News 

The deal was first announced in March

This week, Vodafone Italia’s sale to Swisscom has been approved by the Italian communication authority AGCOM, Swisscom has confirmed. 

“The transaction is still subject to two other regulatory approvals, including that of the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, AGCM). The latter announced on 11 September 2024 that it had opened an in-depth investigation (Phase II) to assess the acquisition under Italy’s merger control rules,” said a Swisscom statement on Wednesday. 

The deal was first announced back in March, and was given approval by the European Commission in August. The deal will see Swisscom acquire Vodafone’s Italian business unit for €8 billion. 

Once completed, Swisscom plans to merge Vodafone Italia with its Italian subsidiary, Fastweb, creating Italy’s second-largest fixed-line broadband provider, behind market leader Telecom Italia. This, they said, will create around €600 million in savings through increased scale and a more efficient cost structure. As part of the transaction, Vodafone will provide some service to Swisscom for the next five years. 

Vodafone has been actively reshaping its global strategy to streamline operations, reduce debt, and focus on core markets. This approach has seen significant moves across various regions. Last year, the sale of Vodafone’s Spanish unit to Zegona Communications for €5 billion marked a key step in divesting from underperforming markets. In the UK, Vodafone is pursuing a merger with Three, a deal aimed at boosting network investment, accelerating 5G rollout, and creating one of the largest mobile operators in the country. These efforts are part of CEO Margherita Della Valle’s strategy to refocus Vodafone on high-value assets and improve shareholder returns amid a competitive telecom landscape. 

The transaction still requires two additional regulatory approvals, including one from the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, AGCM). On 11 September 2024, the AGCM initiated a Phase II in-depth investigation to review the acquisition under Italy’s merger control regulations. 

Following its 15 March 2024 announcement, Swisscom anticipates completing the transaction in the first quarter of 2025. 

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

Also in the news:
Verizon extends US defence contract in $98m deal
Top 5 stories from Broadband Communities last week
UScellular sells spectrum to AT&T for $1 billion

A new UK mobile operator called Ymobile (Ycorp) has officially launched today and claims to be the United Kingdom’s “first data-led, eSIM MVNO“, all while claiming to offer users a “simpler, more streamlined and environmentally friendly” alternative to traditional mobile networks.

The operator, which is being powered by Three UK’s national 4G and 5G network via a virtual operator (MVNO) agreement, appears to have avoided the usual approach to mobile plans (i.e. bundling data, calls and texts together) and instead offers a range of data-only (mobile broadband) eSIM plans.

Ymobile are initially offering customers a choice of five different 30-day data plans – 2GB for £2, 5GB for £5, 10GB for £7, 50GB for £10 or 100GB for £15 – on a rolling basis, with no minimum contract required. Users need to simply sign up via the Ymobile app on Android or iOS, and download and activate their eSIM.

The approach is one that seems intended to serve as an option for “users who no longer require traditional voice or messaging capabilities“, or those who may be seeking a “second line for business use or for data-intensive tasks like tablet streaming.”

Mike Greaves, Founder and CEO of Y Corp, told ISPreview:

“We are so excited to be launching the UK’s very first data-led eSIM MVNO. Ymobile aims to tackle two of the biggest frustrations many mobile users face: firstly, that much of their monthly plan is wasted on voice calls and texts they no longer want or use. And secondly, the environmental impact of physical SIM cards, that are bad for our planet and can be a fiddly nightmare to switch out and change.

Ymobile is built on Ycorp’s MVNO platform, which offers brands and businesses a truly bespoke way to both drive customer and employee engagement, and to better understand these groups too. With both our B2B and B2C propositions now live, we look forward to seeing the disruptive impact that we believe data-led eSIMs will have on the market.”

The approach being taken by Ymobile is interesting, although the data-only focus also means that customers won’t be able to take advantage of features like 4G Calling or Wi-Fi Calling, while roaming usage is capped at 1GB per 24 hours (credits to our forum members for spotting this). Overall, this is not a million miles from the approach that a good deal of travel eSIM providers already take.

Ymobile also might not be the only operator to come from this group, since Ycorp are promoting themselves as being able to enable brands and businesses to easily build their own privately labelled Full or Lite data-driven eSIM MVNO. In other words, we could be about to see a rush of new virtual providers.

