Advanced Television

Telco

Italy challenges ‘digital mafias’

Italy’s Camera dei deputati  (Chamber of Deputies), the lower house of the Italian Parliament, has approved in its first reading and unanimously new measures to fight the illegal distribution of copyright-protected content. The initiative brings on board the Communication Authority (AgCom), the National Cybersecurity Agency and Internet Service Providers. The target of the new anti-piracy […]

March 24, 2023From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Liberty Global makes Telenet takeover bid

Belgian multiplay telco Telenet has confirmed it has been informed by converged broadband, video and mobile communications investor Liberty Global about its intention to launch a voluntary and conditional cash offer for all of the Telenet shares that it does not already own or that are not held by Telenet. Liberty Global has been Telenet’s […]

March 21, 2023By Colin Mann

EC OKs Orange Belgium/ VOO deal

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of 75 per cent of the capital less one share of VOO SA by Orange Belgium. This decision, which validates the commitments already taken by Orange Belgium and that have been integrated in its business plan, allows the company to move forward with the acquisition. The European Commission […]

March 21, 2023

Research: US consumers value connectivity

According to The Changing Divide report 2023 from Amdocs, conducted by Dynata, the majority of American consumers now have dependable Internet access. However, as homes become more interconnected, fresh obstacles are emerging that jeopardise the progress made and may deepen the digital divide. “We’ve long recognised that a lack of connectivity is a significant problem, […]

March 21, 2023

VM02 mulls CityFibre bid

UK multiplay operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) is reported to be considering a £3 billion (€3.4bn) takeover bid for full fibre altnet CityFibre. Mike Fries, chief executive of VMO2 parent company Liberty Global, is said to have held initial talks with Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer at CityFibre. By 2025 CityFibre’s rollout is set to […]

March 20, 2023By Colin Mann

Netomnia, YouFibre secure £230m funding

UK full-fibre infrastructure provider Netomnia, along with ISP sister company YouFibre, has raised £230 million (€263m) in committed debt financing. Netomnia has successfully completed its latest fundraise of £230 million in committed debt financing from a group of six bank lenders, comprised of HSBC UK, ING, NIBC, RBC, Standard Chartered, and UKIB. The financing package […]

March 20, 2023By Colin Mann

Openreach ultrafast broadband boost for Scotland

More than 800,000 homes and businesses across Scotland can now connect to some of the fastest, most reliable broadband in Europe, with hundreds of thousands more in line for an ultrafast upgrade this year. Engineers from digital infrastructure provider Openreach  will extend its ultrafast full fibre network in urban areas such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Stirling […]

March 15, 2023By Colin Mann

MásMóvil profit skyrockets

Spain’s fourth largest operator multiplay operator MásMóvil has increased its profit by 134 per cent to €444 million in 2022, mainly as a result of the sale of Euskaltel’s broadband network to Basque investors for €850 million. EBITDA stood at €1.19 billion, up 26 per cent. Revenues amounted to €2.89 billion, up 17 per cent, […]

March 14, 2023From David Del Valle in Madrid

France: 4.7m new FTTH lines in 2022

The pace of fibre to the home (FTTH) deployment has been continuing at a steady pace, despite sizeable regional disparities, according to French telecom regulator Arcep’s latest ‘scorecard’ for the fixed broadband and superfast broadband market. The report finds that 4.7 million new FTTH lines were deployed over the course of 2022, including 1.3 million […]

March 10, 2023From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Vodafone, Altice German fibre JV completes

Following the announcement on October 17th 2022, Vodafone Group has confirmed the completion of the sale of 50 per cent of its German FTTH company to Altice. The creation of the JV, called FibreCo, received European Commission approval in February 2023. FibreCo will deploy fibre-to-the-home to up to 7 million homes in Germany over a […]

March 9, 2023By Colin Mann