Verizon Communications has bought Vodafone's portion of the two companies' joint venture, US mobile network operator Verizon Wireless, for US$130 billion (AU$142 billion), in what is reportedly the third-largest announced corporate deal in history. [ + ]

Microsoft has announced a $7.9bn deal to buy Nokia's devices and services business and license its patents, but it may be too late to build Windows Phone into a true smartphone contender. [ + ]

Imposing an IT-driven corporate mobile device standard increases the risk of the CIO being forced into defending the decision against disgruntled end users, some of whom may have considerable influence. To avoid this, follow the four golden rules of mobility and ensure mobile device selection has business buy-in. [ + ]

A data centre can't function without experiencing some downtime. The art lies in controlling this downtime, planning it effectively into the data centre schedule. [ + ]

NBN Co deputy chair Diane Smith-Gander has resigned from the company to take up the role of chairman at Transfield Services, an NBN contractor. [ + ]

Microsoft and Google will move ahead with litigation against the US government, in order to gain permission to disclose greater detail about the customer information they are compelled to reveal to US agencies under the US's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). [ + ]

Australian tech sector remuneration grew 3.2% from June 2012 to June 2013, ahead of public sector wage increases. But this still represents a slowdown from a year earlier. [ + ]

Telstra still has a commanding lead in the business fixed internet market, but its rivals are making inroads in segments such as the professional services sector. [ + ]

A new report from NSW's ICAC details five steps to help organisations avoid the corruption that can come when dealing with external IT contractors. [ + ]

Australian paid search advertising dollars are increasingly shifting to mobile, with the segment predicted to generate $430m in 2013. [ + ]

It's commonly said in IT that security is the antithesis of innovation. Innovation creates disruption, and disruption introduces vulnerability. But is that really the case? [ + ]

Facebook granted Australian authorities access to data on at least 384 of the social network's users in the first half of 2013. [ + ]

User virtualisation solutions enable a level of mobility that wasn’t available to employees before. This, along with the ability to allow IT managers to centrally manage and set up any desktop regardless of device, platform or location, means IT teams also see huge resource benefits. [ + ]

Hybrid deployments represent the most efficient way to make use of cloud resources, according to University of Sydney researchers. [ + ]

Big data is rapidly emerging as an important resource for enhancing customer relationships. Teamed with predictive analytics tools, it can be used to improve loyalty, increase sales opportunities and boost the bottom line. [ + ]