Broadband network operator nexfibre, which shares some of their parentage with retail ISP partner Virgin Media (O2), has announced that they’ve extended their 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) network to cover 9,000 additional homes in the Essex (England) town of Witham.

The town is now fairly well covered by Virgin Media and nexfibre’s combined gigabit broadband networks, although there are also smaller patches of FTTP coverage to be found from Openreach, Gigaclear, Hyperoptic, LightSpeed Broadband and others.

Nexfibre itself has already covered around 1.6 million premises across the UK with their new full fibre network, and they’re currently in the process of investing another £1bn this year, which should enable them to cover an additional 1 million UK premises by the end of 2024 (reaching a total footprint of c.2m).

Just for some context. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners originally set up the new £4.5bn nexfibre joint venture in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT currently served by Virgin Media’s network of 16m+ premises. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.

Rural network builder and ISP Fusion Fibre Group (formerly FACTCO), which has built a number of its own FTTP broadband networks for various communities, has today moved to expand their availability across the UK by signing a new wholesale agreement with PlatformX Communications. PXC was formerly known as TalkTalk Wholesale before the demerger (here).

At present PXC gives retail ISPs access to create broadband packages across a number of different networks, such as Openreach, CityFibre, CommunityFibre, Freedom Fibre and Netomnia. The new deal will give PXC access to that nationwide reach (broadband and Ethernet), as well as a range of backhaul solutions.

Most of this seems to be focused upon expanding the reach of their full fibre (FTTP) products, but FFG also plan to extend their offering to provide copper connections where full fibre is not available (we assume this means FTTC and ADSL2+). This offering, launching in 2025, will allow customers to transition to full fibre services when the time comes.

Adrian Marshman, MD of Fusion Fibre Group, said (Technology Reseller):

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with PXC, a leading aggregator of the UK’s alternative network landscape. This addition to our already extensive profile of partners will play a vital role in our ability to scale and deliver top tier connectivity across the UK.”

EY has today published their annual digital home survey of 2,500 UK consumers, which among other things reveals that the cost-of-living crisis has prompted 34% to consider “more economical broadband options” and 5G mobile is increasingly becoming a substitute for traditional home broadband (33% of households are prepared to switch to this, up from 29% in 2023).

The ‘Decoding the digital home study 2024‘ study, which also covers various other areas (e.g. TV/video streaming), finds that performance continues to be a key driver in broadband purchasing decisions. But the reliability of networks, particularly in urban areas, remains a significant concern for consumers, with 23% of household respondents still experiencing “unreliable home internet“, despite ongoing network upgrades.

However, it should be stressed that “unreliable home internet” can be caused by all sorts of issues, which may not necessarily be the fault of your broadband provider (e.g. local router problems, weak or congested WiFi). But these days many consumers now have an option of different networks and so, even if the underlying network or ISP is at fault, then solutions might sometimes be found by switching provider.

Consumers who do go looking for a new ISP tend to put the need for a broadband speed guarantee (54%) and Wi-Fi home coverage guarantee (46%) as one of their top three considerations, which helps to show why so many providers have introduced similar features over the past few years.

Which of the following service elements of a broadband package would be your top three considerations?

Broadband speed guarantee 54%

Wi-Fi home coverage guarantee 46%

Quality of Wi-Fi router or home hub 38%

Transparent pricing or price promise 35%

Quality of technical support 26%

Ability to customise package 19%

Privacy, security and wellbeing features 18%

Availability of premium content 16%

Availability of back up line in the event of network outages 16%

Range of digital customer support options 8%

Ethically sourced and sustainable equipment 8%

However, as ISPs look to increase the penetration of connectivity and content inside the home, some inhibitors still stand in the way. For example, broadband was found to suffer from poor perceptions of added value around improved speed, with half of households believing higher speeds don’t merit paying more, while a similar proportion query performance promises.

Rob Atkinson, EY UK & Ireland Managing Partner for Technology, Media and Telecoms, said:

“In a landscape where people are closely monitoring their finances, our latest findings reveal a complex picture of consumer behaviour in the UK. Despite a tangible anxiety over the escalating costs of digital services, there is a pivot towards premium offerings.

