All articles by Joe Purnell – Page 10
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Strategy & ChangeLiberty CEO: Vodafone stake sell-off is not a judgement on telco’s strategy
Mike Fries says decision to sell a 5% Vodafone Group stake should not be seen as a reflection of the UK operator’s strategy, but purely a rotation of Liberty capital…
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch Analyst Briefing: tracking BT’s rise
Q1 FY25–26 special: BT’s star continues to rise, with valuation now 50% higher than when CEO Allison Kirkby took over, despite a shaky start to the FY. Consumer and Business fall further back, but ol’ reliable Openreach and its trusty fibre machine is driving the Group forward…
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Financial & PerformanceQ1: BT backers rewarded as confidence remains high
Q1 FY25–26: Group share price ticks up 50% in a year, boosted by Q1 earnings, suggesting Allison Kirkby’s new manager bounce has been sustained. Whether this will continue may well depend on BT’s ability to reverse current trends, as downtrodden business and consumer units continue to fall, despite Openreach best efforts…
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Financial & PerformanceQ1 Guidance: BT unmoved by early trouble
Q1 FY25–26: Management reconfirms full-year guidance, with defiance made easier thanks to pessimistic outlook as laid out three months prior. Vague notions of ‘growth’ remain the target by the end of the decade…
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Financial & PerformanceQ1 In depth: BT boss claims ‘solid start’ despite shaky numbers
Q1 FY25–26: CEO Allison Kirkby persistent in long term strategy, but first quarter results put things in perspective. BT Business the usual headache; BT Consumer finds positives despite the headlines; and Openreach cements its reputation as a resilient source of resilient good news…
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PeoplewatchVodafone Peoplewatch: IT changes at Group, Investments, Ireland
25+ senior and strategic executives changes, including a new Group CIO (and a change in Ireland); Vodafone Investments appoints CTO as former CEO completes her exit; government affairs official behind VodafoneThree merger steps down, job done; Cindy Rose takes on WPP top-spot…
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Analyst BriefingVodafonewatch Analyst Briefing: best yet to come this year
Q1 FY25–26 special: management walks us through a broadly positive first quarter, but emphasises the latent potential for a ‘right-sized’ group that has taken ‘proactive’ steps towards a revival. German fruit soon ready for harvest, if CFO Luka Mucic is believed, with structural/strategic resets elsewhere also settling down…
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Financial & PerformanceQ1 guidance: UK on track to deliver earnings boost
Q1 FY25–26: combined VodafoneThree is performing as expected in its first few months, giving Group management confidence in FY forecasts.
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Financial & PerformanceQ1 spend: Vodafone stays the course on capex total and mix
Q1 FY25–26: market by market capital allocation untouched, and management ‘very happy’ with current setup’s capacity to leverage strengths. Asset sales in Europe has given the Vodafone ‘strategic flexibility’, which may open options for greater investment under the next CFO…
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Financial & PerformanceQ1 in-depth: Germany begins fightback
Q1 FY25–26: work to fix Vodafone Germany after years of decline is now beginning to pay off, management claims, and the OpCo is tracking to a return to growth (from a dwindling base) by year’s end. Elsewhere, Vodafone reports positive moves across the footprint put the group on course…
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Financial & PerformanceQ1: Vodafone anticipates calmer seas after tempestuous few years
Q1 FY25–26: Vodafone management makes claims of momentum building as group readies for German bounce-back, and settles into new shape and size following a series of structural resets. Proof will be in the pudding, and that will be served at the end of the FY…
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M&AVodafone and Digi’s two-way Romanian takeover nears sign-off
Major regulatory step forward as local antitrust authority clears the OTE Group asset’s sale.
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Financial & PerformanceGreen shoots now ‘tangible’ as Vodafone Germany shows signs of recovery
Q1 FY25–26: Troubled German OpCo shows early signs of recovery as promised by leadership, but still in decline and customer losses remain a headache. ‘Value over volume’ mantra has a nice ring, but when will it deliver?
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M&AVodafone open to bolt-on M&A to boost sovereign data capabilities
Group CEO Margherita Della Valle rules out major market changing moves, but opens door to acquisitive tuck-ins…
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Suppliers & SCMVodacom Tanzania swaps Nokia for Huawei in RAN overhaul
Parent Group’s CEO Shameel Joosub says “much more attractive offer” from Huawei led to initiation of a major RAN rip-and-replace project.
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch Analyst Briefing: regulatory give and take
Latest from BT as the group benefits from spectrum licence fee savings, but warns of potential competitive damage if TAR changes go through as proposed; Simon Lowth reportedly on his way out; 5G SA rollout updates…
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Analyst BriefingVodafonewatch Analyst Briefing: deals driving network, security upgrades
Latest from Vodafone, including a spectrum fee reprieve; SecOps potential with $1bn partner Google Cloud; DOCSIS development in the Netherlands; more from Turkey, Kenya, South Africa, elsewhere…
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M&AVodacom’s Maziv JV clears hurdle to create $3.4bn South African fibre giant
Four years in the making, CIVH partnership looks back on track with new commitments securing regulatory approval. Deal will cement Maziv as South African retail and wholesale fibre leader…
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PeoplewatchBT CFO Simon Lowth readies for departure — report
Succession planning underway as reports indicate Lowth will leave within a year, closing out a decade-long tenure and teeing up yet another change to Allison Kirkby’s executive leadership team…
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Network & InfraTAR 2026: altnets, Openreach rail against ‘puzzling’ regulatory misstep
In a rare show of alignment, Ofcom’s Telecoms Access Review re-zoning proposals get a sledging from altnets and the incumbent as the UK’s fibre industry unites to vent frustration at potential regulatory framework update…




















