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The call to action comes after Ofcom announced plans to ban mid-contract price rises late last year 

According to research from Which?, many mobile and broadband customers are set to face major price hikes this April, with the alternative being to face large fees to exit their contract. 

As part of their mission to provide financial clarity for mobile and broadband customers, Which? analysed the mobile industry market data to better understand the impact of the price rises on customers. It found that, of all the mobile providers using CPI (Consumer Prices Index) as a foundation for their price increases, EE, Three, and Vodafone are all increasing their prices by 7.9% this year, costing customers up to an additional £27.36 per year.  

In terms of broadband, the average BT customer will have the biggest price increase, up by 7.9% and increasing their bills by up to £35.92 per year. 

“We think it is unconscionable that broadband and mobile providers are still planning to go ahead with this year’s inflation-linked price rises, which will impact millions of people, even after the regulator declared this practice causes substantial consumer harm and proposed a ban,” Which? said on its website. 

“It’s outrageous that telecoms firms could yet again trap their customers between inflation-busting price hikes and punitive exit fees this April, despite Ofcom declaring this practice causes substantial consumer harm,” said Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy. 

“Telecoms providers must do the right thing by halting unfair price hikes immediately, rather than piling more misery on their customers.” 

Find the full Which? analysis here. 

Back in December, Ofcom announced their proposal to ban inflation-linked mid-contract price rises to give customers more transparency regarding their future bills. Their research found that, as of April last year, four in ten broadband customers and over half of mobile customers were on contracts that were subject to inflation-linked price rises. Despite this, awareness of what this actually meant was staggeringly low; 55% of broadband customers and 58% of pay monthly mobile customers did not understand what inflation rates like CPI and RPI (Retail Prices Index) measure, and therefore do not fully understand how price increases are calculated.  

Ofcom concluded that the price rises cause “substantial amounts of consumer harm” and proposed the rule change. 

A period of consultation is currently underway, and the results are to be published in Spring. 

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UK government strikes deal with Vodafone over e& security concerns 

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The move comes as a measure to prevent foreign powers from having too much power and influence over British businesses 

Vodafone and the UK government have reached an agreement to implement “proportionate measures” after the government raised concerns over UAE-based e&’s growing stake in the UK operator. 

The government last week said that e&’s significant stake in the business poses a national security risk and ordered Vodafone to take mitigating action, the details of which have now been agreed. 

e&, previously known as Etisalat, is 60% owned by the Emirati government and has built up its stake in Vodafone in recent years, reaching 14.6% in April 2023.  

The increased stake made it Vodafone’s largest shareholder and gave e&’s CEO, Hatem Dowidar, a seat on Vodafone’s board.  

The decision immediately faced scrutiny from the UK government, with the cabinet office warning that the decision would enable e& to “materially influence policy at Vodafone”. 

Given the fact that Vodafone plays a strategic role in the UK telecommunications sector, the government mandated that a “national security committee” is to be set up at Vodafone, which will monitor any sensitive work that could have an impact on the UK’s national security. The government said that the measure is “necessary and proportionate” to “mitigate the risk to national security”.  

The UK government also ordered that it be notified if the relationship between the two companies changes.  

These new governmental interventions have been made under the recently triggered section 26 of the National Security and Investments Act, put in place to address any countrywide security concerns. 

“Where investment might impact the UK’s national security – for example through the acquisition of certain technologies or infrastructure – we will work with investment partners to minimise any risk,” said Oliver Dowden, Deputy Prime Minister in a statement made last week. 

“As part of our Critical National Infrastructure, telecoms is one such sector. Vodafone is also a particularly important company for the UK Government given its critical functions, including as a key partner in HMG’s Cyber Security Strategy,” he continued. 

Since that statement, the Cabinet Office confirmed this week that “proportionate measures to address any potential national security concerns” have been agreed by Vodafone, though further details as to what these measures are have not been announced. 

“We are pleased to have received clearance in our home market for our strategic relationship agreement with e& and for e& to take a seat on our board,” said Vodafone in a short statement. 

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Nokia’s 2023 financial results reflect the gloom of the current market, similar to Ericsson and AT&T’s results which have also been published this week 

This week, Nokia have released their financial results for Q4 and the full 2023 financial year. Net sales decreased 21% year-on-year in Q4, which the company put down to continuing macroeconomic uncertainty impacting operator spending.  Net sales for the year declined 8% year-on-year. 

