UK ISP TalkTalk has revealed that peak internet usage on their broadband network is higher now than it was during the height of the pandemic, having risen by a fifth (21%) since 2020, with the average evening peak of 7.23Tbps (Terabits per second) in 2022 vs 5.95Tbps in 2020. But come 2027 it’ll be much […]

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US private equity firm KKR has agreed to extend the deadline for TIM to respond to its non-binding proposal by four weeks, giving the government more time to explore its potential ramifications

For most of last year, it looked as if the Italian government’s plan to create a single national broadband network by merging the fixed line assets of TIM and Open Fiber was finally making progress.

In May, formal negotiations between key players finally began, with a Memorandum of Understanding between TIM, Open Fiber, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP, the government-backed investor in both companies), KKR, and Macquarie Asset Management ending years of stalemate.

The group aimed to reach a binding agreement by October, but these discussions were stalled by differing opinions regarding the valuation of TIM’s fixed line assets.

To make matters worse, the new administration under Giorgia Meloni, which came to power in October, proved much less receptive to the idea of a single network, insisting that any critical infrastructure should be more firmly under government ownership.

As a result, a deal never materialised, leaving the single network plan in limbo once again.

This all changed at the start of this month, however, when KKR presented TIM a non-binding offer to purchase a stake in the company’s fixed-line business.

The offer is predicated on TIM spinning off its fixed line infrastructure into a new business tentatively called NetCo, which includes not only the company’s fixed broadband assets but also its submarine cable unit, Sparkle.

Separating TIM’s network and enterprise assets into separate units in this way is a central tenant of new TIM CEO Pietro Labriola’s plan to revitalise the operator’s finances, offering greater opportunities for outside investment.

The financial details of KKR’s offer have not been formally announced, but sources suggest the deal would take a controlling stake in NetCo, potentially valuing the business at over €20 billion. They also suggest the move would leave a roughly 30% stake free for a government-backed investor, which could also have some vetting powers over strategic issues.

TIM has been firmly in KKR’s sights for many years now, with the operator’s relatively flat financial performance leading to a share price many suggested undervalued its infrastructure assets.

Indeed, KKR’s first investment in the business came back in 2020, when the firm agreed to purchase a 37.5% stake in TIM’s newly spun-off ‘last mile’ network, Fibercop. Next year, this was followed by a full takeover offer, with KKR presenting TIM with a bid of €10.8 billion. This bid was ultimately rejected by TIM’s key stakeholder Vivendi, who deemed the bid too low.

Now, this latest bid for NetCo could see KKR finally get its hands on the invaluable Italian infrastructure it has so long pined for. However, the offer will seemingly not go unanswered by other suitors for the infrastructure unit, with Italian media suggesting earlier this month that the CDP is partnering with Macquarie for a counter bid of its own.

According to reports, the CDP would fund 60% of the bid, with Macquarie the remaining 40%.

Almost two weeks later, however, and this counteroffer has failed to materialise at the supposed deadline, a fact that saw TIM’s share price dip by 3% over the weekend.

However, the CDP may yet have a chance to present their case, with KKR announcing today that they have extended the deadline for TIM to respond to their offer by a further four weeks, following a government request.

According to TIM, the request is to give the government more time to analyse the “public aspects” of the proposed deal.

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Also in the news:
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VIEWPOINT

The requirements of consumers, both individual and those from the enterprise market, are constantly growing. In order to meet them, telecommunications companies must revise their resources and approach. How can they focus on developing innovation, and at the same time pay attention to current relationships with partners and customers?

Challenges of the rapidly growing B2B and B2C industry markets

The needs of the modern consumer are changing rapidly, which means that companies from the telecommunications industry and more must react immediately to offer products tailored to meet these requirements. Increased competition does not make it easier to reach a selected group of recipients. How can you always stay one step ahead of your competitors?

