China finally issues 3G licenses

In today's podcast: China finally issues 3G licenses; Lenovo lays off 2,500 workers; and Microsoft to release Windows 7 public beta.

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China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology finally granted 3G licenses to the country's mobile operators on Wednesday, bringing to a close years of waiting and delay. There were no surprises contained in the MIIT announcement that three licenses were issued for 3G services. As expected, the country's largest mobile operator, China Mobile Communications, received a license to operate services using TD-SCDMA, a standard that's unique to China and largely unproven. TD-SCDMA has been a focal point of Chinese telecommunications research and development, and 3G licenses were pushed back repeatedly in recent years as companies scrambled to get the technology ready for commercial deployment.

Amid growing fears that many countries face a long and painful economic recession, Lenovo plans to lay off 2,500 workers, cut the salaries of its executives and restructure its Asian operations in an attempt to weather the downturn. The layoffs, described as part of a "resource redeployment plan," represent 11 percent of Lenovo's global workforce, and the employees will be let go during the first quarter of 2009, the company said. It did not say where the layoffs will take place or whether they would be spread evenly across all of the regions where the company operates. Lenovo will also cut the pay of managers by 30 percent to 50 percent, including bonuses, and wants to rein in spending on expenses and other functions, such as human resources, finance and marketing,.

Microsoft will release a public beta this week of its next desktop operating system, Windows 7, hoping it will address the problems that have made Windows Vista perhaps the least popular OS in its history. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer launched the beta during his speech at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. It's Ballmer's first year giving the opening address, traditionally handled by former CEO Bill Gates. His blustery style is likely to contrast sharply with Gates' meek and thoughtful demeanor in years past.

Despite expecting to meet revenue estimates for its fourth quarter, EMC said on Wednesday that it is instituting a restructuring program that includes laying off 2,400 people. The restructuring is aimed at streamlining costs associated with EMC's Information Infrastructure business and will not affect VMware, EMC's virtualization subsidiary. The 2,400 people represent about 7 percent of the Information Infrastructure business. The announcement came as EMC reported that it expects fourth-quarter 2008 revenue to reach US$4 billion, up 4 percent over the same quarter in the previous year.

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.