UK
-
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: ups and downs in Group’s network-sharing tie-ups and M&A; RAN mega-tender KO
Latest from Vodafone and its ecosystem, including: commencement of massive RAN tender; regional network-sharing in Australia; and UK merger with Three competition concerns mount. Elsewhere: Vodafone Business seeks role in edge compute innovation; Vodacom Tanzania facing legal action; and more consolidation prospects in the Netherlands and Spain explored…
-
Interview
Brace for ‘AI tidal wave’: Kao Data urges UK data centre step change
Next-gen specialist discusses Manchester Data Centre of the North investment sweetspot, need to prep for AI-fuelled tsunami of demand (nowhere in Europe ready). Read more…
-
Financial & Performance
Infra investors line up for stake in Virgin Media O2’s new NetCo
Q1 FY24: Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries says Boston Consultancy Group and Deloitte hired for financial and project planning, as investors appear interested in fibre spin-out plans. Despite confidence in fibre growth opportunity, VM O2’s fixed customer base declined in an overall uneasy quarter for the operator…
-
Consumer (B2C)
EE’s £6m bricks-and-mortar retail investment brings more customers, better connections
EE’s newest Experience store opened in Bristol, with nine more to follow in the next year as part of £6m retail investment.
-
M&A
Merged Vodafone−Three ‘incentivised and able’ to ‘frustrate’, ‘harm’ BT — CMA
Merger-critical Competition & Markets Authority investigation is damning on logic and impact of combination, dubious of benefits. Network-sharing joint venture MBNL is at heart of concerns and may become a focus for any forthcoming ‘remedies’. Read more…
-
Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone kicks off mega RAN tender for Europe and Africa
Tender puts vendors on tenterhooks as Group starts procurement process for radio networks covering its 170,000-site footprint, while trials complete in Italy with Nokia in tow.
-
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: leadership rotation follows Group structure reset
Latest from Vodafone and its ecosystem, including: senior people moves across the Group and its recently-reworked divisional set-up; Vodafone Portugal CEO puts on a brave face, presents potential M&A failure as ‘no big deal’; Group satcomms investment AST SpaceMobile faces class action after share price crash; and much more…
-
Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: CEO Kirkby sets about transformation agenda, Openreach ramps up build
Latest from BT and its ecosystem of partners as Openreach takes “unapologetic” stance in the face of rollout criticism from challengers; CEO Allison Kirkby reportedly makes earnest moves to implement transformation agenda via consultancy appointment and Ireland shake-up; more from industry events in the UK and Europe…
-
Network & Infrastructure
Openreach targets 30m full-fibre premises, nexfibre calls for altnet ramp-up
At Connected North in Manchester, Openreach optimism was juxtaposed by altnet consternation about the state of the UK fibre market.
-
People
Vodafone Peoplewatch: senior swaps in Germany as transformation agenda beds in
20+ high-profile moves in and around Vodafone, including: new Business CEO; HR swaps in multiple markets; German consumer services team overhaul; top-level pivots in Africa; plus more across the Group…
-
Network & Infrastructure
Job done on Scottish rural 4G initiative
Scottish 4G Infill programme wraps up after seven years.
-
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: Donà’s network wishlist, IoT wins, and small steps forward for Vi
Latest from Vodafone and its ecosystem as UK CNO Andrea Donà calls for more cash for quicker network upgrades; Celfocus partnership takes gold; SAP exec named Business boss; and India’s Vi finds new momentum in hunt for funding…
-
Weekly Briefings
BTwatch Weekly: Watson calls for discipline, Openreach eyes fibre mega-contracts
Latest from BT and its ecosystem as CSNO Howard Watson calls for patient investors and looks ahead to rewards at the end of the networks upgrade tunnel; Openreach licks lips at prospect of Project Gigabit mega-contracts; and more SRN updates as EE charges on…
-
Network & Infrastructure
25G/50G slow-go: Openreach may hold out till 2030s on next-gen fibre tech
In depth report — two of the UK’s biggest fibre wholesalers have dampened expectations of imminent 25G and 50G PON upgrades, despite prep-work. Virgin Media O2-backed nexfibre sees no “imminent” case for commercial launch. Openreach also wants greater energy efficiency and to maximise older-gen GPON value extraction, with point-to-point eyed for enterprise. Read more…
-
Financial & Performance
Lightning Fibre’s quick insolvency switch could show the way for struggling altnets
Lightning Fibre’s £40m pre-pack sale out of administration and back into the hands of the investment fund that had supported its initial build may prove a template for struggling UK altnets as expectations on performance levels rise, but at what cost for suppliers and partners? Read more…
-
M&A
BT revives Ireland sale talks as Kirkby picks up where Jansen left off — report
BT said to be considering BT Ireland sale as new CEO Allison Kirkby attempts what Philip Jansen could not. A sale would extend the asset-light strategy taken on at BT Business…
-
People
BT’s Howard Watson dedicates lifetime achievement award to Networks ‘obsession’
FutureNet World: BT Chief Security & Networks Officer Howard Watson thanks 7,300 BT Networks staff for contribution to BT prowess as he was named Technology Leader of the Year. Other award winners include Amdocs, Celfocus, Netcracker, Nokia, Huawei, Vodafone, more…
-
Network & Infrastructure
Virgin Media O2 turns to Starlink for UK rural boost
Operator to use low-Earth orbit backhaul in an effort to bolster its rural connectivity, as progress on meeting Shared Rural Network deadlines has lagged…
-
Network & Infrastructure
BT, Vodafone seek fast cash and stricter discipline as sector adjusts to new digital reality
FutureNet World: Vodafone’s Andrea Donà and BT’s Howard Watson issue a call for more cash, patient investors, and industry collaboration as network technologies evolve and a light emerges at the end of the investments tunnel. Watson heralds success of fixed, but wants the next mobile ‘G’ to be held back…
-
Weekly Briefings
Infrawatch Weekly: CTOs to the fore as industry reshuffles, DT disses 1&1, BDUK springs forward
Latest from the digital infra scene in the UK and beyond, including big Project Gigabit wins for Quickline, Wessex Internet, and Wildanet; a first appearance in the wild of a DSIT-funded 4G mast; DT taking a swipe at its newest mobile rival; people moves, and plenty more…