So much goes on in the telecom world it's hard to keep track of it all. If you took a nap at some point during the past several days, you likely missed some interesting tidbits of news. Just in case, we're here with a slightly irreverent recap of the hottest stories in telecom this week.
Bite the Big Apple
The week started off with a bang, when Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced that it had sold its one-millionth iPhone. The Mac-maker turned cellphone-peddler reached this target sooner than expected, boosted by a $200 price cut for the 8GB version of the phone. The lower price helped push many gadget holdouts over the edge and into Steve Jobs' black-turtleneck-clad arms.
Vode the phone
Not to be outdone by Apple's big push into the mobile world, global wireless carrier Vodafone (NYSE:VOD) followed with its own answer to the iPhone experience, its MusicStation service. The music and media offering will compete with iTunes, charging $4 a week for unlimited music downloads. To go with it, Vodafone announced a slew of new third-generation (3G) phones from the likes of Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.
Burst your berry?
This week also saw an old face reappear -- Blackberry-stalker NTP, the patent holding company that licensed its wireless email patents to Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) for a cool $612 million. This time, the company is demanding compensation from the top U.S. wireless carriers -- AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA. Next, I'm sure, NTP will sue whales for sending signals to other whales wirelessly.
To ban or not to ban?
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) got a much-needed moral boost in its long-running patent infringement battle with Broadcom, after a Federal Court judge allowed several carriers and manufacturers to usurp the ban granted by the International Trade Commission (ITC), and import phones and other gadgets carrying Qualcomm's chips. Alas, the only chips Qualcomm can import itself are those of the crispy potato variety.
Lucent lowers
The week took a turn south, however, when the once-mighty, now-struggling Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) lowered guidance once again. It will now likely turn in flat revenue and no profits for 2007. CEO Pat Russo vowed "to accelerate the execution of its current restructuring program." Uh ... when she says "execution," why do I envision AlcaLu employees lined up at the guillotine?
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