M&A
2025: the year UK FibreCo cash becomes king?
This year may see further billions injected into altnets to pump-prime M&A consolidation, while 2026 could start to see what the end-state looks like (third scale player or continued swarm).
Fixed-up VM O2 looks to bounce back in 2025
Liberty Global targets $200m+ in savings through AI
Virgin Media O2 said to attract first offers in £1bn NetCo stake sale
Sky pinches tech boss from Liberty Global
Liberty gives European B2B services business a new name and mission
Vodafone–Three merger ‘releases the handbrake’ on UK telecoms, but at what cost?
Telefónica CEO to stay in GSMA chair for two more years
T-Mobile happy to sit on Polish fibre sidelines and munch whole-buy gains
Strategy & Change
‘Europe needs a DOGE’: Höttges looks to Musk for regulation blueprint
MWC 2025: Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges has led the usual calls for policy overhaul in Europe, this time offering a direct comparison between European MNOs’ challenges and T-Mobile’s ‘freedom’.
Network & Infrastructure
Belgian fibre: Orange and Proximus confirm tie-up talks
Telco pair acknowledge ongoing discussions over a mutual fibre buildout arrangement covering less urban areas of Belgium’s Walloon Region.
Weekly Briefings
Vodafonewatch Weekly: change afoot across the investments portfolio
Latest from Vodafone and across its footprint, including: potential for change in Germany fibre JV ownership; Liberty on the lookout for shared services partners; TPG Telecom enters new era; Vodacom initiates headcount cull in South Africa; more…
Network & Infrastructure
Deep dive: Virgin Media Ireland’s fibre switch-up enabling 5Gbps and faster launches
Virgin Media leaps ahead on path to 10G. Strategic move driven by customer demand and enabled by €200m IT/network transformation, positioning Ireland as pacesetter in Liberty Global’s NetCo-ServCo fibre (r)evolution. TelcoTitans talks to commercial chief Paul Higgins. Read more…
Telefónicawatch Report #190 - February 2025
Key stories include: JMAP era comes to abrupt halt | Telco API business christened | Airwave uncertainty in Germany | Spain’s Big 3 take a (price) hike | Exit talk reaches Argentina, Peru
Telefónicawatch Report #189 - January 2025
Key stories include: CEOs demand quicker EU change | Autonomous tech to surface in 2025 | ExCo rejig sees Evans, Blanco exit | Telefónica lands more UNICO cash | Virgin Media O2 moves home
Telefónicawatch Report #188 - December 2024
Key stories include: stc secures Telefónica stake buy | Utiq heads across the Atlantic | Investors ‘keen’ on new Spanish FibreCo | VM O2 keeps cool on Vodafone-Three approval | Peru fibre deal set to fall through