All articles by Richard Agnew – Page 35
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Financial & Performance
Telefónica passes €1bn in shape shifting Tech push
Telefónica Tech division hitting €1bn in annualised revenue flagged as a highlight in Group’s Q3 results presentation. Growth business’s expansion still being significantly driven by M&A, obscuring ‘organic’ progress. Operator maintains rebound from pandemic with growth in earnings and revenue, and confirmation of guidance.
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Financial & Performance
T-Mobile rides cyberattack storm
Operator’s Q3 numbers indicate few customers ditched its services in wake of high-profile data breach in August. Competitor exploitation of Sprint integration challenges highlighted as bigger issue, albeit one T-Mobile intends to make “short-lived”. T-Mobile highlights organisational and cultural changes in response to attack.
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Venturing & Investments
Vivo transaction carries Telefónica Tech into Brazilian IoT space
Telefónica’s expansive growth areas division furthers its international ambitions by negotiating a tie-up with Vivo on IoT and analytics-based services. Deal mirrors an August transaction that gave Telefónica Tech an interest in Vivo’s cloud and security business.
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Financial & Performance
Tesco Mobile results: JV shines positive light on challenging period
Mixed bag for joint venture throughout UK lockdowns. “Highly competitive” twelve months sees operating profit rise 20%.
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Operations
Restructuring and legacy write-down hurt T-Systems UK
Deutsche Telekom’s UK enterprise IT unit records a loss on revenue slowdown. Figures also blunted by impairment of Managed Infrastructure unit.
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Operations
Unions eke out concessions on Vodafone Spain cuts
Operator firms up yet another business overhaul. Deal made to outsource remaining retail outlets rather than close them as part of job cull. Terms agreed for voluntary redundancies and retirements.
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Financial & Performance
Hrvatski Telekom continues to eye regional M&A
Croatian operator sees an uptick in business during summer months, leading to raised forecasts. Management remains keen on building HT into a regional telco/IT business, saying dealmaking opportunities are being monitored.
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone sees sales dip from international tie-ups
Revenue from Group’s Partner Markets federation falls back amid pandemic and footprint reduction. Vodafone’s flow of cash from Africa takes a drop following rework of M-PESA business.
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Strategy & Change
DT looking to Russia to crack digital code
Group moots coming expansion of its St. Petersburg software development facility by two-thirds. Hiring plan aimed at supporting key IT challenges such as fibre roll out planning and management, customer experience improvement, and open RAN deployment.
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Premium
DT starts mobility-as-a-service ecosystem build
Telekom Mobility Solutions taps Siemens on mobility-as-a-service app development. Bonn deployment scheduled for mid-2022, with local DT employees getting first dibs. Wider German rollout expected to follow soon after, subject to platform popularity.
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Partnerships & Alliances
BuyIn boasts transatlantic tech sourcing footprint
Purchasing JV indicates it is widening strategic sourcing scope in North American vendor ecosystem. Comments come with DT seeking to build closer strategic links with its American growth engine.
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Strategy & Change
Vodafone to overhaul supply chain ops
Warehouse consolidation and digitisation intended to bring greater transparency and control of purchases from China and other key marketplaces. New, digitised stock management facility planned for “small country in the middle of Europe”. Move comes with supply chain resilience and predictability at top of news agenda.
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M&A
Telefónica moulds new UK unit for central cloud push
Cancom business, bought in August, becomes “Telefónica Tech UK & Ireland”. New name reflects ambitions to widen out Group’s in-country offering.
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Venturing & Investments
BT forms team to target strategic startup investments
Group getting back in funding game, focusing on startups in North America and Europe. New Digital division’s focus on platforms and partnerships at centre of push.
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People
Vodafone twins management of international B2B units
Partner Markets’ CEO Diego Massidda takes on ownership of Carrier Services division. Move adds to wider rework of Group’s international B2B functions as Vodafone seeks post-pandemic growth revival and more joined-up go-to-market approach.
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Strategy & Change
BT eyes telco tie-ups following buying reboot
Newly inaugurated BT Sourced unit may branch out as a commercial player, selling services to other telcos and big companies. Function’s leadership open to partnerships in and outside industry, including DT and Orange’s BuyIn JV.
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M&A
Vodacom aims for 100m fintech users on road to sale
CEO Shameel Joosub sets sights on nine-figure base to win better bargaining position with potential buyers and partners. Vodacom taking control of fintech offerings in Ghana and Egypt, to fuel expansion.
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People
Swantee ends fleeting spell on Vodafone board
As-yet-unrevealed clash of interests prompts former EE CEO to leave Group after less than two months. Move comes amid M&A action in both UK and Netherlands.
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B2B
Safaricom upping B2B ante with new marketplace
Kenyan operator looking to connect better with small business requirements. Move furthers Safaricom’s “fintech-anchored” digital growth strategy.
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M&A
Vodafone’s nudge technique gets STC ‘back to table’
Regional media reports indicate that Saudi Telecom Company is seeking to revive a buyout of the Group’s Egyptian business, after failure of 2020 deal. Move follows Vodafone’s exploration of an internal switch of Egyptian OpCo.