All articles by Joe Purnell – Page 3
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M&AVodacom chief dismisses prospect of Vodafone Egypt takeover
Shameel Joosub says no plans to replicate Vodacom’s recent move on Kenya’s Safaricom to take full control of star performance Vodafone Egypt, but suggests an interest should co-owner Telecom Egypt shift its stance.
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Financial & PerformanceUK’s CityFibre reaches for £900m war chest for renewed M&A
UK fibre altnet said to secure further investor backing in bid to retain largest challenger status ahead of nexfibre–Netomnia and put it back in the consolidation game, taking further funding firmed up since 2025 to £3.2bn, and eight million-premises footprint still the target.
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Network & InfraItalian towers industry ‘stalled’ as INWIT–MNO contract dispute rumbles on
INWIT chief Diego Galli delivers a stark warning on the future of Italy’s telecoms infra market, arguing that contract disputes with key tenants and uncertainty over spectrum renewal are freezing investment at a critical moment for national connectivity.
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Network & InfraOfcom wields TAR in move to block Openreach fibre discounts
For the first time, the regulator intends to direct Openreach to withdraw proposed new fibre customer pricing, citing an ‘unfair’ and ‘aggressive’ approach from the incumbent. Ofcom puts the Telecoms Access Review into action, altnets welcome the move, and Openreach accuses the regulator of protecting rivals’ “poor business models”. Final decision pending…
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Financial & PerformanceVodafone Business quietly enters Group’s ‘growth’ agenda
Q1 FY26–27: B2B improvements mean division is an increasingly important part of the turnaround story, driven by cloud, cybersec, and SaaS, underpinned by deals with digital services allies.
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Deep DiveStarter for No 10: the key digital infra demands awaiting the UK’s new Prime Minister
Deep dive: Andy Burnham built his political reputation around regional growth in Manchester. Digital infra leaders now want to know whether those principles will translate into a coherent national strategy for fibre, mobile networks, data centres, and digital infrastructure investment, as the industry enters a pivotal moment…
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Network & InfraOpenreach’s fibre roll slows to 2021 levels
Q1 FY26–27: rollout pace declines sharply as 25 million threshold nears, while customer adds ramp up to become primary Openreach preoccupation, as BT keeps post-2026 build playbook hidden…
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Analyst BriefingVodafonewatch: tower turbulence and AI acceleration
Analyst Briefing: the European towers industry watches on as Vodafone-backed INWIT battles MNO discontent in Italy; Vodafone reaps the rewards of early security and compliance grunt work as it accelerates AI adoption; satco SpaceMobile continues with familiar ups and downs; and more from Africa, Europe, elsewhere…
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Products & ServicesUK fibre: TiVo’s Freely momentum unlocks altnet multiplay
Interview: As customer retention becomes paramount, UK fibre service providers are re-evaluating the strategic value of multiplay. Several altnets are at contract stage with streaming TV platform provider TiVo as sell-out success of the Freely-enabled Aero puck helps make the case for convergence…
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InnovationRegulation drives innovation as Vodafone ‘cherry picks’ AI tools at pace
Vodafone’s Andy Linham says early regulation-driven security and compliance investment is paying dividends as the Group leans on an AI R&D framework to accelerate deployments, including the ‘least sexy, most impactful’ deployment so far…
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Financial & PerformanceEutelsat/OneWeb: UK’s £500m LEO satellite bet loses two-thirds of value in six years
As now-parent Eutelsat painfully pivots from geostationary to low Earth orbit infrastructure, the UK’s £342m loss on its controversial OneWeb rescue faces fresh scrutiny. Despite the substantial loss of value, government officials maintain that LEO commitment remains crucial to the nation.
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Public AffairsVodafone avoids court in no-admission settlement with UK franchisee claimant group
Vodafone has drawn a discreet line under a high profile dispute with dozens of UK franchise partners, reaching an out-of-court settlement that should minimise further reputational broadsides over allegations of unscrupulous pandemic-era behaviour.
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Partnerships & AlliancesBezos trumps Musk on home turf as Amazon Leo signs South African satellite deal
Amazon Leo has secured a breakthrough route into South Africa, partnering with Vodacom-linked Herotel to launch satellite broadband services while rival Starlink remains constrained by local licensing requirements.
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Public AffairsTowerco-telco tensions: Italy’s INWIT trades blows with reluctant anchor tenants
Fastweb and TIM claim early victories in the INWIT dispute as they attempt to terminate contracts, but the challenged towerco insists the core issues remain unresolved. The battle could have significant implications for tower economics, tenant relationships, and Vodafone-backed Vantage Towers.
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Analyst BriefingVodafonewatch: Xavier Niel places multibillion-pound bet on Vodafone’s transformation story
Analyst Briefing: CEO Margherita Della Valle’s two-year restructuring programme proves enough to convince Xavier Niel of Vodafone value; satco-telco standards need work; regional outposts promote AI innovation; more from across Europe and Africa…
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Network & InfraVodafone taps Nokia for AI-powered network slicing
Telco-vendor duo have combined 5G network slicing with agentic AI, showcasing the potential for enterprise-grade, mission-critical 5G SA services, and putting Vodafone Albania on the Group’s innovation map.
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Analyst BriefingBTwatch: Verizon venture and AI RoI chase
Analyst Briefing: The latest from around BT, including the answer to the Group’s long-pending international B2B question; a £130m NetOps deal in Scotland; and execs lay out the path to AI for revenue and returns, not just cost-cutting. Plus more from EE, Openreach, elsewhere…
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M&AFrom bitter critic to anchor investor: Xavier Niel replaces e& as Vodafone’s largest shareholder
In-depth: Audacious French telecoms tycoon snaps up e&’s stake in a €5bn transaction. Niel expresses confidence in strategic direction and ‘value creation potential’, just two years after expensively venting frustration at ‘mismanagement’…
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Network & InfraVodacom says more work needed on satco-telco compatibility
DTW Ignite: Jayesh Hargovan warns that while LEO satcoms is reaching maturity, integration challenges remain a major blocker to development of telco–satellite relationships, delaying time to revenue for both CSPs and satcos.
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Analyst BriefingVodafonewatch: the making of a pan-African telco giant
Analyst Briefing: Vodacom takes a majority stake in Safaricom; Vodafone and Google Cloud get ‘pragmatic’ with a network autonomy blueprint; another Tomorrow Street alumnus picks up a Vodafone commercial deal; and we record the latest senior exec changes from Germany and beyond…