The year-on-year increase in the pursuit of premium streaming offerings, especially among those in their mid-thirties to mid-forties, highlights a sophisticated consumer base that values not just price, but the richness and convenience of their digital lifestyle.

Simultaneously, the broadband market is witnessing a demographic shift, with younger users leading provider switches. Providers must simplify the switching process and communicate value effectively; particularly as older demographics prioritise network quality and pricing transparency. This nuanced consumer behaviour underscores the need for tailored engagement and service assurance to maintain and grow customer bases in a cost-conscious era.”

The full survey is worth a read and offers some interesting context on the wider market for digital services in the home.

New customers looking to join alternative network provider LightSpeed Broadband, which has built a gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) network across 250,000 premises in the East of England, may like to know that the ISP are offering 50% off the price of all 24-month packages from 150Mbps up to 2000Mbps (the discount period lasts for 12-months).

The provider, which was last year acquired by Kompass Kapital (here), currently claims to have deployments across parts of 32 market towns in South Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Rutland. But under the new Black Friday deal you’ll be able, for example, to take their 150Mbps package for just £12.99 per month (£25.99 after 12-months) and their top 2Gbps plan for just £32.99 (£65.99 after 12-months).

The deals include just a £5 activation fee and will be available to take until 2nd December 2024. Consumers facing early termination fees from their current broadband ISP will also be able to avail themselves of a contract buy-out contribution worth up to £250.

Debt-troubled UK broadband ISP TalkTalk recently published their group accounts for the year to 29th February 2024, which reveals that their on-net customer base (fibre FTTP/C and broadband) fell again to 3.6 million (down from 3.94m in 2023). But their Ethernet (leased lines etc.) base grew to 75,000 (up from 69,400).

The accounts cover the period BEFORE the group’s recent move to accept a refinancing package worth roughly £400m (here and here), which saved TalkTalk from the immediate risk of a default. The deal essentially extended the group’s debt maturities to September 2027 and buys them more time to fix the foundations, which won’t be an easy task (here).

The refinancing deal came after the Group had already spent much of the past few years wrestling with their suffocating debts, which in 2023 culminated in a move to demerge the group into three separate businesses (TalkTalk Consumer, TalkTalk Business Direct and the wholesale centric PlatformX Communications – here), while also cutting costs (e.g. marketing) and monetising some assets (e.g. selling IP addresses).

The hope was that such a demerger would make it easier to sell off individual parts of the business (selling the whole group has proven tricky) and the first piece to go was technically TalkTalk Business Direct, which ended up being sold to the company’s own shareholders for £95m after struggling to attract much interest (here). But so far there have been no further deals, while reports suggest that a proposed deal with Australian banking giant Macquarie for a stake in PlatformX (PXC) fell through.

The latest results, which were published toward the end of October 2024, help to underline the group’s challenges, even if they don’t yet fully reflect the very latest situation. In particular, it is noted that their fibre base declined by c.300k net adds to total 3.01 million (2023: 3.35m) and fibre (FTTC/P) penetration of their customer base now stands at 84% (2023: 85%).

However, the proportion of their overall broadband base on Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines has grown to 15% (2023: 9%), while 22% of their FTTP base is now served by alternative networks including CityFibre, CommunityFibre, FreedomFibre and also Virgin Media (O2) – the rest come from Openreach. The ISP also reported having peak network usage of over 10Tbps (Terabits per second).

Summary of the TalkTalk Group’s Key Results to 29th Feb 2024

➤ Churn 1.9% (2023: 1.7%)

➤ Total employees of 1,824 (as at 29th Feb 2024)

➤ Capital expenditure grew to £126m (2023: £118m), mainly due to investing in the roll-out of FTTP and the backhaul network

➤ Ethernet base 75,000 (2023: 69,400)

➤ TalkTalk Business Direct had c.90,000 business customers

➤ On-net ARPU £25.74 (2023: £24.45)

➤ Fibre base declined by c.300k net adds to total 3.01 million (2023: 3.35m)

➤ On-net customer base (fibre and broadband) fell to 3.6 million (2023: 3.94m)

