China Telecom sets 2017 targets
China Telecom, the country’s third largest mobile operator, aims to add an average of 10 million 4G subs a month next year and migrate all of its 3G users to 4G services.

Wang Guoquan, GM of China Telecom’s marketing department, expects 4G data traffic to increase by more than 50 per cent next year and to sell nearly 120 million handsets, C114.net reported.

He said it also plans to launch pre-commercial VoLTE in 2017.

Kakao Games plans IPO
Kakao Games, a unit of Kakao Corp, which operates South Korea’s largest mobile messenger service KakaoTalk, reportedly reached out to several local investment banks for proposals for an IPO on the KOSDAQ, Yonhap reported.

The company said in a statement the listing would depend on market conditions and other factors, so was unable give a timeframe.

According to the news agency, it would be the first time a Kakao affiliate went public.

Juniper earmarks $1B for India
Networking equipment maker Juniper plans to invest an additional $1 billion in India over the next few years, Rami Rahim, the US company’s CEO, told the Economic Times.

The company, which has about 2,600 workers in the country, has invested more than $1 billion over the past six years in its Indian operators, the bulk of which has been in R&D.

Rahim said Juniper wants to be part of the Digital India vision, noting “we are investing today with the goal that it will pay off in the next year to two-year time frame,” the publication reported.

China Unicom in 5G tie-up with Cavium
China Unicom, the country’s second largest mobile operator, took a further step towards deploying 5G technology through a deal to develop virtualised base band units (vBBU) with US-based Cavium.

The companies agreed to collaborate to commercialise vBBU systems based on Cavium’s data server processors, which the company said are based on ARM architecture. The pair will focus their development efforts on front haul, system architecture, and vBBU performance and deployment. The companies will also research the feasibility of next-generation virtualised WANs, conduct lab and field testing, and seek to drive the rollout of the technologies they develop into commercial networks.