Mobile operator strategies - 27/05/06

China Mobile is given as the buyer of Millicom International, in spite of the company denying any deal. The South China Morning Post said, however, that the two companies are talking for several months. If realized, the deal will emphasize the position of big Chinese operators on the international market and specially in Europe and Africa.

Sprint Nextel should be in talks with various companies, including Sling Media, to expand mobile entertainment offerings and would consider producing mobile video content.

Microsoft targets to move into the mobile marketing space. With the potential acquisition of Third Screen Media, a specialist in presenting ads to wireless Web users. The deal follows the acquisition last week of Massive, which places advertisements and other marketing messages inside video games.

Hutchison Telecom is partnering with Hanoi Telecom (Vietnam) to set up a 3G CDMA2000 network in Vietnam. The HT investment is worth $655m over 15 years.

Yahoo announced new products for mobility. It has extended its photo-sharing application to mobile phones, and upgraded its mobile e-mail service with a new user interface and text-message alerts for new e-mails.

Vodafone completes Telsim (Turkey) acquisition.

France Telecom joins China's TD-SCDMA 3G standard alliance, making it the first foreign telecoms operator to join the group. FT does not reject the possibility of deploying TD-SCDMA in the future.

Telefonica denied its intent to sell its 50% stake in Vivo (Brazil). Vivo is co-owned with Portugal Telecom.