EMEA Telco Leaders – Page 179
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Strategy & Change
Telefónica cools on Spanish fibre sale (for now)
Vilá says domestic retail and wholesale FTTP operations “probably not reflected” in Group valuation. Repeats company line that Spanish fibre infrastructure is “strategic asset”, but doesn’t rule out monetisation in the future.
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Public Affairs
Phones 4u saga continues with ‘burner’ phone allegation
Former Orange exec Benoit Scheen attempted to arrange untraceable call to collude with Vodafone, according to High Court claim. Illicit text messages uncovered as part of evidence discovery.
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Financial & Performance
Telefónica passes €1bn in shape shifting Tech push
Telefónica Tech division hitting €1bn in annualised revenue flagged as a highlight in Group’s Q3 results presentation. Growth business’s expansion still being significantly driven by M&A, obscuring ‘organic’ progress. Operator maintains rebound from pandemic with growth in earnings and revenue, and confirmation of guidance.
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Strategy & Change
Vodafone Technology embeds ‘build over buy’ mentality
Vodafone Global Digital Engineering head Ahmed El Sayed updates on Netcracker-backed transformation pilot in Hungary. Software engineering “the future” for Vodafone, as Group looks internally for revamped tech stack under ‘build not buy’ vision.
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Network & Infrastructure
Colloms: DCMS must “crack on” with reform to back fibre
Openreach MD of Corporate Affairs confident on business’s ability to meet government goals on fibre deployment, but commercial programme will need support to maintain momentum. Physical access to sites potentially a huge obstacle to the rollout in both urban and rural areas, but “common sense” updates to legislation could ...
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Suppliers & SCM
Vodafone Supplier Awards 2021: winners
Winners announced across nine categories for the second – and, COVID-permitting, final – digital edition. Ciena headlines as ‘Supplier of the Year’, doubles up with ‘Outstanding Technology Performance’. Ericsson and Huawei return to form after absence in 2020.
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Enterprise (B2B)
O2 Germany pinches Lebara from DT
Telekom Deutschland’s long-standing deal with ‘ethnic’ MVNO comes to an end. Deal expected to commence in mid-2022 and take full effect during 2023.
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Suppliers & SCM
Safaricom in talks with Kenya Power to install smart grid
Build, operate, and transfer deal reportedly under discussion.
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Network & Infrastructure
DT backed Gaia-X project rocked by report of infighting
Politico report says project has lost focus. Some sources cite active role played by Microsoft. Research data shows continuing dominance of US cloud providers in Europe.
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Network & Infrastructure
BT says 5G-VINNI paves way for E2E network slicing
Muschamp hails EU-funded project a success in laying groundwork to support “end-to-end” 5G network slicing across multiple sites and different vendors’ equipment. By exposing inadequacies of current industry standards, claims Muschamp, industry better placed to develop a standardised approach and avoid margin-squeezing headache of bespoke deployments. BT expects to ...
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Premium
Nokia boasts optical potential for Vodafone Turkey
Vodafone Turkey’s network tuned to post 1Tbps speeds and demonstrate option for future scaling. 5G network expansion said to be a likely use-case.
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Financial & Performance
Tesco Mobile results: JV shines positive light on challenging period
Mixed bag for joint venture throughout UK lockdowns. “Highly competitive” twelve months sees operating profit rise 20%.
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Strategy & Change
TMF’s Willetts: maintaining vendor status quo “dangerous”
Speaking to TelcoTitans, Nik Willetts, CEO of industry body TM Forum, outlined his perceptions of the state of digital transformation in the telecoms sector. Procurement-led vendor management needs to evolve towards partnership for digital acceleration. Hyperscalers can remain more friend than foe as operators seek new ways to differentiate ...
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Premium
Elsewhere in Deutsche Telekom Europe: Cosmote’s FTTP update
Cosmote provides FTTP rollout update and flags new 5G R&D programme; Macedonian NatCo implementing smart city services in Skopje.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Systems Solutions: OVHcloud’s IPO
IPO to fuel Europe’s “cloud champion”; T-Sys’s Spanish unit reveals new HQ; sustainability concerns presented as commercial opportunity.
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Financial & Performance
BT highlights cost-cutting progress as Drahi waits in wings
Group confirms it has achieved its headline £1bn savings target well ahead of original March 2023 deadline. Announcement is an attempt to display strengths ahead of this week’s Q2 results and in the face of potential Altice takeover bid before the end of the year.
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Public Affairs
Vodafone Pass reviewed following EU judgement
ECJ goes further than expected by consumer group. VfD may be forced to provide the same terms and conditions through EU. Other European OpCos could be affected.
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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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Premium
Safaricom to debut 5G in 2022
Kenyan operator extending 5G trials to “additional towns”; commercial launch slated for 2022. Operator looking to further boost mobile data revenue. Rival Airtel on 5G scene too.
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People
BT’s new function to commercialise network assets
Recently-formed BT Networks seeks new revenue streams, with initiative led by finance and procurement veteran Paul Crouch. One of many efforts to identify commercial opportunities from existing assets and infrastructure as competition hots up.