Group
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Strategy & ChangeVodafone’s hardball negotiator displays softer side
VPC’s Wilson says hard-wired, monolithic vendor deals stifling telcos and moving towards collaborative partnerships. Spend mix change seen as in post. Accenture held up as key strategic ally and early adopter of new model. Reality-check acknowledged: old school procurement seen as problem rather solution.
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M&A
Vodafone interest AST SpaceMobile completes merger
LEO satellite venture combines with special purpose acquisition company to fuel expansion, with eyes on going commercial with a helping hand from Vodafone. “ ASTS ” trading on NASDAQ. CEO Avellan unfazed by competition from SpaceX and co.
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M&A
Vodafone’s Icelandic affiliate divests Hey
Sýn sells minority stake in Faroese sister company. Icelandic operator seeking cost efficiencies (in more ways than one). Partner Market relationship remains active in service and tech development.
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Products & Services
Vodafone Business gets industrious with IoT solution development
Enterprise division targets IoT solutions growth in 2025 plan. Ambition is to build €1bn end-to-end IoT solution portfolio in next five years. Düsseldorf playing key role in product ramp‑up. Mobile private networks are emerging growth opportunity.
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Public Affairs
EC quietly drops Ziggo Sport probe
Antitrust investigation that sparked EC’s 2018 office raid closed down, with little revealed regarding what was behind it.
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M&A
Vantage Towers buys out partner in Greek TowerCo
Vodafone TowerCo signals its independence with first acquisition since its IPO in Frankfurt . Vodafone Greece and Wind Hellas to remain anchor tenants of Greek TowerCo. Rival OTE bides its time.
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Strategy & Change
Vodafone Business sharpens focus on SMEs
Vodafone Business unveils 2025 growth plan with pivot to SMEs. Partnerships with likes of Accenture seen as essential for expanding SME services. Group consolidation card played again: services to be created once centrally, and deployed locally in matrix organisation.
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Vendor Voice
Teradata: telco leaders must step up to seize data opportunity
Breaking down silos to seamlessly orchestrate data can deliver a virtuous circle of customer improvement and operational efficiency, presenting a springboard for a strategic reboot. In adopting tech sector business models, telcos have yet to fully grasp the value of their data assets, with coordination acting as a ...
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone boosts takings from Partner Markets allies
Soft-power federation increases contribution to the Group, amid footprint expansion. Relationship formed upon exit from New Zealand appears one significant driver. Africa and Americas gaps cloud Vodafone’s ‘global’ credentials.
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Network & Infrastructure
SIRO nudges up premises passed, but still some way off target
Vodafone’s fibre JV in Ireland added 61,000 premises in 2020, taking total up to 360,000. A 450,000 target, slated for 2018, now not expected to be reached until H2 2022. CEO Keaney looks to EU recovery fund to help drive digital Ireland.
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Products & Services
Vodafone remote access re-platforming delivers flexibility-on-demand
Supporting 100,000+ primarily Europe desktop and application users. Microsoft and Nutanix facilitate GDC’s “ journey to hybrid cloud scenario ”. Pandemic pressure-tests wisdom and capability of 2019 refit.
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Network & Infrastructure
Liberty: VodafoneZiggo tower sale is ‘work-in-progress’
CEO Mike Fries sees Dutch joint venture’s assets as undervalued. Partner appears aligned with Vodafone’s eagerness to extract cash from site networks across Europe. Broader discussions over VodafoneZiggo collaboration may be tied in with tower question.
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Network & Infrastructure
INWIT CEO laments 5G fake news, Italy’s stringent EMF rules
Giovanni Ferigo reiterates importance of “ educational initiatives ” to combat 5G health misinformation. CEO urges Italian government to relax EMF limits.
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Financial & Performance
Q3 FY20–21: Top team turn bullish as growth returns, just
Nick Read and Margherita Della Valle claim Group set for acceleration after sneaking back into growth territory during quarter. European macro and M A questions continue to overhang claims of confidence in regional prospects, however. Amid continued talk of yet more in‑country consolidation, “ pragmatic ” Vodafone ...
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Suppliers & SCM
Hot property Sitetracker expands ties with Vodafone
Group buying and property units join forces to form new collaboration with project management software supplier. Sitetracker builds on collaboration with Tomorrow Street, securing tie-up with latter’s parent VPC.
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Strategy & Change
Elsewhere in Vodafone Partner Markets: A1 stable; NZ changes abound
Developments from around Vodafone’s soft-power network: results stability for A1; Elisa works Vodafone Business ties for SD‑WAN delivery; changes afoot for Vodafone New Zealand.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone tests 100G PON waters with Nokia
Experimental PON tech developed by Nokia Bell Labs gets runout at Vodafone’s Competence Centre in Eschborn, Germany. Enables speeds of up to 100Gbps on a single wavelength using a combination of 25G optics and “ advanced ” DSP techniques. Nokia envisages commercial availability in “ second half ...
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Innovation (R&D)
Vodafone ups the ante on drone innovation
Dutch, German, and UK trials flag recent progress in autonomous and unmanned flight. Ericsson emerges as important co‑pilot.
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Network & Infrastructure
Elsewhere in Vodafone Group: VPC targets supply chain sustainability
Telecom Italia adds weight to open RAN support scheme; VPC joins other operators in arrowing in on supplier carbon emissions.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone NZ pivots to improve post-sale performance
Former Vodafone OpCo jumps on CX/digital transformation train in a big way, in bid to raise profitability. Quadruple IT stack legacy of time in Vodafone Group one area of inefficiency to be removed. Two of top team shuffled out amid commercial reset, including long-time Vodafone exec Antony ...
