International cable TV, broadband and telephone business Liberty Global is acquiring Virgin Media in the UK. Virgin Media itself was created from a merger, when NTL and Telewest joined with Virgin Mobile in 2006.

The new combined business will reach 47 million homes, covering 25 million people across 14 countries.

We start this week's podcast by talking about the launch of BlackBerry 10 before moving on to discuss a 4G promise from Three UK.

The numerical theme continues with the Microsoft 4Afrika project, a handful of quarterly results and some investment news. Plus there’s worrying new malware and a curious Apple trademark application.

Amazon.com is launching its own virtual currency in May, although at the moment it’s only being offered to Kindle Fire owners in the USA. It’ll be possible to use the ‘Amazon Coins’ currency for buying applications, games, and in-app items on Kindle Fire tablets.

Although full details haven’t been announced, Amazon says it will be giving customers millions of dollars’ worth of Amazon Coins to use in the Amazon Appstore.

Computer business and former smartphone manufacturer Dell Inc. is being bought back by the company founder in partnership with an investment firm. Michael Dell, who’s currently CEO of the business, is working with Silver Lake to turn the business into a private company.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and also involves a formal process in which the board of directors looks for alternative offers.

Microsoft has launched a new project designed to improve Africa’s global competitiveness. It’s called the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative and will see Microsoft encouraging smartphone adoption, helping businesses get online and introducing more technology skills to the workplace.

The first step is a new smartphone called the Huawei 4Afrika.