Spanish telecom operator MasMovil agrees $3.3 billion private equity bid
KKR, Cinven and Providence have made their Public Acquisition Offer for Spanish telecoms operator MasMovil. The three venture capital funds have proposed to pay EUR 22.5 per share of the telco, which is valued at almost EUR 3 billion. According to the statement, KKR, Cinven and Providence will pay a 20 percent premium on the current MasMovil share price. Meinrad Spenger, MasMovil Chief Executive, said that they have signed an agreement with the bidders on a deal which would be “beneficial for the shareholders and other stakeholders in the company.” Furthermore, the bidders noted that they would maintain continuity in MasMovil’s strategy, staff and executive team.
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Google Cloud signs major UK government deal
The technology giant Google Cloud has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to make its cloud solutions more accessible to the various segments of the UK government. According to Simon Tse, Chief Executive of CCS, this MoU will unlock large-scale business benefits for their customers and will demonstrate CCS’s role in helping the public sector serve UK citizens in more innovative ways. This agreement incorporates all services and products offered by the Google Cloud business, including its comprehensive hybrid and multi-cloud solution, Anthos, that makes it easy to manage workflows across multiple clouds and on-premise.
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Amazon reportedly considering $2 billion stake in Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel
Amazon.com is planning to acquire a 5 percent stake worth at least USD 2 billion in Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. Bharti Airtel said that they routinely cooperate with all digital and OTT players to bring their products, content and services for the company’s wide customer base. Over the years, the American tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have formed multiple partnerships with telecom operators in India, which is their key overseas market, to expand their reach in the nation. Amazon, which leads the cloud market in India, currently does not have a similar deal with a telecom operator.
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South Korea’s $62 billion ‘New Deal’ will boost 5G, AI
With a focus on technology as a key driver of economic recovery, South Korea has announced a USD 62 billion ‘New Deal’, the goal of which is to create 550,000 jobs by 2022, with 100,000 of these planned to be specialists in software programming and artificial intelligence (AI). The country will use part of these funds to directly promote 5G technology and AI in various industries, and to assist in the development of some of the nation’s most digitally underdeveloped areas. South Korea’s three major telcos, SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus, have agreed to invest around USD 3.4 billion in their 5G networks in the first half of 2020.
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International voice traffic spikes 20% during COVID-19
Wholesale carrier association i3Forum has reported a surge in the number and duration of international calls. During the coronavirus pandemic, international roaming traffic decreased by 30 percent, and international voice traffic increased by 20 percent year-on-year in March, while the duration of phone calls was up 30 percent in March and over 60 percent in April 2020 compared to 2019. Philippe Millet, Chairman of i3forum, said, “Changing user behaviors, resulting from the move to remote working and ‘stay at home’ orders, have had an immediate impact on the international voice market.”
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/ybyfb49d