“In 2023 we saw a meaningful shift in customer behaviour impacting our industry driven by the macro-economic environment and high interest rates along with customer inventory digestion,” said Pekka Lundmark, Nokia’s President and CEO in a statement. 

Despite Nokia’s success in the current climate, Lundmark warned that the same “challenging environment” of 2023 will continue into this year Nokia’s biggest revenue division, mobile networks, saw a 17% year-on-year decrease in sales to €2.5 billion in Q4, with Lundmark suggesting that 2024 will see operators remain cautious in terms of network investment. 

In Q4 cash flow performance was positive, generating €1.7 billion of free cash flow, and ending the quarter with net cash flow of €4.3 billion. 

Looking ahead at the next year, Nokia expects to see a comparable operating profit of between €2.3 billion to 2.9 billion 

Upon the news, Nokia shares had risen by 8.5%. 

These results come just a month after Nokia was struck a major blow when US operator AT&T signed a $14 billion 5G deal with Ericsson, significantly reducing Nokia’s presence in the US giant’s network. The deal negatively impacted Nokia share price, seeing it drop down 25% compared to the same time last year.  

Lundmark called the deal a “disappointing development” for Nokia, but added he believes Nokia has the right strategy to achieve a double-digit operating margin longer-term. 

Other key market players such as Ericsson and AT&T have also released their financial results this week, which also reflect the conservative nature of the market, with operators expected to heavily cut back on their purchases of 5G equipment. This has led to extensive cost-saving measures throughout the industry, with both operators and vendors implementing job cuts. 

 Back in February last year Ericsson announced it would cut 8,500 jobs. 

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The formal investigation will examine the impact that the deal will have on market competition and what this could mean for customers 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has begun the first phase of its investigation into the proposed merger of mobile network operators Three UK and Vodafone UK. 

Prior to the investigation’s launch, the CMA collected pre-notification evidence and information from both companies, as well as early views from stakeholders. 

The investigation will last 40 days, aiming to identify whether the merger would cause ‘substantial lessening of competition’ and, if this is the case, where a more detailed investigation will be needed. After the 40 days, the CMA will publish its findings and next necessary steps. 

“This deal would bring together two of the major players in the UK telecommunications market, which is critical to millions of everyday customers, businesses and the wider economy,” said Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA in a government statement. 

“The CMA will assess how this tie-up between rival networks could impact competition,” she continued.  

The high level of CMA intervention is necessary because, if the deal is given the greenlight, it will reduce the number of MNOs in the UK from four to three, with the newly merged company having a market share of 32.1%. 

The merger was agreed last year, with Vodafone taking a 52% in the new business and Three UK taking the remaining minority stake. Vodafone UK’s CEO Ahmed Essam will lead the business, and Three UK’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Darren Purkis will assume his same role at the new enterprise. 

The two companies emphasise that the merger will be beneficial to the UK telecoms market, giving them the freedom to jointly invest £11 billion in services and next generation wireless infrastructure.  

“Thanks to this transaction, 95% of the population and every school and hospital will be covered by standalone 5G by the end of the decade,” said Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three UK. 

The CMA is now inviting views by 9 February 2024 on how the merger could affect competition. 

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The plans are the first of its kind in the UAE, according to the company 

Etisalat by e& has announced the launch of two new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) plans of 5Gbps and 10Gbps to enhance the connectivity experience that the company can bring to customers. 

The 5Gbps plan is priced at AED 1799 ($489.80) per month and the 10Gbps plan is priced at AED 2,699 ($734.83) per month. 

“With the launch of ground-breaking 5Gbps and 10Gbps speeds, we’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Khaled El Khouly Chief Consumer Officer, Etisalat by e& in a press release. 

“This latest innovation reflects our commitment to cutting-edge connectivity, using a brand new XGS fibre network, we believe it will set new benchmarks in the industry,” he continued.  

According to the company, they are the first to introduce speeds higher than 1Gbps in the UAE. 

The UAE is fast becoming a global hotbed for telco innovation. Just this week, Etisalat by e& partnered with Nokia to complete the first trial of cloud RAN in the region, with the aim of enhancing the 5G experience in the mid-band carrier spectrum. The company said that the success of the trial demonstrates how combining cloud computing with the flexibility of radio access networks can enhance the 5G network. 

“It’s the first in the region and paves the way for enhanced connectivity and service delivery, ultimately providing end-users with a more robust and responsive 5G experience,” said Marwan Bin Shakar, Senior Vice President of Access Network Development at etisalat by e& in the announcement’s press release. 

