Network operator Openreach (BT) has today announced that their 1.8Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network in Northern Ireland is being extended to cover 97% of premises (currently they’re at 87%). As a result, a further £100m investment is being made to reach over 100,000 extra premises. The deployment forms part of the operator’s […]

Alternative broadband operator Freedom Fibre has today announced the completion of their recent merger with InfraBridge-backed VX UK Holdings ltd (VXFIBER). Speaking of which, the combined coverage of their open access Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network is now 300,000 premises (up from 285k in Dec 2023). Just to recap. VXFIBER had a number of full […]

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The Spanish government says it will look to increase its stake in the country’s largest mobile operator, seeking to counter the influence of Saudi Arabia’s STC

In September last year, Saudi Arabian telco group STC bought a 9.9% stake in Spain’s Telefonica for $2.25 Billion, a move that made them the company’s largest shareholder.

At the time, STC said the move was simply the latest step in their newly diversified investment strategy, calling Telefonica a “compelling investment opportunity” and emphasising that they had no intention of taking a controlling stake in the business.

Nonetheless, the stake acquisition was controversial, with the Spanish government quickly outlining concerns surrounding loss of control of what they view as critical infrastructure.

Telefonica is not only the country’s largest telecoms operator, but also provides crucial connectivity services to government organisations and, perhaps more importantly, the military.

By December last year, the Spanish government had announced a plan to acquire a 10% stake Telefonica to offset STC’s influence within Telefonica, a move they said was ““in line with other large European countries, such as France and Germany, which have and are increasing their shareholdings in big and strategic telecommunications operators”.

The government’s plan suggested the stake would be built incrementally, with the first 3% acquisition via state holding company SEPI being announced on Monday.

“The entry of the SEPI, a shareholder with a long-term commitment, will provide Telefonica with greater shareholder stability to achieve its objectives, contributing to safeguarding the strategic capabilities of a company that is strategic for (Spain’s) national interests,” said SEPI in a statement.

Now, the government has confirmed its intentions to increase this stake to 10%, saying it will do so gradually through various instruments over the next two months.

“It will be done as quickly as possible, in the shortest possible time, provided that it doesn’t affect (Telefonica’s) share price,” said government spokesperson Pilar Alegria.

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter 

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT

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The move will provide improved connectivity and hyper-localised advertising to communities around the UK 

BT and Global, the Media & Entertainment Group, have announced a 10-year partnership to upgrade the UK’s legacy payphones and expanding digital hubs in local communities across the UK.  

The move seeks to enhance connectivity and provide hyper-local advertising opportunities in over 200 towns and cities.  

Additionally, Global will continue to manage BT’s street furniture advertising sales for the next decade. 

“BT’s payphones have long been an iconic feature on the UK’s streets – and with the way we all communicate changing, today’s announcement marks a further step into the future,” said Bas Burger, CEO of BT Business in a press release. 

BT Group’s street furniture includes traditional payphones, ATMs, and Street Hubs, which offer public Wi-Fi and local communication services, with some also extending EE’s mobile network capabilities to provide 4G and 5G connectivity. 

Under the new agreement, Global will convert up to 2,000 conventional BT payphones and kiosks into modern Street Hubs over a 10-year period, beginning in 2025. They will also handle marketing and advertising sales on BT’s existing 959 Street Hubs.  

BT will continue to provide mobile and Wi-Fi connectivity at these locations.  

According to the operator, these Street Hubs will provide connectivity with speeds of up to 1Gbps within a 150ma radius. They also have a dedicated 999 calling button, USB ports for device charging, touch-screen tablets displaying real-time public information, and screens for digital street-level advertising. 

Catch BT at this year’s Connected North event, 22-23 April in Manchester. Secure your tickets now! 

Also in the news:
Wessex Internet Awarded £18m for South Wiltshire Broadband Expansion
5G-Advanced: A chance for operator differentiation
CMA completes first investigation of Vodafone Three Merger

Broadband ISP Connexin UK has announced that they’ve signed a new network sharing and operations agreement with NYnet, the broadband company owned by North Yorkshire County Council, which will expand their wireless Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) in the region to help connect low power Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. Fixed wireless LoRa networks […]

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The company says the move will save €400 million over the next two years 

Vodafone Germany has announced today that it will cut 2,000 jobs over the next two years as part wider company restructuring. 

