China Mobile (CHL), the world’s largest wireless carrier by subscriber, has revealed its plan to commence the trial run of its 4G network during World Expo 2010 to be held in Shanghai from May 1 to Oct 31, 2010. The company’s 4G service is based on the TD-LTE (Time Division Duplex Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband technology. Roughly 200 participants and 70 million visitors are expected to assemble at the Expo.   China Mobile has recently selected Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) for the responsibilities of design, construction, installation and integration of communication infrastructure to facilitate the 4G network trial. The TD-LTE network will provide advanced wireless services (including high-definition TV and ultra-fast broadband Internet access) to the visitors at the exposition.   The three major Chinese telecom operators China Mobile, China Unicom (CHU) and China Telecom (CHA) are investing heavily in Shanghai to improve the city’s network

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple Inc. (AAPL), KT Corp. (KTC), SK Telecom (SKM), China Unicom (CHU) and American Express Company (AXP).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

South Korea Welcomes iPhone

Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone is finally reaching the hands of South Korean mobile users. The country’s telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission (“KCC") has granted Apple the license to sell the iconic handset in the domestic cell phone market. KCC has also lifted

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Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone is finally reaching the hands of South Korean mobile users. The country’s telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission (“KCC") has granted Apple the license to sell the iconic handset in the domestic cell phone market. KCC has also lifted the restrictions that prohibited location-based services on smartphone devices such as the Google Maps application on iPhone.    South Korea’s second-largest wireless carrier KT Corp. (KTC) will start booking Internet order for iPhone (3G & 3GS) soon and begin selling it from Nov 28, 2009. The company targets to initially sell 150,000 units priced between KRW250,000 and KRW300,000 (US$216 and US$260). KT’s peer SK Telecom (SKM), the largest mobile operator in the country, is still negotiating with Apple for securing distribution rights.     South Korean wireless market is technologically advanced and relatively mature with roughly 47 million total subscribers, representing 96% penetration of

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Telefonica (TEF) reported third-quarter 2009 results with earnings per ADS of US$1.88, comfortably beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of US$1.49. The Spanish telecom giant reported net income of €1.99 billion (US$2.85 billion), down 0.6% year over year, due to lower sales as a result of the beleaguered economy, especially in Spain. Revenue Consolidated revenue fell 5.7% year over year to €14.1 billion (US$20.2 billion). Revenue was impacted by weak contributions from domestic and European markets due to the recession. Latin America contributed 40% of the group revenues followed by Spain at 35% and Europe at 25%. Result by Segments Telefonica Espana The company’s Spanish revenue declined 8.9% to €4.9 billion (US$7 billion), impacted by a reduction in mobile termination rates (inter-operator fees) and the economic downturn. Wireline business revenues fell 9.4% year over year to €2.9 billion (US$4.1 billion) while revenue from wireless ...

Spanish Telecom giant Telefonica (TEF) and the second-largest Chinese carrier China Unicom (CHU) have reportedly concluded their cross investment as the companies have finished the $1 billion stake purchase in each other’s stock. As per the agreement terms, Telefonica has bought 693.91 million shares in China Unicom at HK$11.17 (US$1.44) each while China Unicom purchased 40.73 million Telefonica shares at €17.24 (US$25.8) each.   With the completion of this share swap transaction, Telefonica’s stake in China Unicom increased to 8.06% from 5.38%, further strengthening its foothold in the Chinese telecom market. On the other hand, China Unicom purchased 0.87% of Telefonica, making it the first Chinese carrier to invest in a leading European telecom company. Telefonica plans to further expand its stakeholding in China Unicom to 10%.   Additional stake purchase in China Unicom has further consolidated Telefonica’s position as the largest overseas investor in the Chinese ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 21, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple Inc. (AAPL), China Unicom (CHU), Nokia (NOK), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Palm Inc. (PALM).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s AnalystBlog:

Apple: 2nd Highest Growth Ever

Apple Inc. (AAPL) released Snow Leopard, the latest upgrade to the Apple Mac operating system in the quarter. In addition, Apple announced new upgrades to its iTunes and the iPod digital media players at a media event in Sep. The company plans to

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Fourth-Quarter Results Beat Apple Inc. (AAPL) fourth-quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43 in earnings per share and $9.19 billion in revenue. Earnings in the quarter were $1.82 per share, which also surpassed the company’s own guidance. This increased 44% from $1.26 per share reported in the year-ago period. Strong earnings were due to higher sales in the quarter, which increased 25% to $9.87 billion, representing the second highest revenue growth in the company’s history. The tremendous revenue growth was due to higher iPhone sales and increased Mac shipments in the quarter. Apple continues to gain market share in the three major hardware sectors – computers (with very significant gains in portables), music players and smartphones. Apple's revenue increased in every region, including the U.S. and Europe. The company is currently benefiting from a positive mix shift to the higher-margin iPhones/iPod business from its ...

Chinese wireless giant China Mobile (CHL) is reportedly planning to spend more on 3G terminal subsidies in 2010. The company has tripled the amount of subsidies from the current year level and is expected to spend up to RMB30 billion (US$4.4 billion) next year. This move will enable the company to better compete with its Chinese peers in the domestic 3G space. China Mobile remains the leading player in the Chinese wireless market with 70% market share and more than 500 million subscribers. However, the company’s share of the new subscribers has dropped recently due to stiff competition from China Unicom (CHU) and the relatively new wireless player China Telecom (CHA) as they both operate internationally acclaimed 3G standard based networks. Leveraging its home-grown TD-SCDMA 3G standard, China Mobile launched its 3G network in early 2009, already covering 38 Chinese cities. The company currently ...

Spanish Telecom giant Telefonica (TEF) has unveiled the details of a large-scale field trial project related to the company’s 4G network services, which is based on the Long Term Evaluation (“LTE") mobile broadband technology.

The company will test run its 4G LTE network in six countries across Europe and Latin America. The outcome of the trials will help Telefonica to chalk out its next phase of network deployment strategy.

Telefonica will conduct 4G LTE trials during the next six months in multiple European countries such as Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and the UK, while the Latin American trials will be staged in Brazil and Argentina. The company has already conducted its first LTE trial in Madrid in April 2009, which has demonstrated encouraging throughput levels.

Telefonica has also announced network infrastructure and equipment vendors to facilitate the field testing. It has reportedly selected six technology providers: Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), Ericsson (

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Second-largest Chinese wireless carrier China Unicom (CHU) will officially launch commercial 3G wireless services on Oct 1, 2009 across 285 Chinese cities. This coincides with the company's launch date of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone in mainland China. China Unicom initially announced that it will commence commercial 3G service roll out on Sep 28, 2009.

China Unicom launched commercial trials of its WCDMA technology-based 3G services in 56 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai ) in May 2009 and subsequently extended that to 44 more cities. The company also initiated commercial 3G trials in 168 more Chinese cities in August 2009.

To facilitate the deployment of its 3G WCDMA network, China Unicom has collaborated with Ericsson (ERIC) under a $700 million deal. The company has also announced that it will adopt a uniform 3G tariff package in an effort to reduce prices for its 3G customers. Moreover, China Unicom will

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