Associates & JVs – Page 13
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India 5G auction delayed as Vi showcases prospects
5G-friendly spectrum auction pushed back amid pricing and structure consultations. Vi CEO Takkar outlines ambition to be Digital India frontrunner as government lays out digitalisation ambition. Several pilot projects showcased with partners including Athonet, L&T, and local startups. Ericsson picks up P1; Nokia trailing.
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Vodafone H1 FY21–22 spend: capex boost falls silent, opex squeeze paused
Presentation sees no further update on (somewhat contentious) Group plans for a capex lift to fuel digital services growth. Executives moot another exceptional investment boost in Germany, for fibre rollout. Group Finance’s headline opex reduction programme comes to a temporary halt, amid pandemic effects.
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Q2 FY21–22 Headlines: Vodafone growth maintained despite B2B, Spain bumps
Group benefits as COVID-19 drag steadily eases. On positive side, forward movement maintained in Germany and UK, and picture improves in super-competitive Italy. Blotches include an apparent step back in growth at Vodafone Business, despite its star billing, and a return to reverse gear in perennially challenging Spain.
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Vodafone people moves: enterprise executives reshuffled
Several senior swaps at Vodafone Business, including a new Chief Marketing Officer and a handful of leadership changes at key verticals. TPG Telecom announces next CFO to fill vacant seat, and new CISO added. Vodafone Spain rejigs senior executives, splits Technology function.
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Vodafone New Zealand said to initiate tower spinout
Former Vodafone OpCo’s parents reported to have hired advisors to guide them through separation and monetisation. Move comes with regional tower market heating up. Both Spark and Vodafone NZ moot interest in infra-sharing.
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Financial & Performance
Vodafone: DT and Orange are ‘credible’ tower merger partners
Read confirms either of Vodafone’s big European rivals could end up being an ally as noise continues to increase around an “industrial merger” for Group’s Vantage Towers business.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vantage states ‘clear interest’ in Cornerstone buyout
Vodafone’s European TowerCo eyes opportunities in Netherlands and UK as partners Liberty and Telefónica look to cash in on wireless infrastructure assets. Strategic tie-up between Vantage and another MNO TowerCo also remains a possibility.
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M&A
INWIT continues to fill M&A kitty
Growing Italian TowerCo building up a €1bn platform for deal-making at end of its latest strategic cycle, in FY23. Expansion plans could give co-parent Vodafone another runner in European TowerCo race, beyond main vehicle Vantage Towers.
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M&A
Vodacom expands into Egypt with Vodafone stake switch
Vodafone to increase its stake in Vodacom to more than 65% following the transaction. Internal deal follows STC’s failed mission to buy Vodafone Egypt during 2020.
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Venturing & Investments
Vi can live long and prosper, insists CEO
Takkar welcomes government four-year moratorium on AGR dues and spectrum fees. Confident that relief package paves way for private investment. Vodafone rules out (again) cash injection into JV. Floor pricing issue still to be resolved.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Europe: VfD’s joy over Telekom Deutschland fibre ruling
VfD gets one up on rival Telekom Deutschland over FTTP; VfUK flags progress in trials with Ericsson on reducing massive MIMO energy consumption.
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Venturing & Investments
Elsewhere in Vodafone Associates & JVs: TPG launches smart farming trial
INWIT banks EIB backing; TPG launches government-funded smart farming trial; Vantage shakes CRA hand for Czech IoT expansion.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Partner Markets: Proximus launches regional fibre JV
Developments from around Vodafone’s soft-power network: Get-go for Proximus’s regional fibre JV; MTS firms up tower spin out ambitions; NZ operator parts company with Vodafone Group’s Tobi.
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M&A
Vodacom aims for 100m fintech users on road to sale
CEO Shameel Joosub sets sights on nine-figure base to win better bargaining position with potential buyers and partners. Vodacom taking control of fintech offerings in Ghana and Egypt, to fuel expansion.
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M&A
Liberty CEO: call me, Nick, if you want to sell VodafoneZiggo
Mike Fries says Liberty “open-minded” on possibility of transaction with co-parent Vodafone. Management of Dutch JV conducting “strategic review” around issues including infrastructure and content ownership.
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M&A
Vodafone’s nudge technique gets STC ‘back to table’
Regional media reports indicate that Saudi Telecom Company is seeking to revive a buyout of the Group’s Egyptian business, after failure of 2020 deal. Move follows Vodafone’s exploration of an internal switch of Egyptian OpCo.
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Vodafone Group’s Dutch and British tower partners look to cash in
Liberty CFO says group “not in love with” tower ownership and keen to unlock value in Belgium, Netherlands, and UK. Telefónica hands Goldman Sachs reins to examine prospective Cornerstone share sale.
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Vodafone Q1 FY21-22 Headlines: pandemic snags unwind, gradually
Group bounces out of pandemic slump, helped by lapping and increased business confidence. Cautious CEO warns of further “bumps in the road”. In Spain, another large-scale downsizing move made under cover of Digital Telco transformation, and as fodder for Group’s centralisation-led efficiency plans.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Europe: partnerships secured to showcase 5G
Vodafone OpCos secure partnerships to showcase 5G use-cases in Germany, Greece, and Italy.