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GSMA appoints Vivek Badrinath as Director General 

Annie Turner
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GSMA appoints Vivek Badrinath as Director General 

He will assume the role on 1 April next year, taking over from Mats Granyrd who will become Special Advisor to the board for the rest of 2025

Vivek Badrinath will become the next Director General of the GSMA from 1 April 2025, replacing Mats Granyrd who has been in the role since January 2016. Granyrd announced he would step down after MWC 2025 earlier this year. In the event, he will stay in post until the end of March next year.

Badrinath was CEO and Chair of the management board of Vantage Towers (spun out of Vodafone Group) from its inception in April 2020 until May 2023.

Prior to that, in 2016, he became Regional CEO of Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific at Vodafone and a member of Vodafone’s Executive Committee. During this time he was also a non-exec director at the GSMA representing Vodafone as well as chair of the Association’s policy committee.

Before Vodafone, Badrinath held key positions at Orange, culminating in his appointment as Deputy CEO, Innovation, Marketing, and Technology, where, “he played a crucial part in driving digital transformation, expanding market reach and improving customer experience”. From there he did a two-year, eight month stint at Nokia as a non-exec director and then spent almost five years at the Accor hospitality group.

Proud and honoured

Badrinath said in a press statement, “I’m proud and honoured to be joining the GSMA at such an exciting time in the industry’s development. I look forward to working with the GSMA board, its members, and the leadership team to extend and amplify the positive impact of the mobile ecosystem for people, industry and society globally.”

José María Álvarez-Pallete López, Chairman of the GSMA and CEO of Telefonica group, said, “I am delighted to announce Vivek Badrinath’s appointment. During our selection process it was clear that Vivek’s deep understanding of the industry and its potential make him the ideal individual to lead the GSMA into the next phase of its evolution.

“I am confident that Vivek will work, together with the Board and our excellent GSMA Leadership Team, to drive change and innovation, creating value for both the industry and society.”

Interesting times: US regulators probe possible abuse of AI market power

Annie Turner
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Interesting times: US regulators probe possible abuse of AI market power

End of the AI goldrush? WSJ says NVIDIA and others contacted by the Department of Justice – NVIDIA’s market cap already down almost $0.5 trillion in the last few days

As has been noted, when troubles come, many seem to arrive at once. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ – subscription needed) reported on Sunday that American regulators are “intervening early” to explore whether a handful of big techcos are using their position to dominate the AI market.

The companies concerned, according to the report, include the chip maker NVIDIA which is said to “own” more than 80% of the AI market. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) apparently wants to discuss the terms of its contracts and partnerships.

The paper’s unnamed sources say the probe is at an early stage and the chip maker is not under subpoena to provide internal documents.

The latest reported probe is against a backdrop of an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into Generative AI investments by the likes of Big Tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, and their partnerships. It was launched in January.

Cheaper access to AI chips in China

More trouble could be heading NVIDIA’s way too. On Friday, the UK’s Financial Times [subscription required] published an article pointing out that it is cheaper to rent cloud services that use NVIDIA’s AI chips in China than it is in the US.

The newspaper said this is “a sign that the advanced processors are easily reaching the Chinese market despite Washington’s export restrictions”. It cited a specific example where the cost was 40% less than in the US.

Wider consequences

A blog that appeared yesterday on the investment site, The Motley Fool, noted, “The chipmaker’s stock is down about 15% since it reported second-quarter earnings [which exceeded expectations] on Aug. 28. That’s nearly half-a-trillion dollars – $470 billion – in market capitalization wiped out in a week. It’s an incredible amount. There are only 15 companies on the planet with a market cap that exceeds what the company lost in a week. That shows just how big Nvidia is.”

Which is the trouble – the knock-on effect is huge. The hype around AI has done much to mask just how badly much of the rest of the wider tech sector is faring. Many have not picked up since landing in the doldrums in 2022.

During that year the NASDAQ Composite lost almost third of its value. Even now, many companies are still recovering from the excessive hiring and spending on equipment during the pandemic. For some this has been exacerbated as investment has been redirected into AI.