The company, which currently employs 15,000 people within Germany, said that staff would be relocated where possible, though specific numbers were not provided.  

The job cuts are part of cost-cutting measures announced by new Group CEO Margherita Della Valle in May last year, in which 11,000 jobs are expected to be cut globally over the next three years. 

 “Vodafone wants to make itself even simpler, faster, leaner and therefore more powerful in the next two years,” said the press release from Vodafone Germany. “In addition to more efficient processes and optimised structures, the focus is on even better interaction options and simpler products and services for customers.”  

Vodafone has been reshaping its operations globally for some time in an attempt to combat debt and its relatively flat growth in highly competitive markets.  

In October last year, the company sold 100% of its Spanish unit to Zegona Communications for €5 billion and, just last week, Vodafone Italia was sold to Swisscom in its entirety in the latest step towards its “reshaped European footprint”.  

The company is also in the process of merging its operations in the UK with CK Hutchison’s Three. 

In a company announcement, Della Valle explained that “going forward, our businesses will be operating in growing telco markets – where we hold strong positions – enabling us to deliver predictable, stronger growth in Europe”. She also highlighted a major focus on the B2B sector, saying it held the “biggest opportunity” for revenue growth. 

In related news, Vodafone Germany announced earlier this month that Marcel de Groot, the company’s head of private customer business, would take over as CEO, replacing the outgoing Philippe Rogge. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT

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The African mobile operator attributed the fall to the difficult operating conditions in South Africa, as well as the devaluation of the naira in Nigeria

MTN’s latest financial results were released on Monday, showing a year-on-year fall in net profit by 83% to $221 million, despite a 6.8% uptick in total revenue to $11.7 billion.

In a presentation, CEO Ralph Mupita said that the troubling financial performance could largely be ascribed to two major factors: high inflation and the devaluation of the Nigerian naira, following the government’s decision to unpeg it from the US dollar last year.

While Mupita argued that the company remained well positioned for growth, he said that the macroeconomic factors holding back the Group were unlikely to abate in 2024.

“We are anticipating that the macro conditions in our trading environment will persist in 2024, with naira volatility and elevated inflation the key challenges we will need to navigate,” he said.

“We think inflation will remain relatively stubborn. But we have been encouraged by inflation, in particular in a market like Ghana, where it’s come down. But when we look at Nigeria, we think we are going to see inflation remain elevated [as it will] in some of our key markets.”

He explained that raising tariffs in line with inflation would be the natural solution to the inflation challenge, but implementing such increases could be a slow process requiring regulatory approval in some markets.

Similarly, the value of the Nigerian naira is expected to continue to fluctuate, making operational planning in Africa’s most populous country very difficult. Since the currency was unpegged from the US dollar last year, MTN has reportedly booked around $1.1 billion in foreign exchange losses.

“On exchange rates, the Nigerian naira has been volatile, the actual direction of its strengthening or weakening remains relatively uncertain at this particular point in time,” he explained. “We have to plan and operate in Nigeria with a couple of scenarios, having base case stress and short cases so that we can actually run our business within that scenario.”

Nigeria is one of MTN’s largest markets, generating roughly 34% of the Group’s total revenue.

In related news, this week MTN has announced that it is offloading its stakes in MTN Guinea-Bissau and MTN Guinea-Conakry to Telecel.

The value of the deal has not yet been revealed, with MTN noting that the move will allow them to focus more heavily on other key markets in the West and Central Africa region, such as Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter 

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT

Interview

We caught up with Daniel Hernandez Ortega, SVP Devices and Consumer IoT at Telefonica, to discuss the company’s sustainability initiatives and how they are putting more control in the hands of the consumer

In 2024, customers are more sustainability conscious than ever, having an increasingly strong grasp of the environmental impact their decisions make both in their business and personal lives. As Ortga points out, this increasing awareness is gradually being reflected in consumer device choices too.

