Webwire: Telefonica's $39b in LatAm push; VNPT told to merge networks

Telefonica to spend $39b in Latin America push

Spain's Telefonica will spend up to €27 billion ($38.9 billion) on developing and expanding its operations in Latin America, including around $15 billion to be spent on Brazil alone by 2014.

Bloomberg

VNPT told to sell one or merge both networks

Vietnam's VNPT may be forced to either sell one of its two mobile network operator companies - VinaPhone and MobiFone - or merge the two into one, under a new government decree effective from June.

Vietnam Business News

Rwanda moves to liquidate Rwandatel

Rwanda's government has started liquidation proceedings against Rwandatel, which the government owns 20% of and has seized as part of UN sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi, after claiming an audit of the business revealed it is technically insolvent.

All Africa

Harbinger may pursue LightSquared IPO soon

Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners may conduct an IPO for its LightSquared satellite-LTE telecom venture as early as the northern hemisphere's summer to cash in on the risky $6 billion investment, sources claim.

Reuters

Suspects held in $37m Silicon Valley chip theft

US police have arrested five men in association with the armed robbery of an estimated $37 million worth of flash memory devices bound for Google.

Wall Street Journal

China's Zoom licenses Qualcomm CDMA chips

China's Zoom Technologies has signed a 3G patent licensing deal with Qualcomm, paving the way for Zoom's Nollec Wireless unit to develop and sell W-CDMA and TD-SCDMA phones.

Fox Business

Malaysian admits to hacking US Fed Reserve

A Malaysian man has plead guilty to charges of hacking into the US Federal Reserve's computer systems to steal financial data, and to possessing stolen credit card account numbers.

CNN

Apple could launch white iPhone 4 soon

After a 10 month delay, Apple could finally start selling a white model of the iPhone 4 sometime in the next few weeks, according to three different sources.

Bloomberg