Today The Financial Times commented, “Investor exuberance around AI-focused companies has faded since the early summer, leading many commentators to predict a prolonged rotation of investor attention away from Big Tech stocks towards sectors such as financial services and industrials.”

As the curse goes, “May you live in interesting times”.

EU, UK and US sign first global, binding treaty on AI safeguards

Annie Turner
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EU, UK and US sign first global, binding treaty on AI safeguards

The European Council says its Framework is to ensure “the use of AI systems is fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law”

The European Union (EU), UK and US are some of the signatories of the world’s first treaty on AI safeguards. The Council of Europe describes its Framework Convention on artificial intelligence and human rights, democracy, and the rule of law as “the first-ever international legally binding treaty aimed at ensuring that the use of AI systems is fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”

The treaty was offered for signature on 5 September at a conference of the Council of Europe Ministers of Justice in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was signed by Andorra, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Norway, the Republic of Moldova and San Marino, as well as the EU, UK and US.

Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, stated, “We must ensure that the rise of AI upholds our standards, rather than undermining them. The Framework Convention is designed to ensure just that. It is a strong and balanced text – the result of the open and inclusive approach by which it was drafted and which ensured that it benefits from multiple and expert perspectives.

“The Framework Convention is an open treaty with a potentially global reach. I hope that these will be the first of many signatures and that they will be followed quickly by ratifications, so that the treaty can enter into force as soon as possible.”

The Council also said that the treaty “provides a legal framework covering the entire lifecycle of AI systems. It promotes AI progress and innovation, while managing the risks it may pose to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. To stand the test of time, it is technology neutral.” 

The Framework Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 17 May 2024. The 46 Council of Europe member states, the European Union and 11 non-member states (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the Holy See, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Peru, the US and Uruguay) negotiated the treaty. Representatives of the private sector, civil society and academia contributed as observers.

The treaty will enter into force “on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which five signatories, including at least three Council of Europe member states, have ratified it. Countries from all over the world will be eligible to join it and commit to complying with its provisions”.

RAN automation becomes an operator opex imperative 

Simon Dux
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RAN automation becomes an operator opex imperative 

China Mobile has said it will reach L4 (high autonomous network) by 2025 and as other operators follow, the shift in RAN spend is underway

Analysts have continued to signal a slowdown in RAN equipment spend as operators slow down their investment in 5G rollouts with the cutbacks impacting several market segments, the most recent being microwave backhaul/fronthaul.  

However, some of the telco spend has also shifted to driving opex down, which is manifesting in investment in more RAN automation. It is easy to see why. According to Ericsson, operator opex could double over the next five years without more automation across deployment and management and operations, just to support the MBB-driven changes.  

As Dell’Oro pointed out last year, while greenfield networks are clearly moving toward new architectures that are more automation-conducive, brownfield operators – i.e. most of the operators – today falls somewhere between L2 (partial autonomous network) and L3 (conditional autonomous network), with some way to go before reaching L4 (high autonomous network) and L5 (full autonomous network) – as per the TMF’s network categorisations.  

SNS Telecom & IT’s latest research report indicates that global spending on Open RAN automation software and services will reach nearly $700 million by the end of 2027. SNS believes operators are being driven by the chance to defer avoidable capex, minimise energy consumption and rebalance their opex-to-revenue ratios.  

Setting the scene  

The RAN automation market, which began with the introduction of Self-Organizing Network (SON) technology during the LTE era, is undergoing significant evolution. Initially aimed at simplifying cellular networks through self-configuration, optimisation, and healing, SON has seen limited adoption, with only a third of mobile operators employing its centralised (C-SON) form due to challenges like interoperability and scalability. However, the industry’s move towards open interfaces and virtualisation is driving a shift towards Open RAN automation, incorporating standards-based components such as RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) and advanced applications that enhance network programmability. 

