RIM Sees Slowdown Ahead

Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, said its revenue for the quarter ended February 26, 2011 was 5.6 billion US dollars, up 36% year-on-year.  During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 14.9 million BlackBerry smartphones for a total of 52.3 million smartphones in fiscal 2011, up 43% on the previous year.

RIM said it expects revenue for the quarter ending May 28 to be in the range of 5.2 billion to 5.6 billion dollars, which would amount to a year-on-year increase of between 23% and 32%. source: RIM statement 

3G Buoys China Telecom

China Telecom said that its revenue rose 5.4% in 2010 to 219.37 billion yuan (33.46 billion US dollars), as a 61% increase in mobile subs to more than 90 million offset a 7% decline in access lines in service to 175 million. During 2010, China Telecom's 3G (CDMA) subscribers rose threefold to 12.29 million.

China's largest fixed-line provider plans to increase capex to 50 billion yuan in 2011 from 43 billion yuan in 2010 to expand broadband coverage. source: China Telecom presentation

AT&T Makes the Case for T-Mobile Buy

AT&T, the U.S.'s largest telecoms company, said it has agreed to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for 39 billion US dollars (made up of a cash payment of 25 billion dollars and the balance in AT&T shares).  Justifying the transaction, AT&T said its mobile data traffic grew 8,000% over the past four years and by 2015 it is expected to be eight to 10 times what it was in 2010.

AT&T said the transaction will enable an additional 46.5 million Americans to have access to LTE services. "In terms of area covered, the transaction enables 4G LTE deployment to an additional 1.2 million square miles, equivalent to 4.5 times the size of the state of Texas," it added. The Dallas-based telecoms company said the acquisition will increase AT&T’s infrastructure investment in the U.S. by more than 8 billion dollars over seven years.

Three years after closing, the deal will generate 3 billion dollars a year in synergies, according to AT&T, claiming that "revenue synergies will come from opportunities to increase smartphone penetration and data average revenue per user, with cost savings coming from network efficiencies, subscriber and support savings, reduced churn and avoided capital and spectrum expenditures." source: AT&T statement

China Mobile Lifted By New Subs and Services

China Mobile said that its operating revenue climbed 7.3% in 2010 to 485.23 billion Chinese yuan (73.79 billion US dollars), boosted by a 11.8% rise in customers, a 18.6% uplift in voice usage and a 15.2% hike in revenue from its value-added services, which include SMS and mobile Internet access.

China Mobile said it now has more than 20 million 3G customers and 3G coverage across 656 cities via 135,000 base stations. It plans to increase capital spending to 132.4 billion yuan in 2011, compared with 124.3 billion in 2010. China Mobile also said its Mobile Market now offers 50,000 apps and has generated 110 million downloads. source: China Mobile presentation

Skype's Revenues Rise 20%

Skype said that its revenues in 2010 were 859.8 million US dollars, up 19.6% from 718.9 million dollars in 2009, and it reported an operating profit of 20.6 million dollars in 2010 versus a loss of 352.2 million dollars in the previous year. The VOIP provider said it billed a total of 12.8 billion minutes last year, up from 10.7 billion in 2009, while free Skype-to-Skype minutes rose to 194.3 billion from 113.0 billion. source: Telecompaper

MTN Sees Slowing Subs Growth

Pan-Africa mobile operator MTN said that its revenues increased 14% at contant currencies in 2010 to 114.7 billion South African rand (16.68 billion US dollars), thanks to a 22% uplift in subscribers (25.6 million) to 141.6 million. Although MTN cut capital spending in 2010 by 38% to 19.5 billion rand, it plans to increase capex in 2011 to 22.1 billion rand. It also forecast that its subscriber base will grow by 16.9 million in 2011.  source: MTN presentation

Yota Promises LTE Coverage in 180 Russian Cities

Russian mobile broadband operator Yota said it has signed a deal with the country’s main network operators that will see "Yota become the 4G network provider for the Russian telecoms market and guarantee the roll-out of its LTE network to cover 180 cities with a total population of more than 70 million citizens by 2014." Yota said the deal will avoid costly duplication of infrastructure investment.

Yota said the agreement will see the country’s major network operators - Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Rostelekom – working with Yota to offer 4G services over its network. The deal provides each of the participants with an option to buy shares in Yota in 2014.

Yota CEO Dennis Sverdlov added: “This deal is an endorsement of our vision for the future of the telecoms industry. We firmly believe in the separation of network ownership and service provision.” source: Yota statement

iPad Passes the 15 Million Mark

Launching the iPad 2, Apple said that it has sold more than 15 million iPads since the tablet computer was launched in April 2010. As Apple's quartely reports show it sold 14.79 million iPads in 2010, the 15 million figure indicates sales have slowed ahead of the launch of the new device. Apple said the iPad has generated 9.5 billion US dollars in revenue, giving the device an average selling price of (up to) 633 dollars, according to Mobile Business Briefing.

Apple said the iPad 2 is one-third thinner than its predecessor and features a dual-core A5 processor, two cameras and the same 9.7 inch screen as the first iPad, while still offering up to 10 hours battery life. source: Apple statement