Struggling to manage its colossal debt, UK ISP TalkTalk is meticulously strategizing its exit route. Insights suggest that breaking down business units and restructuring management is a bid to steady the wavering financial ship.
Vocus, the Australian fibre giant, eyes a substantial expansion via a potential A$6.3 billion acquisition of TPG Telecom’s enterprise, wholesale, and government assets, including the wholesale infrastructure sector, Vision Network. However, TPG’s Board’s decision remains pending, casting doubt around the contract’s finalisation.
Verizon and YouTube team up to offer NFL Sunday Ticket, Cisco and Qwilt enhance content delivery in Italy, Verizon and AT&T notify customers of new fees, Google rolls out safety feature for detecting Bluetooth trackers on Android devices, and worldwide smartphone market sees a 10% decline in Q2 2023.
The UK telecom authority, Ofcom, released its quarterly findings revealing increased customer complaints related to telecom and Pay-TV services. With Pay-TV, fixed broadband, landline, and pay-monthly mobile sectors under examination, the report uncovers the underpinning issues like changing providers, billing, and service faults. Notably, TalkTalk garnered the most complaints in the landline and fixed broadband sectors, while BT Mobile led in the pay-monthly mobile domain.
Crown Castle, focusing on a restructuring plan, intends to trim its workforce by 15% in response to telecom firms reducing investment. Alongside staff reduction, it will cease tower installation services while continuing to offer site development. Despite lowered earnings predictions, the second quarter of 2021 showed strong revenue growth, highlighting the company’s resilience in a challenging market.
Vodafone UK embarks on a significant transformation, merging its diverse networks into a single, highly efficient structure – the SDN-enabled Redstream Evolution network. This remodeling promises enhanced customer experience, substantial savings, and serves as a response to the ever-growing demand for data nationwide. The question remains, will this innovative network design herald the new era of telecoms integration?
BT’s innovative Etc unit is poised to launch trials repurposing outdated street cabinets into electric vehicle (EV) charging points. Aiming at a smooth transition during the UK’s fiber rollout, this pioneering step initially caters to BT Group and Openreach employees in Northern Ireland, with plans for public engagement. However, the venture’s ultimate impact rests heavily on successful pilot performance.
Allot Ltd. is chosen by a major Asian telecom operator to provide Allot DNS Secure, offering cybersecurity threat protection and parental control features to over 50 million customers. Digital Locations unveils technology to connect smartphones worldwide to high-speed Internet from satellites, promising commercial success. Veeam integrates Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 with Microsoft’s new 365 Backup. Verizon showcases a point-to-multipoint internet solution using mmWave spectrum, reducing costs and complexities. Bridewell’s research warns of environmental challenges amplifying cybersecurity risks for over 80% of U.S. critical infrastructure organizations.
The UK’s newly established business council brings together heads of fourteen industry behemoths like AstraZeneca, NatWest Group, and Vodafone, offering insights to the Prime Minister on critical economic matters. It’s interesting that Google DeepMind is the only exception to the FTSE 100 list; also significant is the vocal Vodafone inclusion, led by CEO Margherita Della Valle, along with the impending departure of BT’s CEO Philip Jansen amidst a period of shrinkage. The absence of SME representation on the council has fueled criticism, underscoring the complexity and potential bias in shaping Britain’s economic future.
Huawei plans a comeback in the smartphone market with new 5G devices using domestic chip supplies. Concerns persist about the quality of these chips and Huawei’s absence from the Android Play Store. CityFibre challenges Openreach with a faster wholesale FTTH service, while Optus collaborates with SpaceX’s Starlink to expand mobile coverage in Australia’s remote areas. Ofcom investigates O2 Virgin Media over customer complaints, and the European Court of Justice rejects a ruling on the Three-O2 merger, adding to the uncertainty in the telecommunications regulatory landscape.
