This week, Cellnex has announced that it will no longer bid for a stake in Deutsche Funkturm, leaving KKR the last remaining suitor for the German towers unit, valued at around €18 billion.
Deutsche Telekom first began hinting at its desire to sell off a stake in its tower unit late last year, aiming to follow in the footstep of numerous mobile operators worldwide, including European rivals Vodafone and Orange…

This week, Cellnex has announced that it will no longer bid for a stake in Deutsche Funkturm, leaving KKR the last remaining suitor for the German towers unit, valued at around €18 billion.

Deutsche Telekom first began hinting at its desire to sell off a stake in its tower unit late last year, aiming to follow in the footstep of numerous mobile operators worldwide, including European rivals Vodafone and Orange, that had sold off their towers in exchange for much needed quick cash.

By March, the stake sale process was already underway, drawing considerable interest from the likes of Cellnex, American Tower Corporation, and Vodafone’s Vantage Towers. The latter, however, quickly ruled itself out of the running due to anticipated regulatory hurdles, with such a merger potentially creating an enormously dominant market leader within Germany. 

Cellnex, on the other hand, presented a much more natural partner. The infrastructure specialist already owns and operates roughly 137,000 tower sites in various European markets, including the UK, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Austria; in fact, in Switzerland and the Netherlands, Cellnex already owns tower businesses in direct partnership with Deutsche Telekom. 

Germany, however, has remained notably out of reach for the Spanish giant. 

By the end of June, however, reports were suggesting that another highly appealing bid had been tabled by a rival consortium, led by US private equity firm KKR. According to sources, the bid would allow Deutsch Telekom to retain control of the towers unit, though gives KKR some corporate governance control.

KKR has been on a major acquisition spree over the last year when it comes to telecoms infrastructure, which investors increasingly view as being a reliable long-term investment. The company notably presented Telecom Italia with a roughly €10 billion takeover offer late last year, which has since fallen through. 

Seemingly in response to this bid by the KKR consortium, Cellnex made its own binding offer for the coveted towers, giving Deutsche Telekom the opportunity to take a stake of less than 10% in Cellnex itself in an effort to sweeten the deal.  

It seems, however, that this was not enough to entice Deutsche Telekom, with Cellnex this week withdrawing its offer, leaving only the bid from KKR remaining, according to sources. 

No official decision from Deutsche Telekom has yet been announced. 

If a deal does materialise for the German operator, the funds raised will likely be used to reduce its debt pile of around €136 billion, as well as to help fund the further rollout of its fibre and 5G networks.

EDIT: Bloomberg is reporting that Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has teamed up with DigitalBridge Group for a last minute bid for the tower company. Brookfield had been previously in discussions with Cellnex for a joint bid.

How would the sale of Deutsche Funkturm impact the dynamics of the German mobile market? Find out from the operators at this year’s live Connected Germany event

Also in the news:

Back in March, Orange Spain and MásMóvil announced their intention to merge, forming a 50:50 joint venture with an enterprise value of roughly €20 billion. 
The deal would create a converged operator with around 7.1 million fixed line customers and 20.2 mobile customers, as well as 1.5 million TV customers. 
Orange’s tower company, TOTEM, would notably be excluded from the merger…

Back in March, Orange Spain and MásMóvil announced their intention to merge, forming a 50:50 joint venture with an enterprise value of roughly €20 billion. 

The deal would create a converged operator with around 7.1 million fixed line customers and 20.2 mobile customers, as well as 1.5 million TV customers. 

Orange’s tower company, TOTEM, would notably be excluded from the merger, as would Orange Bank and MásMóvil’s Portuguese operations. 

Nonetheless, this would represent an enormous dynamic shift for the Spanish telecoms market, consolidating a telecoms market that has long been considered one of the most competitive in Europe and creating a new market leader. As such, any deal is expected to face significant regulatory scrutiny, but before this can even be considered a formal agreement needs to be made – a process that is proving slower than first anticipated, largely due to delays in achieving the required financing. 

Last month, following the requisite due diligence, the two operators announced that they were seeking a €6.5 billion loan to help facilitate the merger. However, with the global economy currently experiencing surging inflation and widespread geopolitical uncertainty, banks are being cagier than ever when it comes to investments in 2022. 

