All Political articles
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Innovation30 years down, 5+ to go before BT’s quantum vision comes to life
Capacity Europe 2025: Senior Research Manager Andrew Lord remains optimistic about quantum secure communications, but sought-after commercial use cases still five-to-ten years away. QKD a valid ‘stepping stone’, and satellite may boost momentum, but supply chain ‘fragility’ remains a stumbling block…
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Public AffairsClearing the Eir: Irish operators criticise ‘excessively lax’ access rules
Industry body ALTO, representing operators such as BT, Vodafone, Enet, and Sky, calls for review into regulation of incumbent.
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Public AffairsIndia considers Vi reprieve to promote UK trade, foster relations — report
Vodafone-backed Indian operator Vi may benefit from UK-India trade negotiations as reports emerge that the New Delhi government may waive some debts.
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Public AffairsBT’s Kirkby pulls no punches in review of UK regulatory, fiscal policy
Connected Britain: Allison Kirkby lets loose on Downing Street policy, with greater fiscal certainty needed to fund much-needed infra investment and AI adoption. Regulatory policy comes in for inevitable criticism too, as the BT boss sets the scene for the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget and Ofcom’s pending Telecoms Access Review…
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Network & InfraUK AI council looks north as energy demand set to soar — but connectivity an afterthought
Initial meetings of the government’s AI Energy Council see predictions of surging energy demand and challenges in ensuring existing infrastructure is up to the job, but connectivity requirements appear sidelined with fibre operators asbent…
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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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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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Public AffairsOfcom 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 AffairsUK 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&AVodacom 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 BriefingBTwatch 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 & InfraUK ‘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 AffairsUK 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 & PerformanceQ1 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 & PerformanceVodafone 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 AffairsUK’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 BriefingTelefónicawatch 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 AffairsOVHcloud 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.