All Legal (compliance, regulatory) articles
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Interview
nexfibre: Keep leash on Openreach to drive UK fibre competition
nexfibre development chief Giles Rowbotham speaks with TelcoTitans on need to drive UK fibre competition by maintaining regulation of Openreach. Says Ofcom needs to keep an eye on wholesale pricing and copper-to-fibre migration process, as well as consolidation, investment, PIA, and local-level factors within wider market…
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M&A
Cordiant gets thumbs up for Belgian data centre acquisition
Irish investment group teams up with Belgium’s TINC to form merged infrastructure player, comprising Datacenter United and Proximus’ data centre arm. Pair seeking to capture cost synergies and create economies of scale to drive “long-term” value for investors…
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Network & Infrastructure
Ericsson christens telco API venture ‘Aduna’, installs CEO
Vonage exec Anthony Bartolo appointed CEO of Aduna, the Ericsson-led network API joint venture.
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Public Affairs
UK Home Office backs £650m class action against Motorola in latest Airwave twist
Emergency services network provider faces a claim that excessive pricing policies over a three year period cost up to 2,000 public safety organisations more than £600m.
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Network & Infrastructure
MásOrange and Vodafone Spain confirm deal to create ‘Europe’s largest FibreCo’
Rework of consolidated Spanish telco market continues, seeing MásOrange and Vodafone Spain follow up their 2024 M&A deals by combining fibre assets.
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M&A
Swisscom completes Vodafone Italy takeover, begins integration
Vodafone Italy transfers to Swisscom ownership ahead of schedule, with Fastweb integration initiated.
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M&A
Vodafone’s European retrench continues: Italian retreat gets final regulatory nods
Authorities rubber-stamp Swisscom’s acquisition of Vodafone Italy, pushing Margherita Della Valle’s ‘right-sized’ vision closer. By mid-2025, with €36bn+ bagged over 12 months, what’s in store for the far from insignificant remnants of rump Europe, developing market, digital infra, jazzed-up central function, and other assets and stakes? Read more…
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Public Affairs
BT beats landmark class action case, cleared of unfair pricing
Competition Appeal Tribunal dismisses first-of-its-kind collective class action against BT, having found it to be charging ‘excessive’, but not ‘unfair’, prices.
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Interview
New INCA CEO tells UK altnets to mobilise against common enemy
Industry body recce’d under new CEO, with collaboration and communication identified for rework — including potential Openreach hotline upgrade — despite cloud of consolidation.
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Weekly Briefings
Orangewatch Weekly: Group takes regulators to task in EU and Spain
Latest from Orange and its ecosystem, including: Christel Heydemann lays out lengths CEOs are prepared to go to bring about regulatory change in Europe; hackles rise in Spain amid proposed local regulatory changes; and Orange-linked infra projects elsewhere are moving ahead…
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Operations
Vivo strikes deal in Brazil’s fixed-line regulatory reform
Telefónica|Vivo has signed an agreement to move from a concession model for fixed telephony services to the new authorisation regime. Read more…
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Network & Infrastructure
UK struggles to get space strategy off ground as satellite demand rises
Ofcom data shows satellite connectivity lines doubled in the year, with rural users taking up the offer as an alternative to terrestrial networks.
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Network & Infrastructure
Ofcom plots spectrum fee overhaul after MNOs’ calls for change
UK regulator sets out proposal to cut £40m from mobile operators’ collective annual spectrum licence bill after BT’s call for change.
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Public Affairs
Exasperated telco CEOs mulled strike action to drive EU regulatory change: Orange’s Heydemann
Orange CEO says the concept of a CEO strike came up in discussions over how to change European regulators’ mindset towards sector, although concedes impracticality of such a move.
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Public Affairs
Vodafone hit with £120m enrichment claim as nearly half of retail footprint launches action
61 plaintiffs, who either previously operated or still run almost half of Vodafone’s UK retail franchises, are claiming that commission cuts and other commercial decisions were implemented in bad faith to favour the operator over its partners. Read more…
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Public Affairs
Colombia delays Telefónica reprieve in network licence dispute
Operator faces pushback from Colombian government after being on the verge of winning long-running legal dispute. Delay in the resolution process comes at critical moment for Telefónica’s Colombian operations, as it seeks to exit the market…
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Network & Infrastructure
Rivals rail against CNMC plans to amend Telefónica regulations – report
Spanish regulator is consulting on raising prices for duct access and making the methodology underpinning economic replicability tests more “flexible”. Read more…
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Network & Infrastructure
Vodafone backs AST SpaceMobile with commercial tie-up
Vodafone put a ring on its relationship with SatCo startup AST SpaceMobile with an exclusive, long-term commercial agreement for offering direct-to-device services.
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M&A
Vodafone–Three merger ‘releases the handbrake’ on UK telecoms, but at what cost?
Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle hails creation of a ‘new force’ as CMA grants regulatory go-ahead for Vodafone–Three merger, but questions remain about the impact on MVNOs, rivals, consumers, and the combined entity’s networks…
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Public Affairs
European Commission raises ‘serious doubts’ as Hungary plots wholesale broadband changes
Brussels raises “serious doubts” about the legality of Hungary’s plans to regulate wholesale broadband access, leaving telcos in limbo.