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The sale-and-leaseback deal was agreed for an undisclosed sum

This week, Millicom’s subsidiary Tigo Colombia has agreed to sell around 1,100 of its mobile towers to US investment firm KKR.

The towers will be managed by KKR in partnership with NEXO LatAm, the digital infrastructure platform that manages KKR’s fibre investments throughout Latin America.

Tigo itself will continue to make use of the divested towers for its mobile network via a long-term leasing agreement with KKR.

The financial details of the deal were not revealed.

“This transaction enhances our operational and capital efficiency in Colombia, with long-term lease obligations denominated in Colombian pesos, consistent with our objective of increasing our proportion of financing in local currency,” said Millicom’s CEO Mauricio Ramos.

KKR already owns significant infrastructure assets in Latin America, primarily in partnership with Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, with whom it jointly owns fibre networks in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile.

“KKR seeks to develop the telecommunications industry in Latin America through best-in-class mission-critical assets such as fiber, towers and small cells. This acquisition – along with KKR’s fiber investments in Chile, Colombia and Peru – underscores KKR’s commitment to its digital infrastructure platform in LatAm. This important agreement with Tigo is in line with our strategy of long-term partnerships with leading companies in the region,” said Waldemar Szlezak, a partner on KKR’s Infrastructure team.

In fact, KKR’s interest in telecoms infrastructure extends far beyond Latin America. The company is currently in the process of purchasing Italian incumbent operator TIM’s spun-off fixed network assets for roughly €22 billion. The deal, which had been in discussion for over a year, finally received approval from the Italian government earlier this month.

The deal is subject to typical regulatory approvals.

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News 

The partnership is Huawei’s latest attempt to enter further into the EV market 

This week, telecoms equipment giant Huawei and Chinese state-owned vehicle manufacture Dongfeng Motor Group have signed a partnership to collaborate on Dongfeng’s Voyah brand of “new energy” vehicles.  

Dongfeng is one of China’s ‘Big 4’ car manufacturers, alongside FAW Group, SAIC Motors, and Changan. 

The partnership, which was announced on Monday, will see Dongfeng Motors include various Huawei technologies in its vehicles, including autonomous driving and infotainment software. The press release notes that “both parties will jointly create the ultimate intelligent travel experience based on user needs. Through collaborative exploration and innovation in various fields, they aim to accelerate the large-scale commercialization of intelligent technologies.”  

Little else about the partnership was released, although it is expected that Voyah will adopt “Huawei Inside”, the company’s autonomous driving system that combines the Harmony operating system with the HiCar solution, and is capable of level-3 of autonomous driving. This indicates the vehicle can perform most driving tasks but human override may still be required in some circumstances. 

Voyah, who delivered 50,000 vehicles last year, aim to double their production in the coming year, according to their partner meeting yesterday. 

Huawei has been striving to grow its presence in China’s automobile industry for a number of years now, having invested $1 billion in the industry since 2021.The country has the one of the world’s fastest growing electric vehicle (EV) markets, with penetration expected to reach 40% of the country’s automobile industry this year. For Huawei, this represents a massive opportunity, one which the company is increasingly dedicated to pursuing as international sanctions stymie its traditional telecoms business in many Western markets. 

Back in November, Huawei announced a joint venture (JV) with state-run automobile firm Changan Auto, another of the so-called Big 4. Huawei said it will move its core technologies and resources in its smart car unit to the newly created JV, in which Changan will take a stake of up to 40%. The JV will focus on areas that are already covered by Huawei’s Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit, such as intelligent driving software and digital cockpit systems. 

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The vendor expects the decline in 5G demand will continue from last year 

Sweden’s Ericsson says it expects a further decline in 5G equipment sales to mobile operators in the coming year, despite the company beating its Q4 profit expectations this week. 

Sales are slowing in both the US and India – a concerning trend given the latter is typically classed as a high growth market and still has a long way to go with its 5G rollout. 

In Q4, revenues dropped 16% year-on-year to SEK 71.9 billion ($6.9 billion), compared to a 5% drop in Q3. Net income fell 30.5% to SEK3.4 billion ($323.7 million). 

“As we look to 2024, we expect the market outside China to further decline, with similar uncertainties as experienced in 2023,” said President and CEO Börje Ekholm in the results’ press release. 

“We expect a… a further decline of the RAN [Radio Access Network] market outside China as our customers remain cautious and the investment pace is normalizing in India,” continued the press release. 

