Operators

Sweden-headquartered Tele2 has sold its loss-making French MVNO venture to Virgin Mobile for SEK575 million (US$83 million).

Luxembourg-based Millicom has sold its Tigo-branded mobile network in Sri Lanka to Etisalat for US$155 million in cash, ending months of speculation over the identity of an eventual acquirer. Previous names in the frame include Bharti, BSNL, VimpelCom, Axiata and NTT Docomo.

Reuters notes that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is launching a new version of its touchscreen Storm smartphone, marking its latest move in the fight with Apple's iPhone.

Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank have announced the launch of easypaisa, aiming to be a convenient and safe way for the people of Pakistan to carry out financial transactions.

The BBC reports that Microsoft says it has now recovered the personal data lost when its Sidekick servers suffered an outage on 13 October.

Telecompaper, citing a Business Standard report, notes that a consortium led by India-based Vavasi group has sent feelers to China Mobile for a possible joint bid for Zain.

Spanish telecoms group Telefonica aims to bring talks with Telecom Italia to buy its German broadband division HanseNet to a close within the next few weeks, Bloomberg reports, citing Telefonica's chairman Cesar Alierta.