Network operator Neos Networks, which operates one of the fastest growing and highest capacity business fibre networks in the UK – spanning 34,000km, 550 exchanges and 676 Points of Presence (PoPs), has today launched its new national 400Gbps Optical Wavelength services across 26 data centres (they have a total of 90 on-net). Previously the highest […]

Broadband and mobile giant Virgin Media O2 Business (VMO2) has today announced somewhat of a UK first by becoming the first telecoms operator to launch a commercially-available portable 5G private network (PN), which is currently under trial at a number of UK businesses and harnesses Nokia’s 5G Standalone (SA) tech. Once plugged in, the new […]

Homes and businesses in the Hertfordshire (England) market town of Tring have faced several days of disruption to their broadband ISP connectivity, which occurred after rodents with a taste for optical fibre chewed through one of Openreach’s (BT) main high capacity fibre trunking cables in the area. Over the years we’ve seen plenty of animal […]

Ookla, which operates the popular internet Speedtest.net benchmarking service, has published the results of an interesting new study that examines how mobile broadband (4G and 5G) performance (i.e. downloads and latency) differs between local vs roaming connectivity across the United Kingdom and European Union. Interestingly, residents from 17 countries showed faster local download speeds than […]

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The fine is the latest in a string of sanctions Telefónica has received in relation to the merger 

The Spanish National Markets and Competition regulator (CNMC) has fined Telefónica €5 million for failing to adhere to its accepted commitments related to the acquisition of broadcasting company Distribuidora de Televisión Digital (DTS) in 2015. 

The deal saw Telefónica fully acquire DTS for around €725 million, a move that made the operator the largest player in the Spanish pay-TV market.

As such, Spanish regulators insisted that Telefónica make numerous commitments to preserving market competition, including maintaining DTS’s existing contracts with other communications operators and making wholesale offers of premium channels (with broadcast access to major sporting events) available to other TV operators. 

However, in 2021, Telefónica and streaming service DAZN struck a deal whereby DAZN acquired the exclusive right to broadcast the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Formula 1 seasons, and allowed Telefónica to access all DAZN content.  

After a CNMC investigation, the regulator ruled that that this deal breached three of  Telefónica’s commitments to maintaining competition in the pay-TV market. The regulator said that the operator had failed to offer premium content to wholesale clients (instead marketing the Formula 1 exclusively via DAZN); had acquired exclusive broadcasting rights for third-party channels, despite this being prohibited; and failed to agree a wholesale pricing structure for premium channels, including Formula 1 content. 

Telefónica has two months to appeal the CNMC decision. 

This is not the first time that Telefónica has been fined for breaching clauses related to the DTS acquisition. In March this year, the CNMC fined the operator €6 million for having permanence clauses that prevented customers from switching providers. This was in addition to a €5 million fine handed down in September last year for a further lack of compliance with its merger commitments. 

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Also in the news:
Telefónica and Sateliot make history with 5G roaming space connection
Telefónica proposes fibre partnership with Vodafone
Scottish Highlands and Islands get 4G boost from EE 

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With a potential takeover by Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) now off the table, TalkTalk’s options are limited

According to a report from The Telegraph, UK ISP TalkTalk is preparing to break-up and sell off the company’s various business units, largely to meet the demands of looming debt deadlines.

The company has been facing financial hardship for some time now, with its total debt standing at over £1.1 billion. To make matters worse, the deadlines to service these debts are rapidly approaching, with TalkTalk carrying a £330 million revolving credit facility that matures next November, as well as £685 million of debt that matures in February 2025.

With interest rates soaring, refinancing these debts could be eye-wateringly expensive, leading the company to consider its options.

For a time, it looked like the solution to these problems would be solved by a proposed £3 billion takeover by VMO2 last year, but the deal ultimately failed to materialise.

As a result, the company has been forced to look inwardly for solutions, with the first hints of a strategic shakeup being revealed in March this year, when the company’s management team began to undergo changes.

M&A specialist James Smith, formerly Head of Finance at Capricorn Energy, was brought in as TalkTalk’s as its new chief financial officer, while consumer and B2B chief Jonathan Kini was replaced by with Adam Dunlop, TalkTalk’s MD of Supply and Partnerships.

Around the same time, reports suggested that the company was looking to offload is B2B division. Today, this sale process is already underway, with analysts suggesting that the unit could be worth £150–200 million. B2B telco group Daisy Group is among those reportedly bidding for the division.

Indeed, it now appears that TalkTalk is leaning even more heavily into splitting off its various business units, with reports suggesting that TalkTalk executives communicated to bondholders that they were scaling back commercial activity, including sales and marketing budgets by 40%, in an effort to shore up the company’s bank balance.

They also explained that the company would now be focussing on disposals, noting that “individual parts [of the business] are worth more than the whole”.

The company is now working to legally separate its consumer business, aiming to attract buyers or investors.

If all of these divestments do come to pass, that will leave TalkTalk as a purely wholesale business.

How would the breakup of TalkTalk impact the UK telecoms market? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s live Connected Britain conference

Also in the news:
Telefónica and Sateliot make history with 5G roaming space connection
Vodafone to begin deploying AWS edge technology in Spain
UK government unveils £40m funding for 5G innovation

Customers of UK broadband ISP Virgin Media (VMO2), specifically those who take their pay TV service via one of the operator’s TV 360, STREAM or v6 box platforms, may like to know that the provider has today launched 14 new “themed” (FAST) TV channels for no extra cost. The additions all reflect Free Ad-Supported Streaming […]

New research from network operator Virgin Media (VMO2) and economic consultancy Cebr has claimed that £65.1bn could be added to the UK economy and employment could be increased by 6.8% (creating an additional 284,000 new jobs), but only provided all rural areas get access to “excellent digital connectivity“. According to Ofcom’s data (here), some 97% […]

A new benchmark of mobile network performance (voice and broadband) across the Greater London area, which was conducted by the little known NET CHECK organisation, has revealed that Vodafone UK beat rivals at EE (BT), Three UK and O2 (Virgin Media) to be named as the best performing operator. The NET CHECK study, which involved […]

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has today published a shortlist of finalists for their 2023 annual industry awards, which sees 40 organisations (broadband ISPs, network builders etc.) being nominated across 13 categories, with a further 3 category shortlists due to be announced later in the year. Just to recap. The winners of last […]