Africa & Middle East
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Weekly BriefingsVodafonewatch Briefing: four years in, Ethiopian experiment continues its charge
Latest from Vodafone as Safaricom Ethiopia turns four and passes ten million customers; VodafoneThree confirms spectrum handover to rival; European satcomms JV picks Luxembourg for HQ; group prepares for new neighbours at Newbury home…
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Network & InfrastructureMTN cuts the ribbon on new Nigerian data centre
African and Middle Eastern telco opens the doors to its second Tier III data centre in Lagos, with plans in place for expansion going forward…
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Weekly BriefingsEMEA Infrawatch Briefing: AI factories in the pipeline; sovereign satellite race rolls on
Latest in EMEA digital infra: AST SpaceMobile, Eutelsat progress European sovereign satellite plans; Spain becomes latest EU country to submit AI Gigafactory bid; Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries updates on infra rejigs…
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Weekly BriefingsBTwatch Briefing: state-backed infra advances with varying success
Latest developments from BT, including: varying pace of public-backed projects ESN, Project Gigabit, R100, and SRN; buying chief Cyril Pourrat on AI momentum; RCS innovation with Brand Assure; Middle Eastern DHL deal; more…
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Financial & PerformanceSafaricom Ethiopia ticks past 10m customers as startup operator marches towards scale
Greenfield operator moves past a customer base milestone four years after receiving a licence to operate in the country.
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Network & InfrastructureVodafone Turkey CEO open to role in potential Turksat fixed spin-out
Engin Aksoy, Vodafone Turkey CEO, said the OpCo would “consider” getting involved in a process to separate cable assets from state-owned satellite operator in latest call for a shake-up in the country’s fibre market.
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Weekly BriefingsVodafonewatch Weekly: risks and rewards of AI at scale
Latest from Vodafone as group technology and data chiefs discuss progress, risk, and potential of AI at scale; leadership change in Luxembourg; critical comms deal with Airbus; and more….
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PeopleOrange Egypt crowns enterprise chief as new CEO
Egyptian operator appoints Hesham Mahran as CEO from 1 August, replacing long-time leader Yasser Shaker, who is moving to head up Orange’s Middle East and Africa division.
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Network & InfrastructureAirbus looks to MNOs, SatCos for added mission critical comms resilience
CCW 2025: after Airbus and Vodafone collaborate on mission critical comms in Europe, Airbus programme lead Thibaut Faivre talks future MNO partnerships in MEA, expanding the defence giant’s public safety footprint, and the role of SatCos in secure communications.
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Network & InfrastructurePragmatic Orange picks its way towards ‘high-value’ network autonomy
DTW Ignite 25: Sofrecom’s Roberto Kung highlights the need to assess the business case and ROI before investing in increased autonomy, noting that “we don’t want to be Level 4 everywhere”.
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PeopleVodafone Peoplewatch: El Sayed takes global IT post; VodafoneThree changes emerge
30+ senior and strategic movers across Vodafone, including Ahmed Elsayed’s new Africa- and Europe-wide technology role; top leadership appointments at the combined VodafoneThree; newcomers from rivals in Germany; former CEOs Aldo Biso and Hannes Ametsreiters make moves…
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Weekly BriefingsVodafonewatch Weekly: CEO Della Valle’s slow-cooker recipe
Latest from Vodafone and its global interests, including a deep dive into the group’s FY24–25 results. CEO Margherita Della Valle continues to talk a big game, but questions remain about the overall strategy; VodafoneThree emerges as new scaled UK mobile giant; Safaricom tees up in-market M&A; Vodacom rejigs executive structure; Vodafone Germany hits new lows…
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Network & InfrastructureOrange, Vodafone switch on 5G in Egypt
Telcos go live with first 5G services in the country, after Egypt’s four operators finalised new spectrum licences last year. Vodafone Egypt CEO Mohamed Abdallah says switch-on aligns with Egypt’s Vision 2030 strategic goals…
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Weekly BriefingsOrangewatch Briefing: execs bang M&A drum; high hopes on IPCEI and AI
In this issue, we report on presentations by Orange’s leadership at the AGM, with Group CEO Christel Heydemann and new Orange France CEO Jérôme Hénique taking the floor.
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Financial & PerformanceVodafone FY24–25 in-depth: another challenging year en route to German revival
CEO Margherita Della Valle emphasises the various ‘transitions’ Vodafone has navigated over the past two years, putting mixed financials in perspective…
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PeopleVodacom hands Egypt CEO a remit to scale African portfolio, drive strategy
Vodafone Egypt CEO Mohamed Abdallah adds International Markets to his remit in a move intended to ‘unify’ cross-border operations.
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Venturing & InvestmentsSafaricom preps $500m investment into African ‘AI infra’
Kenyan operator commits to three-year development of AI infrastructure in East Africa, seeking to tap into rising demand for ‘sovereign’ services…
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Strategy & ChangeHénique signs off from Orange MEA on a high note
France-bound Jérôme Hénique discusses the challenges of managing Orange’s sprawling Middle East & Africa business, and asserts the importance of a division that has contributed significantly to Orange’s results in recent times, delivering double‑digit revenue growth for eight consecutive quarters.
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Weekly BriefingsEMEA Infrawatch Briefing: tower sell-offs, DC deployments, orbital experiments
Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano says the TowerCo is one step closer to selling its Swiss business and French data centre assets. Meanwhile, IHS Towers forks off Rwandan unit to newly formed tower player. In the space sector, several players look to get D2D services off the ground, while others tinker with new space comms solutions.
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Partnerships & AlliancesIHS Towers seeks military help to tackle infra vandalism in Nigeria
London-based wireless infra operator forms “strategic partnership” with Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, aiming to help overcome problem of vandalism and theft of assets.