News In Brief: Virgin, Telenor, BSkyB, MiPay, Orange

Virgin Media has slashed its European data roaming rates with new tariffs offering all-day mobile Internet access for £6 (€6.83), or mobile broadband for £10 per day for up to 10 MB. The firm’s Travel Passes are cheaper than its current data roaming price of £5 per MB used.

Serbia has issued its second landline operator license to Telenor. The operator secured the license in January after submitting the only bid. But the company has found itself deadlocked in negotiations with Telekom Srbija over network-leasing arrangements.
 
British broadcaster BSkyB has launched a Symbian application on Nokia’s Ovi Store. Sky Mobile offers news and sports headlines, football highlights and the ability to record programmes.
 
Mobile payments firm MiPay is spending £3 million (€3.4 million) rolling out new international airtime top up, and domestic and international money transfer services. The funds come from an investment round led by Octopus Ventures, and allow MiPay to move beyond its current pre-pay top-up service.
 
Orange subsidiary Orange Healthcare has entered into a JV with French public sector financing provider Dexia to develop e-health solutions within large healthcare facilities.
 
Total subscriber numbers in Taiwan will hit 28 million in 2014, up from 26 million at end 2009, IE Market Research reportedly predicts.
 
Alcatel-Lucent’s share price rose 5% yesterday, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch added the equipment supplier to its list of ‘buys’, Reuters reports. The firm is riding high on the back of a string of LTE supply deals from big names like AT&T.
 
Twitter is now delivering 50m tweets daily, up from 2.5m in early 2009, according to a company blog.
 
The US International Trade Commission it has agreed to investigate Apple’s patent infringement complaint against Nokia and Motorola’s complaint against RIM.