News In Brief: Google, Arcep, Vodafone Ireland, Facebook

First month sales of Google’s Nexus One handset totaled 80,000 units, analytics firm Flurry states. In contrast, shipments of Motorola’s Droid handset hit 525,000 in month one, almost rivaling the 600,000 achieved by Apple when it launched the iPhone in 2007.

 

France's mobile subscriber base grew by 2.8% - or 1.59 million customers - during the quarter ending in December, according to telecom regulator Arcep. The nation's penetration rate now stands at 91.2%.

 

Vodafone Ireland will spend tens of millions of euro upgrading its infrastructure to 3.5G, the company announced at an investor conference. The operator added 26,000 mobile subscribers during the December quarter.

 

Less than 8% of US pay-TV subscribers are considering abandoning their subscriptions in favor of accessing the programming online, according to Parks Associates.

 

Facebook accounts for nearly half of the time UK mobile users spend browsing online with their handsets, according to a GSMA survey.

 

Chinese authorities have arrested three hackers and closed down a hacker training site in Hubei. Assets worth 1.7 million yuan (€182,500) were frozen. The hacker gang, called Black Hawk Safety Net, reportedly had 12,000 VIP members, and 170,000 who had registered for free membership.