According to sources, French banking group BNP Paribas has been leading the financial operation to get the loan from around a dozen total banks, including Societe Generale, Crédit Agricole, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Santander, BBVA, and La Caixa.

Now, reports from El Economista suggest that the financing deals are expected to be finalised later this week, with anonymous sources telling the newspaper that “if everything goes as expected, the agreement [with up to a dozen banks] could be done next week”. 

If such financing does materialise, then the merger proposal will likely proceed directly to the European Competition Commission for approval, likely bypassing Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition due to its sheer scale. 

Whether or not it will receive the green light without incident is unclear, with analysts previously suggesting that a tie-up between Vodafone and MásMóvil would be more likely to succeed, potentially requiring less significant concessions to retain a high level of market competition.

However, European regulators have been somewhat mellowing in recent years and, given the highly crowded nature of the Spanish market, it is highly unlikely that they will block the deal outright or apply severe restrictions.

In fact, even Vodafone Spain, which will be left in third place if the market goes head, has been positive about the deal, suggesting that the market has long been ripe for consolidation and that the merger will open up the market to additional investment. 

Today, reports from Bloomberg suggest that the government is seeking yet more information about billionaire Patrick Drahi’s increasing stake in BT. 
The official deadline for the national security investigation’s conclusion was roughly a week ago, with the government now suggesting it needs more time to reach a conclusion.
French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi first took a stake in BT back in the summer of 2021, specially forming Altice UK in order to buy a 12…

Today, reports from Bloomberg suggest that the government is seeking yet more information about billionaire Patrick Drahi’s increasing stake in BT. 

The official deadline for the national security investigation’s conclusion was roughly a week ago, with the government now suggesting it needs more time to reach a conclusion.

French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi first took a stake in BT back in the summer of 2021, specially forming Altice UK in order to buy a 12.1% stake for £2 billion. 

The investment immediately triggered warning bells for BT’s management, with many onlookers suggesting that this initial investment from Drahi was merely a prelude to a larger takeover attempt later in the year. 

Drahi, however, was quick to allay these fears, saying that he had no intention of launching a takeover bid. Following this statement of intent, UK law dictated that Drahi could not further increase his stake for six months, giving BT a window in which to shore up their defences.

But when the six-month deadline arrived, BT were not faced with the dreaded takeover bid but rather Drahi’s next step in stake-building, with the billionaire seeking to increase his stake from 12.1% to 18%. Once again, Drahi said that he had no interest of taking over BT, thereby removing his ability to increase his stake for another six months. 

However, before this latest deadline could arrive in June this year, the UK government intervened, with business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng using new powers granted by the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 to investigate stake increase on the grounds of national security. The results of the probe could see conditions imposed upon the deal, or even block it entirely.

This investigation was expected to have concluded by the start of July, but it seems the government wants yet more information before making their decision. A new deadline for the investigation’s conclusion has yet to be announced. 

A similar investigation into Nexperia’s purchase of Newport Wafer Fab, announced at a similar time to the BT probe, is also being delayed.

The investigation comes at a time of great uncertainty for both BT and the UK government itself. 

Last week saw UK ministers resign in droves, forcing the resignation of prime minister Boris Johnson and triggering a leadership race within the Conservative party. Kwarteng was notably not among the list of over 50 MPs who resigned.

Meanwhile, BT could be facing its own internal uprising, with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) confirming at the end of last month that workers were prepared to strike after BT announced that workers would receive a flat raise of £1,500 for 2022 – a pay cut in real terms, given the UK’s inflation of over 11%. 

At the end of last week, the CWU said that BT had until the 13th of July to enter formal negotiations over pay, or else see strikes implemented. 

« In short, next week we will either enter into serious negotiations with the company or we will announce strike action. The ball is firmly in the company’s court, » said the CWU in an email to members. 

Want to find out all the latest action from the UK telecoms industry? Join the discussion with the operators themselves at this year’s live Connected Britain conference 

Also in the news:

Earlier this week, UK full fibre builder CityFibre announced the appointment of Vicky Higgin as Chief Digital and Information Officer and Executive Director. Vicky joins CityFibre from National Highways where she has been working as CDIO until now. 
& …

Earlier this week, UK full fibre builder CityFibre announced the appointment of Vicky Higgin as Chief Digital and Information Officer and Executive Director. Vicky joins CityFibre from National Highways where she has been working as CDIO until now. 

Prior to her role at Highways England, Vicky has worked in various roles at National Grid, most recently as CIO & VP IT Transformation.

Commenting on her appointment, Vicky said: “It’s a fantastic time to be joining a company growing at such a phenomenal rate. There is a huge opportunity for CityFibre to put in place an IT framework that futureproofs it for the next decade and offers our customers a level of service they can’t find elsewhere on the market. I am looking forward to working with every team at CityFibre and placing IT enablement at the heart of our future-thinking mindset.”

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer at CityFibre added: “We’re building a digital infrastructure platform that sets a new standard in the market and our IT strategy is critical as we deliver that vision. That’s why we’re delighted to welcome Vicky to CityFibre’s management team. Vicky’s experience of leading innovative IT transformation projects in infrastructure businesses couldn’t be better suited to our business and speed of development.”

Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone have joined BAI Communications’ neutral host mobile network on the London Underground. They join EE and Three, who have already signed up.
The announcement means that customers of all four of the UK’s major MNO’s will be able to access 4G and 5G…

Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone have joined BAI Communications’ neutral host mobile network on the London Underground. They join EE and Three, who have already signed up.

In June 2021, BAI Communications was awarded a 20-year contract by Transport for London (TfL) to deliver mobile connectivity on the London Underground.

Progress towards delivering 4G connectivity across the Tube network is already being made. A previous pilot section on the eastern end of the Jubilee Line was successfully transferred to BAI earlier in 2022. A further 5 stations are expected to go live within the next 6 months.

BAI’s neutral host network will also host the new Emergency Services Network (ESN).

Billy D’Arcy, CEO of BAI Communications UK, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 to our network and to reach another key milestone in our work to build a backbone of connectivity across the capital. Staying connected is more important than ever, and we are proud to be working with our partners to offer 5G-ready connectivity which will transform the way people move and work in the capital, allowing them to travel more smartly, safely, and securely.”

Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at TfL, also commented: “Mobile connectivity across the stations and tunnels across the Tube network will help our customers stay connected more easily as well as work, shop and stay in touch on the move. I’m delighted that all four major mobile operators are set to provide high-speed, uninterrupted 4G coverage on the Tube. We are working hard with BAI Communications to get the next stations completed by the end of the year so our customers can benefit as soon as possible.”

Farice and Far North Digital (FND) have signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint marketing and sales agreement for fibre optic connectivity between Japan and Iceland.  Farice’s new IRIS submarine cable will provide connectivity between Iceland and Ireland, and FND’s new Arctic cable spans between Japan and Ireland…

Farice and Far North Digital (FND) have signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint marketing and sales agreement for fibre optic connectivity between Japan and Iceland.  Farice’s new IRIS submarine cable will provide connectivity between Iceland and Ireland, and FND’s new Arctic cable spans between Japan and Ireland. The parties have agreed to develop a connectivity exchange at their shared landing site in Galway, Ireland.  Through the exchange, customers will be able to buy direct connectivity between Japan and Iceland, linking the third largest economy in the world and Iceland, which has 100% green and sustainable electricity.  

The FND fibre route will be the first Arctic route connecting Asia with Europe through the Northwest Passage. The route follows an approximately great circle marine route, greatly reducing the optical distance between Asia and Europe, thus minimizing latency.  The FND fibre is scheduled for completion and operation by the end of 2026.

The IRIS project has been in development since 2019 and the system is planned for service early 2023.  Farice chose the landing in Ireland due to its short distance to Iceland with Dublin as one of Europe’s key network hubs. Direct connectivity between IRIS and FND fibre at the landing site minimizes latency for traffic between Iceland and Japan.

“We are very excited about the development of the new Arctic fibre cable that will bring the continents of Asia, Northern America and Europe closer together.  The landing of the cable in Galway next to our IRIS cable will drive the development of a new submarine network exchange, connecting Iceland to Asia, North America and Northern Scandinavia”, says Thorvardur Sveinsson, CEO of Farice.

“Farice is a terrific partner, and Iceland has the renewable resources to make the Internet greener”, says Guy Houser, FND’s Chief Technical Officer.  “Our combined system offers faster and more secure connectivity for the world and the North.  It is critical infrastructure in the information age.”

Lebanon has been going through a major financial crisis since 2019, the effects of which have only been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. The value of the Lebanese pound has collapsed by around 90%, bankrupting the government and crippling the country’s electric grid, which is largely reliant on importing fuel and energy from neighbouring countries.
Naturally, this economic catastrophe has had enormous effects for the country’s telecoms industry, which have rapidly transformed from government-backed cash cows to skeleton operations struggling to keep their networks operational…

Lebanon has been going through a major financial crisis since 2019, the effects of which have only been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. The value of the Lebanese pound has collapsed by around 90%, bankrupting the government and crippling the country’s electric grid, which is largely reliant on importing fuel and energy from neighbouring countries.

Naturally, this economic catastrophe has had enormous effects for the country’s telecoms industry, which have rapidly transformed from government-backed cash cows to skeleton operations struggling to keep their networks operational. 

Back in October last year, with the country was rapidly running out of fuel, the Parliamentary Media and Communications Committee warned that the country’s telecoms networks were on the brink of complete failure due to a lack of power.  

By January 2022, the situation was still dire, with the telcos “living day by day”, reporting that that they were having their expensive network equipment looted regularly and were unable to import replacements. 

Fuel remained a major problem, despite the government signing various deals with Syria and Jordan to help address the shortage. Having once accounted for roughly 9% of operating costs for the telcos in 2018, securing fuel now constitutes roughly 60%. 

Of course, in the last few years the telcos themselves have taken drastic cost cutting measures to try and provide some financial stability. Among other things, they have completely eliminated their marketing services, stopped providing additional added value services with third-party suppliers, negotiated lower rent at their physical locations, and frozen employee acquisition. In fact, roughly 20% of all employees at both mobile operators, Alfa and Touch, have already resigned.

All told, these cuts have served to reduce operating costs by around half in most cases; Touch, for example, reported that its operating costs had shrunk from $530 million to $254 million, with further cuts still to come. 

But despite these drastic measures, the future of these operators was still jeopardy. With the crisis pulling at consumers’ purse strings, Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for the mobile sector has plummeted to an all-time low, currently around just $1.2, compared to $26.2 prior to the crisis. 

Combined with shrinking value of the Lebanese pound, and Touch made the equivalent of just $45.5 million in 2021, compared to roughly $850 million in 2018.

Relief for the sector finally arrived on May 20, with the government approving the operators’ request to hike up prices for consumers. 

Tariffs had previously been pegged to the old exchange rate of 1,500 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, but the new rules would allow a switch to the flexible exchange rate of the Lebanese central bank’s Sayrafa platform. All subscriptions are to be paid in dollars, with customers told to calculate their new rate by dividing their existing package by three and multiplying it by the Sayrafa rate (now around 29,000 pounds to the dollar). 

In effect, most mobile customers will be billed around five-times what they were previously paying for mobile data, while fixed line customers can expect a 2.5-fold increase in costs from state-run broadband provider, Ogero. 

These price hikes went into effect last Friday, 1 July, with customers and digital rights organisations already launching complaints, saying that many people will simply be priced out of mobile services.

“Lebanon will become a place where no one will be able to use telecoms except those who are privileged,” explained Mohammed Najem, co-founder of Beirut-based digital rights organisation SMEX to The National. “The prices have increased at least five times what they were. A lot of people can’t afford these prices, which means many people will either use much less internet or they will go totally offline.”

Until some lasting solutions can be devised for Lebanon’s economic crisis, it seems the country’s telecom sector will continue to just barely cling to life, at least for the short term. 

Also in the news:

Today, MTS has become the latest mobile operator to join New Digital Solutions, taking a 25% stake in the business alongside its mobile rivals Rostelecom, MegaFon, and Vimpelcom.
The move means that all four of Russia’s largest mobile operators are now equal partners in the JV, which aims to explore the viability and availability of various spectrum bands for 5G services.
The history of New Digital Solutions begins back in 2017, when MegaFon and Rostelecom first set up a working group to explore the future of 5G technology in the 3…

Today, MTS has become the latest mobile operator to join New Digital Solutions, taking a 25% stake in the business alongside its mobile rivals Rostelecom, MegaFon, and Vimpelcom.

