Between 2006 and 2013, telecom investment by seven major European operators, including such giants as Orange, Deutsche Telecom and Vodafone, fell 5%. In contrast, the four U.S. operators – AT&T, Verizon Communications, Sprint and T-Mobile US – increased investment by 39%. …
Germany’s telecom regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, this week began the bidding process for spectrum licenses in the 700 MHz band, becoming the first European country to open up the spectrum band deemed ideal for broad LTE deployments. Also on the block are spectrum …
Vodafone, the world’s second-largest carrier, reported revenue gains on May 18 for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 – the first such growth in almost three years. The Britian-based multinational telecom group posted quarterly service …
Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest carrier by revenue, saw increasing profits in the first quarter of 2015, exceeding expectations. Revenue rose 13.1% to $18.84 billion, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 11% to $5.16 billion, beating the $4.98 …
The European Commission unveiled plans on May 6 to create a single market for digital technologies across the 28-member European Union. The plan, which took six months to develop, is comprised of 16 initiatives organized around three goals: to create …
Nokia’s offer to buy France’s Alcatel-Lucent for $17.5 billion represented further consolidation of the telecom infrastructure market. The joining of these two European network giants appears to have left only three global players: Ericsson, Huawei and the new Nokia to be created by …
U.K. operator EE, whose brand is built around LTE, announced soaring user numbers for the technology. With the release of first-quarter results for 2015, EE said that it added 1.7 million LTE connections during the quarter, with 9.3 million users now on …
Soon it will be nearly impossible to get lost in Dubai. The largest city in the United Arab Emirates recently launched the Makani e-map “the smartest map system in the world.” Makani, a solution that is both digital and analog …
Telenor, Teliasonera rapidly expanding LTE networks The country of Norway likes to be first in the digital world. Together with Sweden, it was the first to debut LTE when TeliaSonera launched the service in Oslo and Stockholm in 2009. And …
Vodafone and MTN, two of the largest mobile money providers in Africa, announced plans to interconnect their services in seven East African countries. The partnership will allow M-Pesa and MTN Mobile Money customers to transfer money to each other using their …
KPN’s CIO Jaya Baloo wants everyone to “live long, laugh a lot and encrypt everything.” Speaking at the International NCSC One Conference in The Hague, Baloo said encryption was essential for protecting the freedom of expression. Baloo also praised the Blackphone, a secure …
Vivendi reportedly eyeing Sky TV After offloading two telecom units, French multinational media company Vivendi is now looking to pick up video and TV assets. Vivendi this week entered into exclusive talks with Orange to purchase 80% of the telecom’s …
Barcelona, the annual host of Mobile World Congress, is also striving to become one of Europe’s top tourist cities, so the Spanish city recently brought in SAP and Telefónica to better connect travelers to its hottest attractions. The result is …
In some ways, Spain moves at a slower pace than the rest of Europe. Spaniards tend to get up later, eat later and go to bed later than the rest of the continent, but when it comes to mobile, Spain …
Nigeria has the largest telecom market in Africa, but it also has a large share of problems, which include dropped calls, unsolicited texts and calls, and credit losses. The country’s Consumer Protection Council has now warned mobile operators that their officials may soon face criminal …
If approved, O2 U.K. acquisition will create country’s top mobile operator It’s official. Confirming recent reports, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, owner of U.K. operator Three, announced an agreement with the Spanish group Telefónica to buy its O2 U.K. business for $15.28 …
Vodafone over the past weekend announced the first commercial voice over LTE service in Germany, and plans to roll out VoLTE in the U.K. this summer. The operator demonstrated the first live VoLTE call in Germany this week at the CeBIT conference in Hanover. …
While a flurry of telecom deals are underway in Europe, the new European Union competition commissioner, Margrete Vestager, is starting to stake out a position against too much consolidation on the continent. Speaking in a video interview with The Deal, …
Deutsche Telekom said it is planning to invest more than $6.68 billion in network expansion across Europe over the next three years. DT, Europe’s largest phone company, announced that it has connected the first three of 10 countries in its planned European network: …
A new European Commission digital study showed growing Internet use in Europe, but also highlighted a deep geographical divide across the continent. Northern European countries led the rankings in the new Digital Economy and Society Index, which was presented this week in …
After buying most of French operator SFR from Vivendi in November, Altice is now back for the rest. The company, owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, announced an offer to purchase Vivendi’s remaining 20% stake in the merged Numericable-SFR. Altice will pay 46 …
When Microsoft and Spectra Wireless announced the first commercial Internet service network in Africa to use TV white spaces, university students in Ghana saw an immediate cost savings. But not everyone is cheering. Apparently, the U.S. software giant’s interest in Africa …
VimpelCom selling Djezzy for $2.6B While other carriers look for mergers and acquisitions in Europe, two major Dutch telecoms are shrinking their asset portfolios. VimpelCom recently announced it is selling its 51% stake in Algeria’s Djezzy for $2.6 billion. The Amsterdam-based telco …
Four industry groups issued a statement on Jan. 26 that the European Union’s proposed net neutrality rules shouldn’t force them to treat traffic on their networks equally. The statement was backed by ETNO, GSMA, Cable Europe and Make the Net Work – groups that represent …
European Commissioners in charge of developing the Digital Single Market have been discussing some of their plans this week, including taxing U.S. tech companies like Google. Guenther Oettinger, the commissioner for digital economy and society, fears that Europe is currently the “loser” in …
