Vodafone Deals
-
Financial & PerformanceVodafone close to settling €2.4bn tax dispute with India
Group offers New Delhi a deal after retrospective tax legislation scrapped. Dispute harks back to Vodafone acquisition of Hutchison Essar in 2007. Indian stand-off has long cast a shadow over Group finances, despite recent legal victories.
-
M&A
Vodafone New Zealand said to initiate tower spinout
Former Vodafone OpCo’s parents reported to have hired advisors to guide them through separation and monetisation. Move comes with regional tower market heating up. Both Spark and Vodafone NZ moot interest in infra-sharing.
-
M&A
KKR launches Telecom Italia buyout attempt
Offer believed to be worth at least €32bn. Operator shares soar 30% as the news emerges.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone CEO open to fibre JVs in Germany
Read exploring off‑balance sheet financing and infrastructure partnerships to meet FTTP demand. Retains the love for HFC, however; believes network upgrades across cable footprint will meet consumers’ broadband requirements for some time yet. Della Valle pointedly notes that mid‑term capex fixed guidance does not include FTTP buildouts.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
SpaceMobile lines up 2022 trials with Vodacom, other MNO allies
Chairman Abel Avellan says six‑month interconnection and testing programme will follow launch of BlueWalker 3 prototype. Lift-off of giant spacecraft may see slight slippage. US startup adds more MNO partners to go‑to‑market ahead of 2023 debut.
-
Vendor Voice
Oracle: Cloud evolution must be business‑led for digital SPs
For many years, the telecoms industry has been attempting the balancing act of managing the decline of traditional services while extracting the full value of decades of massive investment in the operational systems that enable them. The challenge of escaping this ‘technology debt’ has now been heightened by a ...
-
Financial & Performance
Vodafone: DT and Orange are ‘credible’ tower merger partners
Read confirms either of Vodafone’s big European rivals could end up being an ally as noise continues to increase around an “industrial merger” for Group’s Vantage Towers business.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Vantage states ‘clear interest’ in Cornerstone buyout
Vodafone’s European TowerCo eyes opportunities in Netherlands and UK as partners Liberty and Telefónica look to cash in on wireless infrastructure assets. Strategic tie‑up between Vantage and another MNO TowerCo also remains a possibility.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodacom in talks over rural wireless alliance
Operator scoping out partners to share investment in thousands of extra sites across its sub-Saharan African footprint. Venture adds to wider technology and business model experimentation by Vodacom, to fund network expansion.
-
M&A
INWIT continues to fill M&A kitty
Growing Italian TowerCo building up a €1bn platform for deal-making at end of its latest strategic cycle, in FY23. Expansion plans could give co‑parent Vodafone another runner in European TowerCo race, beyond main vehicle Vantage Towers.
-
M&A
Vodacom expands into Egypt with Vodafone stake switch
Vodafone to increase its stake in Vodacom to more than 65% following the transaction. Internal deal follows STC’s failed mission to buy Vodafone Egypt during 2020.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone ‘doubles up’ in Serbia
Group’s Partner Markets federation adds Telekom Srbija to its line‑up. Deal, which comes amid an attempted revamp of Partner Markets, encroaches on territory already covered by Vodafone’s long relationship with A1 Telekom Austria.
-
Venturing & Investments
Vodafone veterans steer mimik to $14m funding
mimik Technology, founded and led by former Vodafone venturing executives, to use Series‑A investment round to develop go‑to‑market strategy. T‑Mobile‑backed 5G OI Lab graduate picks up funding from multiple US VCs.
-
Venturing & Investments
Vi can live long and prosper, insists CEO
Takkar welcomes government four-year moratorium on AGR dues and spectrum fees. Confident that relief package paves way for private investment. Vodafone rules out (again) cash injection into JV. Floor pricing issue still to be resolved.
-
Public Affairs
UK government defends Ethiopian mobile investment
Vodafone and CDC investment in Ethiopian mobile operator crops up in parliamentary debate on Tigray humanitarian crisis. Investment deemed to be “right” and long term. CDC emphasises role as impact investor with a lot of patience. Vodacom agrees to fund Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia.
-
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.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone in the driving seat for 5G‑powered mobility
Vodafone Germany flags a number of automotive use‑cases for its 5G standalone technology in action. BMW, Porsche, and Sony on the automaker partnerships list. Second 5G test track activated.
-
Network & Infrastructure
Starlink a potential suitor in Vodafone’s 28GHz lease deal
Vodafone in conversation with satellite operators to lease 28GHz spectrum in the UK. Elon Musk’s Starlink touted as an option
-
Public Affairs
Vodafone called upon for German emergency alerts
Bundestag amends legislature to pave the way for Cell Broadcast SMS‑based early‑warning system. July floods expedite political process, with politicians now laying out technical specifications before MNOs get to work.
-
Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone Oman opens new HQ
Partner Markets’ greenfield operator expected to launch services “very soon”. Taps Ericsson for network and Netcracker for BSS.
