Operators

Japan's second-largest operator KDDI today revealed further plans for its launch of LTE networks, announcing Motorola and NEC as suppliers of radio access (base station) kit and declaring commercial availability by December 2012.

China Mobile - the world's largest operator by subscribers - is feeling the effects of the global downturn and increasing competition in its home market after posting its slowest growth in interim profit since the company listed in 1997.

TeleGeography, citing a bdnews24.com report, notes that GrameenPhone's IPO could be open for subscription in the last week of September, after receiving final regulatory approval yesterday.

US regulator the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will next Thursday hold a meeting in Washington aimed at launching a wide-ranging review of the country's mobile industry practices, looking at issues from the state of competition in the market to the fees added on to subscribers' bills.

India's Bharti and South Africa's MTN have again extended their merger talks by another month, this time declaring a deadline of September 30 as a successful outcome appears likely.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that Bharti Airtel’s chairman Sunil Mittal and MTN chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko met today with India's federal finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as the two companies strive to come closer to a deal to combine.

Bloomberg notes that China’s Huawei has garnered a 10 percent market share in Europe and expects to gain more ground this year.