Telecommunications

Vodafone’s India demise would cause wave of pain

17 January 2020

Shares in the telco’s local unit plunged 25% after a court dismissed a plea to review $7 bln of levies. The government could accept delayed payment, still leaving Vodafone Idea with a heavy burden. The alternative, bankruptcy of the big brand, will hit a fragile economy hard.

T-Mobile Sprint antitrust defense has a hole in it

20 December 2019

America’s No. 3 and No. 4 telecom firms are fighting state regulators to keep their $26 bln deal on track. Federal watchdogs want to preserve competition by making the companies help Dish build a new fourth mobile carrier. That only works if Dish is up to the job. It may not be.

Altice scores narrow win with Portugal fibre deal

13 December 2019

Billionaire Patrick Drahi’s telecom group sold half its local broadband network for 2.3 bln euros. Some of the payment is delayed but the price still gives Drahi reason to celebrate. Besides eating into his debt mountain, the cash helps him lay more fibre to stay ahead of rivals.

Orange’s pep pill has few secret ingredients

4 December 2019

The French telecoms group needs ideas to offset a stagnant home market. Africa and the Middle East offer hope, yet they are just a small part of the business. A plan to carve out phone masts is vague, and less ambitious than rival operators. Selling more towers would be bolder.

Telefonica’s self-activism is half a turnaround

28 November 2019

The Spanish phone firm is trying to revive its flagging fortunes before somebody else makes it. Carving out the sprawling and sluggish Latin American operations makes sense, if it leads to a sale. A real activist would demand more clarity on disposals, growth forecasts and costs.

Hardware glitch exposes Xiaomi’s missing software

28 November 2019

Handset sales at the Chinese group slumped 8% from a year earlier, to $5 bln, due to shrinking demand at home. Growth in internet services has also stalled. Absent a turnaround led by 5G devices, investors deserve a clearer idea of where Xiaomi's "new species" model is headed.

French 5G auction gives telcos a measured thwack

26 November 2019

Paris’s sale of spectrum for superfast networks will cost the likes of Altice and Orange over 2 bln euros. But all four telcos get a decent slice of bandwidth, and will pay less than in Germany or Italy. With the sector bruised by price wars, too much greed would have backfired.

5G hype faces a U.S. market sanity check

18 November 2019

Next-generation networks have inspired big deals, killed off others and kicked off a political arms race. Now the regulator wants to auction some spectrum publicly, rather than letting its owners sell privately. That might help raise more funds, but it also raises the stakes.

T-Mobile US CEO exit leaves big question dangling

18 November 2019

Boss John Legere is leaving the telecom just as its $26 bln merger with Sprint nears its final hurdle. Successor Mike Sievert is a safe pair of hands. Still, the timing is peculiar, especially when Legere’s counterparts at Disney and AT&T stuck around to see M&A plans through.

It’s a super-hard road to a Japanese super app

18 November 2019

SoftBank and South Korea's Naver want to merge Yahoo Japan and Line in a complex, multi-step deal. Investors are excited about a $30 bln payments-to-messaging giant, but there are many hurdles to clear. Shareholders and regulators may balk. And even then, a JV structure awaits.

UK Labour’s broadband plan is free of most logic

15 November 2019

The opposition wants to nationalise telecoms provider BT’s network and deliver fibre to all. A state boost to lagging communications infrastructure would be welcome. But providing free web surfing would be very costly - and wipe out private rivals like Sky and Liberty Global.

Iliad’s baffling buyback tests investor credulity

12 November 2019

Xavier Niel’s French telecom group will spend 1.4 bln euros to buy out minority shareholders at a premium. At the same time, the entrepreneur is underwriting a share issue to raise the same amount. It looks a convoluted and costly way for the billionaire to lift his stake.

Brazil’s basket-case telco is not quite dead yet

7 November 2019

Oi, the country’s largest fixed-line carrier, has been making investors kvetch for years. Rivals are now sniffing around its assets. An upcoming earnings report is likely to show the company, crawling out of a restructuring, needs more than a cash infusion. It needs a miracle.

Vodafone is running out of options in India

31 October 2019

The telecom giant’s local unit is straining under $14 bln of debt. New Delhi has added to the burden, charging billions in contested levies, while red tape holds up its tower sale. Without fresh capital or debt relief for Vodafone Idea, India is heading towards a duopoly.

The Exchange: PBS CEO Paula Kerger

28 October 2019

Streaming is upending the media landscape, including public television. Its funding model, local structure and social mandate make broadcaster PBS unlike any other U.S outlet. Its longest-serving boss, Paula Kerger, discusses the challenges and possibilities of the new era.

Nokia misses yawning Huawei open goal

24 October 2019

The phone-kit maker’s shares dropped by a fifth as it slashed profit forecasts and cancelled its dividend. Increased competition for 5G networks suggests its Chinese rival is cutting prices. But if Nokia can’t cash in on Donald Trump’s anti-China push, the future looks grim.

DirecTV is AT&T boss’s ball and chain

17 October 2019

Randall Stephenson paid $67 bln in 2015 for the satellite TV firm, aiming to redefine video. The strategy hasn't panned out and now DirecTV’s worth has probably cratered. Even if the CEO could stomach the hit to his reputation, ditching the asset will be a challenge.

Ericsson’s upbeat 5G forecasts still too cautious

17 October 2019

The Swedish telecom equipment maker has raised its 2020 sales targets by 10% to reflect strong demand for the superfast networks. Yet given market leader Huawei’s U.S. problems, that still looks conservative. The perennial underperformer may have turned a corner.

Huawei’s China strength hides rising vulnerability

17 October 2019

Stronger smartphone sales at home helped revenue jump a surprising 24% year-on-year in the nine months to September. But the telecoms hardware giant has yet to feel the full impact of U.S. restrictions, set to resume next month. Slowing Chinese consumption is as big a worry.

Ethiopia’s state telco has more than rarity value

16 October 2019

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is ending Ethio Telecom’s monopoly. A private partner will have to fund new kit, while new rival providers will squeeze super-fat margins. With 100 mln potential customers and perhaps a $5 bln valuation, it’s a big test for Ethiopian reforms.