Double Hat-Trick!

Total Telecom are delighted to welcome not one, not two, but three new partners for three of our events....

Juniper Networks join the list of sponsors of this years World Communication Awards, which will be presented at the London Hilton on the 25 November. Juniper will present the trophy to the recipient of this years Green Award.

Tellabs have joined us as the founding Event Partner for our telecom strategy club, the World Telecoms Council. The next meeting will be held in central London on the 24 & 25 November and will offer the opportunity to discuss Green & Sustainable Telecoms, Wholesale Telecoms, and Business Models with leading telecom professionals and experts including Robin Mersh, COO of the Broadband Forum.

Finally we are delighted to confirm PricewaterhouseCoopers as the Founding Partner of the NEW World Vendor Awards. Launching officially next month, the WVA will recognise excellence and innovation amongst hardware and software vendors serving the global telecom community.

For more information on any of these events, contact rob.chambers@totaltele.com.

Orange to offer iPhone in UK

Having had exclusive rights to offer Apple's iPhone in the U.K. for the past two years, O2 will soon face competition when it comes to providing the much-hyped handset.

Orange announced Monday that it too will offer the phone later this year, although it has yet to announce an official launch date or reveal pricing details.

So, getting an Orange in your stocking this Christmas could actually be a bonus!

Any more votes? Going, going, gone...

CEO of the Year:
Voting for the World Communication Awards 2009
CEO of the Year closes tomorrow, 11 September.

So far the category, sponsored by Rogers Communications has generated over 10,000 votes - and it's close!

Any more votes, get them in quick - view the shortlist here

To view the finalists of other WCA categories, or to find out more about the remaining sponsorship opportunities visit www.worldcommsawards.com

Samsung is not Apple

The dreaded 'A'-word is starting to be used as an expletive by any telco player that has watched the iPhone's meteoric rise in hardware sales and app downloads from the sidelines.

Last week Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann had to think twice before mentioning Apple's handset during a presentation at Nokia World, and now Samsung is getting in on the act.

"We're not Apple, we actually want to coexist with other players," said Yoon Lee, of Samsung's global marketing operations, during a panel session at Broadband World Forum Europe in Paris.

Lee made the comment in reference to Samsung's ongoing strategy of adopting open standards that will eventually enable devices from other hardware makers to connect to all of Samsung's products.

That's not just the company's mobile phones, either. Lee said Samsung intends to include connectivity on all of its devices including TVs, printers, Blu-ray players and cameras.

"We're helping consumers to share content through multiple devices," he said.

Just don't use the 'A'-word.

Click here to catch up with all the breaking news from Broadband World Forum Europe.

UK mobile merger imminent

Deustche Telekom and France Telecom are close to agreeing a deal to merge their U.K. operations, according to unnamed sources cited by Dow Jones Newswires this afternoon.

To further fuel the fire of speculation, France Telecom CEO failed to appear at the opening keynote of Broadband World Forum Europe in Paris on Monday, and replacement speaker Jean-Philippe Vanot, innovation and marketing head, was unable to provide a reason for his boss' absense.

Didier Lombard sends his apologies, he told a packed auditorium, before muttering something about the CEO being "otherwise engaged"...

So far so good

The online team from Total Telecom has arrived in Paris and we have a working Internet connection. Admittedly, we haven't been anywhere near CNIT, the venue for this year's Broadband World Forum Europe, yet, but nonetheless things are looking good.

There's already news in our dedicated BBWF news channel - I spoke to Ethernet over copper specialist Actelis in advance of the show - and there will be much more as the day goes on, so keep checking back.

Click here for Total Telecom's free BBWF news service.

Next stop, CNIT La Defense, where I'm due to meet LG-Nortel and sit in on the opening keynote from Orange.

Sony Ericsson lifts lid on Xperia X2

Sony Ericsson on Wednesday unveiled the second in its line of Xperia handsets, the X2, aimed at the growing 'prosumer' market.As with the X1, Sony Ericsson is powering its latest smartphone with a specially designed user interface running on Windows Mobile, which enables users to customise various screens (or panels, if you're Sony Ericsson) with their own shortcuts and applications.

Unlike its predecessor, however, the X2 will be running on the latest version of Microsoft's mobile OS - Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the first phones to feature said software will be available from 6 October, so we'll be keeping an eye out for an operator announcement over the coming weeks.

Sony Ericsson has stuck with a touchscreen interface complemented by a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and is pitching the X2 more towards the business user, rather than the segment that will only use it watch YouTube in the pub.

Unfortunately, there is someone missing from the Xperia X2: Johnny X. When the X1 came out we were treated to a diabolically cheesy, Web-based tale of a man with amnesia who relies on his rather snazzy handset to regain his memory, find his wife, and save a professional baseball player from some gangsters.

Mentioning the unmentionable

There are some words you just can't use at a Nokia event... and I'm not talking about the four-letter variety.

But after some verbal dancing, in the end Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann just couldn't help himself.

People with high-end mobile devices are now surfing the Internet as much on the mobile as they do on a fixed-line connection, Obermann told attendees at Nokia World today.

"[And I'm not just talking about] the device whose name I am not allowed to mention here!" he said, raising a titter from the audience.

"It's not just the iPhone," he clarified, just in case anyone at the Stuttgart event had been living under a rock for the past couple of years.

Nokia will struggle to avoid comparisons with Apple's world-conquering handset though. The Finnish vendor announced two new phones today, both in its Comes With Music range. And unveiling the devices, Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki deliberately compared the cost of downloading music on iTunes with Nokia's unlimited music download service. More info on those new phones on Total Telecom.

Nokia launches N97 Mini

It's still early, but Nokia has already launched a new device at this year's Nokia World.

Anssi Vanjoki, EVP markets at Nokia, has just presented the N97 Mini, a new version of the N97 designed to appeal to the social networking segment.

Vanjoki said the new slimmer, N97 Mini will appeal to young explorers and tech stylists, listing maps, games, photos, music, messaging and the Ovi Store among the features users can "mash up" on their device.

Oh, and it costs €450, but Vanjoki expects operators will subsidise it to zero in many markets.

Two new music phones from Nokia

Nokia chief exec Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has just delivered his opening keynote at this year's Nokia World event.

While the focus of his speech was squarely on the services space and Nokia's ambitions there, the Finnish vendor has not forgotten its roots and plans to unveil two new handsets later today.

"We will launch two new music-focussed devices," Kallasvuo told attendees at the event.

He added that the vendor plans to present a new version of its flagship N97 device, that will have a "broader appeal".

"The N97 is selling at a faster rate than its high-profile predecessor the N95," Kallasvuo added.