Europe
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Hungary’s 4iG is latest telco entrant into European arms race
Hungarian telecoms and tech player set to take a 75% stake in military-focused holding business, dubbed N7 Defence, becoming the latest telco to target growth from increased security spending.
-
Premium
OTE sees light at end of Romanian escape tunnel
Greek operator says it could be a “couple of months” away from completing a deal to offload Telekom Romania Mobile after a four-year effort to offload the business.
-
Technology
T-Mobile Czech Republic finishes billing upgrade with Amdocs
Operator has completed the upgrade of its billing and charging systems without disrupting customer services, and claims the upgrade will enable it to execute “faster, more agile, and reliable service delivery”.
-
Marketing
OTE dons parent’s T in brand switch-up
With adoption of ‘Cosmote Telekom’ as new commercial marque, outlying NatCo finds compromise with parent Deutsche Telekom that preserves local brand equity while unlocking more efficiencies from being part of DT family.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Hrvatski Telekom bags rural fibre funding
Operator gets fresh backing for one-year fibre expansion project in rural parts of the country, contributing to government rollout targets through the national ONP scheme.
-
Consumer (B2C)
Magyar Telekom, 4iG backtrack on price hikes amid state pressure
As Hungarian government puts the squeeze on national telcos in bid to control inflation, Magyar Telekom and 4iG agree to freeze prices until mid-2026, ostensibly after the national election.
-
Financial & Performance
DT quietly loosens purse strings in Europe, despite qualms
FY24: Buoyed by competitive wins and progress on cost extraction, DT’s leadership has freed managers to up spend in Europe this year and next.
-
Network & Infrastructure
T-Mobile tops spending in Poland’s latest airwave sell-off
Polish operator boosts its 4G/5G platform by snapping up two of seven frequency blocks.
-
Network & Infrastructure
DT to debut direct-to-device service this year
Group plans release of D2D offering in Europe after expanding satellite comms relationship with US provider Skylo Technologies.
-
Network & Infrastructure
DT’s wireless infra masterplan progresses in Greece
Greek incumbent OTE flags board approval for creation of new TowerCo, following review.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Greece’s OTE deploys fixed wireless to stem rural churn to Starlink et al
Incumbent positions recently launched FWA service as a handy retention and acquisition tool to patch up its presence in areas not yet in reach of its fibre infra.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Magyar Telekom moves ahead with tower carve-out
Deutsche Telekom’s Hungarian NatCo is taking next steps to separate its tower assets into a subsidiary and could complete the split by the end of 2025, if all goes to plan.
-
Suppliers & SCM
Crnogorski Telekom re-hires Amdocs on revenue tool update
Montenegrin telco to replace and upgrade CRM and billing systems from a previous tie-up with Amdocs.
-
M&A
4iG’s Vodafone buy under fire amid political scrutiny of state role
Hungarian opposition Socialist Party accuses Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government of negligent mismanagement of public funds during the acquisition of Vodafone Hungary by 4iG and state-owned holding company Cornivus.
-
Operations
Magyar Telekom boosts DT’s European IT stack meld
Operator highlights completion of CRM switch as part of ongoing regional platform consolidation effort at parent Deutsche Telekom.
-
Enterprise (B2B)
Canny T-Mobile Poland whole-buys its way to ten million premises footprint
T-Mobile Poland activates broadband services on Vectra Group network, taking its premises reach into eight figure territory.
-
Public Affairs
European Commission raises ‘serious doubts’ as Hungary plots wholesale broadband changes
Brussels raises “serious doubts” about the legality of Hungary’s plans to regulate wholesale broadband access, leaving telcos in limbo.
-
Financial & Performance
In-depth: DT’s show of strength creates analyst anxiety
Q3 FY24: DT continues to leave European rivals behind with strong growth throughout P&L and across geographies, creating apparent signs of concern among sector stakeholders.
-
Network & Infrastructure
OTE boss reassures over fibre build after slowdown
About 100,000 Greek homes are lopped off incumbent’s 2024 fibre build out plan, after marked slowdown in rollout pace this year.
-
Public Affairs
Greek incumbent ‘not happy’ over utility rival’s fibre power trip
OTE Group wants Greek telecoms watchdog to intervene to ensure a level playing field between it and utility PPC, as latter prepares a wide-scale (and less regulation-encumbered) fibre roll out programme.