All Greg Mesch articles
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M&A
CityFibre ignites M&A plan with Lit Fibre buy
Altnet lights M&A touchpaper with Lit Fibre deal, expands FTTP footprint and brings in Newlight Partners as minority investor. More to come from CityFibre soon…
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: end of the road for Digital 9, OneWeb’s space odyssey troubles continue
Digital 9 decides to wind down; OneWeb misses ‘global’ coverage targets; CityFibre aiming to get more active on M&A; more…
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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: strategic swaps in the boardroom, rigorous defence in the courtroom
Latest around BT and its ecosystem as the Group goes to court to defend against overcharging class action; Deutsche Telekom goes strategic with latest BT board rep; and BT lays out a spectrum policy wish list; and more…
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Financial & Performance
Is CityFibre now #1 UK fibre altnet by revenue, take-up?
With take-up doubling, revenue exploding, build on target and positive EBITDA imminent, NetCo boasts 50+ ISP retail partners are selling two- or even three-times’ as many CityFibre connections than sourced from Openreach. Appears Community Fibre and Hyperoptic overtaken, M&A next up…
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Interview
CEO Interview: CityFibre on M&A watch, competition bottlenecks, BT economic rationale questioned
‘BT’ called out for obstinate, irrational, anti-competitive behaviour that penalises own shareholders — needs to prioritise copper shutdown to deliver fibre payback, and start serving consumers outside Openreach footprint. Also CityFibre’s M&A tracking/ranking and NetCo purism, big-3 ISP lockout, regulator told to keep sharp, and more…
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Strategy & Change
BT quashes talk of Openreach split
Connected Britain 2023: Howard Watson and Clive Selley say structural separation is not on the agenda; BT focused squarely on driving full-fibre deployment.
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Premium
CityFibre: Openreach strategy puts UK foreign investment at risk
CityFibre execs in Manchester and Madrid warn Ofcom that Openreach’s Equinox 2 pricing model jeopardises success story of foreign direct investment in UK infra.
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Premium
UK M&A on cards as Telefónica steps up fibre challenge
nexfibre rumoured to be on the M&A path in bid to challenge incumbency, secure UK fibre market share.
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M&A
Liberty CEO ‘in M&A talks with CityFibre’
Not a done deal. Discussions are preliminary and large-scale consolidation in UK altnet market likely to attract sharp scrutiny from regulators.
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Premium
nexfibre is Openreach’s “real” competitor, says co-owner InfraVia
JV’s co-owner InfraVia sees resource platform, Virgin Media O2 ties, and unmet demand as giving new entrant opportunity to build major challenge in UK’s fibre space.
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Premium
UK altnet Trooli hires restructuring guru as sale talk resurfaces
Kent-based fibre challenger adds former EY Restructuring Partner David Duggins to Board as talk of an equity sale resurfaces.
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Premium
Vodafone faces up to Openreach wholesale pricing
Openreach submits new Equinox 2 pricing model for regulatory review ahead of April launch.
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Premium
VM O2 criticises new Openreach wholesale pricing
Virgin Media O2 CEO Lutz Schüler among those to call out new Equinox 2 proposition.
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Network & Infrastructure
Mesch: fibre facing its ‘dotcom bubble’ moment
CityFibre CEO anticipates a period of rationalisation that will see the unprepared go to the wall, but a stronger altnet sector emerge.
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Network & Infrastructure
How CityFibre rolls with supply chain turbulence
Fibre builders not immune from global supply chain chaos. UK altnets feeling the pinch in chip and labour shortages, alongside rising costs. CityFibre supply chain director shares mitigation tactics.
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Public Affairs
Altnets gird for legal battle over Openreach FTTP pricing — report
CityFibre said to be heading up legal challenge to Ofcom’s Equinox decision. Rural fibre builder Gigaclear among altnets joining forces to fight back against Openreach’s lower FTTP pricing structure.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Openreach: outage disrupts ISP sales
Systems outage disrupts ISP sales functions; Openreach pilots Dutch Witch drills; new engineer training centre opens in Wales.
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Public Affairs
Openreach gets Ofcom green light for new FTTP pricing
Cheaper “Equinox” wholesale pricing offer to start on 1 October. Ofcom confirms no action needed on Openreach offer. Fibre altnets strongly opposed and considering next steps.
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Premium
CityFibre bags fresh cash injection
Openreach challenger announces fresh funds through stake sale and bond issue. Capital “enables” Project Gigabit ambitions. CityFibre’s FTTP rollout reaches 650,000 premises. Altnet momentum builds with an estimated £8bn in investment publicly promised.