The move means that all four of Russia’s largest mobile operators are now equal partners in the JV, which aims to explore the viability and availability of various spectrum bands for 5G services.

The history of New Digital Solutions begins back in 2017, when MegaFon and Rostelecom first set up a working group to explore the future of 5G technology in the 3.4-3.6GHz and 26GHz frequency bands. 

A year later, the pair formed a JV, Digital for Business LLC, saying that it would continue the companies’ 5G frequency research, ultimately aiming to build its own 5G that would then be offered to other Russian operators on a wholesale basis. 

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) had approved the formation of the JV on the condition that it would allow non-discriminatory access to radio frequencies for all participants in the Russian mobile market, therefore maintaining healthy competition. 

Digital for Business LLC was renamed as New Digital Solutions in 2019.

At the start of 2021, Vimplecom joined the JV, taking an equal stake in the business, saying that Russia was lagging behind the global 5G trend and that “even large operators cannot solve these problems alone”.

“The lack of frequencies suitable for creating 5G networks in Russia is one of the most significant constraints. The JV has a very large amount of work ahead of releasing radio frequency resources, taking into account the whole range of issues – regulatory, organisational, technical, economic,” explained Rostelecom president Mikhail Oseevsky at the time. 

“The result of the work of the [JV] should be an objective full-fledged picture of the frequency resource available for the construction of fifth-generation networks in Russia. These data will allow for more informed decisions both for the state at all levels of regulation and for mobile operators to build an effective business based on new generation networks.”

This left MTS, Russia’s largest mobile operator, as the only significant mobile player without a piece of New Digital Solutions, something which it quickly indicated it would seek to rectify. Now, with all four operators on board, New Digital Solutions should have all the expertise it needs for better understanding the future of Russian 5G spectrum.

So far, however, despite roughly four years of research by the new JV, launching nationwide 5G services in Russia remains something of a technical quagmire, with much of the optimal spectrum already occupied by various other services. 

In December 2019, Rostelecom, MegaFon, VimpelCom, and MTS agreed to clear the spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.4–3.8 GHz, 4.4–4.99 GHz, and 24.25–29.5 GHz bands in preparation for reassignment for 5G services. However, many of these spectrum bands are contentious; for example, the Security Council of the Russian Federation says that part of the 3.4–3.8 GHz band is currently used for government services, while portions of the 4.4–4.99 GHz band are currently used by the Federal Protective Service (FSO), the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Ministry of Defense, and the Russian space agency, Roskosmos.

As a result, the JV’s focus has been largely on testing for electromagnetic compatibility, conducting research on frequencies suitability for delivering 5G services, and clearing existing spectrum bands. 

It remains unclear whether New Digital Solutions still intends to rollout its own network infrastructure in future.  

Also in the news:

This week, the FCC has approved Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to begin providing internet for moving vehicles throughout the US. 
Starlink currently comprises around 2,700 LEO satellites, providing high-speed internet services to around 400,000 subscribers in 32 countries, with global coverage expected to be achieved later this year.
All of these subscribers access internet services via Starlink terminals, which are delivered to consumers and deployed at fixed locations nearby…

This week, the FCC has approved Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to begin providing internet for moving vehicles throughout the US. 

Starlink currently comprises around 2,700 LEO satellites, providing high-speed internet services to around 400,000 subscribers in 32 countries, with global coverage expected to be achieved later this year.

All of these subscribers access internet services via Starlink terminals, which are delivered to consumers and deployed at fixed locations nearby. These terminals then act as an intermediary, facilitating a connection between the satellites and the user’s connected devices.

Currently, these terminals must be fixed in place to provide services, though Starlink also offers customers the opportunity to move their terminal to an additional location and receive services there for an additional fee. 

Accessing services whilst on the move, however, has thus far been prohibited by law; for example, earlier this year, Starlink began selling connectivity services to RVs (recreational vehicles), but could only legally deliver connectivity to them when they were stationary. 

