Headlines – Page 199
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People
Engin Aksoy takes Vodafone Turkey top spot
Former Turkey Consumer CEO replaces promoted Froment-Curtil. Vodafone Turkey has third CEO in less than a year.
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Consumer (B2C)
Movistar steps up smart-home drive
Longstanding partner and stakeholder CaixaBank namechecked as partner on TV-based payment solution. Group’s smart-home play given potential leg up by pandemic, with expanded Living Apps catalogue.
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Interview
Deutsche Telekom backs GSMA scheme to sort network security headaches
DT CSO Thomas Tschersich is a leading proponent of GSMA and 3GPP scheme. NESAS aims for more secure mobile networks and efficient security testing. Geopolitical climate heightens awareness about the security assurance scheme, and DT exec insists it could be an apolitical solution to concerns.
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People
Vodafone UK CIO Brocklesby to depart
Chris Brocklesby to exit OpCo as of March. “External opportunity” comes calling. News comes a week after CEO Nick Jeffery bade farewell.
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Consumer (B2C)
Allera makes mark with BT Consumer “turnaround job”
Latest Business Briefing sees Allera stamp his style on Consumer division, striving to bring a premium sheen to a venerable brand. Multi-play out of fashion and cross-selling in as BT and EE set to play to strengths. New marketing chief Thrane buying in to Group transformation philosophy.
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Partnerships & Alliances
T-Mobile CZ makes convergence push with CETIN tie-up
NatCo ramps up FTTH rollout with infrastructure-build tie-up. Another convergence add-on for mobile-centric operator.
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People
Vodafone UK’s Jeffery jumps ship, and may not be last
Group loses another exec from layer below CEO Read’s increasingly thin top leadership. Home-market custodian and Read contemporary Nick Jeffery likely to have seen development opportunities limited in tightly-controlled upper echelons. Resultant vacancies in Group Operations and Strategy briefs pose a challenge in terms of introducing new voices.
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People
Openreach seeks people power to fuel full-fibre
BT infrastructure division announces 5,300 new jobs for 2021, although 2,800 of them will be created within subcontractors. Capacity needed to increase weekly rate of full-fibre premises passed from 40,000 to 50,000.
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Network & Infrastructure
Höttges in town as Cosmote switches on 5G
Greek operator launches the country’s first commercial 5G network in partnership with Ericsson. Höttges points to future investment, with Greece of “strategic importance” as a tech hub.
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Venturing & Investments
Tech Ventures looks to unlock Alias Robotics’ full potential
Alias becomes tenth addition to new investment vehicle’s portfolio. EC-backed robot “antivirus” solution to be put on show at Bavarian cybersecurity lab. Importance of cybersecurity solutions for autonomous robots illustrated.
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Suppliers & SCM
Deutsche Telekom plans early-2021 IoT Hub launch
Open IoT Hub platform architecture is ready for lift-off in Q1 2021. Launch marks new phase in DT IoT growth strategy. DT IoT wants to work with more ecosystem partners in IoT Hub.
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Network & Infrastructure
Greek 5G auction exceeds targets, builds innovation kitty
Vodafone Greece leads the pack in terms of spend. Portion of proceeds earmarked for state-backed startup investment beginning in 2021.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BT to head trials at Reading’s Arrow Drone Zone
Group targeting commercialisation of drone flights using country’s “first commercial drone corridor”. Funding delivered through four-year government initiative, but securing safety assurances for BVLOS flights first port of call. Potential benefits to healthcare vertical highlighted.
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Partnerships & Alliances
T-Mobile MONEY partner banks contract extension
White label banking provider BankMobile flags the success of its T-Mobile partnership as a contract extension is signed and Sprint customers added. Vendor aims to add another “large” partner due in 2021.
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M&A
Liberty homes in on Telefónica units in Colombia and Ecuador
Reports suggest that Liberty Latin America is stepping up its acquisition strategy, and could enable Telefónica to tick two more boxes on its regional divestment list.
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M&A
Vivo shares Oi’s spectrum spoils
In administration operator Oi takes another step towards recovery with divestment of asset trifecta. Mobile assets won by three-strong consortium of Claro, TIM Brasil, and Vivo. Vivo adds to spectrum capacity as well as new customers, while TIM still takes the lion’s share.
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Public Affairs
eir’s fury over BT’s NI PSSN contract award reignited
BT hit with substantial fine for misinformation that may have affected the outcome of a £40m government contract. Irish operator “considering our options” on prized PSSN contract, although Ofcom found no deliberate breaches.
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People
Colao dismisses Ferrari driving seat rumours
Unexpected departure of Ferrari’s CEO sets the rumour mill in motion, with former Vodafone boss Colao mooted as one potential successor. Reports said to be baseless by source close to Colao.
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone Germany CEO Ametsreiter on 5G ramp-up mission
Vodafone Germany ups 5G coverage targets but still lags Telekom. Draft IT Security Act 2.0 under fire from former Head of Cybersecurity at the Ministry of the Interior.
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M&A
BT retreats in Italy as court date looms
TIM snaffles SME and public sector accounts business, but BT maintaining a presence for large enterprises as well as multinationals. Taint of accounting scandal lingers, with former Global executives set for trial in 2021.