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China: The World’s Biggest 5G Market

With an estimated 750 million active subscriptions at the end of September 2023, China has the world’s largest 5G mobile market by far.

Trendspotting: Top Telecom Trends To Look Out for in 2024

With 2024 now well and truly underway, we take a look at some of the top trends that GlobalComms subscribers can expect to see a lot more of this year.

Iliad and Vodafone: More Consolidation in Italy?

French telco group Iliad has submitted a proposal to UK-based Vodafone Group regarding the potential merger of their respective operations in Italy.

If successful, the merger will have a big impact on the Italian mobile market, reducing it from five players to four, while also combining the fixed broadband operations of the two companies.

The deal is by no means guaranteed to go through, however. Even if Vodafone’s response is positive, regulatory authorities must then study its effects on competition.

2023: The Essential CommsUpdate Selection

As another eventful year draws to a close, we’re looking back at the telecom stories that captured our readers’ attention throughout 2023.

With 5G rollouts, satellite broadband, SIM card registration and mega-mergers all on the agenda, the CommsUpdate team left no stone unturned in their quest to bring you the biggest daily news stories from around the world.

Read on for our most popular stories of 2023.

5G Progress Report: Brazil

Brazil’s multi-band 5G spectrum auction drew to a close in November 2021, generating total commitments of BRL47.2 billion ($8.5 billion).

The auction process attracted bids from a mixture of major players like Telefonica Brasil (Vivo), Claro Brasil, and TIM Brasil, established regional players such as Algar Telecom and Sercomtel, and a number of lesser-known participants.

Two years later, we examine the respective progress of Brazil’s 5G licensees. 

All Change in Ethiopia

Until recently, Ethiopia was one of the few telecom markets in the world that was still a monopoly, with no competition to state-owned firm Ethio Telecom.

Do Svidaniya: VEON Exits Russia

Following the sale of its local operations on October 9, 2023, Amsterdam-based multinational telecom group VEON has completed its exit from Russia.

Fiber Fever: Meet the ISPs Driving FTTH Deployment in South Africa

Earlier this month, South African ISP Vumatel announced that its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure now passes two million homes. One million of these homes are in traditionally underserved areas, such as townships.

This network footprint means that Vumatel now presides over a more substantial FTTH network than Telkom South Africa’s Openserve unit.

Fiber ISPs are very much on the rise in South Africa, with multiple players gaining traction with their regional rollouts.

Unusually, the majority of these operators use an open access business model, allowing dozens of smaller companies to market and resell fiber connectivity.

Today, we take a look at the main players driving fiber growth in South Africa.

Target Acquired: e& Sets Its Sights on Europe

United Arab Emirates (UAE) telco e&—formerly known as Etisalat Group—is slowly but surely building a presence in Europe.

Deal or No Deal? Meet the Regional ISPs Driving M&A in Brazil

Earlier this month, Brazilian regional ISPs Vero Internet and AmericaNet agreed to merge their respective operations.

Vero currently ranks as the seventh-largest ISP in Brazil; AmericaNet is eleventh. The enlarged entity will jump to fifth place in the fixed broadband market.

The deal seems highly likely to spark further consolidation. Regional fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) players have flourished in recent years, with a number of fast-growing ISPs snapping up operations in and around their regional strongholds.

As of May 2023 (most recent official data), 16 Brazilian ISPs served more than 250,000 subscriptions, suggesting the time is right for a sustained period of M&A activity.

Let’s take a look at the companies that have been driving M&A in Brazil in recent years.