French telecommunications service provider Iliad S.A. has agreed to buy the Polish telecommunications company Play Communications S.A. for $2.6 billion as it expands across Europe. The deal will make Iliad the sixth largest mobile operator in Europe. In an announcement on Monday, the companies revealed that Iliad had offered $10.35 per share for Play and received binding commitments from two controlling shareholders for a 40% stake, which would give it the majority of seats on Play’s board of directors. Iliad also hopes that the deal will allow the company to enter the growing Polish telecommunications market and boost Play’s growth in the mobile sector. With the addition of Play, Iliad will have 41 million subscribers in France, Poland and Italy. However, the transaction still needs to be approved by the relevant regulatory authorities, and a notification of the proposed acquisition has to be submitted to the European Commission.…
The Chinese tech company OPPO, currently the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in its home country after Huawei, has announced a comprehensive partnership agreement with the UK-based telecom giant Vodafone. Under the deal, Vodafone will become an OPPO partner and bring its full-range of 4G and 5G smartphones to retail and online channels in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and the Netherlands. According to the announcement, the collaboration between the two companies will give customers more choice and accelerate 5G adoption in Vodafone’s international markets. Driven by strong growth ambitions, an innovative product portfolio and advanced 5G technology expertise, the leading Chinese smartphone brand has been very successful in its domestic market. With annual handset shipments of more than 100 million units, OPPO believes that it is “a natural partner for Vodafone’s leading gigabit network”. Alen Wu, Vice President and President of Global Sales at OPPO, said, “OPPO…
Vodafone has made a move that could put an end to the global dominance of the three main telecom equipment providers – Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia – by starting trials on open access radio technology in the UK. The company is the first wireless carrier to run European tests of Open Radio Access Networks (OpenRAN), a cellular infrastructure technology that may increase the number of companies supplying telecom network equipment and assist in connecting more of the world’s most remote communities using lower cost systems. In a statement, Vodafone said that “the global supply of telecom network equipment has become concentrated in a small handful of companies over the past few years” and added that a wider choice of suppliers will increase flexibility and innovation, thus helping to address some of the cost challenges of internet services in rural communities. Telecom operators use RAN infrastructure, masts and antennae…
A worldwide partnership between CTG (China Telecom Global) and Global Switch was made official. It will allow the two companies to offer Data Centre Network solutions to customers globally. Global Switch already operates, develops and owns carrier and cloud-neutral data centres, that are located in Europe, and the Asia Pacific area. As a part of its services, it provides IEPL (international ethernet private lines), IPLC (international private leased circuits), VPN and IP transit. Deng Xiaofeng, CEO of CTG, expressed his satisfaction : “The collaboration will bring significant value-adds to our existing and future customers, fuelling their development and success with resilient and mission critical data centre network infrastructure.” John Corcoran, CEO of Global Switch, added: “This agreement with China Telecom Global is recognition of Global Switch’s continued commitment to providing customers with industry-leading facilities and solutions across our global portfolio. This initiative will further enhance access to our extensive connectivity…
The investment required to upgrade a network to support standalone 5G technology is important. JP Morgan think this is the reason why Telecom companies stocks did not do so well last year. There is a serious concern that the investment might not be as effective as expected. The lack of return put an important shade on some valuation for some asian (China, Japan and South Korea) and Australian telecommunications stocks. Those worries could be explained as the daily applications and advantages of 5G technology are yet to be seen and to be invented. James Sullivan,head of Asia ex-Japan equity research at J.P. Morgan explained “It’s not really about faster download speeds,” he said. “It’s about internet of things, autonomous vehicles and things of that nature for which no one understands a monetization case for networks yet.” 5G will not only be customer centered but also will help companies in processing…
The Irish government announced the signing with Apple of an agreement allowing the payment, in a blocked account, of 13 billion euros tax benefits deemed undue by the European Union. In August 2017, the EU commission said a sweetheart deal devised by the Irish government had allowed Apple to pay tax of just 0.005% in 2014 and an average rate of 1% over many years. Brussels estimates that the US company has paid too little tax in Ireland because of a tax agreement with the country’s authorities, which would have allowed the Government to tax only a tiny part of the billions earned by Apple in Europe. Ireland is home to the European headquarters of Apple, which records all the profits made in this geographical area as well as in Africa, the Middle East and India. The 13 billion euros should be transferred to the blocked account by the end of the…
That’s what researchers at CCS Insight believe. According to their report, China and the United States will lead the way in deploying the next generation of mobile technology. Commercial deployments of 5G in the U.S. are expected as soon as the end of 2018. CCS Insight’s forecast of an initial U.S. lead corroborates with a report from the GSMA at the end of March 2018, but the firms appear to disagree on the rest of their rankings for the period prior to 2025. In the GSMA’s report, by 2025, China falls to fourth place with 25 percent of mobile connections being 5G. The United States takes the lead with 49 percent, followed by Japan (45 percent) and Europe (31 percent). IN 2025, MOBILE BROADBAND IS STILL PREDICTED TO REPRESENT 98% OF ALL 5G CONNECTIONS “The industry might be struggling to establish the business models for investment in 5G, but this isn’t stopping leading…