The severe economic recession and maturity of the Japanese telecom market have compelled Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (NTT) to look at other geographies. Industry sources say the company has started negotiations with Patni Computer Systems, the sixth largest software services exporter of India , to acquire 66% stake in the latter. Entry into India will unlock the $60 billion IT and ITES (IT enabled services) market to Nippon. In the last reported quarter, Patni generated approximately $166.75 million in revenue and around $33.7 million of net profit.  Nippon, the largest telecom operator in Japan is facing strong competition in the Japanese wireless market and from the potential impact of low-cost, fixed-line services, such as “voice-over-Internet protocol" (VoIP). In order to maintain its leadership position, the company has taken various measures in the domestic telecom market and also decided to capture selected international opportunities to drive long-term ...

Vodafone (VOD) UK has reportedly launched a converged fixed-mobile service (called "Vodafone One Net") yesterday for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the UK, helping them to more effectively manage their corporate communications. This follows the company’s successful launch of Vodafone One in June 2009 that offers bundled voice, data and fixed-line services for large businesses. Vodafone One Net, which was previously launched in Italy and Czech Republic, marks Vodafone UK’s entry in the lucrative communications market for SMEs in the UK, representing an approximate £8 billion market opportunity. The new combined service offers a single number for mobile and landline services, one voicemail number for all messages and one contract through a single service provider. Users can seamlessly switch between landline phones and their mobiles while in a call and will have the flexibility of paying a flat call rate per subscription for all calls. ...

China, the world's biggest nation by population, also harbors the largest number of wireless users in the world. China Mobile (CHL) remains the incumbent Chinese wireless carrier with a 70% market share, well ahead of the second-place China Unicom (CHU). However, the recently concluded restructuring of the Chinese telecom industry has intensified domestic competition by allowing an additional market entrant.As per the restructuring mandate, China Unicom merged with China Netcom (a leading fixed-line service provider) and sold its CDMA wireless business to the largest fixed-line operator, China Telecom (CHA), for RMB 110 billion (US$16 billion), creating two entities offering wireless and fixed-line services in China.Following the overhaul of the Chinese telecom industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China issued three 3G wireless licenses in early 2009. China Mobile was awarded the license for ...