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FTTH

Research: Telecoms, pay-TV spend to speed up

Worldwide spending on telecommunications and pay-TV services reached $1,662 billion (€1,389 bn) in 2017, an increase of 1.4 per cent year over year (in constant dollar terms), according to market intelligence firm the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Telecom Services Database. IDC believes that the growth rate will accelerate to 1.6 per cent in 2018, bringing […]

May 14, 2018

Ofcom: ‘BT must go fibre or fail’

Sharon White, Chief Executive, of UK comms regulator Ofcom, has warned incumbent telco BT to upgrade its copper network to fibre or risk fading away. Delivering closing remarks at an industry event in London on ‘Building a Full Fibre Future’, White told delegates – who included major investors, Chief Executives, a Secretary of State and […]

April 27, 2018By Colin Mann

Orange Spain ups subs and revenues in Q1

Orange Spain increased its revenues by 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year to €1.3 billion. The company increased its convergent revenues by 7 per cent to €526 million, largely thanks to the 2.1 per cent rise in the number of convergent subscribers and 3.8 per cent rise is ARPU to €57.10. […]

April 26, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid

Goldman Sachs buys CityFibre

A Goldman Sachs investment fund has teamed up with Antin Infrastructure Partners to acquire UK fibre broadband provider CityFibre. The deal by the ‘Connect Infrastructure Bidco’ consortium offered a 48 percent premium on CityFibre shares and values the company at £537.8 million (€616m). Chris Stone, Chairman of CityFibre, said: “Under private ownership, CityFibre will be […]

April 25, 2018

Sky Q3 revenue exceeds £10bn

Jeremy Darroch, Sky Group Chief Executive, has suggested that the broadcaster is “in good shape” and “on track for the full year” as it reported results for the nine months to March 31st 2018. In what Sky described as “strong” financial results, it achieved a 5 per cent increase in like-for-like revenue to £10.1 billion […]

April 19, 2018

Italy OKs TIM-Fastweb FTTH deal

Italy’s Competition and Market Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) has given its go-ahead for plans by TIM and Fastweb to build a FTTH fibre-optic network covering 29 biggest Italian cities via the joint company Flash Fiber. In a statement, the antitrust body said it accepted the binding commitments presented by the two […]

April 12, 2018From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Japan: 4G, fibre & IPTV drive telco and pay-TV market

Driven by growth in mobile data, fixed broadband and pay-TV, the total telecom and pay-TV services revenue in Japan is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.2 per cent over the forecast period of 2017-2022, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. With a total of 168 million subscriptions in 2017, the Japanese mobile […]

April 4, 2018

Sky Italia, Open Fiber agree OTT deal

In a move designed to boost the take-up of fibre and pay-TV services across Italy, Sky Italia and fibre optic infrastructure provider Open Fiber have agreed a long-term deal to launch a fibre-only service from summer 2019. This fibre-only service will be available alongside Sky’s existing services. The deal will give Sky access to Open […]

March 29, 2018By Colin Mann

Australia: nbn speeds ‘better than expected’

The first results from a broadband speed testing programme undertaken by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) suggest that nbn (national broadband network) broadband services from iiNet, Optus, Telstra and TPG are now delivering between 80 and just over 90 per cent of the maximum plan speeds in the evening busy hours. The report, […]

March 29, 2018

Spain: €525m boost for 100% optic fibre coverage

The Spanish Administration will invest €525 million over the next four years to extend optic fibre to the entire country with speeds of 300 Mbps. The cabinet meeting has now approved a first tranche of €150 million for 2018 under the PEBA (Plan de Extensión de la Banda Ancha) plan with the remaining €375 million […]

March 23, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid