All articles by Richard Agnew – Page 34
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Innovation
UK telcos getting back to the labs, with 4.5%-R&D rise
UK telecoms players laid out more than £1bn on innovation during 2020, the first time they have done so since 2011. Ostensibly led by spend patterns at BT, sector has been regaining some of the significant ground it has lost after tightening budgets during downturn.
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DT Q3 FY21 headline data: forward motion
Group juggernaut rolls on with all major dials heading upwards. Commercial strength seen in Germany and USA. CFO reassures on leverage following C-band splurge.
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DT Q3 FY21 spend: Höttges on search for ‘nerds’ to push efficiencies
Q3 data and commentary show Group remains focused on a twin-track strategy of driving savings to fuel investment in select areas of business where it sees opportunities. German and US priorities continuing to drive capital outlay. DT exploring every avenue in bid to staff and support digital transformation, and ...
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DT Q3 FY21 guidance: Cash flow accelerating to a Sprint
Confidence on show as DT guides for more earnings and cash flow growth. Leadership increases expectations from both US- and Europe-side businesses. TMUS remains in leading role of long-term growth story, however.
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Q3 FY21: Forager DT ‘hogs’ an extra billion in earnings
DT boosts full-year outlook for third time, adding €1bn in earnings and €500m in cash flow to its original FY21 forecasts. Already optimistic leadership becoming even more bullish as European markets recover, and T-Mobile US weathers competitive uptick while executing on Sprint integration. Results backdropped by M&A geared towards ...
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Public Affairs
T-Mobile rides cyberattack storm
Operator’s Q3 numbers indicate few customers ditched its services in wake of high-profile data breach in August 2021. Competitor exploitation of Sprint integration challenges highlighted as bigger issue, albeit one TMUS intends to make “short-lived”. TMUS highlights organisational and cultural changes in response to attack.
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Vodafone New Zealand said to initiate tower spinout
Former Vodafone OpCo’s parents reported to have hired advisors to guide them through separation and monetisation. Move comes with regional tower market heating up. Both Spark and Vodafone NZ moot interest in infra-sharing.
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Telefónica Q3 FY21 Headlines: recovery gathers steam but jitters persist
Group describes results as “significant step towards economic and social recovery”. OBs put in a solid quarter, with Vivo and Telefónica Deutschland reporting gathering commercial momentum. First quarter for refashioned UK business. Telefónica Tech’s expansion still being significantly driven by M&A, obscuring ‘organic’ progress. Centralisation of Hispam progressing, and ...
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Telefónica Q3 FY21: Wary Group sticks to plan as recovery builds
Operator maintains rebound from pandemic with growth in earnings and revenue, and confirmation of guidance. All major OBs in growth and Hispam changes look to be having impact. Executives appear wary of conditions, with inflation and coronavirus lingering. Lid kept on capex as Group asserts discipline. Infra-Tech M&A frenzy ...
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M&A
T-Systems sale speculation resurfaces
Reports in German media indicate DT could pare back ownership of — and exposure to — its long-challenged enterprise IT business. Suggestions point to a possible three-way deal in 2022.
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Partnerships & Alliances
SpaceMobile lines up 2022 trials with Vodacom
Chairman Abel Avellan says six-month interconnection and testing programme will follow launch of BlueWalker 3 prototype. Lift-off of giant spacecraft may see slight slippage. US startup adds more MNO partners to go-to-market ahead of 2023 debut.
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Financial & Performance
Vodafone: DT and Orange are ‘credible’ tower merger partners
Read confirms either of Vodafone’s big European rivals could end up being an ally as noise continues to increase around an “industrial merger” for Group’s Vantage Towers business.
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Network & Infra
Vantage states ‘clear interest’ in Cornerstone buyout
Vodafone’s European TowerCo eyes opportunities in Netherlands and UK as partners Liberty and Telefónica look to cash in on wireless infrastructure assets. Strategic tie-up between Vantage and another MNO TowerCo also remains a possibility.
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Network & Infra
Höttges seeks to bring balance to future tower tie-up
Deutsche Telekom CEO seeks to lure tower partner with promise of hands-off approach to managing the business, allowing it to flourish “independently”. Picky operator unenthusiastic about approaches taken by rivals to tower extraction, including Vodafone’s Vantage Towers IPO earlier in the year.
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Financial & Performance
Accenture taps into DT’s tech revamp with ERP takeover
DT CEO highlights “specific” outsourcing move as an example of Group’s progress and focus on cost reduction. Deal forms part of €100m–€200m IT value chain recalibration DT planning by FY24. Q3 results see DT continuing US-led growth, raising guidance on back of revenue and cash flow boost.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodacom in talks over rural wireless alliance
Operator scoping out partners to share investment in thousands of extra sites across its sub-Saharan African footprint. Venture adds to wider technology and business model experimentation by Vodacom, to fund network expansion.
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M&A
INWIT continues to fill M&A kitty
Growing Italian TowerCo building up a €1bn platform for deal-making at end of its latest strategic cycle, in FY23. Expansion plans could give co-parent Vodafone another runner in European TowerCo race, beyond main vehicle Vantage Towers.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone ‘doubles up’ in Serbia
Group’s Partner Markets federation adds Telekom Srbija to its line-up. Deal, which comes amid an attempted revamp of Partner Markets, encroaches on territory already covered by Vodafone’s long relationship with A1 Telekom Austria.
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Network & Infra
BT implements riskmethods to tackle supply chain issues
riskmethods’ management application delivers “multi-tier transparency”. Move forms part of a wider supply chain management refresh.
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DT heads down under for fibre mate
Australia’s IFM named as Gigabit investment partner following long period of speculation. Move adds to TDE CEO Gopalan’s box of tricks as he seeks to pragmatically accelerate the Group’s slow-building fibre deployment. Startup JV embedded with various protective measures for DT, such as balance sheet deconsolidation, and long-term/standalone strategic ...