Energy efficiency has also emerged as a key focus, particularly in the 5G era with its higher radio density. Operators are utilising AI-driven automation to balance network loads and reduce power consumption, with companies like NTT Docomo and Rakuten Mobile reporting significant energy savings. Open RAN automation is also expanding globally, with operators like AT&T, Swisscom, and Vodafone integrating new platforms to future-proof their networks. 

SNS expects investment in Open RAN automation – as opposed to the overall RAN market – to surge, with global spending projected to grow at over 125% annually between 2024 and 2027, as operators address technical hurdles and scale their automation initiatives. This will go on RIC, SMO and x/rApps, alongside the second wave of Open RAN infrastructure rollouts by brownfield operators. 

The Open RAN automation market will eventually account for nearly $700 million in annual investments by the end of 2027, according to SNS, as standardisation gaps and technical challenges in terms of the SMO-to-Non-RT RIC interface, application portability across RIC platforms and conflict mitigation between x/rApps are ironed out. 

The analyst firms believes this transition signals a broader transformation in the RAN automation market, anticipated to grow by 8% annually over the same period. This wider market for RAN automation software and services includes Open RAN automation, RAN vendor SON solutions, third party C-SON platforms, baseband-integrated intelligent RAN applications, RAN planning and optimisation software, and test/measurement solutions. 

Overcoming shortcomings 

The shortcomings of the traditional D-SON and C-SON approach, together with the cellular industry’s shift towards open interfaces, common information models, virtualisation and software-driven networking, are driving a transition to Open RAN automation with standards-based components that enable greater levels of RAN programmability and automation. 

SNS said the Open RAN automation movement is stimulating innovation from a diversified community of application developers. In addition to well over a dozen providers of SMO, Non-RT RIC and Near-RT RIC products, more than 50 companies are actively engaged in the development of xApps and rApps. 

Some mobile operators have established dedicated business units to commoditise their RAN automation expertise. NTT Docomo’s OREX brand and Rakuten Mobile’s sister company Rakuten Symphony are two examples. In the coming years, SNS also expects to see more spinoffs of academic institutes with commercial-grade Open RAN automation offerings, such as Northeastern University’s zTouch Networks and TU Ilmenau’s AiVader. 

The SMO and RIC ecosystem is exhibiting early signs of consolidation with Broadcom’s takeover of VMware and HPE’s planned acquisition of Juniper Networks, although both deals have much wider ranging implications for the AI infrastructure and networking industries. Depending on the commercial success of third party RAN automation platforms, SNS anticipates seeing further M&A activity reminiscent of the SON boom in the previous decade. 

One RIC to rule them all 

While the benefits of SON-based RAN automation in live networks are well-known, expectations are even higher with the RIC, SMO and x/rApps approach. For example, NTT Docomo expects to lower its TCO by up to 30% and decrease power consumption at base stations by as much as 50% using Open RAN automation. In February, the operator announced it will use AWS to deploy Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service Anywhere (Amazon EKS Anywhere), a container management software, on its 5G Open RAN to simplify network operation with automated cluster management tools, enabling the operator to easily run and optimise its 5G Open RAN. 

SNS said it is worth highlighting that domestic rival Rakuten Mobile has already achieved approximately 17% energy savings per cell in its live network using RIC-hosted RAN automation applications. Following successful lab trials, the greenfield operator aims to increase savings to 25% with more sophisticated AI/ML models. 

RIC-hosted x/rApps 

Outside of public mobile operator networks, interest is also growing in vertical industries and the private wireless segment. The US Department of Defense is actively exploring the potential of RIC-hosted x/rApps to enhance the ability to detect, analyze, and mitigate a wide range of security threats in Open RAN networks for both commercial and warfighter communication scenarios. Among other examples, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Inventec has incorporated rApps for indoor positioning and traffic steering as part of its private 5G network solution for smart factories. 

Although Open RAN automation efforts seemingly lost momentum beyond the field trial phase for the past couple of years, several commercial engagements have emerged since then, with much of the initial focus on the SMO, Non-RT RIC and rApps for automated management and optimisation across Open RAN, purpose-built and hybrid RAN environments, according to SNS. 

