Etisalat may compete with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and Russia’s Altimo for a US$1 billion stake in India’s Tata Teleservices, according to press reports in the UAE.

Mohammad Omran says Etisalat is talking to several Indian players.

“We have already mentioned we are evaluating several opportunities in India,” Etisalat chairman Mohammad Omran told Reuters. According to media reports in the UAE, Etisalat is well-placed to win the stake in Tata Teleservices, while it has not been stated specifically why that is thought to be the case.

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Qualcomm paid US$16.2 million for radio spectrum in the UK.

Qualcomm has acquired 40MHz (1452-1492 MHz) of L-Band radio spectrum recently auctioned by UK communications regulator Ofcom, at a cost of £8.33 million (US$16.2 million). Qualcomm says that it will work with collaboration partners to bring a variety of innovative wireless technologies to the UK market.

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South Korean telecoms rules have been relaxed to allow BlackBerrys to go on sale and may be available as early as August to corporations, but not individuals.

Previous restrictions meant mobile phones sold in the country must use a locally developed wireless software platform known as WIPI, in turn favouring Korean brands Samsung and LG Electronics, which control 80 per cent of the local market.

Officials of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korea Communications Commission said they would no longer apply the rules governing mobile devices to BlackBerry, classifying it as a PDA instead.

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Nortel’s CEO and president Mike Zafirovski says Nortel is on
track to financial recovery, despite losses.

Canadian vendor Nortel Networks posted another loss in the first quarter of the year, but said its turnaround strategy is on track as shown by the fact that Q1 revenue grew 11 per cent compared to a year ago.

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A survey of GSM/EDGE network deployments by GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) has reported that EDGE networks are now commercially launched in 147 countries, compared to 113 countries in May 2007.

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