All TelcoTitans Industry Content articles – Page 143
-
M&A
Telefónica concludes Central American exit with El Salvador sale
General International Telecom’s $139m transaction completed. Sale goes through at the second attempt after an agreement with América Móvil collapsed in 2019.
-
People
Openreach’s McTighe emerges as frontrunner for Ofcom chair
Mike McTighe, Chairman at Openreach, reportedly on the shortlist to oversee regulator. Drawn-out search for Lord Burns’ successor sees another BT-affiliated name on the cards.
-
M&A
DAZN retakes lead in BT Sport race
Sports streaming specialist in pole position to land $800m deal. Discovery JV still a possibility, but cash injection may be preferable as BT invests in 5G and fibre rollouts.
-
Suppliers & SCM
Safaricom lauds TIBCO for service and network advances
Kipkirui says microservices and cloud-native APIs from longstanding partner is key in helping OpCo to become an “insights-led, tech-driven company”. Adds that Safaricom has been able to maintain “maximum value” from capex invested in TIBCO. OpCo aims to migrate entire TIBCO BPM stack from on-prem to public cloud by ...
-
People
BT’s new growth oriented Division X names leader
Former Sierra Wireless SVP Marc Overton appointed MD, Division X as BT Enterprise seeks solution-selling in high-growth verticals. Adjacent markets targeted by new unit, with Overton’s IoT specialism among the target technologies.
-
Public Affairs
Vodacom, MTN pick sides in South African auction saga
Operators unite with South African regulator as rival Telkom requests further delays. Any success for Telkom would represent a sixth postponement of the auction, currently set to take place by the end of March.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
O2 Germany teams with Westenergie Breitband for fixed access
German operator signs up seventh wholesale partner. New deal with E.ON-owned provider also facilitated by Vitroconnect.
-
People
Telefónica shuffles and slims security unit leadership
Telefónica Ingeniería de Seguridad takes on parent’s corporate leadership model. Changes to chairman and a handful of directors, with Group executives swapped for Tech names.
-
Operations
Vi selling majority stake to Indian government in bid to stay afloat
The state is set to receive a 35.8% stake in Vodafone Idea. Share prices drop around 20% in the wake of the news. Stake will be exchanged for easing of the struggling JV’s considerable debt. Government “do not want to run company”, insists Vi CEO
-
M&A
T-Mobile US picks up rideshare advertiser Octopus
Adtech-focused Marketing Solutions division makes acquisition to expand marketers toolkit. Octopus Interactive to transition to T-Mobile network for device connectivity.
-
People
DT moves AI beyond the lab with new lead
DT’s new head of AI, Jan Hofmann, signals broadening approach. Predecessor Claudia Pohlink takes on new role at Deutsche Bahn. Emphasis increasingly placed on AI-infused voice technology as a business enabler. Nemat giving thought to AI implications for society and suggests there should be a ‘Hippocratic Oath’ for AI ...
-
Venturing & Investments
SoftBank tie-up leads to GoStudent investment
DT and strategic partner SoftBank co-invest in ed-tech platform provider GoStudent. Investment collaboration one of promised benefits from renewed friendship last year, with GoStudent the first to profit from DT–SoftBank tie-up. Claure exit from SoftBank sees hiccup in new DT relationship, however.
-
Public Affairs
Álvarez-Pallete warns of dangers of “digital slavery”
Telefónica Executive Chairman asserts that societal imbalance and data exploitation are risks that must be addressed as the world’s economies are digitised. Dire warnings of ‘slavery’ fit with Group commitments on creation of a digital rights framework that would see operators positioned as trusted partners.
-
Public Affairs
Telco giants join iPhone encryption battle
Vodafone, Telefónica, and Orange add to voices calling for encryption technologies to be outlawed. EC asked to stop iPhones denying data access. Assertion comes amid wider controversy involving monitoring of illegal activity.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Peru’s IpT likes open RAN, but sees room for improvement
CTO of rural provider lauds lower energy consumption, shorter implementation times, compared with traditional 4G rollouts. Flags “some limitations” on capacity and scalability, however; “overall cost” of open RAN equipment still in same ballpark as kit from mainstream vendors.
-
Innovation (R&D)
T-Labs taps Merantix for AI voice fraud detection
Deutsche Telekom’s research arm ties with natural language processing partner Merantix Labs to co-develop deepfake detection tool. Seen as a likely necessity for future AI robustness, and builds on broader voice tech from across the Group.
-
Venturing & Investments
DT backs wireless asset tracking startup MonoLets
Group continues to build out IoT ecosystem with cash injection into US connected-label startup. hubraum flags system as potentially “really useful” add to DT’s IoT armoury.
-
Innovation (R&D)
DT’s Nemat puts focus on the human factor at heart of AI
Nemat suggests there should be a ‘Hippocratic Oath’ for AI software engineers. DT programmes in place to reduce energy consumption and bias when training machines.
-
Enterprise (B2B)
BT Enterprise’s SoHo unit to exploit micro-business boom
Senior figures named and recruitment drive underway at unit focused on single office, home office demographic. Unit launched in 2021 to deliver tailored services to a growing micro-business customer base.
-
Operations
BT’s Mehta keen on ‘massive’ Indian expansion
Chief Digital and Innovation Officer wants to make “full use” of digital skills in the country. Outlines “very, very different” challenges compared to UK marketplace. Wider digital transformation “almost like creating a new BT”.