All articles by Neal Doran
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Finance & StrategyEutelsat sees €10bn commercial opportunity as IRIS² work begins
IRIS² construction brings Eutelsat billions in revenue but limited margin and substantial delivery risk. Management is instead focused on the next phase, with hopes of turning OneWeb into a 50%-plus-margin business.
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Public AffairsUK Budget boost for data centres, crumbs of comfort for telcos
The UK has put data centres at the heart of its AI ambitions, offering developers a route to faster grid connections in return for local responsibilities. Fibre and mobile operators were largely overlooked, but could yet benefit from the domestic investment push.
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Analyst BriefingUK Infrawatch: nexfibre ups CMA pressure, UK infra ambitions reined
Analyst Briefing: Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including a CMA spanner in nexfibre‑Netomnia works, BT buying TalkTalk for good of nation’s health, CityFibre quietly keeps building, and plenty more…
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InterviewEY-Parthenon: in face of disruption, telcos must think differently about differentiation
Analysis: Can telecom operators transcend infrastructure before non-traditional challengers capture the enterprise frontier? Drawing on global C-suite research, this analysis explores why differentiation, agentic architectures and national sovereignty represent the industry’s most viable growth engines, and why defensive cost-cutting will not secure long-term relevance.
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Finance & StrategyNandy plugs ‘gaping hole’ in UK rules, as InfraVia applies pressure on Netomnia deal
The UK government looks to plug a regulatory gap exposed by TalkTalk’s collapse, expanding its ability to intervene when telecoms deals threaten critical infrastructure or service continuity. At the same time, InfraVia is turning up political pressure over the separate nexfibre-Netomnia battle.
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M&Anexfibre refuses to blink as CMA deadline for remedies passes
In-depth: UK fibreco’s owners have refused to offer remedies for the proposed Substantial takeover, challenging the antitrust authority’s view of how competition would develop without the deal and putting pressure on the regulator to reconsider its Ofcom-informed assumptions.
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Consumer (B2C)Vodafone set for £215m bonus as Talkmobile rises
Once headed for the exit, Talkmobile is becoming an increasingly useful Vodafone asset as customer, ARPU, and profit growth accompany a £215m dividend — and the operator-owned value brand becomes one of many gaining strategic importance in the competitive UK mobile market.
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Finance & StrategySatcos and price hikes on customer minds as Ericsson begins new era
New Ericsson CEO Per Narvinger is beginning to put his stamp on the vendor, streamlining management while identifying satellite-terrestrial convergence and AI RAN as growth opportunities. Persistent AI-driven component inflation means customers may also have to swallow higher prices.
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NetworkVodafone lights up core for Express Capacity launch
As demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, Vodafone is targeting a spot at the intersection of cloud expansion, digital sovereignty, and international connectivity with a faster, more automated transport service.
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B2BBT turns to Microsoft for security as a service proposition
BT leans into low-key partner Microsoft for latest SOC-as-a-service offering as B2B customers face up to the growing threat of AI-powered attacks.
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Finance & StrategyTelia trims headcount as Europe leans on efficiency
Telia becomes the latest European telco to announce a round of job cuts, joining a trend of operators reshape workforces, decentralise decision-making, and seek higher returns from maturing fibre and 5G investments.
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Technology & ITEvent-driven evolution: Boost Mobile and Wavelo pioneer the composable telco
Case study: When Boost migrated nearly eight million subscriber accounts to an event-driven architecture, the operational priority was absolute invisibility. The stealthy overhaul unexpectedly also delivered telecom’s current top prize: an auditable, composable foundation capable of executing agentic AI without risking the core ledger…
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Analyst BriefingUK Infrawatch: BT bails TalkTalk, CMA throws Netomnia roadblocks, CityFibre readies for action
Analyst Briefing: Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK, including a CMA spanner in nexfibre‑Netomnia works, BT buying TalkTalk for ‘good of nation’s health’, CityFibre quietly keeps building, and plenty more…
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Finance & StrategyCityFibre looks to future as consumer uptake lags
The UK’s largest fibre altnet has reported another period of strong revenue and EBITDA growth, but questions emerge over whether its momentum can be sustained in a fast-changing UK fibre market — and what would change if a counterfactual CityFibre–Substantial Group combination were to follow.
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Technology & ITFrom reactive to proactive: Ericsson and AWS bring agentic intelligence to OSS/BSS
Playbook: Legacy billing environments increasingly imperil CSP agility, yet ungrounded autonomy poses intolerable operational risks. Through an expanding collaboration with AWS, Ericsson is embedding governed, multi-agent artificial intelligence into production systems. Read how CSPs are already executing migrations and accelerating go-to-market…
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NetworkDT sets 2030 Level 4 autonomy targets as agents get scalable
Group is falling in line with industry expectations, with a target of reaching Level 4 autonomy across significant swathes of its networks by 2030.
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M&ATalkTalk: BT takes the spoils, private equity takes a bath
In-Depth Analysis: The collapse and swift sale of TalkTalk has thrust BT into an unprecedented role as self-appointed industry saviour, ‘safeguarding’ millions of customers while attracting scrutiny from regulators, rivals, and policymakers — and highlighting the shortcomings of TalkTalk’s brief private equity ownership.
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M&ACMA flags substantial competition concerns as nexfibre/Netomnia dealt major blow
In-depth: The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority has delivered a significant setback to nexfibre’s proposed acquisition of Netomnia owner Substantial Group, arguing the deal would materially weaken competition in wholesale broadband markets.
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B2BBT ups efforts to bring AI to SMEs
BT Business is stepping up efforts to position itself as a trusted AI partner for SMEs, treading in the footsteps of European incumbent peers.
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NetworkUK fibreco Hyperoptic rejects wholesale as retail focus starts to pay
Altnet’s latest accounts reveal an altnet balancing rising debt and ongoing cash burn against improving profitability and penetration, while CEO Dana Tobak outlines an increasingly selective approach to expansion, wholesaling and consolidation.