In a regular series, Mobile World Live‘s Asia Editor Joseph Waring provides a regional roundup of news snippets:

Huawei’s smartphone shipments rise 28% in Q1
Huawei’s smartphone shipments in Q1 increased 28 per cent year-on-year to 17.5 million units, with midrange and high-end models accounting for 34 per cent of the total, up from just 5 per cent a year ago.

The company said previously it plans to ship 100 million smartphones this year. Last year it shipped 75 million smartphones, a year-on-year increase of 45 per cent, although a little short of its target of 80 million. In total it shipped 138 million devices, up 7.8 per cent.

Telstra finalises Pacnet acquisition
Telstra has completed its $697 million acquisition of Pacnet, which the Australian operator said will double its customer base in Asia.

Telstra’s Brendon Riley said Pacnet would be integrated into Telstra and the Pacnet brand progressively retired. He said Telstra will continue to develop the joint-venture in China. Its US assets will be integrated when regulatory approval is obtained.

The acquisition was first announced in December and includes the largest privately owned intra-Asia cable network and 29 data centres.

Telstra said it will refinance Pacnet’s outstanding debt as soon as practical.

LG Uplus payment service targets Chinese
South Korea’s third largest mobile operator LG Uplus is partnering with KB Kookmin Card and China’s UnionPay to launch a new mobile payment service.

Starting in July customers with UnionPay-backed mobile credit cards can make payments via NFC in China and Korea.

UnionPay, a state-owned bankcard association approved by the central bank to provide clearing services for bankcard transactions, has NFC payment terminals at more than five million retail stores in China.

LG Uplus said it plans to set up NFC terminals at shops in Korea frequented by Chinese tourists this year.

True Money aims for regional expansion
Thailand’s True Corp has transferred its digital content and online business to its parent company, Charoen Pokphand, in an effort to expand the business regionally.

The transfer includes True Money, which covers the operator’s e-wallet and mobile payment services, as well as True Internet Data Centre and True Digital Content and Media.

The three units will be managed by a holding company, called Ascend, which will set up joint ventures and make acquisitions, the Bangkok Post said.

True Money recently entered into a joint venture with Myanmar’s Asia Green Development Bank.