Earlier this year, it was revealed that Denis O’Brien—the Irish businessman who founded international telecom group Digicel in 2001—could lose up to 90% of the company to U.S.-based investment firms.
These firms are poised to seize control of the business in exchange for writing off up to $1.8 billion of Digicel’s debt.
The revelation that O’Brien could lose his empire follows a tumultuous period for Digicel. Today we take a look at the rise and fall of a Caribbean communications kingpin.
Back in 2018, the Panamanian government rubber-stamped long-gestating plans to reduce the mobile market from four players to three, seeking to make better use of the country’s spectrum resources.
Despite multiple meetings, no breakthroughs were achieved, and all four operators were unwilling to concede ground.
Five years later, multiple international telecom groups have exited Panama and the authorities find themselves in the unusual position of trying to attract a new operator to fill the void.
Today, we track the key events that led to this point.
Last month, it was revealed that South Africa’s MTN Group received a $31 million offer from an unnamed buyer for 100% of the shares in its Afghanistan subsidiary. The deal means that MTN is another step closer to exiting the Middle East.
Today, we take a look at how MTN set about dismantling its Middle Eastern portfolio and examine its exit strategy.
The last year has seen a number of well-known sub-brands withdraw from the Spanish mobile market, as telecom giants like Telefonica and Orange have sought to streamline their respective product portfolios.
Today we take a closer look at the history of these brands—and their untimely demises.
Welcome to Part 2 of our analysis of the regional cellular scene in the United States! In this installment, we scrutinize some of the most interesting cellcos operating in far-flung corners of rural America.
If you missed Part 1 of our deep dive, you can catch up.
The U.S. mobile market is notoriously ultra-competitive, and household names like Sprint aren't the only ones to have been squeezed out in recent years.
Since 2020, Verizon Wireless has snapped up regional players such as Chat Mobility, Bluegrass Cellular, Triangle Mobile, and Chariton Valley Communications.
Tellingly, all four operators were participants in the telecom giant’s “LTE in Rural America” program, which leased 700MHz of spectrum to regional players in areas where Verizon had no intention of deploying infrastructure. After going live in 2010, the project was completed in October 2015, when all 21 participants were confirmed to be operational.
At the program’s peak, operators collectively covered more than 2.7 million people across 169 rural counties in 15 states.
Despite Verizon’s low-key takeover spree, dozens of smaller players continue to thrive in the U.S. This week we take a deep dive into the regional cellular scene and uncover the cellcos serving rural America.
Last year, we investigated how major Scandinavian telecom groups Telenor, Telia, and Tele2 have followed a similar international strategy over the past decade: divesting the bulk of their Eastern European and Asian operations to concentrate on business closer to home.
Today, we examine their ongoing activities within Scandinavia and the Baltic States and inspect how 5G and M&A continue to drive their respective strategies.
The telecom landscape in Eastern Europe has changed dramatically over the last decade, with sustained deal-making reshaping a number of markets across the region.
The latest player to jump aboard the M&A merry-go-round is 4iG, an ICT firm based in Budapest. Today, we take a look at the company’s key takeover deals to date.
Starlink—the satellite broadband venture established by Elon Musk’s SpaceX business—has attracted plenty of attention this year, especially as the outspoken entrepreneur continues to share his company’s ambitious plans on social media.
With fellow tycoon Jeff Bezos plotting an alternative satellite broadband launch via Project Kuiper, the two billionaires have become embroiled in an increasingly bitter public feud in recent months.
But these two heavyweights aren’t the only parties determined to enter the satellite broadband sector. From China, to Canada, to the UK, let’s break down the key international players targeting the low earth orbit (LEO) sector to see how their respective proposals stack up.