“Customers are more and more aware of the sustainability challenges and issues. We believe that 40–60% of the people are willing to buy refurbished products,” he explained.

But while consumer sentiment around recycling, refurbishment, and reuse are improving, the desire for the latest, state-of-the-art devices is as strong as ever. AI – perhaps the largest theme of all at Mobile World Congress this year – is a great example of just such a trend, with the proliferation of AI apps and services set to play a huge role in driving the uptake of next generation devices.

For Ortega, however, the incoming device boom coming from AI need not be a negative from a sustainability perspective. Instead, the influx of new devices can be a major accelerator for a more circular device economy.

“AI is going to be a catalyst of change as well. Products of the older generation, which are not AI enabled, are going to be surpassed from a customer experience point of view,” Ortega explained. “So, bringing your old tech, recycling it, and doing a switch-up to a new generation of devices is going to accelerate.”

“It’s a flywheel effect,” he continued. “There are more and more customers trading in their products, so there are more players offering second-hand products, which then gives more choice to customers. There is a really positive momentum around it right now.”

Indeed, alliances between vendors and operators focussed on device sustainability are gaining momentum. The Eco Rating consortium, for example, currently has 11 operators, including Telefonica, and more than 20 vendors working together to label their products in a uniform way regarding carbon footprint.  In this way, customers can become better educated about the impact that their choice of smartphone has on the environment.

In fact, Telefonica is even going one step further, with their Living Apps giving customers not only more information about their device’s carbon emissions, but a way to make more sustainable decisions and support sustainability projects.

“All Telefonica products and services generate a carbon footprint – with tokenomics and blockchain, we’ve given our customers an opportunity to compensate their carbon footprint with the tokens they generated through the use of our services,” he explained, noting that these could be spent on a wide range of sustainability projects around the world, from reforestation efforts to ocean clean up. “The customers can then contribute back to the environment.”

You can watch our full interview with Ortega from the link below:

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The contract is Wessex Internet’s third Project Gigabit award 

Wessex Internet has secured a significant £18 million government-funded contract to extend broadband services across South Wiltshire. This initiative, part of the broader Project Gigabit aimed at enhancing digital connectivity in underserved areas, will benefit approximately 14,500 homes and businesses in rural regions. 

Under the contract, Wessex Internet will expand its network coverage in South Wiltshire, particularly in areas like the Wylye Valley, Salisbury Plain, and surrounding villages such as Amesbury, Chisbury, and Little Bedwyn. The investment will facilitate the deployment of full fibre connections (FTTP), ensuring high-speed connectivity directly to properties. 

The project is expected to commence in September 2024, with construction scheduled to begin then. The first properties are anticipated to be connected by the end of the year. Both Data and Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez and Hector Gibson Fleming, CEO of Wessex Internet, have highlighted the importance of this initiative in bridging the digital gap and providing essential services to rural communities. 

Wessex Internet has already made strides in delivering gigabit-capable broadband to rural areas, having served around 17,500 properties in North Dorset and the New Forest through previous Project Gigabit funding. With its operational base near the Wiltshire border in North Dorset, Wessex Internet is well-positioned to cater to the region’s connectivity needs. 

“We are delighted that a contract has been awarded to deliver next-generation broadband to thousands of homes and businesses in South Wiltshire,” said Councillor Ashley O’Neill, Cabinet Member for Broadband at Wiltshire Council. 

“One of our key priorities is to have well-connected communities. As lightning-fast gigabit broadband connections have a profound benefit for local people and businesses, we look forward to working with Wessex Internet to achieve a successful rollout of this scheme and seeing the real difference it can make to people’s lives,” he continued. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT

Network technology firm Adtran and UK broadband giant BT Group today revealed that they’ve conducted Europe’s “first successful field trial” of optical transport in a live research network, using Adtran’s Coherent 100ZR pluggable transceiver – achieving “high levels of spectral efficiency and low power consumption.” Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) Optical Transceivers are a compact (a […]