A couple of months ago, Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank was attempting to engineer a merger between Intelsat and would-be satellite operator OneWeb. Intelsat’s debt-burden stymied that deal. Now SoftBank is reported to be behind a merger between US cellular telco Sprint, and Charlie Ergen’s DTH operation DISH Network. Shares in Sprint jumped 10.3 per cent […]
Following a statement of intent in February, UK communications infrastructure company Arqiva and Samsung Electronics have confirmed that the first field trial of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technology in the UK and Europe is now live in central London. Powered by Samsung’s 5G network solution and customer premises equipment (CPE), and using Arqiva’s 28GHz […]
Global analyst firm CCS Insight announced the launch of its new report focused on the development of the Indian telecoms industry: India — Halcyon Days Ahead in a Four-Operator Market. The report highlights the history, dynamism and consolidation of the Indian telecoms market, revealing that: A total of 68 per cent of leading sampled telecoms […]
Discovery Communications and Italian telco TIM have revealed what they say is a first of its kind Olympic Games partnership, bringing the Games to more people across more screens. In the first of these digitally-focused deals offering exclusive and differentiated content to mobile operators across Europe, TIM’s customers will gain exclusive access and will be […]
New Zealand pay-TV operator Sky Network Television and telco Vodafone Europe B.V.1, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, have now decided to terminate the sale and purchase agreement in relation to the proposed merger of SKY and Vodafone New Zealand. The parties have also decided to withdraw the appeal of the Commerce Commission […]
The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has approved the planned takeover of Coditel Brabant SPRL and its subsidiary Coditel (together, “SFR BeLux”) by Telenet Group for €400 million. Under the brand name SFR (formerly Numéricable), SFR BeLux provides cable and mobile telephony services in Brussels, Wallonia and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Now that the BCA […]
The fourth ranked mobile operator in Spain, MasMovil, is reportedly finalising an agreement with China’s Huawei and several TV content providers to launch a pay-TV service this summer. The company aims to compete with the country’s largest operators -Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange – with a similar convergent offer including TV. MasMovil is partnering with Huawei […]
Sky Mobile has introduced a new 500MB tariff with unlimited calls and texts, starting from £5 (€5.72) a month. Sky claims the new plan, available immediately, is the UK’s lowest monthly priced 500MB plan with unlimited calls and texts for Sky TV customers. According to Kantar Media, over a quarter (26 per cent) of SIM […]
Customer satisfaction with subscription television is down 1.5 per cent to 64, tied with Internet Service providers for last place among 43 industries tracked by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). New ACSI results show that wireless service is the only telecom industry to improve. Internet service providers, fixed-line telephone and cell phones are unchanged, […]
In a move that creates a new, fully-integrated communications provider in Malta, Apax Partners Midmarket, Fortino Capital and Vodafone Group are to combine cable, broadband and pay-TV provider Melita and Vodafone Malta. The transaction combines Vodafone Malta, the country’s leading mobile operator with a 4G mobile network covering 99 per cent of the Maltese population, […]