobile handset.

Etisalat currently serves 144 million customers in 15 countries throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia.