NEWS

BT blames 18% fall in profits on need for additional savings after large increase in energy bills and soaring inflation

BT has warned of further job cuts after it was forced to find an additional £500m in additional savings due to rapidly rising inflation and energy bills. The telecoms giant, which has reported an 18% slump on pre-tax profits from £1bn to £831m year-on-year in the six months to the end of September, has stated that its energy bill will be £200m higher this year. The company’s last official plan for job cuts under previous CEO Gavin Patterson, saw 13,000 jobs cut over three years from 2018.

As a result, BT has said that it has been forced to raise its cost-savings target from £2.5bn to £3bn by the end of its financial year in 2025, in response to inflation hitting a 40-year high and the surge in energy costs.

As reported in The Guardian, “We are leaving no stone unturned to make sure BT can be the most-efficient organisation it can be,” said Philip Jansen, the chief executive at BT.

“Inevitably it means some jobs will not exist in the future but that has been true of the last few years too. We will use natural attrition as much as we can. In these difficult conditions we know we have to double down on our costs. There are no specific numbers in mind. This [cost-cutting programme] is up until the end of 2025. Everyone has to share the pain – all 100,000 people at BT – to get to this £3bn on cost savings.”

Jansen also reiterated plans to push-through higher than inflation price rises, which could see bills rise by 14% for customers, a move which has seen BT and other operators criticised, as Ofcom has indicated that nearly 8 million households have experienced difficulty paying their bills, having told operators to “think hard” about making further price hikes in the current climate.

BT indicated that the slump was due to higher costs across its business as well as costs incurred in the £15bn rollout of next-gen full-fibre broadband across the UK. BT, which has been hit by ongoing strike action by tens of thousands of its near 60,000 frontline workforce, said that the industrial action had affected the rollout of broadband to new customers, with 40,000 homes missing out on new connections due to the strike action.

Openreach, BT’s broadband network subsidiary, has also stated that its customer base fell by 89,000 in the company’s second quarter compared with a 29,000 increase in the same period last year.

With strike action set to continue, and energy prices likely to remain high, BT’s difficult year looks set to continue into the next.

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TIM looking to cut 2,200 more jobs by 2024

NEWS

A new wholesale operator is being formed with the objective of deploying local fibre-optic networks in underserved areas across Germany, with ISP’s novanetz and YplaY responsible for marketing the fibre-optic network to customers.

The initial aim is to give access to full fibre to at least 150,000 homes in Hessen and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Open German Fiber is a join venture between MEAG – the asset manager of insurers Munich Re and ERGO – pension fund Arzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (AVWL) and investment firm Primevest Capital Partners.

This is the first investment for MEAG’s new infrastructure equity fund MEAG European Infrastructure One. The head of infrastructure equity at MEAG, Dominik Damaschke, said “We see a huge market potential for the FTTH market in Germany. Despite its position as Europe’s largest economy, Germany significantly lags behind in FTTH coverage.

Markus Altenhoff, CIO at ÄVWL said they were “proud to be able to support the nationwide expansion of the fibre-optics network in Germany.”

The most recent data from the FTTH Council Europe, their Fiber to the Home / Building (FTTH/B) Global Ranking published in May 2022, shows that seven European countries have passed the 50% penetration rate mark (Iceland, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Norway, Romania, Latvia). Germany lags far behind with 6.3% penetration – marginally above the UK on 5.9% (although the UK has more FTTH subscribers).

To keep up with the latest on Germany’s broadband progress join Total Telecom in Mainz on the 6 – 7 December 2022 for Connected Germany

INTERVIEW

At #ConnectedBritain 2022, Vitruvi Software, an industry leader for end-to-end Build Management Software announced their newest game changing Roll-Out Feature for UK Altnets: A55 Management.

Vitruvi’s award winning build management solution is empowering Altnets to rollout fibre at record speeds – enabling them to build smarter & faster. With GIS at the core, altnets can manage a variety of OpenReach PIA and design data, while maintaining full project controls for production costs and schedules. This enables streamlined Openreach reporting from A55s, NOIs, to SPO Evidence, and Whereabouts. Reducing overhead, expediting survey, and getting fibre in the ground faster. Teams are able to make real-time, data-driven decisions, cut inefficiencies – ensuring fast and efficient project rollout across all of the UK. 

