Four interesting moves in four different metro and regional US markets to note this week: … [visit site to read more]

With PTC underway, there’s plenty of global backbone and subsea news out there, here’s a few interesting items of note: … [visit site to read more]

Virtual Panel

Solid digital infrastructure is the foundation for carriers to seize opportunities and achieve business success

Networks are carriers’ core assets and major channels of transmitting data and computing power. It can better boost the digital transformation of thousands of industries and accelerate the development of the global digital economy.

What capabilities do carriers need to address unprecedented opportunities and increasingly complex global challenges? How can they build high-quality networks to deliver superior user experience? How will connectivity technology evolve on the journey to an intelligent world?

This virtual panel discussion will explore the ways of maximizing ICT business value through future-oriented networks.

Our panelists include:
Mohammed Abdulaziz AlNujaidi, CTO Delegate, Zain KSA
Elif Kaya, Deputy CTO, Turkcell
Dr. Mohamed Madkour, VP, Global Carrier Networks Solutions & Marketing, Huawei
Moderator: Dimitris Mavrakis, Senior Research Director, ABI Research

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News 

Reports suggest the company won a tender to sell spyware to state-run telecoms operator Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) just one month before the military overthrew the Burmese government

Israeli software firm Cognyte is coming under scrutiny this week following media reports that the company’s surveillance technology may have been used to commit human rights abuses in Myanmar.

Documents shared by activist group Justice for Myanmar show a January 2021 letter from MPT to the Burmese regulator referencing Cognyte as the winning vendor for an intercept technology tender.

The documents show that the purchase order was issued “by 30th Dec 2020” – a little over a month before a military junta overthrew Myanmar’s civilian government.

Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer, has reportedly sent a letter to the Israeli Attorney General calling for a criminal investigation into Cognyte and the nation’s defence and foreign ministries, accusing them of aiding the Burmese military to commit crimes against humanity.

The letter claims that Cognyte “should have known” they were providing technology that would be used to commit crimes against humanity, noting that the Burmese military had already openly rejected the results of the November 2020 democratic election when the contract was signed.

But beyond the moral implications of selling surveillance technology to repressive regimes, there is also a legal element at play here.

Back in 2016, the Myanmar military became infamous for their genocidal oppression of the Muslim Rohingya people, killing thousands and forcing hundreds of thousands more to flee to neighbouring countries. In response, various nations placed sanctions on Myanmar, with the US and the EU both ceasing to supply the Myanmar government with military equipment.

Israel, however, continued to export weapons and equipment to the Burmese government until 2018, only stopping when media pressure grew too intense.

As such, Mack argues that any 2020 deal between Cognyte to sell this equipment to MPT was illegal, with intercept spyware tech classified as defence equipment under Israeli law.

It is currently unclear whether the spyware technology has been actively deployed by MPT, though anonymous sources speaking to Reuters confirmed that the technology was tested by the operator. Other sources also confirmed that some form of intercept spyware was used by the operator, though Cognyte was not referenced specifically.

Cognyte and MPT have refused to comment on the matter.

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Also in the news:
Tech Mahindra and Microsoft team up for 5G core cloudification offering
London staff to take the brunt of Vodafone job cuts
Virgin Mobile begins migrating customers to O2 packages

With all its new buildouts here in the US, Zayo’s European footprint hasn’t been getting the same level of public love of late. But today it got a little bit more attention, as Zayo has announced the addition of a new 400G-enabled intercity route. … [visit site to read more]

Aqua Comms has made an inorganic move that takes it halfway around the world as it prepares to move beyond its traditional footprint in the Atlantic and the North Sea. The Irish-based subsea network operator has announced the acquisition of Openbyte Infrastructure. … [visit site to read more]

News

The operator group will eliminate hundreds of jobs as part of wider efforts to generate €1 billion in cost savings

Back in November, Vodafone’s announcement of its most recent financial details was met with concern as the multinational mobile network operator group continues to struggle to turn its fortunes around. The company’s results in highly competitive markets like Germany and Spain were particularly poor, adding further weight to the operator’s long-held beliefs that consolidation is needed in various European markets.

Following these results, Vodafone announced that it would seek to cut its costs by €1 billion by 2026, partly though simplifying their portfolio. At the time, CEO Nick Read hinted that some of these cost-savings could be derived from job cuts, though the scale of these cuts was not yet clear.

Now, the first wave of cost-saving job cuts, with the Financial Times reporting that the company is seeking to cut “several hundred jobs”, with sources suggesting that most of these will come from Vodafone’s London office.

Vodafone reportedly employs around 104,000 people globally, around 9,400 of which are in the UK.

The news follows announcements earlier this week of a major leadership reshuffle within Vodafone, with the CEO of Vodafone Spain, Colman Deegan, stepping down from the role, and Vodafone Italy CEO Alado Bisio appointed group chief commercial officer.

This leaves Vodafone now hunting for two new CEOs, with Group CEO Nick Read having stepped down from his role at the end of last year.

Margherita Della Valle, previously the Group’s head of finance, is serving as interim CEO until the position can be filled.

However, the start of 2023 has not been all doom and gloom for Vodafone. At the start of this week, the company announced that it had agreed to sell its Hungarian unit to local IT specialist 4iG for €1.7 billion.

The operator said that the funds would be used to pay down the company’s debt.

What impact would the merger of Three UK and Vodafone UK have for the nation’s mobile market? Join the debate at the upcoming Connected North conference 

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Bullitt: Two-way satellite messaging will be available this quarter
Cox launches mobile services to bolster fixed line offerings