Latest Virgin Media O2 Insight
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M&A
BT, Sky urge CMA to block Vodafone-Three merger
BT and Sky make last-ditch arguments to prevent the merger of Vodafone and Three that would combine the UK’s third and fourth mobile operators.
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Financial & Performance
CityFibre on the hunt for more cash to fund capital-intensive fibre rollout
UK altnet’s debt and equity funding due to dry up next year, but talks ongoing with prospective investors for new cash.
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Financial & Performance
Tesco–VM O2 MVNO cracks £1bn sales nut
Tesco Mobile reaches ten-digit revenue milestone for the first time, as premium handset and postpaid sales continue to grow, though profitability proving more challenging in UK’s cutthroat MVNO market…
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Network & Infrastructure
EE goes live with London small cells on Freshwave infra
Infrastructure as a service provider Freshwave said EE has 25 outdoor small cell sites in the City of London and “dozens” more in the pipeline after unique project expands from trial phase to commercial service.
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People
Telefónica Peoplewatch: SVP departs to explore tech advisory, VM O2 commercial rejig
25+ senior and strategic changes at Telefónica, including: VM O2 chief Lutz Schüler taking leave of absence; Group tech innovation SVP departed to explore tech advisory roles; and VM O2 switching up commercial leadership…
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M&A
Vodafone–Three offers new remedies to get UK deal done
Vodafone UK and Three UK have made retail and wholesale price pledges to win merger approval, even though they disagree with the Competition & Markets Authority’s initial findings.
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: Gigaclear eyes more funding, SatCos look to partners, DT fuels infra beefs
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including potential funding gap at Gigaclear; Intelsat links with Vodafone; new leadership at Freedom Fibre; Ofcom calls in OTS reinforcements, and plenty more…
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People
VM O2 chief Lutz Schüler takes leave of absence
CEO gets ‘positive’ prognosis, steps back to allow for surgery recovery. CFO takes helm on interim basis. Log in to read more…
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Public Affairs
Deep dive: What UK FibreCos want from Labour gov’t
Fibre builders share what they want from the new Labour government, with policy consistency and demand-side support topping wishlists, divergence on the detail. Read more…
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Weekly Briefings
Telefónicawatch Weekly: Group applauds Draghi’s call for telco deregulation
Operator agrees with recent EU competitiveness policy proposals, although industry bodies not so keen on recommendations. Telefónica España faces down competition in its home market, while continuing to reinforce wholesale segment. Elsewhere, Virgin Media O2 defends fibre strategy against CityFibre broadsides. Read more…
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: £12bn boost for UK data centres; TowerCo investment reservations
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including: UK tops G7 in digital index, with AWS and DC01UK planning local DC splurge; TowerCo concerns on EU investment; 5G agricultural use cases; people movesl; and plenty more…
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Products & Services
In depth: One Touch Switching launch day
UK’s ‘imperfect’ fixed broadband migration hub debuts to mixed altnet reviews, and incumbent ISP win-back loophole only spotted on launch day. OTS broadly seen by many challengers as open season on majors with poor customer satisfaction, mixed with fears of race to bottom and weakness on multi-play (Sky and VM O2 are both bullish, too). Register to read…
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M&A
Virgin Media O2 set to sell another chunk of Cornerstone — report
Operator to shed another 8% of tower JV with GLIL Infrastructure and Vantage, bringing total shareholding down to just above 25%.
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M&A
Regulator still dubious on Vodafone–Three merger; wants further compromise
Proposed merger of two underpowered MNOs found to have negative ramifications for UK competitive landscape, but the antitrust body offers road to approval via series of behavioural and structural ‘remedies’.
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Eventwatch
Virgin Media O2 and CityFibre question each other’s fibre maths
Connected Britain: VM O2 CEO Lutz Schüler argues operator is taking “challenger” approach in UK’s fibre market, with nexfibre spin-off and upcoming NetCo positioning operator to be a “long-term sustainable partner” to altnets.
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People
BT Peoplewatch: Wholesale in transition as Business evolves
20+ senior and strategic changes at BT, including: more exits from BT Wholesale; fresh engineering setup at Openreach; architecture leadership moves; and strategic transformation appointments at Group and Business…
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Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: 5G SA heralds AI age, Openreach sets wish list for fibre future
Latest from BT and ecosystem, including: standalone 5G launches at last, coupled with new in-home Wi-Fi 7 offerings and AI services, bringing anticipation of convergence change and ARPU growth; Mexico’s Slim adds more BT shares to holding; Openreach lays out TAR desires (much to rivals’ chagrin)…
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People
UK altnet Quickline onboards telco veterans to guide Project Gigabit build
Fibre builder changes C-suite roster to help it reach target 450,000 full-fibre connections by 2027.
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Network & Infrastructure
EE preps for AI future with 5G SA and Wi-Fi 7 upgrades
EE says launch of 5G SA in 15 UK cities, coupled with new Wi-Fi 7 routers, show how operator is preparing for a surge in AI usage and bringing its fixed and mobile networks closer together.
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Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: Fibrus and Quickline charge on; data centre investment enthusiasm; BDUK investment pros and cons
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including datacentre developments draw in cash, Ofcom mulls new code powers for operators great and small, value of regional subsidy plans pondered, and plenty more…