“5G only being in the early stages of build-out will require additional network investments. In our view, the current investment levels are unsustainably low for many operators.” 

To combat the decline in revenues, Ericsson has confirmed that it will continue to focus on cost efficiency and operational efficiency in the coming year, which could include layoffs, reports Reuters. The company already announced that 8,500 job will be cut between the middle of 2023 and end of 2024. 

Despite the forecast decline, Ericsson is expected to get a boost from the $14 billion from its deal with AT&T in the second half of this year. This deal was signed back in December and will see Ericsson supply the Open RAN equipment to the US telecoms giant, which hopes the open technology will carry 70% of its wireless traffic by the end of 2026. 

In a separate press release today, the company announced that it has appointed Lars Sandström as Chief Financial Officer, replacing Carl Mellander, who announced his departure in April. 

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The announcement comes after Telefonica was forced to reapply for the tender following competition authority intervention 

Telefonica has this week announced that it has retained the exclusive rights to air games from La Liga (the top tier of Spanish men’s football) via its Movistar plus streaming service, until the end of the 2026-27 season. 

The Spanish telco can now broadcast five out of the ten live football matches per week, and will pay €1.29 billion to do so. 

In 2021, La Liga had initially agreed broadcast contracts with streaming platform DAZN and Telefonica until the end of the 2026-27 season, but were mandated to re-tender the rights after intervention from the (National Commission on Markets and Competition CNMC), Spain’s competition regulator.  

The CNMC argued that Telefonica should have not been allowed to buy the broadcasting rights for a period exceeding three years, under the terms of its acquisition of pay TV operator Digital+ in 2015. 

This term limit has now been scrapped, which has resulted in Telefonica being able enter and win a new tender process. Telefonica bid €250 million for the 2024/25 season and €520 million for each of the 2025/26 and 2026/2027 seasons. 

This newly acquired tender does not affect the rights held by DAZN, which also runs until the end of the 2026-27 season. 

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Press Release

Singtel announced today that it will augment its maritime digital offerings with Starlink’s satellites to drive adoption of digital solutions by ship owners and operators so they can innovate and tap into advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, edge computing, as well as access cloud-based solutions to improve safety, operational efficiencies, and crew well-being. With enhanced connectivity and low latency capabilities, ship operators can analyse data in real-time to increase productivity, reduce costs of fuel consumption and operational maintenance, among other benefits.

Starlink is the first low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband service to be added to Singtel’s comprehensive portfolio of award-winning, digital smart solutions for vessels known as iSHIP, which also includes Paragon – the telco’s an all-in-one orchestration platform for 5G edge computing and cloud services. The platform will manage and automate the smart switching between satellite communication services ensuring uninterrupted, high quality network coverage as ships traverse long distances, including the most remote locations and under severe conditions. It will also enable ships to leverage edge computing, host mission critical applications either on-premises or at shore – freeing up valuable bandwidth and improving reliability.

“The maritime industry is a complex, interconnected environment involving large volumes of data being transmitted between thousands of terminals, ships, and ports across the world. We have seen growing demands for faster, more resilient, and low latency connectivity as the industry starts to embrace digital transformation. The addition of Starlink to our existing suite of satellite communications solutions, orchestrated by our patented Paragon platform, is part of our multi-orbit strategy to increase the resilience of satellite connectivity in the industry and to enable the rapid adoption of digital technologies and solutions. As the first telco in Singapore to offer Starlink, we are confident that this offering will further facilitate the development of smart, secure, and sustainable solutions that will positively impact the industry,” said Mr Bill Chang, Chief Executive Officer, Digital InfraCo, Singtel.

Transforming the maritime industry with hyperconnectivity

High-speed, end-to-end connectivity is required to improve operational efficiencies, lower costs and raise the safety and security of vessels. Starlink is the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using LEO technology to deliver high-speed, low-latency Internet connectivity in even the most remote locations. As the only telco in the Southeast Asian region that features a multi-band satellite network including both LEO and geostationary orbit (GEO) offerings, customers can be assured that their ships and crew stay connected even in the most demanding maritime conditions.

With over 5,000 satellites in its constellation, Starlink can provide global maritime coverage for vessels of all sizes, delivering up to 220 Mbps download speed – easily capable of supporting fleet management, remote monitoring, and navigation. The flat high-performance kit is designed for mobility

applications and challenging environments with operating temperatures from -30°C to 50°C. Starlink’s small form factor, simple installation process and efficient power consumption will ensure easy integration and energy efficiencies for ships of all sizes.

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