Contract-free mobile operator VOXI, which is a virtual operator (MVNO) sibling of Vodafone UK, are now offering both new and existing customers the ability to triple their data allowance on their £12 and £20 a month data plans. On top of that, they’ve also added unlimited music streaming for plans priced £12 and up. The […]

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Upon completion, the new company is set to become the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region 

Qatar’s largest telecom company Ooredoo, Dubai’s TASC Towers and Kuwait-based Zain Group have begun talks to potentially combine their mobile tower assets into a jointly owned independent company that would cover six countries in the Middle East and North Africa. 

The potential joint venture would include around 30,000 towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, and Jordan, and will focus on delivering “operational efficiency, synergy, and a carbon footprint reduction”. 

The new independent tower company “will provide passive infrastructure-as-a-service throughout the region with a focus on operational efficiencies, synergies, and reduction of carbon footprint,” according to the joint press release. 

“Both Ooredoo and Zain will retain their respective active infrastructure, including wireless communication antennas, intelligent software, and intellectual property with respect to managing their telecom networks,” the statement added.  

According to the operators, this new, more efficient capital structure will add shareholder value for both groups. 

If negotiations continue, the signing of the cash and share deal is expected to take place during the third quarter of this year, subject to the typical regulatory approvals.  

The ownership breakdown of the venture is currently undecided as the deal is in its preliminary stages. 

Ooredoo’s revenue hit QAR 23 billion in 2022 ($6.2 billion) and has seen further growth in the first quarter of this year, with a 2% revenue increase between January and March. The company operates in eight countries in the MENA region, as well as in the Maldives and Indonesia.  

Zain is Kuwait’s leading operator, providing services to around 53 million customers across seven countries. 

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Also in the news:
Ooredoo Oman preparing sale of tower assets
Vodafone pockets half a billion euros from Vantage Towers sale
Cellnex snaps up Iliad’s stake in OnTower Poland 

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Connected devices include smart metres, smart bikes, asset tracking sensors, and vehicle telematics

This week, Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel has announced that it has connected over 20 million devices to its IoT platform.

Launched by the company’s B2B division Airtel Business back in 2021, Airtel IoT has quickly accrued more than 8000 enterprise customers in the past two years, according to the company website. This includes companies in numerous major industries, including automobile, energy, utilities, logistics, financial services, and manufacturing.

The IoT platform supports a range of connectivity technologies, such as 5G, 4G, NB-IoT, 2G and satellite, and allows enterprises a centralised portal to manage their IoT device portfolios. This Airtel IoT Hub can provide real time analytics, including data usage and sensor activity.

According to Airtel, the company has been helped to reach the new device milestone by a number of major deals, including a contract with Secure Meters to help power 1.3 million smart metres in the state of Bihar, another with government-backed joint venture TP Western Odisha Distribution for 200,000 smart metres in Odisha, and a deal with Matter Motor Works for 300,000 smart bikes.

“IoT is a key pillar in India’s digital growth journey and, as a brand powering this journey with our future-ready technology solutions for connected devices, we are delighted to achieve this significant milestone of 20 million connected devices on our platform,” said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, CEO, Airtel Business (India) said. “With efficient and cost-effective automated IoT solutions, we are at the forefront of empowering enterprises to extend their reach to the remotest parts of the country on our secure platform as they scale their businesses.”

The global IoT market is growing rapidly worldwide, with some sources suggesting the total number of connected devices will reach 16.7 billion this year.

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Also in the news:
Vodafone warns of investment cuts if Three merger is blocked
Vodafone and Three UK closing in on merger
Dish and EchoStar consider merger

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The cuts are the first since the telecoms company was created in 2021 

Following the publication of their Q2 results today, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has announced that it will cut nearly 11% of its total workforce by the end of the year. 

Around 2,000 jobs will be cut in total, confirming rumours that were reported earlier this year. 

The losses come just over two years after VMO2 was formed in a £31 billion merger, which has left the newly formed company over £20 billion in debt. 

“As we continue to integrate and transform as a company, we are currently consulting on proposals to simplify our operating model to better deliver for customers, which will see a reduction in some roles this year,” a spokesman for the company said earlier today. 

The quarterly report confirmed the loss of 24,700 fixed line customers and 1,500 mobile subscribers. The customer losses are likely due to price increases that came into effect in April, combined with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.  

These price rises contributed to a 6.2% year-on-year revenue increase, with total revenue reaching £2.71 billion despite customer losses. 

“As we navigate a tough economic climate, we have a clear long-term strategy and continue to deliver for customers,” said VMO2 CEO Lutz Schüler. 

