Webwire: Ireland drafts 4G auction terms; Softbank sells Yahoo stake

Ireland drafts 4G auction terms

Irish regulator ComReg has set the draft terms for a 4G spectrum auction, proposing to license 28 blocks of paired 5-MHz spectrum for the period between 2013 and 2030.

Silicon Republic

Softbank to sell most of Yahoo stake

Japan's Softbank will offload the bulk of its 4% stake in Yahoo to help pay down debt. The sale will not affect Softbank's 40% stake in Yahoo Japan.

Agence France-Presse

Sina's Weibu pressed to crack down on “rumors”

Chinese microblogging site Weibu has closed the accounts of two users who had posted two allegedly false rumors, including one about the murder of a young woman, after the government pressured parent company Sina to help enforce censorship or risk losing its right to operate.

Associated Press

Trai asks telcos to justify tariff rises

Indian regulator Trai has asked mobile operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Tata DoCoMo to justify recent tariff increases. But there is a question as to whether Trai can do much to intervene in pricing.

The Hindu Business Line

MS teases upcoming quad-core tablet

Microsoft has teased a quad-core tablet at a New Zealand tech conference. There is speculation that the device will be officially unveiled next month, and will use the upcoming Windows 8 OS.

Tom's Hardware

JailBreakMe creator accepts job at Apple

The 19 year old developer of iPhone jailbreaking web app JailBreakMe has announced he has accepted an internship at Apple.

Ars Technica

FCC resumes AT&T/T-Mobile deal review

The US FCC has resumed its review into AT&T's planned $12.5 billion acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA, after AT&T submitted new arguments in favor of the merger.

Reuters

BT hikes landline prices again

BT plans to raise its UK landline calling prices by up to 5%, in its second price hike this year and third since July last year - but has now promised to freeze the rates until 2013.

Telegraph