TIMELINE
A roundup of the major stories in telecoms in the past month, as reported in our daily news service,
www.totaltele.com
BUSINESS
Battle for Vivo stake in Brazil Spain’s Telefonica was locked in a battle to gain full ownership of Brazilian mobile operator Vivo, which it jointly controls with Portugal Telecom (PT). The Portuguese government moved
to block Telefonica’s attempted E7.15 billion purchase of PT’s 50% share in Vivo, a move subsequently ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice. Telefonica earlier sold 8% of its 10% stake in PT in an attempt to clear the way for the deal.
Reliance buys TV fi rm Reliance Communications agreed to buy India’s largest cable TV company Digicable Network . The move will bolster the IPTV plans of Reliance, which will merge its Internet TV and broadband operations into a single company called Reliance DigiCom.
Broadband rights in Finland Finland made broadband services of at least 1 Megabit per second a basic right for its citizens in its new universal service obligations. It is the first country wordwide to mandate high-speed Internet access as a basic right. According to the regulator, 68% of households in Finland had an Internet connection at the end of last year, 95% of which were broadband services.
New mobile TV trials O2, Orange and Vodafone will carry out joint trials of broadcast mobile TV technology Integrated Mobile Broadcast in the UK from October. IMB, a 3G Partnership Project standard, will be used
July/August 2010
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to assess how services can be deployed using shared network infrastructure.
Unlimited data plans scrapped AT&T, O2 UK and 3 UK over the summer period scrapped unlimited mobile data packages, instead setting monthly caps and tiered tariffs.
EC roaming caps upheld The European Court of Justice ruled that roaming caps brought in by the EU are legal and justified, dismissing actions brought by Vodafone, Telefonica O2, Orange and T-Mobile.
Handset merger in Japan Fujitsu and Toshiba agreed to merge their mobile operations, creating Japan’s second largest handset maker behind Sharp.
Microsoft kills Kin in Europe Microsoft said it would cancel plans to sell its Kin phones in Europe only two months after they were launched in the US.
n Capex — Capex: Revenue
Microsoft also announced a new mobile operating system for enterprise users called Windows Embedded Handheld.
Tyco buys into networks Tyco Electronics agreed to buy ADC Telecommunications for about $1.24 billion. The company said the acquisition will double the size of its networks business, including fibre optic technology, which currently contributes about 8% of its total revenues.
Versatel sells cable business German operator Versatel sold its retail cable business Versatel Kabel to Paris-based financial
investors Chequers Capital for E66 million, leaving it to focus on its wholesale network operations.
News Corp pursues BSkyB News Corp made a 700 pence a share, or approximately £7.8 billion, cash offer for the 61% stake it doesn’t own in BSkyB Group. BSkyB rejected the offer, holding out for a higher price.
Service provider capex worldwide 325
Motorola reveals new identity Motorola announced its new identity ahead of its split into two businesses in the first quarter of 2011. The company’s Mobile Devices and Home businesses will be known as Motorola Mobility, and will be headed up by co-CEO Sanjay Jha. The other co-CEO, Greg Brown, will be in charge of the Enterprise Mobility and Networks divisions, which will be renamed Motorola Solutions.
TeliaSonera sells in Denmark TeliaSonera sold its Danish unit Stofa to private equity firm Ratos for 1.1 billion krone (E145 million). The unit provides voice broadband and TV services.
China dents IPTV hopes Reports suggest China could halt IPTV services as it prepares to allow cable operators to provide voice and data services. China Telecom’s IPTV service was shut down in February because it did not have a broadcast licence.
0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
20% 15% 10% 5% 0%
Source: Infonetics Research
Service providers spent US$295 billion on telecoms and non-telecoms capital expenditure projects worldwide in 2009, 5.9% less than they spent in 2008, says Infonetics. Carriers reduced investment in network infrastructure by 8% in 2009, with the deepest cuts in IP voice infrastructure, optical network equipment, video infrastructure and IP routers. Service provider revenues in 2009 were US$1.65 trillion, a decrease of 4.2% from 2008 says Infonetics.
Nokia sells wireless assets Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp. reached an agreement to buy the wireless modem operations of Nokia for around E160 million. Renesas Electronics was formed in April following a merger between NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology, creating the world’s third-largest semiconductor company.
Telekom Austria restructures Telekom Austria completed a restructuring of its operations, combining its fixed and mobile divisions into A1 Telekom Austria and creating a management holding company, Telekom
3
Average capex in $US billions
Average capex-to-revenue ratio
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