Industry News

British telecommunications giant Vodafone reported on Tuesday, May 16, an annual net loss of 6.3 billion euros ($6.9 billion) after slashing the value of its troubled Indian division.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is set to shake up the Indian e-commerce industry as speculation increases that it wants to become a consolidator and engage in a more active role at a trio of leading start-ups. SoftBank has already flexed its financial muscles in the Indian e-commerce market, with the firm already investing around $2 billion in a number of e-commerce businesses over the last number of years.

LG Electronics Inc. (LG) announced first-quarter 2017 revenue of KRW 14.66 trillion (USD 12.70 billion), an increase of 9.7 percent from the same period last year. LG nearly doubled its operating income to KRW 921.5 billion (USD 798.3 million) with the Home Appliance & Air Solutions Company posting its highest quarterly operating income in eight years.

Sony Mobile Communications has shown strong global financial performance by reporting a profit of 10.2 Billion Yen (US$ 91 Million) this year, as per financial results from the company.

Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp have become embroiled in a row with US firm Western Digital Corp over the sale of its prized and highly sought-after chip unit. Toshiba has instructed them in no uncertain terms to not interfere with how it proceeds with the sale. It has refuted claims made by Western Digital Corp that they breached a joint-venture contract.

PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, and Caton Technology Corp. (Caton), a technology provider of advanced video transmission and managed file transfer solutions, will work together to deliver to international viewers the exciting 29th Summer Universiade, a global student sporting and cultural event to be hosted by Taipei, Taiwan in August.

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo announced its new medium-term strategy for implementation through the 2020 fiscal year, effective immediately. The plan focuses on six declarations that DoCoMo will act upon to realize a more innovative business structure in the coming era of 5G.

Axiata Group Berhad (“Axiata”) through its wholly owned subsidiary, Axiata Business Services Sdn Bhd (“Axiata Business Services’) announced it has signed a four-year, multi-transponder contract for leased capacity and teleport services with IPSTAR International Pte Limited (“IPSTAR”), a subsidiary of Thaicom Public Company Limited (“Thaicom”).

Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to tighten the country’s internet regulations with a pledge on May 7 to increase controls over search engines and online news portals, CNBC reported. The increased security implementations are the latest in President Jinping’s attempts to oversee strict Communist Party control over internet content in China.

IDC recently published a MarketScape report titled IDC Telecom MarketScape for Next-Generation Service Providers 2016-17, which evaluates the leading regional and global telecommunications service providers (SPs) in Asia-Pacific. According to the report, AT&T, BT, Orange, and Singtel were identified as “Leaders” of the next-generation telecom service providers in the region along with plenty of challengers in the market.