“Amidst higher costs, rising usage and continued investment, we executed necessary price increases in line with our expectations with the impact starting to flow through to our Q2 revenue and EBITDA growth.” 

The move follows in the footsteps of its major rivals, as BT announced in May that it will cut 55,000 jobs before 2030. CEO Phillip Jansen, who recently confirmed he will step down next year, told investors he expects that AI to replace around 10,000 of the roles. 

Vodafone has also announced plans to cut 11,000 jobs over the next three years in an effort to recover from its recent poor financial performance.  

Speaking on the numerous recent cuts, analyst Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight noted that: “We’ve seen a correction in workforce across all sectors, most notably big tech. We are now starting to see this transcend into other verticals. Telco is not immune and with significant technological developments around the corner; this will further fuel job cuts.” 

How have recent job cuts impacted the UK’s telecoms industry?  Join the ecosystem in discussion at this year’s live Connected Britain conference 

Also in the news:
“Vodafone must change”: New boss Della Valle plans 11,000 job cuts
Vodafone sales increase as merger looms
“Talent rebalance”: BT to shrink presence at iconic Adastral Park

The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), high street retailer Currys and Computer Recyclers have today teamed-up to launch the ‘Get Online @ Home‘ scheme, which offers special deals on broadband and discounted refurbished devices to the 11 million people across the UK who they claim are experiencing digital exclusion. A quick look at the scheme’s website […]

A couple of years ago Vodafone launched what it called an “evolution in mobile phone plans” with their new 4G and 5G supporting EVO packages, which gave customers more flexibility over payments, contract lengths and smartphone upgrades etc. Today they’ve extended that to include other device bundles, such as laptops and tablets. The EVO plans […]

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Andrei Lipov, head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications (Roskomnadzor), met with Iranian telecoms minister Issa Zarepour to discuss internet regulation and telecoms collaboration

Over the weekend, the head of the Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor reportedly met with the Iranian telecoms minister to discuss “issues related to the internet”.

The primary focus of the meeting was to discuss ‘the protection of children online’, according to a statement from the Iranian government, which said it had valuable experience in this area to share with Russia.

The discussions also included collaboration around spectrum strategy, including potentially sharing spectrum to boost the quality and speed of internet services.

Finally, the duo discussed how they could best align their positions within the International Telecoms Union (ITU).

Lipov is also expected to meet with Amir Lajevardi, Iran’s deputy minister of ICT, this week, “to discuss opportunities for increased presence of Iranian telecoms companies in the Russian market”.

Russia and Iran both have terrible records when it comes to internet freedoms, including a long history of censorship and even internet blackouts.

Since 2012, Russia has maintained a centralised internet blacklist, known as the ‘single register’, overseen by Roskomnadzor. Over the years, the scope of the sites included on the single register has expanded from a focussing on drug use and pornography to encompass numerous social media sites, including both Facebook (Meta) and Twitter in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In 2019, the government also initiated plans forcing the country’s telecoms network operators to install equipment allowing them to separate the Russian internet ecosystem (Runet) from the wider internet if ordered to do so by the government.

Iran’s internet censorship, meanwhile, is even stricter, blocking numerous major social media sites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat, Reddit, Medium, Instagram, and Threads. The government has also repeatedly shut down access to the internet completely during times of civil unrest, including during the 2019 fuel protests and the Mahsa Amini protests in 2022 and 2023.

Both Russia and Iran argue that they are under digital attack by the West, claiming that social media sites are being used to fuel unrest and anti-government sentiment.

Want to keep up with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world? Sign up to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
Vodafone warns of investment cuts if Three merger is blocked
Vodafone and Three UK closing in on merger
Dish and EchoStar consider merger

The Connecting Cambridgeshire project in England, which is being led by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, has today highlighted the progress they’re making in helping to accelerate the roll-out of gigabit-capable broadband across the county, with 21km of new fibre ducting already installed or soon to be deployed. The programme’s “Dig Once” policy was […]

Internet provider Giganet are today reporting that they’re investigating a problem across their national UK network, which may be causing some leased line (Ethernet) and full fibre (FTTP) broadband customers to experience degraded service quality. According to the customer complaints we’ve seen, most of the gripes started in the small hours of this morning. The […]

Network builder and UK broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which is rolling out a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across London, has today reached the coverage milestone of 1 million homes passed (up from 720,000 in December 2022). The operator has expanded its network footprint by 75% in the last 12 months alone. Breaking news.. more to […]