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.

Australia’s auction of spectrum for use with 4G services has raised a total of A$2 billion ($2.01 billion) for government coffers, according to a statement from the country’s telecoms regulator.

Announcing the results, the Australian Communications and Media Authority revealed that incumbent operator Telstra (Melbourne, Australia) had spent the most on frequencies, coughing up more than A$1.3 billion for 40MHz of 700MHz spectrum and 80MHz in the 2.5GHz band.

SoftBank Corp President Masayoshi Son may get a frosty reception when he comes to the United States this week to meet Sprint Nextel Corp's major shareholders, as he tries to drum up support for the Japanese company's proposed takeover of the No. 3 U.S. wireless service provider.

T-Mobile Austria claimed partial victory on Monday in its legal battle against the allocation of radio frequencies resulting from rival Hutchison Whampoa's takeover of Orange Austria.

The Deutsche Telekom (Bonn, Germany) unit said in a blog entry on its website that an administrative court in Vienna had referred the case to the European Court of Justice.

T-Mobile said this confirmed its view that it had suffered a decisive competitive disadvantage by the spectrum allocation, which it says gives its rivals a major head start in building next-generation networks.

Ericsson expects cut-throat competition between telecoms equipment makers as China prepares to spend billions of dollars on high-speed networks, punishing margins at a time when profitability is already under pressure.

A decade-long price war launched by Chinese vendors Huawei (Shenzhen, China) and ZTE (Shenzhen, China) has already forced suppliers like Nortel and Motorola out of the market while smaller players like Alcatel-Lucent (Paris, France) are mired in losses.

Chinese telecom operators will start awarding contracts for super-fast mobile networks this year, kicking off the third wave of a global investment cycle that is reshaping the competitive landscape among telecom equipment makers.

China, the world's biggest mobile market with 1.1 billion subscribers, is likely to further alter the picture at the expense of European suppliers by giving a huge boost to Huawei (Shenzhen, China) and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE (Shenzhen, China).

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.

MetroPCS shareholders have given their blessing to the proposed merger of the operator with T-Mobile USA, removing the final obstacle to the deal, which is now expected to close by May 1.

According to a statement from T-Mobile USA (Bellevue, WA, USA) owner Deutsche Telekom (Bonn, Germany), a majority of MetroPCS (Richardson, TX, USA) shareholders voted in favor of the merger on Wednesday.

Investment company Crest Financial has once again lashed out at Sprint’s proposed takeover of Clearwire, urging Clearwire’s management to shun the “coercive” terms.

Crest (Cerritos, CA, USA) owns a 5.1% stake in Clearwire (Bellevue, WA, USA) and claims to be the largest shareholder that is unaligned with Sprint.

The company is vehemently opposed to the deal, which would see Sprint (Overland Park, KS, USA) acquire full control of Clearwire, and last month hired proxy-solicitation firm D.F. King & Co. (New York City, NY, USA) to help it fight the planned takeover.

France Telecom is focusing on new superfast mobile services to repair the damage done by a costly price war in its home market, which has eroded its market share and profitability.

Europe's fourth-biggest telecom operator posted a 4 percent drop in first-quarter sales on Wednesday due to mobile price cuts in France, weak corporate demand, and regulatory changes.

Operating cash flow fell 12.9 percent to 1.98 billion euros ($2.58 billion), showing how the operator's home market had become less profitable after the launch of low-cost rival Iliad (Paris, France).