After a fierce debate, EU telecoms ministers reached agreement yesterday (27 November) on a review of rules governing electronic communications, scrapping many “ambitious” proposals made by the European Commission. … more

Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it will stop selling mobile phones in Japan except for its luxury Vertu brand after struggling to expand its presence. … more

Marketers have often claimed that mobile advertising is taking off. But this time they could be right, recession or not. Global numbers are hard to come by, but a leading mobile-advertising firm, AdMob, says the number of advertisements it has delivered worldwide has tripled, to 4.5 billion, in the past 12 months. Why? Because many of the obstacles that have held mobile advertising back are going away. … more

Following the Telecoms Council’s deliberations this morning, Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner, commented on the Council’s results for the EU Telecoms Reform as follows: “There was a constructive crisis this morning at the Council meeting, as several delegations felt that the Council text agreed so far was not ambitious enough. I applaud Secretary of State Luc Chatel for having resolved this crisis with skill and a pro-European intention. … more

Broadband penetration in Europe continues to grow, from 18.2% in July 2007 to up to 21.7% in July 2008, according to a report published today by the European Commission. The report also shows the gap between EU countries narrowing, from 28.4 percentage points in July 2007 to 27.7 this July. With 17 million fixed broadband lines laid in a year, today’s figures show high-speed internet in the EU is more widespread and faster, while mobile broadband is starting to take off, with 6.9% penetration. Three quarters of broadband lines in the EU have download speeds of 2 millions of bits per second (Mbps) and above, a speed that supports TV over the Internet, for example. … more

France will shortly call on telecoms operators to offer broadband services across all its territory for a maximum of €35 (£29.3) a month, a government minister said on Thursday. … more

European Union governments are set on Thursday to cap prices of roamed mobile phone texts and data downloading along with other measures to spur a wider range of cheaper services for customers. … more

As expected, Telstra today lodged a last minute, albeit non-compliant, bid to build the national broadband network. Optus, a Canadian telco Axia NetMedia and Acacia - led by a consortium including Melbourne businessman including Solomon Lew, also submitted proposals to build the national network. Other bids to build smaller parts of the network came from the Tasmanian Government and TransACT. … more

by Stephen Conroy, Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Investment in key infrastructure is a first order economic policy priority for the Rudd Government.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is one of the largest infrastructure investments undertaken by any Australian Government and is a vital building block for our future economic productivity and prosperity. … more

European Union telecommunications ministers are set to endorse on Thursday proposed price limits on cross-border text messaging and mobile Web surfing, according to a copy of the plan obtained by The International Herald Tribune. … more