Concern at TMI

TMI, with operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia and interests in India and Singapore, said the fourth quarter of 2008 was "challenging" after three good quarters. The group said its main concerns moving forward are currency fluctuations and the possibility of weakening economies affecting the [telecoms] industry.

In Malaysia, Celcom's mobile broadband customers climbed 27% between the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2008 as the company capitalised on low broadband penetration of less than 20% of Malaysian households.source: TMI statement.

Deutsche Defence

After improving its competitive position in Europe and growing in the U.S., Deutsche Telekom expects its EBITDA and free cash flow to be flat in 2009 at about 19.5 billion euros and 7 billion euros respectively. T-Mobile's revenue from mobile data services in Europe (excluding messaging) was 409 million euros in the fourth quarter of 2008, up 47% on the year before. In the U.S., the same metric grew 25% to 421 million euros. source: Deutsche Telekom presentation

Turkcell Ups Investment

Turkcell is expecting revenue to grow in 2009, but also to see pressure on profit margins due to the macroeconomic environment and consumer confidence, as well as geopolitical, regulatory and competitive dynamics in Turkey. Even so, Turkcell plans to double capital spending to 1.6 billion US dollars as it rolls out 3G services in 2009, while seeking international acquisitions. source: Turkcell presentation

Telstra Tweaks

Telstra said its results are being affected by reduced calling volumes, as Australians "manage their usage down" more than the company expected in the deteriorating macro environment. While Telstra continues to expect revenue growth in the range of 3-4% this year, it now expects EBITDA growth in the range of 5-6% (previously 6-7%) and EBIT growth in the range of 3-5% (previously 6-8%). - source: Telstra statement

Telefonica Two-Step

In 2009, Telefónica plans to defend its cash flow in the markets under most economic pressure (Europe), while tapping the growth potential of expanding markets (Latin America). As a result, the Madrid-based company expects group cash flow to grow between 8%-11% in 2009. It also expects to increase both revenues and operating income (before depreciation and amortisation) between 1% and 3%, while keeping capital spending under 7.5 billion euros compared with 8.4 billion euros in 2008.

By the end of 2008, the number of 3G handsets held by Telefonica's customers in Spain was more than 6.2 million, an 80% increase on December 2007, (reaching a penetration rate of 27% of the customer base).- source: Telefonica statement.

Nortel Shrinks to Fit

Once Nortel implements all of its proposed job cuts, the company's workforce will drop to about 25,000. During its heyday, the one-time technology icon had a market capitalization of about $250 billion and employed about 93,000 people. – source: Total Telecom/Dow Jones Newswires.

Austria Unchanged

Compensating for a shrinking fixed-line business with an expanding international mobile operation, Telekom Austria expects sales of about 5.1 billion euros in 2009, slightly down from 5.17 billion euros in 2008. Projected EBITDA, at 1.9 billion euros, is expected to be unchanged from the 2008 figure, stripping out a 632 million euro fixed-line restructuring charge last year. Capital spending for 2009 is set to be flat at about 800 million euros. source: Telekom Austria statement.