Vitruvi was a finalist for Enterprise Solution of the Year Award at #ConnectedBritain 2022. We spoke to Bryan McIver, CEO of Vitruvi Software to find out how they are helping Altnets to deploy smarter.  

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About Vitruvi™ Software

Vitruvi is an innovative construction management software that allows you to efficiently manage every aspect of your telecommunications or utility infrastructure construction project. It’s a single, end-to-end, GIS-based platform that connects everyone, seamlessly, for unmatched project control and collaboration. Vitruvi’s best-in-class functionality spans the entire project build: from scoping & planning through to reporting & close-out. Build smarter & deploy faster with Vitruvi™. To learn more, visit www.vitruvisoftware.com.

Interview

Antonella Faniuolo, Head of Network Planning, Demand, Delivery and Transformation at Vodafone shares her insights into Vodafone’s transformation story from Telco to TechCo.

Can you tell us about your role at Vodafone?  

I lead Vodafone’s Network Planning, Demand, Delivery & Transformation team at a European level. We are responsible for translating Vodafone’s overall network strategy into actionable market plans to meet our commercial ambition across 12 European markets. In short, we look at the big picture and make sure that can be delivered at network level. 

What does it mean to be a modern telco according to Vodafone?  

At Vodafone we are currently undergoing a transformation to diversify from our traditional position as purely a telco and transform into a Tech Comms company. At the heart of that strategy, we are bringing teams and markets together to create One Technology team to better enable us to leverage our geographical scale. We are also investing in technologies beyond what would be considered the norm for the telecoms industry. 

For Vodafone, a modern telco is one that retains the connectivity proposition at the core of the business but offers a range of products and services above and beyond while operating with the agility and borderless mindset of a technology company. The objective is to offer value to our customers beyond what we traditionally offer. 

As the Head of Network Planning, Demand, Delivery & Transformation for Europe. What is the main challenge you face right now?  

We are transitioning to a new way of working that is build once and deploy many. Digital transformation programmes like this do not happen overnight; telecoms operators are complex organisations. This programme will have huge benefits for the business, leveraging our scale across multiple European markets and removing duplication of effort. As well as organisational, this is a cultural transformation, which is challenging, but hugely rewarding, allowing us to fully leverage our international pool of talent. 

You joined a panel at Total Telecom Congress on Open RAN and the future of 5G. From your perspective, what key challenges still need to be addressed for telcos to make the most Open RAN? 

At Vodafone, we view OpenRAN as a catalyst for change. We are asking our team to think differently as to how you build and manage networks, but also addressing common challenges. And by building a network with interoperability embedded at the foundation, we are creating the opportunity to work with new suppliers that may not be in the traditional telecoms ecosystem. These programmes are supported in parallel by two R&D labs opened over the last twelve months in Newbury and Malaga. 

The integration of these new companies, and adapting to new ways of working is incredibly challenging, but also perhaps the most exciting element of OpenRAN.  Bringing in new people, new ideas and more innovation can only be beneficial to the telecoms industry. 

Another significant challenge for OpenRAN is incentivising this nascent ecosystem. At Vodafone, we have made a commitment to transform 30% of mobile sites across Europe to OpenRAN technology by 2030. 

This is a significant commitment by Vodafone, and we look forward to seeing others in the industry make similar plans. The growth and maturity of the OpenRAN ecosystem will accelerate when there is incentive. A commitment of 30% of our European network provides a commercial target for OpenRAN companies to invest in themselves and to attract external investment in their operations.  

If others in the industry can provide the same incentive, the OpenRAN industry will go from strength to strength. 

Why do you attend events like Total Telecom Congress?  

After a few years of very limited in person events – I’m still really enjoying the opportunity to get out and meet old and new colleagues from across the industry. It really is the best way to get a sense of new developments in the sector.  

Total Telecom Congress took place in London this week. Next year’s edition will be moving to Amsterdam and will be held on 21st and 22nd November. Keep up to date with what’s happening via the event website.