Public Affairs
All the latest public affairs news, analysis and insight, including legal, regulatory and political issues surrounding leading telecom and infra players.
30 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…
UK MNOs bag equal share of mmWave spectrum in £39m auction
BT, VodafoneThree, and Virgin Media O2 share the spoils in Ofcom’s delayed auction, each committing £13m for 26GHz and 40GHz spectrum, but not all MHz are equal…
Clearing 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.
Telefónicawatch Analyst Briefing: Group vs Gloop as strategy unveil nears
With less than a month to go before Telefónica’s big strategy reveal, the Group continues to appear set for a battle to push through the new agenda, whether with unions and government on cost-cutting plans in Spain, or European decision-makers on consolidation. Exec Chair Marc Murtra has been in Brazil, meanwhile, to raise support for the new plan. Read more…
Telefónica Peoplewatch: new era dawns at O2; Innovation Digital goes ‘cutting edge’
The latest strategic and senior changes at Telefónica, including news that long-serving Germany chief Markus Haas is stepping down after nearly a decade in the job, and just months after signing a new deal…
India 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.
Telefónica said to mull Spain job cuts ahead of Murtra’s strategy reset
Telefónica reportedly preparing an incentivised early-retirement plan to cut at least 6,000 jobs across Spanish subsidiaries. The operator is said to be aiming to present plans to unions following upcoming strategy reset…
Telefónicawatch Analyst Briefing: Murtra wants a New Deal on new deals
The latest news and developments from around Telefónica, as Executive Chair Marc Murtra reiterates call for European authorities to free telcos to merge, and gain scale against global rivals. Unions, meanwhile, begin to take an interest in what the operator’s coming strategy refresh could mean for its workforce in Spain. Read more…
‘Enormously aggressive’: nexfibre leads altnet complaints against Openreach copper-to-fibre discounting
Connected Britain 2025: As Openreach pulls levers to combat massive broadband losses, and drive fibre adoption alongside, altnet leaders have called out the discount pricing strategy as unsustainable. nexfibre execs have called it an exploitation of the incumbent’s significant market powers, CityFibre warns of structure advantage, plus views from other altnets, rivals…
DT links to Germany’s broadband portal in bid to cut fibre red tape
Deutsche Telekom urges all municipalities to get on board the Breitband Portal and calls on other operators to make use of the digital platform.
Orange Poland could see last regulatory shackles removed, if rivals allow
Regulator UKE plans to remove Orange’s local loop unbundling and bitstream access wholesale obligations in move likely to be closely watched by European telco giants, amid calls for looser rules.