Within the framework of its five-year $14 billion Open RAN infrastructure contract with Ericsson, AT&T is adopting the vendor’s SMO and Non-RT RIC solution to replace two legacy C-SON systems. In neighboring Canada, Telus has also initiated the implementation of an SMO and RIC platform along with its multi-vendor Open RAN deployment to transform up to 50% of its RAN footprint and swap out Huawei equipment from its 4G/5G network. 

Europe shifting as well 

Similar efforts are also underway in other regions. For example, in Europe, Swisscom is deploying an SMO and Non-RT RIC platform to provide multi-technology network management and automation capabilities as part of a wider effort to future-proof its brownfield mobile network, while Deutsche Telekom is progressing with plans to develop its own vendor-independent SMO framework. Open RAN automation is also expected to be introduced as part of Vodafone Group’s global tender for refreshing 170,000 cell sites. 

Deployments of newer generations of proprietary SON-based RAN automation solutions have not stalled either. In its pursuit of achieving L4 automation, China Mobile has recently initiated the implementation of a hierarchical RAN automation platform and an associated digital twin system, starting with China’s Henan province, according to SNS. 

Among other interesting examples, Japan’s SoftBank is implementing a closed loop automation solution for cluster-wide RAN optimisation in stadiums, event venues, and other strategic locations across Japan, which supports data collection and parameter tuning in 1-5 minute intervals as opposed to the 15-minute control cycle of traditional C-SON systems. It should be noted that the Japanese operator eventually plans to adopt RIC-hosted centralised RAN optimisation applications in the future. 

In addition, with the support of several mobile operators, including SoftBank, Vodafone, Bell Canada and Viettel, the idea of hosting third party applications for real-time intelligent control and optimisation – also referred to as dApps – directly within RAN baseband platforms is beginning to gain traction. 

A separate approach 

As a counterbalance to this approach, Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and other established RAN vendors are making considerable progress with a stepwise approach towards embedding AI and ML functionalities deeper into their DU and CU products in line with the 3GPP’s long-term vision of an AI/ML-based air interface in the 6G era. 

Beyond AI-driven RAN performance and efficiency improvements, mobile operators, technology suppliers and other stakeholders are also setting their sights on TCO benefits and new revenue opportunities enabled by the convergence of AI and RAN, including co-hosting vRAN and AI workloads on the same underlying infrastructure to maximise asset utilisation and leveraging the RAN as a platform for edge AI services. 

(Picture source: Deutsche Telekom)

Telefónica tops ranking in Europe and Americas for telco to techco transition

Annie Turner
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Telefónica tops ranking in Europe and Americas for telco to techco transition

OMDIA’s latest global benchmarking study puts the Spanish operator group fourth in the world behind three Asian leaders

Research house OMDIA says Telefónica is the telco in Europe best positioned to transition to a technology company. In its Telco-to-Techco Strategies Benchmark ranking, OMDIA has moved Telefónica up the rankings since its last benchmark report so that it is now fourth in the world overall (behind China Mobile, NTT and SK Telecom), but first in the European and Americas.

REGISTER TO WATCH TELEFONICA GROUP’S CTIO, ENRIQUE BLANCO (pictured), GIVE THE KEYNOTE AT MOBILE EUROPE’S TELCO TO TECHCO VIRTUAL CONFERENCE PART II

The analyst firm especially highlights the success of the Telefónica Tech. Its Director of Strategy and Business Transformation, Mario Silva, explains, “At Telefónica we have demonstrated our ability to evolve from a traditional telco to a company that offers advanced technological solutions to our clients.

“We lead the transformation and evolution of the societies and economies of the countries where we operate, thanks to the development of cloud computing capabilities, cybersecurity, IoT, Data and Artificial Intelligence. We offer innovative, differential and sustainable solutions that contribute to a more digital and connected future.”

Telefónica Tech has a workforce of more than 6,000 experts from more than 60 nationalities, who collectively hold more than 4,000 certifications in digital skills.

OMDIA’s report also focuses on how Telefónica is promoting the transformation of its Networks and Systems by accelerating the Autonomous Network Journey (ANJ) program, through the transition of technology towards a disaggregated and software-based architecture.

