Toshiba has formally announced that it has finally completed the protracted sale of its prized chip unit. The Japanese conglomerate sold its memory chip business to an investment consortium for a fee of $21bn.
Industry News
President Trump offers ZTE a deal to resume business
US President Donald Trump has offered ZTE a deal which will allow them to resume trade with the United States - after the Chinese telecommunications vendor was hit with a draconian ban by the US Department of Commerce that threatened its very existence.
European vendor secures contract to upgrade optical transport network in China
Nokia's Chinese subsidiary, Nokia Shanghai Bell (NSB), has won the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) optical transport network (OTN) project. The deployment will cover SGCC Beijing and Tianjin and will help SGCC to smoothly evolve the transport network from 10Gb/s to beyond 100Gb/s, based on Nokia's in-house innovative PSE chipset.
Huawei and NTT Docomo conduct 5G trials in Japan
Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo and Chinese telecommunications vendor Huawei have conducted 5G trials. Both companies have claimed to have proved integrated access backhaul (IAB) technology can significantly improve mmWave coverage and capacity during 5G trials.
Australian operator confirms it will axe 400 jobs
Australian operator Optus has confirmed that it will cut its workforce by 400 due to increased competition caused by a move from one of its rivals to introduce unlimited 4G data plans. The job cuts are expected to be made in the next few months - and Optus CEO Allen Lew has informed staff that the measures are being implemented in an effort to future-proof the company and fund future investment.
South Korean operators to adopt usage-based tariffs in preparation for 5G
All three of South Korea's telecommunication operators are expected to move away from its traditional flat-rate pricing system in favor of usage-based tariffs - in an effort to generate the revenue it needs to prepare for the 5G.
Chinese operator expands operations in Japan
Chinese Mobile International, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese telecommunications incumbent China Mobile, has announced it plans to expand its operations in Japan in preparation for the forthcoming Olympic Games which will be held in Tokyo in 2020.
USA and China close in on deal to drop sanctions on ZTE
The US and China are reportedly close to agreeing to a deal which will see the draconian sanctions imposed by US officials on Chinese telecommunications vendor ZTE dropped.
Samsung ordered to pay US tech giants $533m
South Korean conglomerate Samsung has been ordered by a US federal court to pay Apple $533m in a patent dispute case that has been ongoing now for seven years. Samsung has been found guilty of copying the iPhone design and a federal court jury has now awarded an additional $5m in damages for a pair of patented functions to be paid to the US technology colossus.
US confirms it’s seeking solutions for its sanctions against Chinese telecoms firm
The US Commerce Secretary has officially confirmed that it is seeking alternative solutions to the draconian sanctions it has imposed on Chinese telecommunications vendor ZTE. The sanctions have forced the Chinese telecoms colossus to suspend all of its major operations which now puts the company on the brink of collapse.