AT&T hopes to avoid penalties

The international ICT market was very quiet last week, especially as Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in the US. The main news focused on AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, and if it doesn't happen, there will be a $4 billion penalty to be paid.

At home, the poor interim results from Telkom and various statements made regarding potential acquisitions was the main local story.

Q3 shipments of smartphones in China surpassed those in the US for the first time.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Mediocre interim numbers from Telkom, with revenue down 3.1% and profit down 78.4%.
* A positive trading update from Ideco Group, although a loss is still predicted.
* The suspension of the trading of Paracon shares on the JSE.
* Incubeta Holdings, a South African Internet company, acquired Interface Holdings, a South African online media company, for R100 million.
* PBT bought AIB Asset Management Holdings, an Irish financial institution.
* The Department of Communications has withdrawn the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill.
* Robert Emslie was appointed chairman of Silverbridge Holdings.
* Andile Sangqu resigned as chairman of Silverbridge Holdings.

* Plans of a new submarine cable (Wasace) were announced, which will connect Africa - including South Africa - with South America, North America and Europe.
* Agnes Gathaiya was named as SAP's head of public sector for the East Africa region.

* Shanda Interactive was bought by its CEO, Tianqiao Chen, for $2.3 billion.
* Wyse Technology acquired Trellia, a content management player.
* Nokia is to de-list from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
* Seagate Technology has won a $525 million arbitration decision against Western Digital.
* Good quarterly numbers from Alibaba.com and QAD.
* Mediocre quarterly results from Analog Devices.
* Mixed quarterly figures from MTS (Russia), with revenue up but profit down.
* Very poor quarterly figures from HP.
* Quarterly losses from Brocade Communications Systems and Nuance Communications.
* A planned IPO from Hong Kong's PCCW.

* International:
* A potential IPO in India by Vodafone.

* South Africa:
* Developments regarding ConvergeNet and the potential lawsuit to remove senior executives from its board.
* Further developments regarding the unbundling of the 'local loop'.
* Telkom's targets regarding potential acquisitions in the IT services space.

* Q3 shipments of smartphones in China surpassed those in the US for the first time, according to Digital Trends.

* JSE All share index: Down 2.2%
* Nasdaq: Down 5.1%
* Top SA share movements: African Cellular Towers (+25%), CompuClearing (+6.9%), Huge Group (-26.5%), Ideco (-20%), Ifca Technologies (+12.5%), Jasco (-7%) and TeleMasters (+7.1%)

Total Telecom recently published its latest 'Global 100' listing of the top telecommunications operators. The overall ranking table showed AT&T, NTT, Verizon Communications, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, China Mobile, Vodafone, France Tel, Am'erica M'ovil and KDDI occupying the top 10 positions. MTN came in at number 22 and Telkom SA at number 64. From a net income viewpoint, MTN came in at 17 and Telkom SA at 69.

The biggest movers were AIS at 73 (previously unranked); CANTV at 82, down from 59; CenturyLink at 49, up from 65; Frontier at 70, up from 92; Idea Cellular at 80, (previously unranked); Leap Wireless at 87 (previously unranked); LG Telecom at 47, up from 67; Maxis Group at 84 (previously unranked); NET Servicos (previously unranked); Polkomtel at 88 (previously unranked); NII Holdings at 59 (previously unranked); Qatar Telecom at 45 (previously unranked); TDC at 63, down from 50; Turkcell at 57, up from 68; and Zain at 61, down from 47.