Oct 25, 2023
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.
Following the sale of its local operations on October 9, 2023, Amsterdam-based multinational telecom group VEON has completed its exit from Russia.
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.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) telco e&—formerly known as Etisalat Group—is slowly but surely building a presence in Europe.
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.
Earlier this month, international telecom group Telefonica entered into its fourth Latin American fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) joint venture (JV).
The deal was sealed in Peru after Telefonica agreed to terms with investment firm KKR and Peruvian telco Entel.
This new fiber-based JV follows earlier agreements in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. Let’s take a closer look at Telefonica’s strategy and examine the scope of the networks in question.
In the last few years, Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese equipment suppliers have come under increasing scrutiny due to alleged links with the Beijing government, raising serious security concerns for Western powers.
Following the U.S. government's ban on Chinese 5G technology, China-based vendors now face problems elsewhere.
The European Union (EU) is considering an outright ban of Chinese equipment across Europe’s 5G networks.
In sharp contrast to other regions, only a handful of Latin American telecom markets have seen 5G launch activity to date, with notable examples including the likes of Brazil and Chile.
However, a number of eagerly awaited 5G spectrum auctions are expected to take place in the region in the coming months.
Today we take a closer look at the LatAm markets where we can expect to witness 5G auction activity before the end of the year.
A long-running telecom saga came to an end last month with the conclusion of the C$25 billion ($18.4 billion) merger between Canadian operators Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications.
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.
According to the latest data from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database Service, as of March 2023, 18 countries in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region are served by commercial 5G services.
This includes eight in the Middle East and 10 in Africa.
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