It was the week that saw another death sentence for telecom-related bribery, job cuts for RIM and ministerial concerns over India’s hypercompetitive mobile sector.

 

Zhang Chunjiang – former China Mobile deputy GM and former CEO of China Netcom – was sentenced to death after being found guilty of taking 7.46 million yuan (€811,573) in bribes during his tenure at the operator.

 

The sentence has been suspended for two years, and could be reduced to life imprisonment with good behavior. Zhang is the second former China Mobile exec to get a death sentence for bribery following Shi Wanzhong last month.

 

Struggling smartphone vendor RIM revealed plans to slash around 2,000 jobs – roughly 10.5% of its workforce. RIM already cut 200 jobs in June, after a 10% slump in first-quarter profit. Financial analysts remained unimpressed, telling Reuters the cuts will do little to improve RIM's competitive position and that changes will need to be made at the top level to make a difference.

 

In other news for the week, India’s telecoms minister voiced concerns that the country’s hypercompetitive mobile sector was getting out of hand.

 

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal told the Economic Times that Indian mobile operators are “at war,” and “trying to destroy each other”, and that the industry risks destroying itself if it continues its intense rivalry.

 

In related news, Tata Teleservices reportedly plans to restructure itself by combining Tata Indicom with Tata DoCoMo, which is likely to result in the sacking of around 15% of its staff (mainly from Indicom).

 

Australian telecom regulator ACMA said it wants to prevent operators from misusing the term “cap” in advertising.