➤ Net debt grew to £986m (2023: £892m), rising to £1.763bn when including leases (2023: £1.604bn)

➤ Total statutory operating profit fell to £7m (2023: £36m)

➤ Headline EBITDA fell to £260m (2023: £297m)

➤ Statutory revenue grew to £1,472m (2023: £1,457m)

News

The deal is set to boost connectivity in the capital

Neos Networks has joined forces with London-based fibre provider Vorboss to offer new high-capacity, last-mile connectivity options in London. The deal will allow Neos Networks’ customers to access Vorboss’s extensive fibre network through the LIVEQUOTE platform, giving businesses a transparent view of prices for services up to 10Gbps.

The collaboration comes in response to surging demand for high-bandwidth, affordable connectivity in London, particularly as businesses look for resilient networks to support growing digital demands.

“By combining our extensive nationwide network with Vorboss’ advanced London infrastructure, we’re increasing the options for businesses demanding top-tier connectivity. This deal allows us to extend our reach in the capital, providing more organisations with access to the robust, secure networks they need,” said Lee Myall, CEO at Neos Networks in a press release.

“Enabling the London last-mile for Neos will pitch our network directly against the legacy players in London, and will show just how strong we are in performance, delivery timeframes, and value.

The companies say that they are helping to contribute to the UK’s digital infrastructure goals through this deal. By “increasing the availability of high-capacity backhaul and last-mile connections in the capital,” the companies are aiding the government’s nationwide broadband coverage target. The government’s current target is for gigabit broadband to be available to 85% of the UK by 2025 and nationwide by 2030. As of January 2023, the figure sat at around 72% of UK premises (according to Ofcom).

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

Also in the news:
Verizon extends US defence contract in $98m deal
Top 5 stories from Broadband Communities last week
UScellular sells spectrum to AT&T for $1 billion

News  

The purpose of the extension is to create a point-to-point connection within Southwest Asia, the company said. 

Verizon announced a two-year extension to its Global Network Solutions (GNS) contract with the Department of Defence (DoD), boosting the contract’s total value to over $98 million. Originally awarded in 2016, this extension will support secure communication networks in Southwest Asia, a region critical to US government operations. 

Under the contract, Verizon will establish a direct point-to-point connection in the area, supporting the DoD’s efforts to phase out outdated time division multiplexing (TDM) technology. Verizon is undertaking similar initiatives across other federal agencies to improve communication networks. 

“Verizon’s role in delivering a secure, point-to-point connection in the specified area highlights the Department of Defence’s continued confidence in our ability to provide critical network communications in strategic regions,” said David Rouse, head of Verizon’s defence business in the press release. 

Verizon’s relationship with the DoD includes other large-scale projects, such as a $2.67 billion contract with the US Navy back in May this year. This new contract will offer improved and cost-effective wireless solutions to related military and federal agencies. 

Join us at next year’s Connected America, 11-12 March in Dallas. Get Discounted tickets here! 

Also in the news:
VMO2 launches UK’s first 5G standalone small cells in Birmingham
BT says Labour’s budget will cost company £100m
Vodafone Spain and Telefonica complete FibreCo deal 

Mobile operator Lyca Mobile, which is a virtual network operator (MVNO) on EE’s platform in the UK, has partnered up with global eSIM provider Sim Local to offer “high data plans” (mobile broadband) as a regional eSIM option in the UK, France, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal and the US (Lyca also offers eSIMs across its network of 23 countries).

Just to be clear. Sim Local typically caters to global travellers and allows them to avoid expensive roaming charges by opting to use one of their data packs delivered through regional providers. Sim Local provides affordable eSIM deals with a range of options to suit different use cases, from avid sightseers to digital nomads spending months in a new city and business users.

“Partnering with Sim Local allows us to expand our offering into the fast-growing eSIM market, providing our customers with even more flexible and convenient connectivity options”, said Frank Wiemann, CMO of Lyca Mobile. “We’re excited to work with Sim Local, a leader in the travel connectivity space, as we continue to innovate and grow our services for international travellers.”

However, we should point out that there are quite a few other travel eSIM providers around, and we’ve often found Holafly and Airalo to be reasonably good. But there are many other options out there.