All articles by Richard Agnew – Page 24
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PeopleT-Mobile tech boss Larsen departs
Dr. Kim Kyllesbech Larsen, a high-profile tech figure within Deutsche Telekom, exits Dutch NatCo on gardening leave. Move comes with T-Mobile’s private equity takeover nearing imminent completion.
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PremiumVodafone Q3 FY21–22 Guidance: Déjà vu as Group eyes “sustainable growth”
Top brass remains optimistic as COVID-19 recovery continues.
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PremiumVodafone Q3 FY21–22 Spend: CPI+ a “necessary logic”
Price rises planned across Europe, in response to rising costs. Della Valle outlines strategy, but remains vague on details. CPI+ formula embedded in five markets, with more to follow.
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PremiumVodafone Q3 FY21–22 Headlines: Germany struggles, Africa bubbles
Group service revenue growth for fifth successive quarter. German user experience blunder takes gloss off solid set of numbers. Read continues to blame COVID-19 for German struggles, despite rivals’ success. Vodacom makes “very good progress” as Vodafone Egypt deal nears.
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OperationsDT opts for second-choice Deloitte as new auditor
Deloitte given mandate to replace incumbent PwC. Proposal to be put to shareholders in April, and comes after disrupted, three-year selection process. DT drops one-off management bonus option after stockholder criticism.
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Products & Services1NCE, Cisco on board as DT and T-Mobile meld IoT platforms
DT and T-Mobile US harmonising IoT management platforms as operators come together on transatlantic IoT play. 1NCE and Cisco among chosen enablers. Group’s stake in startup increases after 2021 funding round.
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PremiumVodafone Q3 FY21–22: Read asserts “proactivity” on M&A
Management seeks to seize back agenda amid growing City pressure for urgency on assets sales. Minimal progress appears to have been made on Read’s long-term push for four-to-three consolidation. German operation unsurprisingly draws questions following embarrassing missteps.
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Public AffairsTearful DT tech boss urges sector to “be human”
Claudia Nemat calls for industry to step up on sustainability and human-centred tech development, amid wave of global crises. DT adapts MWC presence in light of Ukrainian situation. “Intensive discussions” took place over event withdrawal. Robbie Williams demo cancelled.
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Venturing & InvestmentsRevealed: DT’s fibre linkup with ex-Deutsche Glasfaser bosses
Group investment arm DTCP takes large minority stake in startup Fiber Experts Deutschland. Venture sees DT link up with former Deutsche Glasfaser execs Uwe Nickl and Dr. Stephan Zimmermann. Ex-DT executive Wolfgang Kniese involved in venture’s management.
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Suppliers & SCMOutsourcer ISS confident on DT mega-deal recovery
Deutsche Telekom’s German facilities partner says it has worked through majority of deal restructuring programme instigated in 2020. Business continues to target breakeven by end of FY22.
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Partnerships & AlliancesSafaricom signs up VMware as Ethiopian cloud partner
New OpCo to use vendor’s Telco Cloud Platform to underpin network and IT functions as it sets up greenfield operation.
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Financial & PerformanceDT’s FY21 report: events intervene but an empowered Höttges talks tough on towers
Another strong year of growth for Group, led by USA. Unfortunate clash with Ukraine invasion dulls shareholder reaction. Executives stress openness and flexibility when it comes to a big TowerCo deal, but want full recognition of DT assets’ worth. Muddiness on future of BT holding. Inflationary pressures said to ...
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Strategy & ChangeDT prepared to scale back Russian hub amid crisis
DT has thousands of employees in Russia. CEO indicates the Group could shift staff and operations away from St. Petersburg software development function, in response to Ukrainian crisis. Tasks could be shifted to other digital hubs in India or eastern Europe. Crisis brings centre’s expansion plans to an ...
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M&ATelefónica preps new vehicle for digital M&A in Brazil
Local operating business Vivo indicates it may channel deals through a new platform as it seeks to build out its digital services ecosystem. Move would extend Vivo’s control over M&A and provide an alternative route to Telefónica’s central Wayra and Tech divisions.
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OperationsVivo to begin sunsetting 2G this year
Brazilian operator says cogs starting to move in convoluted 2019 network-sharing tie-up with rival TIM. Switch to a single shared grid set to move beyond pilot phase, enabling operators to begin re-farming 2G frequencies.
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Network & InfrastructureBT wants more suppliers to support quantum leap
Operator wants to bring down tech costs to help commercialise new set of services being prepared with next-gen encryption. Comments come with telco weeks away from debuting its first quantum-enabled metro network. Telco prepping international quantum security services play.
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Enterprise (B2B)T-Mobile expands beyond US, goes transatlantic on IoT
DT and American NatCo pick a safe, greenfield side-line of cross-border IoT as first target for international B2B collaboration plan they flagged in 2021. Move comes with T-Mobile quietly beginning to look beyond USA for opportunities, raising strategic questions for DT and its own international B2B interests.
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M&ANabiax mulling sale of ex-Telefónica data centre bundle
Business set up through Asterion–Telefónica partnership reported to be assessing demand for set of eleven data centres in Americas. Move appears to shift focus of Nabiax, and its commercial tie-up with Telefónica, towards Spain. Centres were picked up in 2019 and 2021, as part of Telefónica’s trimming of Hispam ...
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MarketingBT recalibrates ad strategy with in-house reshuffle
Operator joining up ad capabilities across Consumer, Enterprise, and Global. Establishes new Media Centre of Excellence to share learnings.
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Venturing & InvestmentsTelefónica partner Asterion fills infra fund number two
Investment manager with close links to Telefónica completes set up of a new €1.8bn pot. Five European markets in sights for energy and telecoms opportunities. Madrid-based business has various ex-Telefónica staffers on team and a history of deal-making with Group.