Mobile Industry Live: October 2020
News in brief and insights from across the mobile industry
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The restructure of BT’s international business continues with the sale of its domestic operations and infrastructure in Latin America to CIH Telecommunications Americas. The new firm will operate as Sencinet and will work with BT as a partner going forward.
The proposed £31 billion merger of O2 and Virgin Media would result in the creation of 4,000 jobs and 1,000 apprenticeships. The parent companies of both firms have provided more details about planned investments ahead of regulatory reviews of the deal.
Telia has sold its international carrier operations to Swedish investment firm Polhelm Infra for SEK 9.45 billion (£820 million) subject to regulatory approval. Telia Carrier provides backbone services for customers in more than 120 countries, covering two thirds of the world’s Internet routes. Telia Company will become a long-term customer of Telia Carrier once the takeover is complete.
TalkTalk ponders £1.1 billion takeover bid
TalkTalk is considering a £1.1 billion takeover offer from investment firm Toscafund – a year after the telco rejected a larger bid of £1.5 billion from the same suitor. The previous bid valued TalkTalk at double its share price but the company’s board ruled that it did not provide sufficient value to shareholders and customers.
MPs say the 2027 deadline for operators to remove Huawei 5G kit from their networks could be brought forward after a parliamentary inquiry found “clear evidence of collusion between Huawei and the Chinese state.” Huawei has denied the allegations and said the report lacks credibility, “as it is built on opinion rather than fact.”
Three has expanded its pool of backhaul suppliers through an agreement with Colt. The partnership is part of a £2 billion investment in Three’s 4G and 5G networks and will see 20 times greater capacity at sites covered by the deal. The operator has also entered into backhaul deals with SSE Enterprise Telecoms and CityFibre.
Vodafone has been able to reduce its carbon footprint by more than 25,000 tonnes over the past years by improving the energy efficiency of its facilities in the UK. Overall, Vodafone says it has saved 100Gwh of energy – enough to power a town with 65,000 inhabitants – and saving the company £10 million.
BT will offer a managed Zoom service to businesses after becoming the first global communications service provider to secure a carrier agreement. BT’s offering integrates Zoom into the wider voice network and includes monitoring tools and security features such as encryption and ID protection.
UK 'should include' free roaming in EU trade deal
Belgium’s two biggest operators are replacing Huawei gear in the radio layer of their networks with kit from Nokia. The two companies have a network sharing arrangement and say the changes were made on technological and financial criteria rather than on national security grounds.
Robert Finnegan says UK government and regulators should adopt an open mind when it comes to market consolidation, arguing that it could improve the country’s communications networks. He said the mantra that there must be four major players in the mobile market was being disproved by developments in territories where consolidation was having a positive impact.
Huawei is reportedly in talks to sell at least part of its Honor smartphone subsidiary in a deal that could be worth up to £2.9 billion. It is said that Huawei would rather pursue the high-end market rather than the thin margins that Honor chases in the budget space following the imposition of US sanctions.
The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) has established a new organisation designed to promote the development of 6G network technologies in North America. The trade association has signed up a number of notable founding members including AT&T, Ericsson, Facebook, Microsoft, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, T-Mobile and Verizon.
Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether BT is fulfilling its requirements as a designated Universal Service Obligation (USO) broadband provider. The USO allows anyone in the UK to demand a 'decent' broadband connection of at least 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload.
Vodafone hopes its new trade-in tool will encourage more people to recycle their old smartphones and upgrade to newer handsets and lengthier contracts. Vodafone’s tool, accessible via the MyVodafone app, hopes to streamline the process and alleviate these concerns. The tool assesses device eligibility within minutes and provides a guaranteed trade-in price that is applied against the customer’s first bill.
Deutsche Telekom has conducted the world’s first successful trial of an aerial base station deployed in the Earth’s stratosphere in a development that could pave the way for better mobile coverage in rural areas.
The company wants the stores to become a ‘social hub’ for customers to see and test out its latest products, including Sky Q, and to discuss their services with a member of staff.
Sweden has made it a condition of an upcoming spectrum auction that successful bidders cannot use equipment from Huawei or ZTE. Swedish authorities have accused Huawei of being a security risk – an allegation that the Chinese vendor has repeatedly denied.
Vodafone has found a novel method of improving mobile coverage in busy parts of Brighton – equipping phone boxes with 4G equipment. The operator has kitted out five phone boxes with compact 4G technology small enough to fit on top of the roof of the phone box and capable of delivering service to a radius of 200 metres.
Ericsson beat quarterly estimates thanks to strong demand for its 5G equipment, especially from mainland China. The Swedish telecoms equipment manufacturer now has 112 commercial contracts and is set to be one of the main beneficiaries from Huawei’s struggles in the West.
Vivo is entering the European market for the first time, targeting consumers in the high-end and price-conscious mid-range segments of the smartphone market.
The Vivo X51 5G is the flagship for the company’s European launch and will target consumers who want a high-end smartphone that can connect to next generation networks without the associated price tag.
O2 says it has at least some 5G coverage in 100 towns and cities, adding 40 locations in little over four months. The operator switched on its first 5G masts in October, covering the four UK capitals – Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and London – as well as Leeds and its home of Slough in Berkshire. Since then it has expanded coverage to other major cities and large towns.
Apple to expand ‘express store’ format in US and Europe
Apple is to expand a new ‘express’ store format across the US and Europe in the hope it will increase sales of the iPhone 12. So far Apple has introduced 20 express stores to remedy these restrictions and expand the range of services that can be offered. A wall is built into the front of the store and customers make appointments to collect orders or receive technical assistance.
Shell’s home energy and broadband division has emerged as a surprise contender for Post Office’s telecoms business.
The oil and gas giant is competing with Sky and TalkTalk – two of the UK’s biggest broadband providers – in a bidding war that will be welcomed by Post Office, which has half a million landline and broadband customers. It is thought any deal could be worth £100 million and that Post Office could retain the division should it not receive a satisfactory offer.
BT will use Ericsson’s radio equipment to power the EE 5G network in London and other major cities, heling to fill the void left by the exclusion of Huawei from next-generation networks.
Last month it agreed a deal with Nokia that will see the Finnish firm become BT’s biggest single supplier of RAN gear, and now it has turned to Ericsson to power the busiest parts of its network.
BT has promised investors there is light at the end of the tunnel after the effects of coronavirus saw profits shrink by a fifth to £1.1 billion during the first half of the year.
The company said overall revenues remained “relatively resilient” despite an 8% drop to £10.6 billion for the six-month period but there were issues caused by economic conditions and the effects of lockdown measures
Nokia ditches 'end-to-end' 5G strategy in restructure
Nokia is to undergo a major internal restructure in its bid to secure as much of the telco and enterprise 5G market as possible, the major casualty of which is the ‘end-to-end’ ethos that has underpinned its strategy to date.
Going forward, Nokia will have four main business groups – Mobile Networks, IP and Fixed Networks, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies – each of which will have their own priorities and underpinned by a horizontal customer experience organisation.