It is crucial to focus on the endless possibilities that 5G network services provide, for example, creating network slices or private networks. Monetizing the network is not only an opportunity to gain new revenue streams, but also a challenge. Let’s consider how to ensure smooth cooperation between all parties involved in the provision of 5G services, for example in a stadium. It is important to understand the role of each of them, and then automate and streamline quoting and ordering for complex products. It may be helpful to provide end-to-end solutions to enterprise customers as well as other players involved.

Simple and ready-to-automate systems

Another way to develop innovation in your company may be to use comprehensive, ready-to-use tools that will also be flexible enough to allow various modifications in accordance with the wishes of clients from the enterprise sector and more.

Catalogs, for example, will allow you to create new services easily. The current trend is the drag and drop function, thanks to which you can drag the selected item from the catalog to a new service and thus extend it. It’s just like playing with blocks and building a new shape from the same set of toys.

The real power of artificial intelligence

In digitized telecommunications companies, it is often said that the heart of a given service or system is artificial intelligence (AI). But what does that really mean? Artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) are able to support daily work carried out on the premises and in the field.

It can be said that, in the modern world, the knowledge of experts is a luxury that is difficult to access. Therefore, in order to ensure smooth operations, it is necessary to limit the need to use such experts. Artificial intelligence is perfect for this, as it allows you to automate the creation of new service topologies based on existing resources in near real time.

Discover how to make your business more innovative and have solutions to meet the growing demands of the market. Comarch has an experience in supporting telecoms in the creation of innovative value. See episodes of the campaign entitled “Creating Innovative Value in Telco” and learn more about implementing a future-proof system in your company.

Farewell BT Sport. Last year’s agreement between broadband giant BT and Warner Bros. Discovery, which resulted in a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) company between BTSport and Eurosport UK, will now officially result in the channels being rebranded as TNT Sport for the UK and Ireland. According to BT, the change will be introduced from July […]

BT Group’s Chief Financial Officer, Simon Lowth, has today called on the UK government – ahead of next month’s 2023 UK Budget – to consider the introduction of “a much more competitive system of capital allowances” in order to help operators roll-out new gigabit-capable broadband and 5G mobile networks. Until recently, those deploying new fibre […]

SpaceX’s Starlink service, which uses a mega constellation of compact satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to deliver ultrafast broadband speeds, has invited an unknown number of customers to trial a new “Global Roaming” service for the hefty price of $200 per month (c.£165) – plus $599 for the hardware. At present, UK customers typically […]

The government began debating the Draft Trade (Mobile Roaming) Regulations 2023 in parliament yesterday, which at present represents an extension of the UK-Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein free trade agreement that contains provisions for regulating (capping) mobile roaming charges at wholesale (calls, texts and mobile broadband). At present, most of the market’s primary mobile network operators, […]

The Government of South Korea has set somewhat of a marker down for the world this week after announcing that they would aim to bring forward the timetable for launching the first commercial 6G based mobile network, which would see it being introduced from 2028 instead of 2030 (with pre-6G trials staring in 2026). At […]

News

The telecommunications equipment vendor said it would cut around 1,400 jobs in its home market of Sweden

This week, Ericsson has announced that it is seeking to reduce its company headcount in Sweden by 1,400 people, having agreed with trade unions to implement a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Exactly which departments of the business will be most affected by these cuts is not yet clear.

Ericsson currently employs around 15,000 people in its home country, with its global workforce totalling around 100,000 staff.

These cuts should not come as too great a surprise. The global economic situation, with high inflation and a myriad of supply chain issues, has left operators wary about scaling up their expensive RAN equipment rollouts, with Ericsson seeing a corresponding dip in revenue.

As such, at the end of last year, Ericsson announced that it would look to implement major cost-saving measures across its business, with the aim of saving 9 billion kronor (roughly $870 million) by the end of 2023. Naturally, this process was to include job cuts, though the specific details were not announced at the time.