The operator says the customer and sustainability objectives are always at the centre of its endeavours, with privacy and security. It adds that by promoting network autonomy through data management, AI and machine learning, the network will be better adapted and more resilient and sustainable. This will provide multiple benefits such as higher quality of services, better allocation of resources and lower operating costs.

The analyst firm also underlines Telefónica’s role in the global telco sector initiative Open Gateway, led by the GSMA. The idea behind this initiative is to enable companies and developers to integrate telcos’ advanced network capabilities in an intuitive, interoperable and standardised way using APIs. This also results in users gaining more digital services.

Telefónica so far has developed 10 APIs and markets Open Gateway in Brazil, Spain and Germany. The operator says this has been achieved thanks to the agility provided by

Kernel 2.0, Telefónica’s own digital ecosystem based on APIs.

This create products, services, applications and digital platforms in all the countries in which Telefónica operates. Its technology provides standardized and unified information, as well as guaranteeing data privacy and security throughout the process.

Tele2’s CEO resigns, will stay until successor found

Annie Turner
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Tele2’s CEO resigns, will stay until successor found

Kjell Johnsen has been at the group’s helm for four years – Iliad Group acquired a 19% stake in Tele2 in February

Kjell Johnsen, Tele2’s CEO, has resigned. The Tele2 group has opcos in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Johnsen will remain in the role until a replacement is found.

Thomas Reynaud, Tele2’s chair and CEO of France’s Iliad Group, said, “I want to thank Kjell for his significant contributions to Tele2’s development during his four years at the helm.”

Iliad Group is controlled by the French telecoms entrepreneur and billionaire Xavier Niel. It acquired a 19.8% stake in Tele2 in February.

Johnsen said, “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to run Tele2 over the past four years. We have accomplished a lot together, returning to growth in all major areas with a strong balance sheet and cash flow.

“Building on our challenger culture and our sharp focus on sustainability, I am pleased to hand over Tele2 to a new CEO who can write the next chapter.”

Tele2 reported a year-on-year increase o 1% in revenues to SEK7.3 billion (€640.63 million) in its Q2 earnings report. Last week Iliad Group reported its H1 revenues were up 10.3%.

After the Tele2 acquisition and nett additions, Iliad claims to be Europe’s fifth biggest operator group by subscribers.

Ofcom consults on Amazon Kuiper NGSO licence application 

Simon Dux
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Ofcom consults on Amazon Kuiper NGSO licence application 

The regulator is minded to approve the new LEOsat system and related ground stations

Ofcom is proposing to grant an earth station network licence to Amazon Kuiper Services Europe SARL (Kuiper) for its non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite system. The regulator has kicked off a consultation which would authorise Amazon Kuiper to deploy user terminals, using Ka band spectrum frequencies between 27.5-27.8185GHz, 28.4545-28.8265GHz, and 29.5-30GHz in the UK. The licence authorises gateway earth stations connecting the non-geostationary earth station (NGSO) satellite system to the internet or private network. 

Kuiper told Ofcom that it is proposing to provide secure, high speed, low latency broadband services to a variety of retail and wholesale customers in the UK. The coverage limit of its first-generation NGSO system is 56 degrees latitude north (which crosses Scotland at Falkirk and the Firth of Forth), and it plans to cover latitudes above 56 degrees in future generations of its NGSO system. It also intends to provide backhaul connectivity to telcos. Its NGSO system will use either electronically steered phased array antennas or mechanically steered parabolic antennas. 

There are currently six NGSO network licensees in the UK, which permit satellite operators to transmit in the Ku band (14.0-14.5GHz) and/or Ka band (27.5-27.8185GHz, 28.4545-28.8265GHz and 29.4625-30GHz). In Ka band there is Mangata Edge, Telesat LEO, Rivada Space Networks and NSLComm while in Ku band this is Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb. Kepler’s application is being reviewed by Ofcom separately.  

