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Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has opened an inquiry to investigate whether Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s commencing acquisition of Juniper Networks for $14 billion would cause competition concerns in the market.
The CMA “is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction, if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 and, if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services,” read the official statement. It invites any interested parties to submit comments on the transaction.
Back in January, HPE announced that it would acquire Juniper Networks in an all-cash deal of approximately $14 billion, equating to $40 per share. After the acquisition, HPE estimates that its networking business will double, as the “explosion of AI and hybrid cloud-driven business is accelerating demand for secure, unified technology solutions that connect, protect, and analyse companies’ data from edge to cloud,” the companies said.
“HPE’s acquisition of Juniper represents an important inflection point in the industry and will change the dynamics in the networking market and provide customers and partners with a new alternative that meets their toughest demands,” said HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri in a press release.
If approved, the combined entity will be run Juniper CEO Rami Rahim who will report to Neri.
In a statement, the CMA confirmed that phase one of the investigation would begin on 20 June. The investigation will run until 14 August, when the CMA will decide if moving to a second phase if necessary.
Investigations by the CMA into such large transactions are not unexpected. Back when the deal was announced, the two companies expected the deal to close by early 2025 at the latest, pending regulatory approval.
Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter
Also in the news:
Global Telco AI Alliance sign LLM JV
Telenor teams up with AWS for sovereign cloud service
Nvidia and HPE team up for gen AI solution
This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Taylor Allis, Chief Product Officer at Avetta
The telecommunications (telecom) sector is entering a new era, blurring the lines between the traditional definition of a telecom company and a tech company, as both industries boom with innovation. From promising 6G implementations to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program that will fund new developments, the opportunities are endless. As the landscape rapidly evolves, a mature and secure supply chain is crucial. It is the linchpin … [visit site to read more]
Two Cameroon utilities, Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) and Cameroon Water Utility Corporation (Camwater), have signed an agreement to share infrastructure.
The companies say they are joining forces not just to share resources, but to amplify their collective impact, combining expertise to pave the way for faster, more cost-effective deployments of telecom and water services across the nation.
Quoted in local news resource News Upfront, Blaise Moussa, CEO of Camwater, points out that cities are expanding geographically and horizontally, and networks are submitted to high constraints, “and,” he adds, “we don’t have enough means to develop them”.
Judith Yah Sunday, CEO of Camtel, points out that infrastructure sharing is becoming a fairly common practice around the world. She explains: “Wherever Camwater is already present, we can surf on that infrastructure and vice versa and make sure that we deliver optimal services to customers and the public at large.”
Cited benefits of the agreement include cost efficiencies through reduced duplication of efforts and maximised use of existing resources. The deal should also promote environmental sustainability since less construction means less environmental disruption.
Timetables and technical details don’t yet seem to have been published. However, Judith Yah Sunday’s point about infrastructure sharing is certainly correct. In fact earlier this month a number of news outlets said that Kenya intends to use its more than 70,000 power transformers as internet hotspots across the country.
This will involve collaboration between the government and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to use available power lines rather than laying fibre.
[Copenhagen, Denmark, June 18, 2024] During the TM Forum Digital Transformation World (DTW) 2024 summit convened in Copenhagen, Denmark, China Mobile and Huawei were awarded the “People and Planet” Excellence Award in recognition of their outstanding innovation and implementation of a Zero Carbon Ocean 5G Coverage and Ocean Care. The awarded project demonstrates how China Mobile and Huawei have deeply integrated 5G, AI, IoT and other technologies with the marine industry, driving the high-quality development of the ocean economy and contributing to the marine ecosystem protection.
TM Forum Presents Excellence Award
The award of the “People and the Planet” Innovation Excellence Practice Project at the TM Forum is a recognition of China Mobile and Huawei ‘s innovation and contribution in the field of marine communications technologies. China is a large maritime nation, with over 32,000 kilometres of coastline, among the world’s top. Its abundant marine resources hold immense potential for local economic advancement. However, the complex and changeable marine environment, high-risk operations and the severe challenges of environmental protection have always been a difficult problem restricting the development of marine economy.
Confronting these challenges, China Mobile and its Jiangsu Provincial Branch, with Huawei’s support have actively explored the application of mobile communication technology in the marine domain, providing innovative solutions to the digital transformation for the maritime industry.
Through the pioneering solution of “Land/Sea/Windmill Site + Resources Sharing + Intelligent Platform”, the joint team successfully constructed offshore 5G base stations, overcoming the obstacles of site selection, power supply, and backhaul in the offshore scenarios. By leveraging renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, and AI-based power storage optimization solution, the joint team achieved Zero Carbon 5G coverage across the maritime expanse. Furthermore, they have actively explored collaboration with satellite companies, creating an integrated “Space-Sky-Sea” network to provide full wireless coverage to boats and people off the coastline. This innovative initiative not only furnishes basic communication, social entertainment, and entrepreneurial opportunities for offshore workers, tourists, and fishermen, but also supports the deployment of a series of B2B innovative applications such as marine IoT, smart waterways, and intelligent patrols, while also constructing a marine emergency communication lifeline.
The “People and the Planet” Excellence Award at the TM Forum is a recognition of the innovation and contribution of China Mobile and Huawei in the field of marine communications technologies. It further demonstrates that China Mobile, as the industry leader, has made great achievements in the following aspects under the sustainable development strategy of “Three Energy and Six Green.” Drive the global communications industry to upgrade towards green, digital, and intelligent innovation.
The founding partners of the Global Telco AI Alliance, Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom, e&, Singtel and SoftBank have this week signed a joint venture for telco AI development.
Specifically, the five companies have agreed to develop Large Language Models (LLMs) that are specifically designed to meet telco needs, in areas such as improving customer interactions via digital assistants and chatbots. The LLMs will be tailored to the needs of the five companies in their respective markets, allowing them to reach a combined customer base of around 1.3 billion people in 50 countries. The LLMs will be multilingual in languages such as Korean, English, German, Arabic and Bahasa, among other languages.
Each company will invest in the JV equally, “to support its initial working capital requirements to develop the Telco LLM” explains the press release.
The Alliance was established in July last year, with the aim of collaborating on the use of AI to create new customer experiences and business opportunities. At the Alliance’s inaugural meeting at Mobile World Congress Barcelona back in February, the founders announced their intention to establish the JV within the year.
“Our shared goal is to redefine industry paradigms, establish new growth drivers through AI-powered business models, and pave the way for a new era of strategic cooperation, guiding our industry towards an exciting and prosperous future,” said the companies in the announcement’s press release.
The second Global Telco AI Roundtable was held this week at DTW 2024 in Copenhagen, where the parties each demonstrated their potential applications of an LLM for telcos, focussing on contact centre and infrastructure use cases.
Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter
Also in the news:
Nokia and Google Cloud expand partnership for telco APIs
Telenor teams up with AWS for sovereign cloud service
Nvidia and HPE team up for gen AI solution
Some balance sheet work, a new data center player, some FTTx consolidation, and of course some AI. … [visit site to read more]