Now, Ericsson has shared some further details of the process, which also includes cuts to consultants and other streamlining measures.

“As previously announced, Ericsson has accelerated cost improvements at a run-rate of SEK 9 crowns globally by the end of 2023, of which 70 percent in cost of goods sold and 30 percent in SG&A. The cost savings cover various areas such as reduction of consultants, streamlining of processes, reduced facilities, etc. As previously announced, it will also include headcount reduction,” explained the company in a statement.

According to Reuters, additional cuts in other markets are expected to be announced in the near future.

It is worth noting here that Ericsson is not the only technology company to be making major job cuts in recent months. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have been among the litany of major tech firms to announce significant layoffs since the start of 2023, with the economic downturn biting into revenues worldwide.

Keep up with all the latest international telecoms news with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
AT&T signs up to use Frontier’s fibre to connect mobile towers
UScellular urges customers to put down their phones in latest initiative
VMO2 and Vodafone give rural Scotland a 4G boost

Press Release

Vodafone today announced plans to expand its European collaboration with Google in mobile messaging services, Pixel devices, and Vodafone’s TV platform.

The expanded agreement between the companies will enable Vodafone customers to enjoy rich new messaging experiences through the adoption of Google Jibe Cloud to power Vodafone’s use of Rich Communications Services. The agreement will also introduce the Pixel 7 handset to Vodafone customers and build out Vodafone functionality for other Pixel categories. Android TV will also be adopted as the preferred platform for Vodafone’s television offer in nine countries. The expanded agreement will also enable Google to leverage further the power of Vodafone’s 5G and ultra-fast fibre-optic networks.

“Google and Vodafone are teaming up to bring users modern messaging with RCS, an engaging interactive TV experience and exciting new Android smartphones,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Platforms and Ecosystems at Google. “We appreciate the partnership with Vodafone and we’re excited to delight our millions of mutual customers across Europe.”

Aldo Bisio, Chief Commercial Officer of Vodafone Group, added: “Expanding our excellent relationship with Google further will enable us to leverage their technological innovation to provide our consumer and business customers with engaging new experiences built on best-in-class services, all of which will be underpinned by our 5G and Gigafast broadband networks.

Vodafone’s expanded relationship with Google will span three strategic areas:

Messaging – Messages by Google, powered by Google’s Jibe Cloud, will become the default messaging app on all applicable Android devices sold via Vodafone‘s carrier sales channels. Vodafone users will benefit from an interactive modern messaging experience by supporting the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard, which works on all Android smartphones, regardless of model or mobile network. This includes supporting high quality photos and videos, read receipts, enhanced group messaging and encryption for one-to-one chats – all with the highest level of data privacy and security. Vodafone Business customers will also benefit from the expanded relationship with Google, as messaging becomes an increasingly critical channel for businesses of all sizes to connect with consumers. Vodafone’s adoption of Google’s RCS business messaging platform, which today serves over 500 million users across the globe, will dramatically simplify business onboarding and operations, helping businesses engage with consumers through innovative conversational experiences for services and sales.

Pixel devices – Vodafone plans to expand the availability of Pixel smartphone and wearable devices to additional markets in 2023. Vodafone mobile customers in these countries will be able to use the fantastic new Pixel 7 phone, as well as Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds, with Vodafone’s award-winning 5G coverage. Vodafone and Google will also significantly improve the experience of other connected devices, including the Pixel Watch, through Vodafone’s mobile network and OneNumber service.

Vodafone TV – Vodafone will use Android TV as its preferred Group-wide set top box platform for Vodafone TV services going forward, allowing customers to continue to access the widest range of entertainment through VTV, and, now, enjoy thousands of apps and games available on Google Play through the intuitive VTV interface.

Keep up with all the latest international telecoms news with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
AT&T signs up to use Frontier’s fibre to connect mobile towers
UScellular urges customers to put down their phones in latest initiative
VMO2 and Vodafone give rural Scotland a 4G boost