Kuiper provided Ofocom with a technical coexistence analysis showing how its NGSO system will coexist with other Ka band NGSO network licensees as part of its licence application. This includes analysis showing average degraded throughput and increase in unavailability for each Ka band licensee – i.e. for Rivada, Mangata, and NSLComm’s NGSO systems, as well as Starlink’s Ka band NGSO gateways. 

Ofcom’s preliminary assessment is that these NGSO systems and gateway earth stations should be able to coexist. This is because even under the conservative assumptions adopted by Kuiper in its coexistence analysis, its NGSO system will have a minimal impact on existing NGSO network and NGSO gateway licensees.  

Competition impact 

Ofcom flagged a theoretical and future risk to competition – which it said would not be part of the current deliberations –  is Kuiper bundling (or tying) satellite broadband with products such as Amazon Prime and/or Amazon Web Services. Should this risk crystallise in future the regulator considers there are more suitable policy tools than a network licence to address the concern. 

On wider competition concerns, Ofcom believes that coexistence with future NGSO systems by Kuiper’s NGSO system is possible. In its preliminary view the regulator added that it is equipped to address these competition concerns through its licencing conditions and enforcement powers. Amazon’s arguments can be found here. 

Kuiper gets closer 

The launch of satellites part of the Kuiper System will start in Q4 of 2024. The company already has approval to deploy and operate its own constellation of 3,232 LEO satellites, which will deploy at an altitude of between 590km and 630km. According to the company, the system can process up to 1Tbps of data traffic on each satellite, although this is shared between many users. However, with 2025 shaping up as a beta testing year, the full constellation operation may not be 100% operational until around 2030. 

Ofcom’s consultation closes on 4 October.  

Microwave transmission the latest casualty of 5G slowdown 

Simon Dux
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0
Microwave transmission the latest casualty of 5G slowdown 

As 5G deployments stall, Q2 revenues for microwave transmission equipment declined year-over-year for a fourth consecutive quarter according to Dell’Oro

The microwave transmission market declined 8% year-over-year in Q2 2024, driven by less demand for mobile backhaul, according to analysts Dell’Oro. Revenue associated with mobile backhaul also declined 9% year-over-year. The decline was especially strong in the Asia Pacific region. 

The analysts went deeper to try to see if there were any signs of comfort, only to find that both the long haul and short haul markets declined in the quarter. The steepest rate of decline was in long haul due to limited demand for full indoor units (FIDUs). Dell’Oro estimates FIDU revenue declined nearly 40% in the quarter. 

“The microwave transmission market started to trend downward a year ago in 2Q 2023,” said Dell’Oro Group vice president Jimmy Yu. “This downward trend is, for the most part, due to delays and slow starts in upgrading to 5G as operators in many parts of the world lack incentive to rapidly install a 5G networks.” 

All regions declined on a year-over-year basis in the quarter with the exception of the Middle East and Latin America. The region with the steepest decline was Asia Pacific due to India. India revenue declined 40%. 

Some vendors shine 

Four vendors (Aviat, Ceragon, Huawei, and ZTE) still managed to increase their revenue in 2Q 2024 compared to the same period last year. Aviat’s growth was down to growth the addition of the Pasolink business and strong core revenues in Latin America and Asia Pacific regions.  

Ceragon, which saw a slowdown in its North American market, bucked the trend in India, posting record quarterly revenues since Q2 2018, including revenue from a “new, top-tier customer”. The company put the growth down to a substantial ramp up in demand for its new IP-50CX product, with more than 20,000 radio units delivered. ZTE is still delivering across the Middle East and Africa, most recently with Orange in Liberia. 

Meanwhile Huawei, which is bucking every trend, continues to innovate in microwave. In May, the Baotou Branch of China Unicom Inner Mongolia and Huawei completed what they claim was world’s first commercial test of the pioneering MAGICS LH long-haul microwave solution in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

Using ultra-wideband technology, this microwave solution enables a single antenna to cover five frequency bands (L6 GHz, U6 GHz, 7 GHz, 8 GHz, and 11 GHz), making it the “widest range of microwave frequency bands ever recorded by a commercial product.” With a link capacity of up to 10Gbps, the solution can reduce microwave backhaul hardware costs by more than 70%, according to the vendor.  

