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Several interesting items to catch up with: … [visit site to read more]
Short video app TikTok plans to take a controlling stake in an e-commerce unit of a major Indonesian technology firm, PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia.
Under the deal, TikTok will buy 75.01% of GoTo’s PT Tokopedia, Indonesia’s biggest e-commerce platform, for US$840 million and Tokopedia will acquire TikTok Shop’s Indonesia business for US$340 million, enlarging its e-commerce platform.
TikTok will invest US$1.5 billion over the long term, according to the two companies.
A pilot period is planned during which the partners will work alongside the relevant regulators. There is a reason for this. In September Indonesia banned online shopping on social media platforms in order, it said, to protect smaller merchants and users’ data. The government accused some of the popular apps and websites of predatory pricing. It’s no surprise therefore that these two companies want to ensure regulatory compliance.
As we reported at the time, TikTok ended its online retail operation in Indonesia in October after the country imposed the ban.
But will this move rescue TikTok’s shopping business in Indonesia? If it can integrate social media and e-commerce without angering the Indonesian authorities, it seems likely.
According to the UK’s Financial Times news service, some analysts feel TikTok’s takeover of a local company could not just succeed but provide a template for working in other markets, including Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. As the FT points out, Malaysia and Vietnam have also threatened to impose rules to curb the app.
In any case Tokopedia has a large local merchant base and strong logistics and payments assets. More importantly perhaps, Indonesia, a populous country with a young, mobile population, was TikTok Shop’s largest market until recently. Many of Indonesia’s over 270 million population are active social media users, and TikTok has 125 million users in the country.
The news comes as the Chinese tech giant looks to expand its brand partnerships outside of China, after being the target of US sanctions over the last four years.
The company’s Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit is aiming to become the largest supplier of software and components for smart electric vehicles (EVs) and is worth $250 billion Yuan ($34.67 billion), according to the company.
According to the article, Mercedes Benz were offered a 3–5% stake in the business, but preferred to retain control of its software instead of outsourcing it.
Confidential sources also confirmed that although Audi’s interest could not be determined immediately, the two firms are planning a partnership to co-develop Audi’s autonomous driving technologies, which would be used in the Chinese market from 2025.
In 2019, Huawei faced significant sanctions from US following an Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump. Since then, many European countries such as Germany, UK, France, and Italy, have also imposed sanctions of various degrees on the company, forcing the Chinese firm to diversify into new markets, from automotive software to AI-powered pig farming solutions.
As such, according to at least one of Reuters sources, it is hoped that attracting investment from the German automotive players will protect the firm from being embroiled in further geopolitical tension.
A large proportion of Huawei’s revenue comes from patents, which last year stood at $560 million through almost 200 bilateral patent licenses. Both Mercedes-Benz and Audi are currently entered into patent agreements with the company.
Both Mercedes and Audi declined to comment.
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Also in the news:
It’s time for action: COP28 and keeping 1.5°C alive
Mitratel snaps up 803 telecoms towers for $113m
Sateliot partners with t42 to sign 5G IoT Maritime deal
A new subsea route added, and two significant data center expansion projects: … [visit site to read more]
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 apparent award of an enormous tower leasing deal to American Tower Corporation (ATC) by operator MTN Nigeria is facing a challenge from ousted rival bidder IHS Holding.
In early September we reported that MTN Nigeria had confirmed that, after a bidding process, ATC was to take over MTN’s Nigerian tower operations from IHS in 2025 after the leasing on 2,500 sites expired.
The mobile network operator suggested at the time that the deal would diversify its towers portfolio and unlock significant network cost efficiencies.
It seems that the story is not over yet, however. Reuters says IHS has now offered improved commercial terms to MTN Nigeria for the lease of the 2,500 towers. According to IHS, the move will prevent network disruption in Nigeria – presumably, though this is not made clear, because it would involve no changeover.
So what has inspired this move? MTN Nigeria has other tower contracts coming up for renewal, which may be part of the reason. Reuters says IHS owns 16,000 towers in Nigeria, of which 14,600 are leased by MTN. About 13% of MTN’s portfolio is with ATC, and 80% with IHS.
Also IHS is trying to manage a number of shareholder disputes over governance issues that haven’t been helped by the ATC deal. In fact we reported in September that the leadership of IHS had come under fire from investment firm Blackwells Capital after MTN’s decision to transfer the operation of its towers in Nigeria from IHS to ATC. Further complicating matters is that MTN Group is the largest shareholder in IHS and among the groups in dispute with the company.
As for this new bid on the 2,500 towers, the terms do not seem to have been revealed. In any case MTN has apparently said that the agreement with ATC is final.
Four bits of expansion project news, two international and two domestic: … [visit site to read more]
In the last few days billions of dollars of data centre development have been announced adding to an already bumper year which was recently estimated by Synergy Research Group as being up around 13% estimate from the previous year.
The most recent announcement is from Microsoft, pledging its largest ever investment in the UK, £2.5 billion to expand AI data centre infrastructure.
The money, which was welcomed by the UK government, will be invested over the next three years to expand its next generation AI data centre infrastructure in London and Cardiff and will occur alongside a huge commitment from Microsoft to train one million people with the skills they need to work with AI or move into a career in AI.
Microsoft vice chair and President Brad Smith said, “Microsoft is committed as a company to ensuring that the UK as a country has world-leading AI infrastructure, easy access to the skills people need, and broad protections for safety and security,”
Also, this week, the UK has seen Kao Data announce its first data centre in the north of England with a proposal to invest £350million on a data centre on a vacant industrial site in Stockport, Cheshire, whilst outside of the UK, Frankfurt, Paris, and Northern Virginia will benefit from a Digital Realty – Blackstone joint venture.
The $7 billion project will see the construction of 10 data centres with load capacity coming online through 2025 and 2026.
Finally, in China, the proposed Hainan Undersea Data Center is touting the environmental credentials of using seawater acts as a natural coolant and saving an estimated 122 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year.
The approach is innovative, but not without precedent – Microsoft tried something similar back in 2016.
Data centres are one of the 9 key themes tackled by Submarine Networks EMEA which takes place in London on 29th – 30th May 2024. Find out more at totaltele.com/subnets
