All Political articles
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Financial & Performance
Q1 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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Suppliers & SCM
Vodacom 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 Briefings
BTwatch 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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Public Affairs
Ofcom yields, slashes UK spectrum fees — MNOs demand more
£60m annual reduction sees regulator modify ALF regime and tease softening of spectrum trading regime, but fails to silence criticism that move does not go far enough. Operators lobbying for Treasury to reinvest remaining £270m windfall back into rural 5G…
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Public Affairs
UK Court of Appeal sides with operators in latest Phones 4u ruling
The UK Court of Appeal has decisively ruled against Phones 4u’s long-running allegations of collusion among major operators, leaving the retailer to consider its final legal options and face substantial costs…
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M&A
Vodacom welcomes antitrust reversal as fibreco deal revived
Maziv merger, which will see Vodacom take a 30% stake in a standalone South African fibre operator with Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, now back on the table after remedies appease Competition Commission.
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Public Affairs
‘A major contradiction’: Orange’s Heydemann joins criticism of Palais de la Découverte closure
Christel Heydemann supports calls to save a popular and influential science museum amid fears it is to be closed or reopened in a reduced format.
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Analyst Briefings
BTwatch Analyst Briefing: state-backed infra advances with varying success
Latest developments from BT, including: varying pace of public-backed projects ESN, Project Gigabit, R100, and SRN; buying chief Cyril Pourrat on AI momentum; RCS innovation with Brand Assure; Middle Eastern DHL deal; more…
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Network & Infra
UK ‘lacks plan’ to defend subsea cable repair ships in a military conflict
A parliamentary inquiry on undersea cables security has heard that the UK does not have sufficient capabilities in place to protect specialist repair ships if infrastructure is attacked and the seas become a war zone.
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Public Affairs
UK calls on Navy to protect subsea critical infrastructure
UK government wants military to take a bigger role in protecting critical national infrastructure, especially subsea cables, as part of new defence strategy that encourages deeper public-private cooperation for national resilience.
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Financial & Performance
Q1 FY25: Broadband glitch prompts DT to step up its tech game
Q1 FY25: DT results backdropped by rare reversal on German broadband user trends and signs of increased competitive pressure elsewhere in group’s footprint, adding to buildup of market and macro uncertainty amid management and stakeholders.
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Financial & Performance
Vodafone sees the bright side of global chaos
FY24–25: As Vodafone Business surpasses €8bn in revenue, driven by Digital Services, anticipated hikes in cybersecurity, defence, and sovereignty spending in politically uncertain times is expected to provide another boost.
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Public Affairs
UK’s AI Growth Zone strategy — fit for purpose?
In-depth: As the UK government opens up its AI Growth Zone initiative for formal applications, industry leaders debate the value, variously describing it as everything from ‘ridiculous’ to ‘ambitious’, and running the risk of ‘fetishising’ location and creating a ‘real mess’, as well as presenting opportunity for the UK on a global stage. Includes reporting from Connected North…
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Analyst Briefings
Telefónicawatch Briefing: Europe’s need for a fix
Telefónica and European telco rivals position themselves for an anticipated wave of spend on network and IT strengthening in Europe, in response to political flux. Read more…
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Public Affairs
OVHcloud says firms are seeking ‘alternative’ cloud solutions amid geopolitical ructions
The France‑based cloud services provider says “strategic autonomy” in cloud is becoming increasingly critical for enterprises as data sovereignty continues to rise up the agenda.
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Financial & Performance
FY24: GPS-less Telefónica leadership seek new path and identity
An in-depth look at Telefónica’s results presentation for FY24, as new Executive Chairman Marc Murtra initiates a strategic review to navigate the “drastic changes” taking place in Europe…
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Innovation
Gov report predicts £15bn telco productivity boost by 2035
PwC research on emerging technologies sees AI as leading economic transformation, but future telecoms one of the five biggest contributors to GDP growth of 8% by 2035.
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Strategy & Change
Telefónica’s Murtra wants to ‘go big’ after cementing exec chair job
Group’s new boss makes a call-to-action for strategic renewal at operator as his contentious appointment gains shareholder approval. Telefónica needs to adapt to “new era in US-European relations”, he says.
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Consumer (B2C)
Magyar Telekom, 4iG backtrack on price hikes amid state pressure
As Hungarian government puts the squeeze on national telcos in bid to control inflation, Magyar Telekom and 4iG agree to freeze prices until mid-2026, ostensibly after the national election.
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M&A
MásOrange CEO sees M&A bright side in tariff crisis
MásOrange Chief Executive Meinrad Spenger finds a silver lining for European telcos in disruptive US tariffs as a catalyst for lighter merger controls while Telefónica sees spark of regulatory relief in Europe’s “strategic autonomy” and defence ambitions.