Webwire: Fresh Orange, DT mergers due; Facebook plays down phone talk

The finance chief of EverythingEverywhere, Orange and Deutsche Telekom’s UK joint venture, has sparked speculation the firms are on the verge of extending the model into more European markets.
 
Mark Zuckerberg focused on Facebook’s positioning as a core handset function, rather than talk of own-brand terminals at the Mobile World Congress.
 
Google is undercutting Apple’s newspaper and magazine service by taking only 10% of fees charged compared to its rival’s 30%
 
ZTE will make a play for Nortel's 4G wireless IP in am upcoming patent auction, in a move that will likely pit the vendor against its archrival, Huawei.
 
China Telecom staff claim to have hacked a Verizon Wireless CDMA iPhone to allow it to use the operator's network. While the company says the actions are not official, insiders say a universal solution is in development.
 
Motorola Mobility plans to turn its attention to Europe once more, after years of scaled-back activities in the region due to financial troubles. The vendor’s European market share has fallen to just 0.7%.
 
Security researchers have discovered a fresh Trojan hidden in pirated apps available on Chinese third party markets, which hijacks a victim's phone to stealthily perpetrate search-related click fraud.
 
Anil Ambani, the Indian billionaire who controls Reliance Communications, has been questioned by federal authorities as part of a probe into a national 2G spectrum scandal.
 
Crown Fibre Holdings has selected a new company for priority negotiations for participation in New Zealand's Ultrafast Broadband rollout. Incumbent Telecom NZ now faces three rival bids for the project.