All TelcoTitans.com articles in Telefónicawatch #151
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Digital Reports
Telefónicawatch Report #151 – February 2021
Key stories include: VM-O2 plot fibre drive | Data centre share swap with Asterion | Rao’s IT grand designs | Spain preps for recovery investment | OSM foundations in Chile
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Network & Infrastructure
Movistar Chile secures 3.5GHz spectrum
Movistar makes highest bid for 5G-friendly 3.5GHz spectrum amid uncertainty over its future within the Telefónica Group.
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M&A
Telefónica to swap more data centres for Nabiax stake
Four data centres are said to be on the table, with a 20%-stake in Asterion subsidiary Nabiax the price. Nabiax-Telefónica JV reportedly in the pipeline to manage the estate.
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Network & Infrastructure
BNetzA reviewing O2’s 4G catch up claim
OB says it made good on main part of 2020 network expansion promise. But BNetzA yet to verify coverage claims. Difficulties hitting coverage targets along transport routes remain.
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Venturing & Investments
YBVR earns extra Wayra investment for XR platform
Extended reality startup raises $1.5m in Pre-Series-A round, with Wayra increasing its initial investment. YBVR’s Verizon partnership bolstered. Wayra continues to bet on AR/VR/XR.
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Products & Services
Telefónica’s Chema Alonso ‘to drive Spanish press Netflix’
Telefónica Chief Digital Consumer Officer will reportedly lead the project, dubbed the “Netflix of the press”. EU reconstruction funding said to be on the cards.
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Network & Infrastructure
Virgin Media preps Lightning for post-JV world
Liberty Global confident of JV clearance, and anticipates Telefónica talks on ambitious and aggressive fixed-line rollout. Liberty’s Sky relationship appears key, with prospects for collaboration heightened by a friendly face at the helm. Meanwhile, Virgin Media appears to be finally embracing PIA from Openreach for cheaper fibre rollout.
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Network & Infrastructure
Telefónica fires starting gun on Drillisch 5G
Spanish giant’s German operations finally agrees national roaming deal with country’s would-be fourth MNO. Paves way for 5G rollout by Drillisch. TowerCos circle market entrant for new business.
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Enterprise (B2B)
Telefónica drone-security platform takes flight
Operator comes out of trial phase with creation of new international platform. Number of clients said to already be in pipeline, with UK-based drone control specialist one active user. Speciality in security-oriented use-cases emphasised.
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Premium
Movistar deploys traffic management solution from Enea
Network efficiency and quality-of-service in focus as video usage grows.
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Strategy & Change
Telefónica targets SMEs in Spain’s digital recovery plan
Government pours billions into SME digitalisation programme. Telefónica marshals SME portfolio.
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Premium
Wipro and Tech-M back grand designs for O2 architecture
O2 aiming to halve product development times and shave a third off IT costs with a radical simplification of its IT architecture. Tech Mahindra and Wipro sharing responsibility as mass market and business systems separated. Salesforce also flagged as an example of the opportunity to adapt off-the-shelf solutions to ...
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Partnerships & Alliances
Telefónica sews up Hyperledger Fabric agreement
Telefónica Tech signs collaborative agreement with blockchain consortium Alastria, which will see the operator build and manage a DLT network. T. Tech continues to play with DLT hosting service offering, building on Hyperledger experience.
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Innovation (R&D)
Telefónica inaugurates cyber-tech lab in Valencia
Multipurpose research and development unit made public a year after get-go, with local cyber subsidiary playing key role. Telefónica’s innovation network in Valencian Community expanding, increasing engagement with regional partners.
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Premium
Telefónica experiments in 5G Technologies Cities
Palliative care trial with Nokia in Segovia using 26GHz frequencies. Network slicing pilot with Cisco and the University of Vigo in Galicia.
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Premium
Telefónica raises €1bn through sustainable bond issue
Sustainability financing includes social impact and environmental targets. Proceeds to fund fibre networks and connectivity in unserved areas.
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Premium
Telefónica people moves: Garcia ascends to TIP directors board
Juan Carlos Garcia becomes the face of Telefónica’s collaborative innovation endeavour by succeeding David del Val at 5TONIC and Telecom Infra Project. Michael Falkensteiner takes on German brand leadership. Another former O2 exec joins Deutsche Glasfaser management.
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Venturing & Investments
Meteoric rise for Telefónica spinoff Koa
Post-investment, startup lays out growth strategy with US market now of particular focus.
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Premium
Vivo selects Ericsson for charging solution
B2B and B2C charging consolidated on vendor’s OpenStack-enabled Ericsson Charging platform. Agreement builds on 2012 BSS partnership, with an eye to deployment of emerging 5G products and use cases.