Telefonica has teamed up with PC maker Dell to provide a ‘pay-as-you-go’ mobile broadband service for laptop and tablet computers equipped with M2M SIMs.

Under the Dell (Round Rock, TX, USA) NetReady service, consumers in Europe will be able to use 3G services on various Windows 7 and Windows 8 devices through an on-demand service.

The companies say the offer is aimed at companies that want to provide their employees with “fast and reliable connectivity, anytime and anywhere, paying only for what they need”.

M2M specialist Telit says one of its new modules has won the approval of Sprint for use on the operator’s US cellular network.

Telit (London, UK) says the new CE910-DUAL cellular M2M module is ideal for embedded applications requiring easy integration, but also suited to platforms based on Windows and Linux operating systems.

The manufacturer reckons it is particularly appropriate for applications such as vending, tracking, smart metering and telematics.

Strong demand for mobile broadband equipment in Latin America will keep Ericsson's plant in Brazil at full capacity this year, says a senior executive at the telecom equipment manufacturer.

Mobile phone operators in Brazil are scrambling to improve their networks after heavy scrutiny from regulators because of poor service and a lack of investment in mobile infrastructure in recent years. The problems came despite a ballooning client base in Latin America's biggest economy.

AT&T Inc reported a net loss of cellphone subscribers in the first quarter as it lost market share to bigger rival Verizon Wireless, sending its shares down about 2 percent.

As a result AT&T's revenue missed Wall Street expectations as its subscriber growth was driven by tablet computer users who pay lower monthly fees than phone users.

Banking on the enduring popularity of 2G networks for M2M services, third-placed US mobile operator Sprint says it is extending its partnership with Swiss-based module provider u-blox as it looks to capitalize on rivals’ plans to migrate all traffic to newer 3G and 4G networks over the next few years.

The operator says the u-blox (Thalwil, Switzerland) agreement will allow business customers concerned about the continuing availability of GSM-based 2G networks to extend the product lifetime of their existing 2G M2M devices by migrating to Sprint’s CDMA network.

China Mobile has reported net profit of RMB27.88 billion ($4.5 billion) for the first three months of 2013, just 0.3% higher than in the same quarter of 2012, as efforts to increase the usage of smartphone data services ate into its revenues.

The rate of growth is the lowest that China Mobile (Beijing, China) has reported in three quarters and came despite a 5.7% increase in quarterly revenues, to RMB134.7 billion.

Turk Telekom has reported a fall in profitability for the first quarter of 2013, with rising interconnection and personnel expenses eating into its revenues.

The Turkish incumbent reported a 12.9% fall in operating profit, to TRY1.15 billion ($643 million), compared with the same period last year, and a 31.8% drop in net profit, to TRY526 million, which it blamed on foreign-exchange losses.

The bottom-line setback came despite a 6.2% increase in revenues, to TRY3.14 billion, thanks to the continued growth of the operator’s mobile and broadband businesses.

Westbase Technology and CradlePoint say they have launched a new M2M router in Europe designed for critical enterprise applications that require round-the-clock connectivity.

Manufactured by CradlePoint (Boise, ID, USA), the new router works on HSPA+ and LTE networks and is intended for use in a range of vertical sectors, including energy, retail, finance, security and transport.

Telecom New Zealand (TNZ) has said it will launch 4G services in October in the city of Auckland and extend the technology to Wellington and Christchurch by Christmas.

Next year, the incumbent operator plans to have the service up and running across about half of its smartphone network.

The access infrastructure is to be rolled out by Chinese equipment maker Huawei, while Cisco will build the core network.

Module maker Sierra Wireless has launched a new 3G wireless gateway designed to support M2M services across a range of industrial, enterprise and transportation applications.

The AirLink LS300 is billed as a successor to the company’s AirLink Raven gateways, which Sierra Wireless (Richmond, Canada) says have been successfully used in a wide variety of M2M deployments.

These range from monitoring soil conditions in vineyards or vibrations in historic buildings to delivering messages to roadside traffic signs or photos from red light cameras, according to Sierra Wireless.