In a Finnish 4G frequency auction, Sonera was awarded frequencies with which it can build a next generation ‘super-fast mobile broadband network’ in Finland.

Teliasonera has informed that the company will start building the network immediately, and aims to open the network for the first pilot customer during the first quarter of 2010.

The company also informed that the frequencies now received will enable Sonera to build a mobile network that is expected to be more than 10 times faster than current networks.

The licence is valid for 20 years. The price for five 2 x 5 MHz frequency band pairs in the 2.6 GHz band is E819,000, the company added.

Ericsson has informed that it will provide Al-Madar Al-Jadid, a mobile operator in Libya, with a convergent charging and billing solution that will enable its mobile subscribers to enjoy benefits such as flexible tariffs and full control of costs, bonuses and rewards. Ericsson will also supply related systems integration services.

Through this convergent charging and billing solution, the operator hopes to offer services across all end-user segments, something that was reportedly not possible with previous billing systems.

The solution provides a single revenue management solution for all subscribers and services and includes key features such as discount and promotion handling, real-time rating, segmentation, pricing and promotions, Ericsson said.

For consumers and business users, convergent charging and billing provides full control over all communications costs as users have one point of contact and a single invoice for all their services and gives users access to the services they want independent of their subscription type, as well as the ability to pay however they choose. End users can also be kept fully update on their bundled minutes, bonuses and rewards.

Ericsson also informed that this will be a one-year contract and Al-Madar Al-Jadid is expected to launch the new services next year.

China Mobile has selected Azalea Networks, a provider of wireless network equipment and technology, to install a wireless LAN (local area network) in major metropolitan areas throughout China. Azalea’s access points will be part of a network to provide broadband Wi-fi services.

Azalea informed that its technology will provide a large part of the networks deployed throughout eight cities in China, all predominantly served by China Mobile.

The Azalea products used in the network include a new MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) 802.11n claiming to offer “unprecedented transmission speeds”. The new Azalea 802.11n product will be available next quarter, the company added.

Zayo Bandwidth, a provider of bandwidth infrastructure solutions for carrier, enterprise and government customers, will deploy TDM and Ethernet services to an additional 300 wireless tower sites in the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas of Pennsylvania in support of the current mobile platform and the upcoming transition to 4th generation technologies.

The deployment is aimed at enabling the delivery of high-speed, LTE wireless network services, and also expanding existing network capacity and bandwidth to accommodate new mobile services and applications, the company said.

ITC DeltaCom, a provider of integrated communications services to customers in the southeastern United States, has named Mike DeGraw as Senior Vice President of Wholesale Sales.

DeGraw was previously president and co-owner of Huntington Telecom, an international wholesale voice operator.

DeGraw brings over seventeen years of sales strategy, business development and corporate leadership experience in the telecommunications industry.

DeltaCom has a fibre optic network, and offers a suite of voice and data communications services, including local, long distance, broadband data, internet connectivity, wireless voice and data services, and customer premise equipment.

Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone for customers in France.

The smartphone provides mobile access to e-mail, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS) and social networking sites (including Facebook® and MySpace) and features a tactile full-Azerty keyboard for comfortable typing. It also features multimedia capabilities and access to music, games and other mobile apps for entertainment on the go.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is a quad band phone, and is also Wi-fi-enabled.

Cable&Wireless Worldwide and Research In Motion (RIM) have announced the availability of the BlackBerry solution to Cable&Wireless customers in the UK.

The BlackBerry solution brings together smartphones, software and services to allow Cable&Wireless customers in the UK wireless access to e-mail, phone, messaging, social networking, calendar, web, multimedia and other business and lifestyle applications.

RIM informed that customers can take advantage of Cable&Wireless’ FMC proposition when using a BlackBerry smartphone. This allows mobile services to be delivered over a fixed IP network – converging fixed and mobile services onto a single wireless device.

At launch Cable&Wireless will offer the BlackBerry Bold 9000, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphones.

As part of the FMC offering, Cable&Wireless customers will need to deploy the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which integrates with IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise and provides encryption and IT policy controls.

Ericsson’s Executive Vice President Bert Nordberg has been appointed President of Sony Ericsson as of 15 October 2009. He will join Sony Ericsson on 1 September 2009, to take on the position as Co-President.

Bert Nordberg is presently also head of Ericsson Silicon Valley. He will leave his positions in Ericsson when he joins Sony Ericsson.

Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation, will take on the role as Chairman of Sony Ericsson on 15 October while Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson will remain in the board of Sony Ericsson.

Carl-Henric Svanberg is currently Chairman of Sony Ericsson.

Alcatel-Lucent and Bharti Airtel have announced the appointment of Arnaud Soubelet as the CEO of their joint venture Alcatel-Lucent Network Management Services India (ALNMSI).

The joint venture will manage Bharti Airtel’s pan India wireline broadband and telephone services. It will also support their transition to next generation networks (NGN) to offer advanced services like high-speed internet, triple play, media-rich value-added services, MPLS, virtual private networks (VPN) for both retail and business customers of Airtel.

The new entity which began pan India operations on 1 August with 4,000 employees, is headquartered in NCR (National Capital Region).

Arnaud Soubelet began his career with Alcatel-Lucent in 1988. Over the last 20 years, he has held several key assignments in France, Latin America, Greece, Egypt and India across sales, enterprises and managed services. Arnaud holds post graduate degrees in business administration and business law from the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Nevion, a media transport solution provider for broadcasters, telecommunications service providers and government entities, has added Xavier Gentric to a senior sales role in western Europe.

Based in France, Gentric will manage Nevion’s growth in the region, providing strategic sales and management of key customer relationships.

Gentric brings project management and technical experience, including 13 years in digital television and wireless communications know-how.

At TandbergTV UK, he handled MPEG compression and VOD sales to national cable operators and telecommunications providers. Prior positions included a senior role at Thales Broadcast and Multimedia, where he managed a sales team and provided business development functions across national television networks.