Duplex doubles the issue  

Huawei’s latter point is part of the problem that revenues get impacted because technological innovation is also meaning fewer links are needed and in some cases, less kit is sold.  

For example, in July, Nokia claimed it had achieved what was once thought impossible – the first-ever full duplex wireless transmission for fixed point-to-point links. This has been demonstrated in the D-Band spectrum (130 to 175GHz) with Nokia’s Wavence Ultra-Broadband Transceiver (UBT) radio, featuring fully in-house components.  

The vendor said this pioneering technology allows for simultaneous transmission and reception of signals over a single channel, effectively doubling the capacity of a traditional FDD system. With this technology, Nokia demonstrated an impressive 10+10Gbps capacity – 10Gbps for the uplink and 10Gbps for the downlink – over a single 2GHz channel. 

Nokia said full duplex technology not only enhances spectral efficiency by 100% compared to current systems but also offers significant advantages over line-of-sight MIMO, including – and here’s the rub – the fact that operators can expect to “see up to 50% less hardware required”. That will inevitably show itself on some vendor’s top line revenue in the future.  

Telia to slash 3,000 jobs in bid to cut costs

Annie Turner
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0
Telia to slash 3,000 jobs in bid to cut costs

The operator reckons getting rid of 15% of its workforce across its opcos will reduce operating expenses by about €229m

The Swedish operator group Telia intends to shed 3,000 jobs by the beginning of December. The lion’s share, about 1,400 will be in Sweden and the rest split between among Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Norway. The operator reckons this will cut its operating costs by about SWK2.6 billion (€229 million).

However, this financial gain will be offset by other restructuring costs of about €122 million in the second half of 2024.

The CEO of Telia, Patrik Hofbaue, told Reuters, “This is a tough decision, but one that is necessary to ensure the long-term success of Telia. We need to be much … simpler in the way we operate, faster on decision making, and also when it comes to commercial execution, and we need to create more margin … We are changing the operating model … we are putting much more responsibility and accountability into the countries, because there we meet our customers.”

Reuters says Telia, which provides TV channels and telecoms in the countries listed above has suffered a loss of income in its media business due to inflation resulting in less spent on advertising.

In 2021, when Allison Kirkby, now CEO of BT Group, was CEO at Telia, she launched a multi-year restructuring plan to slash costs over four years by laying off staff every year, divesting assets and streamlining operations.

Billionaire Slim ups stake in BT which is now 40+% owned by overseas telcos

Annie Turner
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0
Billionaire Slim ups stake in BT which is now 40+% owned by overseas telcos

Market sees Slim’s move as validation of CEO Allison Kirkby’s approach to improving the former monopoly’s fortunes

Through his family business, Inbursa, the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has spent about £150 million to increase his stake in BT to 4.3%. He acquired the initial stake of 3.2% in June for some £400 million.

In August, the distressed Altice Group, BT’s biggest shareholder, announced it is to sell its 24.5% stake in BT to Bharti Enterprises. The Indian conglomerate is controlled by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal. The monetary value of the proposed deal was not made public but is worth more than £3 billion. BT owned a 21% stake in and consequently had two seats on the board of the Indian telco Bharti Airtel from 1997 to 2001.

Deutsche Telekom remains BT’s second biggest shareholder, with about a 12% holding. This stems from the German operator accepting payment for its stake in ee when BT bought the mobile operator in 2015. DT jointly owned ee with France’s Orange.BT’s share price in 2015 peaked at £479.35 in 2015. It now stands at £141.50.

News of Slim increasingly his stake pushed BT shares up, which analyst have seen as support for CEO Allison Kirkby’s strategy to cut costs and realign the group.

The foundations of Slim’s empire came from his ownership of the Mexico’s state telco and his group now controls América Móvil. This is not his first sally into European telecoms – previously he has held stakes in the Netherland’s KPN and Telekom Austria.

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