Space broadband provider OneWeb, which is part-owned by the UK government and typically offers its services to organisations rather than individuals (e.g. ISPs, businesses, governments, shipping etc.), has begun testing a new foldable, person portable User Terminal (UT) in London today. Just to recap. OneWeb has already launched 634 of their small (c.150kg) first generation […]

Leicester-based broadband ISP Gigabit Networks, which previously focused on connecting premises across the Midlands of England via CityFibre’s full fibre network (they also work with FullFibre Limited), has today announced the expansion of their service availability to encompass CityFibre’s national footprint. At present CityFibre’s 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network covers 3 million premises (up from […]

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Digi Communications have expressed interest in taking ownership of MásMóvil’s mobile assets if the European Commission (EC) mandates their divestment as part of merger conditions

Earlier this summer, the EC extended its investigation into the potential $19 billion merger of Orange and MásMóvil in Spain, saying they needed more time to assess the true impact of reducing the country’s mobile market from four players to three.

Since then, speculation around the kinds of conditions that the EC may attach to the deal has been rife, with reports suggesting that the EC was preparing a ‘statement of objections’ to present to the operators.

Against the backdrop of these rumours, numerous smaller companies have begun to voice their interest in purchasing the operators’ assets, should they be forced to offload them as part of the EC’s merger stipulations.

These companies include Spanish national mobile and broadband providers Finetwork, Avatel, and Adamo, who have all sought to position themselves as the ideal third party for such dealmaking over the past few months.

More recently, this group of communications service providers have been joined by Romanian telecoms group Digi Communications, whose CEO Serghei Bulgac last month suggested the merger presented a huge opportunity.

“This an important transformative moment for the Spanish market, with the market possibly going from four large players to three large players, and if there is an opportunity… for us to play a part in this process, we will certainly be interested,” he told journalists on an earnings call.

This week, in fact, the company’s interest has been taken one step further, with Digi Spain’s CEO Marius Varzaru saying the company would invest €2 billion if it were to receive MásMóvil’s spectrum and mobile network as part of the merger.

Varzaru told Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the company’s investment in rolling out 5G and fibre networks strengthen the national economy, as well as generating roughly 1,500 jobs. He further argued that Spain needed “four strong mobile operators”, saying that Digi was well positioned to fill that role.

For now, it remains unclear exactly what remedies will be offered by the EC to facilitate the merger, but the wider industry’s interest in MásMóvil’s assets could not be more obvious.

How is the European Commission’s attitude towards telecoms consolidation shifting in 2023? Join the operators in discussion with regulators at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live in Amsterdam

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Mobile operator Vodafone and Vodacom have today announced that they’ve agreed a “strategic collaboration” deal to harness Amazon’s future Project Kuiper constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellites, which will be used to help extend the reach of their 4G and 5G networks across Europe and Africa. At present Amazon hasn’t actually launched their […]

Some customers of mobile network operators EE (BT), Vodafone and O2 (Virgin Media) are this morning continuing to report problems with making and receiving calls between the aforementioned networks (this also impacted some landline calls), which is an issue that first began around midday on Monday (4th Sept). Just to recap. Yesterday afternoon quickly turned […]

Openreach (BT) has this morning confirmed that they’ve formally introduced their long-planned UK wide “stop sell” on sales of new Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) and related broadband ISP products, which is part of their aim to completely withdraw the old copper-based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) by December 2025. As we’ve said before, this does […]

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The two deals will make France the largest market in which Phoenix Tower International (PTI) operators 

PTI, based in Florida, has closed two deals allowing it to acquire 1,978 cell sites located in urban areas across France. 

These sites will be added to the more than 1,600 sites PTI already owns in France, with the firm aiming to increase the total number of sites it owns in the country to 5,000 sites  within the next two years. 

 The site acquisitions took the form of two separate deals, with1,226 sites hosting French operator SFR acquired through a wholly owned subsidiary of PTI, and the expansion of Phoenix France Infrastructures 2, a subsidiary of PTI, through the addition of 752 sites hosting Bouygues Telecom. 

“With these transactions, PTI diversifies its portfolio across France with sites located all over the country, including major cities to better serve the populations with strong wireless connectivity,” said Dagan Kasavana, CEO of PTI. 

“France is one of the most dynamic telecom markets in Europe and PTI’s growth will continue facilitating coverage deployments for all French wireless operators across the country. We are pleased to have collaborated with the professionals at Cellnex, Bouygues Telecom, and SFR on these transactions.” 

Following the transaction, France is now the largest market of the 21 in which PTI operate. The firm operate more than 22,000 towers across Europe and the Americas. 

In 2020, PTI partnered with Bouygues Telecom to develop 4,000 new wireless towers in rural areas over the next 12 years. 

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The facility will bring together partners from universities, research institutes, and businesses across Germany 

Deutsche Telekom has opened a “Quantum Lab” facility based at its Berlin T-Labs, dedicated to quantum research and the integration of quantum technology into its telecommunications operations. 

The research facility is connected to over 2,000km of fibre optical network, allowing researchers to conduct quantum-optical experiments alongside partners across Germany. 

Deutsche Telekom notes that research at the facility will primarily focus on quantum entanglement, particularly its connotations for quantum cryptography and the creation of extra security in communications.  

According to the operator, this focus on quantum entanglement also could allow for a “quantum internet of things”, creating a higher-powered network of distributed and sensory applications. 

“The opening of our Quantum Lab is a clear signal that we are serious about bringing quantum technology to the commercial networks of telecommunications providers,” said Claudia Nemat, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Deutsche Telekom. 

“We explicitly invite the research and innovation community to join us in leveraging networks at the interface between R&D and commercial exploration like ours. To prove that innovative quantum technology solutions work under real-world conditions. And to usher in a new era of communications service.” 

In February, the company announced its leading position in the European Union’s PETRUS project, leading and coordinating the collaboration of 27 EU countries as they collectively build a quantum communications infrastructure that will run through Europe, named EuroQCI. 

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Also in the news:
Altafiber raises $600m in funding for fibre expansion
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Vodafone to begin UK’s largest Open RAN rollout  

Network operator Upp, which is investing £1bn (via LetterOne) to deploy a new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network for homes and businesses across the East of England, has launched a new ‘BusinessEssentials’ package that is designed to provide its “Next Level Broadband” service to smaller firms. Just to recap. Upp’s initial aim was to cover […]

The Common Wholesale Platform (CWP) and related Common Switching Platform (CSP), which is a non-profit member-owned organisation that helps alternative broadband networks to provide wholesale services to the UK market (ISPs), has hailed successful switching tests with the TOTSCo One Touch Switching (OTS) platform. The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) currently has the complex […]