Cisco, Tandberg deal approved

Cisco Systems cleared the final major hurdle in its bid to acquire rival Tandberg when regulators in both the US and Europe approved the deal, reports eWeek.

The concerns raised by the US Department of Justice and the European Commission - the antitrust arm of the European Union - centred on issues of the impact the $3.4 billion deal would have on the competitive landscape and interoperability between Cisco video collaboration products and those of rivals.

Cisco officials expect the deal to close in the next few weeks.

Verizon Communications is nearly finished building its US Fios fibre-to-the-home network, says CNET News.

The company, which began building its all-fibre network nearly six years ago, is quickly approaching its goal of passing 18 million homes in about 70% of its original customer footprint by the end of this year.

Verizon took a bold risk when it decided to build the Fios fibre network. Its telecommunications counterpart SBC Communications, which is now AT&T, decided to invest substantially less capital to extend fibre to the node or to the neighbourhood.

Swedish telecoms equipment group Ericsson has inked deals with China Mobile and China Unicom worth a combined $1.8 billion, states BBC.

Ericsson will provide China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile operator, with equipment to boost the capacity of its mobile network. It will supply its rival, China Unicom, with a faster 3G network.

China is the world's biggest mobile phone market with more than 700 million mobile users.