All Legal (compliance, regulatory) articles – Page 31
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Public Affairs
Telco execs to share private comms in Phones 4u case
Senior management at Telefónica, BT, DT, Orange, and Vodafone may be required to hand over their phones for inspection as discovery continues in the lawsuit examining alleged operator collusion in the downfall of Phones 4u.
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Suppliers & SCM
Lords pressures BT on Huawei human rights record
Lords pushing to raise obligations of infrastructure owners to police the supply chain in a way that goes beyond current modern slavery legislation. Government recognised concerns as legitimate, but prioritising improving UK infrastructure rollout. Proposed amendments could put exclusion of Huawei from fixed infrastructure on a faster track than ...
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Financial & Performance
Jio turns into Vodafone Idea’s worst digital nightmare
Massive Google investment underscores both Jio’s domination and its ambition to develop wide range of popular digital services. Who’s Who of foreign investors, which includes digital-savvy Facebook, now accounts for nearly a third of Jio Platform equity. Vodafone’s long-term outlook in India looks even more perilous than before, after ...
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M&A
VHA starts new slate as TPG Telecom
Berroeta keeps CEO role post-merger; Teoh watches on closely as non-executive Chairman. Mobile and fixed network “synergies” a priority. Vodafone brand sits alongside slew of TPG sub-brands.
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Network & Infrastructure
Telefónica snookered with 5G allocation battles ahead
Threat from Orange and Vodafone palling up on rural network sharing could be exacerbated if the pair are allowed to align mid-band 5G spectrum allocations.
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Suppliers & SCM
O2 supply chain cracks as German rollout goals missed
Indian plant closures and unavailability of field engineers blamed for failure to meet revised 4G rollout targets.
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Premium
Elsewhere in BT Group, July 2020: CAT rules in favour; enterprise tool Onit deploys for BT legal
Long distance truck win; Legal continues to transform.
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Premium
Government eyes open infrastructure as 2025 plan stalls
DCMS looking at encouraging greater sharing across utilities and telecoms infrastructure, and encouraging Openreach to make use of rivals’ assets. UK government beating drum of infrastructure investment as part of the pandemic response, but references to 2025 Gigabit network deadlines fading into background.
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Financial & Performance
ONS data errors reshape UK telecoms landscape
The Office for National Statistics new methods marks change for the past 20 years’ price decline, but promise more accurate inflation and GDP readings. Change backs telcos’ claims that they are meeting demands of ‘more for less’ in tougher circumstances than assumed.
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Premium
Ofcom go ahead for Openreach race to switch off copper
Ofcom provides a degree of clarity on Openreach’s obligations ahead of relaxation of regulation, once fibre covers an exchange. However, a wait-and-see approach on determining what will constitute a fully fibre-enabled exchange means Openreach is stepping on the accelerator at its own risk.
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Public Affairs
SA preps plunger for 4G/5G spectrum blockage
Vodacom’s long wait for more network resource in its home market appears to be coming to an end, although false starts have been seen before in SA.
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M&A
EU: Vestager nod set to prompt regional consolidation race
Vestager distracts from four-to-three merger demands by highlighting potential for creation of pan-European big beasts. But is this feasible in any imminent iteration of Europe, beyond cross-border infrastructure ventures envisaged by Orange?
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Network & Infrastructure
O2 gives 4G a pre-tie-up top-up
UK operating business seeks to bolster “national champion” pitch ahead of Virgin Media merger. Focus is on eliminating 4G ‘not-spots’ and boosting 4G and 5G coverage at tourist attractions.
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Premium
Telefónica sets eyes on COVID restart; announcements across all markets: Telefónicawatch roundup June-July 2020
Telefónica joined Restarting Together COVID-19 recovery programme, absent from ETSI’s E4P scheme, and one of 53 large companies to take a Bank of England emergency loan. TIWS test LEO satellite; ElevenPaths gets AWS security certification. Announcements across Telefónica’s core markets include ongoing 5G/China drama in the UK; Brazilian network-sharing ...
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Partnerships & Alliances
Vodafone Idea to trial drone-based food delivery
VfI joins ClearSky consortium to test BVLOS drone operations with Airmap, Curl Analytics, TechEagle, and Zomato. Indian regulator targets commercialisation of drone flights with 13 POCs from cross-industry consortia.
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Public Affairs
Vodacom: 2019 arrests in Tanzania were “troubling”
Shockwaves have evidently not yet subsided from strikingly severe treatment of executives in April 2019 incident.
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Premium
Vodafonewatch roundup — June 2020
Deals and updates from across the Vodafone Group include the latest CNTT release, Vodafone Business partnership with Energy Web, and a coordinated Track and Trace effort from European telcos. Vodafone Idea flagged collaborations with Nokia, Red Hat, and Mavenir. Vodafone Greece launched ToBi; Ireland expanded its relationship with Exclusive ...
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M&A
Fries on VM-O2 merger: don’t mention the tax breaks
Liberty Global anticipates substantial opportunities for savings by injecting Virgin Media tax losses into O2, but Fries wary that such behaviour may not chime with goal of creating new UK “national champion”.
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Strategy & Change
O2’s Haas lukewarm over Germany’s rural wirelessco
Operator predictably wary over the potential of planned mobile infrastructure company to disrupt MNOs, despite rural-focused mandate.
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Enterprise (B2B)
BT defends role in poor-value NI land registry project
Audit Office critical of Department for Finance in failing to deliver taxpayer value from Land Registry contract, and for not securing sufficient transparency on BT’s slice of the income.