Africa – Page 17
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodacom pins 5G hopes on Nokia
South African Group reiterates multi-vendor strategy even as it extends Nokia alliance. Long-awaited 4G and 5G spectrum auction process now underway.
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Network & Infrastructure
Telkom calls for Rain-check on Vodacom spectrum tie-up
Complaint to South African Competition Tribunal calls time on spectrum-sharing agreement. Claims competition is at risk, ahead of upcoming spectrum auctions. Vodacom adamant that deals are “pro-competitive”.
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Elsewhere in Vodafone Africa: Safaricom shareholder base sees changes
Big boys making their presence felt in Safaricom’s owner family; Loon nearing Mozambique launch.
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Vodafone people moves: Petty on diversification board; new CFO in Ireland
Sir Ian Livingston drafts Scott Petty alongside fellow telco leaders for infrastructure policy changes. Sales changes in Spain. Evin named CFO in Ireland, while two former Group CFOs take new posts elsewhere.
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Public Affairs
Vodacom fights Lesotho decision to revoke license
Urgent interdict sought over license revocation and “staggering” fine. Insisting still business-as-usual for customers. Lesotho crisis adds to troubling incidents across Vodacom Group.
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Airtel–Telkom merger falls through
Let-off for Safaricom as its two major mobile competitors remain marooned in sub-scale no-mans-land.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone Group open gateway trials move into commercial phase
Vodacom South Africa tests used Edgecore-based DCSG product running Infinera software. Vodafone’s Rossi highlights move to create a “diverse supply chain”.
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Vodafone people moves: cyber security swaps in central Europe
Changes rung in Group and OpCo enterprise arms. Czech, German, and Tanzanian OpCos name new cyber security heads. Another telco exec leaves for pastures new at AWS. Former Vodafone Transformation lead Finch takes Three UK CIO gig.
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M&A
Vodacom in talks to buy SA fibre networks — report
Potential acquisition of Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa would meet Vodacom need for fibre network assets.
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Public Affairs
Vodacom’s Congo CFO gets out of jail
Chutoo endures four-day stint behind bars. CFO reportedly quizzed on allegations of “forgery” and “falsification of financial statements”; but no formal charges. Vodacom DRC expresses surprise.
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Elsewhere in Africa: Vodacom ties with Cloudflare and Appsflyer
AppsFlyer and Cloudflare gain foothold within Vodacom ecosystem.
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Vodafone people moves: Morathi named Vodacom CFO
German CIO Spenlé confirms his departure, swapped with Irnich. Brázdilová steps up to take senior role in Czechia and UK telco regular McWeeney takes on “dream” Vodafone role. Vantage Towers fills out its roster. Vodacom names its new CFO after top-level reshuffle.
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Network & Infrastructure
Safaricom to put network disaggregation into the wild
Kenyan operator to expand Vodafone’s Africa test-ground for open solutions. Project gearing is more towards core and backhaul than RAN. Scale and efficiency gains highlighted.
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Vodafone Q1 FY20–21 headline performance: Germany and the rest
COVID-19 blow cushioned: strength in Germany and Portugal, with mixed performances elsewhere. Currency weakness turning Read’s focus on Africa sour.
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Safaricom puts Aviat and Nokia to work on 5G prep
Kenyan operator taps old friend Aviat Networks for 5G backhaul as the country preps for commercial 5G rollout. Nokia’s Gigabit Passive Optical Networking will be deployed to combat increased bandwidth demands in the country.
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Accra fibre build begins
Vodafone Ghana CEO Obo-Nai launches Accra phase of copper-to-fibre upgrade project, but laments theft and vandalism setbacks.
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Public Affairs
Vodafone: Elsewhere in Africa
Ghana High Court authorises operators to share subscriber data with government for coronavirus contact tracing, and Vodacom Tanzania extends M-PESA’s reach with the launch of International Money Transfer.
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Products & Services
Vodafone to smarten up Paddington
Recent Vodacom acquisition IoT.nxt flags incoming Vodafone HQ smart-tech install.
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Vodafone people moves: Business refresh and a new VCS CEO
VfI Chief Business Officer rotates; GCR SVP Eliza Kwok returns. Vodafone Business freshens its Asia Pacific leadership and new Heads across European entities. Vodafone’s old faces get new spots at NGMN, Sky Deutschland, and MTN.
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Products & Services
Vodacom tags Alipay to launch digital services “super app”
Partnering a world-leader may be indicative of ambitions for mobile payments, and maybe also e-commerce. Early stage African venture for Alipay, but strategic investor Alibaba has been spinning up regional strategy for several years. Where do M-PESA and Safaricom fit?