Now the FCC’s ruling will allow Starlink to begin offering internet directly to moving customers, from within aeroplanes, trains, ships, and automobiles.

“Authorizing a new class of terminals for SpaceX’s satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while on the move, whether driving an RV across the country, moving a freighter from Europe to a U.S. port, or while on a domestic or international flight,” said the FCC’s statement. 

SpaceX already has contracts in place with various airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines, JSX and Delta Airlines, to trial its latest connected technologies. 

However, just because the FCC say that SpaceX can legally provide services to moving consumers does not mean that customers can tied their terminal to the roof of their car and expect to receive signal.

For one thing, as SpaceX and Tesla owner Elon Musk has pointed out, the existing “terminal is much too big” for use in most consumer vehicles, explaining that “this is for aircraft, ships, large trucks & RVs”.

Starlink’s website too seems to suggest that mobility remains something of a technical challenge. 

“While our teams are actively working to make it possible to use Starlink on moving vehicles, Starlink is not yet configured to be safely used in this way,” reads Starlink’s FAQ page on its website, noting that using the terminal whilst moving will also void its warranty. 

Starlink has yet to give a timeline for the rollout of these mobility services, but trials are currently ongoing.

This ruling comes amidst an ongoing regulatory battle between SpaceX and Dish Network, with the latter having sought to block Starlink from using the 12 GHz spectrum band for its services. With the new permissions from the FCC, Starlink will now have access to this contested spectrum (albeit sharing it with another satellite player, Kepler Communications), dealing a significant blow to Dish, which wants to use the spectrum to provide pay-TV services. 

How will the wider availability of Starlink impact the telecoms dynamics of the US market? Find out from the experts at Connected America 2023

Also in the news:
Game set and match – connected strawberries
Snoop no more: Court rules against UK security services’ free access to telecoms data
BT: We need more time to excise Huawei from our network

At the start of this year, in an effort to revitalise TIM’s lacklustre financial performance, new CEO Pietro Labriola masterminded a plan that would see the Italian incumbent operator’s network arm separated from its service arm. 
The new NetCo would comprise the company’s fixed access network as well as its international submarine cable unit…

At the start of this year, in an effort to revitalise TIM’s lacklustre financial performance, new CEO Pietro Labriola masterminded a plan that would see the Italian incumbent operator’s network arm separated from its service arm. 

The new NetCo would comprise the company’s fixed access network as well as its international submarine cable unit, Sparkle, leaving ServCo in charge of TIM’s mobile network and enterprise services. 

Such a divide has been hotly anticipated by investors, with reports suggesting that various private equity firms – including US-based KKR, which had their €10.8 billion takeover bid rebuffed – have expressed interest in taking a stake in both NetCo and ServCo. 

The separation is also expected help smooth the merger of TIM and Open Fiber’s respective fixed networks to create a single national network, with a formal preliminary deal between the two companies being signed back in May.

But despite the excitement surrounding this enormous restructure, more specific details of the plan have been slow to come to light, likely as a result of TIM waiting to see exactly how the merger negotiations with Open Fiber will ultimately play out.

Now, however, a report from Reuters suggests that around 21,000 of TIM’s Italian staff will be shifted to work at the newly created NetCo. With a current domestic workforce of roughly 42,500, this presumably means just over half of the company’s staff will remain to work at ServCo.

That said, the final staff numbers for both units could be considerably less than that. TIM is currently trying to cut costs by €1 billion by 2024, a process that will include significant job cuts. In February, rumours were already circulating that the restructure could see around 8,000 jobs eliminated in Italy alone.

Since then, the first hints of such job cuts are beginning to show, with TIM last month announcing that it would seek to remove around 1,200 jobs through a voluntary early retirement scheme. 

A framework for further job cuts has yet to be announced, but an update regarding the future of NetCo, ServCo, Open Fiber, and potential job cuts could be delivered later this week, with TIM’s Capital Market Day taking place on the 7 July. Whether this latest update will provide us with answers or simply more questions, however, remains to be seen.

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Also in the news:
Game set and match – connected strawberries
Snoop no more: Court rules against UK security services’ free access to telecoms data
BT: We need more time to excise Huawei from our network