NEWS: UPDATE
BIDDING FOR BROADBAND: 10 MILLION RURAL AMERICANS TO RECEIVE HIGH-SPEED CONNECTION
More than 5.2 million homes in rural parts of the United States are to benefit from auction funding. Te Federal Communications Commission’s
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction formed part of a broader effort by the FCC to close the digital divide in rural America. It focused limited universal service funds on unserved areas that most need support. Bidders won funding to deploy high-speed
broadband to more than 5.2 million unserved homes and businesses, almost 99 per cent of the locations available. CCO Holdings (Charter Communications)
was assigned the most locations, at around 1.05 million. Some 180 bidders won auction support, to be distributed over the next 10 years. A broad range of providers successfully competed in the Phase I auction, including cable
BOLIVIAN CITY TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS OF CONNECTIVITY
operators, electric co-operatives, incumbent telephone companies, satellite companies, and fixed wireless providers. Te other benefit of the auction, said the FCC,
was that it unleashed robust price competition that resulted in more locations awarded at less cost to Americans who pay in to the Universal Service Fund. Te 5.2 million locations assigned support had an initial reserve price of $26bn over the next decade; through vigorous competition among bidders, the final price tag to cover these locations is now just above $9bn. FCC chairman Ajit Pai said: ‘Tis auction was
the single largest step ever taken to bridge the digital divide and is another key success for the commission in its ongoing commitment to universal service. I thank our staff for working so hard and so long to get this auction done on time, particularly during the pandemic.’
EUROPEAN TELE-CONSOLIDATION COULD RETURN THIS YEAR, SAYS BLOOMBERG
Bloomberg Intelligence says consolidation could make a comeback in the European telecom market this year. Teir report, Europe Telecommunications
2021 Outlook, says that the sector could see the return of market consolidation, with carriers looking to test EU regulators following a court challenge to the EU’s decision to block the Tree-O2 deal. With the current global crisis, some see
Te highest city in the world is to benefit from deployment of a GPON broadband network. Potosí, in Bolivia, is 4,090m above sea level,
resting at the foot of the Cerro Rico mountain that rises up to 4,800m. Te city was once one of the world’s richest, with a population in the 1600s that rivalled that of London, Seville, Madrid, Rome or Paris. Today, it is home to Unesco’s World Heritage site. Iskratel, in collaboration with Teleserv Group
Bolivia, will implement the optical broadband network for service provider Cotap. Te deployment uses Iskratel’s SI3000 Lumia GPON Optical Line Terminals (OLTs), along with Innbox G85 and Innbox G74 Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) at customer premises. Juan Francisco Flores, Cotap’s legal
representative, said: ‘In Potosí, a city with such a fascinating history, life has never been easy. Te deployment of an optical broadband network not only delivers new connectivity to our residents and businesses, but opens up an array of business opportunities that the city and its people have not had before.’ Svjetlana Kalaba, director of business unit
broadband at Iskratel, said: ‘Bringing fibre connectivity to the people of Potosí, the highest city in the world, fills us with profound pride.’
6 FiBRE SYSTEMS n Issue 30 n Winter 2021
chances that the previously strict merger and acquisition (M&A) regulation could be loosened a litle. Tere are signs that the European Union’s opposition to mergers could be cooling, aſter its antitrust chief in June called for more cross-border deals, especially in the telecom industry. Mergers in the telecom sector could be
looked upon ‘more favorably’ by regulators than before, Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) said, as the carriers suffer from lower roaming revenue and economic growth. Te firm cited comments from Tomas Fitzgerald, fund manager at EdenTree Investment Management. He said ‘the lure of 5G monetisation could continue to draw interest from the private sector.’ Before this activity, warned BI, the industry
could face a sustained campaign to boost sentiment and, the firm added, there is limited scope for the Stoxx 600 European Telecom Index to significantly improve its 2021 relative- return performance in 2021. However, the European telecom sector should see its top lines recover during the year aſter what is referred to as a ‘modest dent’ caused by the pandemic, but capital spending and margin pressures will limit the scope of any sector re-rating. Te report was based on a survey conducted
from 7 to 14 December, with participants naming 96 companies as potential targets, excluding those already in a formal takeover process. According to the report, Spain and Sweden
are the most likely countries for consolidation. In Spain, where five companies compete, there is regular speculation about tie-ups, with a recent joint-venture between Masmovil and Vodfaone. In Sweden, Tree is seen as a likely target
for Tele2 or Telenor. Italy could also see consolidation in infrastructure with Telecom Italia eyeing Open Fiber, and in Belgium, cable operators could target regional company Voo. Next year’s most likely M&A targets,
predicted by BI’s mergers and acquisition desks, include KPN and BT Group, as a revival in dealmaking activity is set to favor the sector. KPN, for example, was included in the M&A
watch lists of eight out of 13 event-driven traders, analysts, brokers and fund managers surveyed by Bloomberg News. BT and network- equipment maker Nokia were included three times.
www.fibre-systems.com @fibresystemsmag
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