Around a year ago, 1&1 signed an agreement with Deutsche Telekom (DT), allowing its affiliate 1&1 Versatel to use DT’s FTTH and VDSL networks for the next 10 years. Included within the contract was a clause allowing for the expansion of this agreement to allow 1&1 to directly market its FTTH products in future when such services were ready…

Around a year ago, 1&1 signed an agreement with Deutsche Telekom (DT), allowing its affiliate 1&1 Versatel to use DT’s FTTH and VDSL networks for the next 10 years. Included within the contract was a clause allowing for the expansion of this agreement to allow 1&1 to directly market its FTTH products in future when such services were ready. 

Now, such an expansion is coming to pass, with DT making all of its direct fibre optic connections available to 1&1 as a direct wholesale customer, having overcame the necessary regulatory hurdles.

The first FTTH product contract has been signed, allowing 1&1 to offer its own FTTH products to consumers using Telekom’s infrastructure with immediate effect. 

“This contract is another clear signal to the market. We come to an agreement without regulation and create fair conditions. We stand for free access to our networks. And we expect other companies to commit to this principle of Open Access just like Telekom,” said Dr Kerstin Baumgart, SVP of Deutsche Telekom’s wholesale business. “Millions of people and companies benefit from sharing our network. That’s good for Germany. Telekom is Germany’s fibre optic company. Nationwide cooperation is a mainstay of our strategy. All sides benefit from this partnership: we make greater use of our network, our marketing partner gets a greater reach and the customers have a variety of providers.”

Telekom notes that it is aiming to have roughly 10 million FTTH connections by the end of 2024.

The move comes as part of the German regulator, Bundesnetzagentur’s, decision in 2021 to regulate fibre networks less strictly than the industry’s previous copper iterations, hoping to create an environment in which fibre rollouts can expand rapidly across the country. 

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Vodafone has this week confirmed that it has launched an initial sale of 63.6 million shares, equivalent to a roughly 2.4% stake, in India’s largest tower company, Indus Towers.
At the same time, Indian media claimed that Vodafone was also in advanced discussions to sell a further 4.7% stake, with sources suggesting that the potential buyer is likely Bharti Airtel. 
Indus Towers, previously known as Bharti Infratel, has almost 180,000 towers across India and plays an integral role in the nation&’…

Vodafone has this week confirmed that it has launched an initial sale of 63.6 million shares, equivalent to a roughly 2.4% stake, in India’s largest tower company, Indus Towers.

At the same time, Indian media claimed that Vodafone was also in advanced discussions to sell a further 4.7% stake, with sources suggesting that the potential buyer is likely Bharti Airtel. 

Indus Towers, previously known as Bharti Infratel, has almost 180,000 towers across India and plays an integral role in the nation’s mobile connectivity. According to the company, three of every five mobile calls in India are carried over the company’s infrastructure. 

In March 2021, the company had an enterprise value of roughly $11.6 billion, with each individual tower worth around $65,000.

Vodafone currently owns 28.1% in the tower company, while Bharti Airtel hold a $41.8% stake.

Reports suggest that these stake sales are just the beginning, with discussions said to be ongoing “with several interested parties” for the sale of the rest of Vodafone’s stake in the business. The whole 28.1% stake has an estimated value of around $2.5 billion.

The funds raised from this stake sale will seemingly be used to help prop up Vodafone’s Indian joint venture, Vi, which has been on the verge of bankruptcy for many years now. 

In the past, with Vi facing enormous adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments to the Indian government and facing intense competition at cutthroat prices from Reliance Jio, Vodafone and fellow investor in the joint venture, Aditya Birla Group (ABG), had been loathe to further invest in what appeared to be a sinking ship.

However, a recently agreed relief package for the Indian telecoms market, alongside an industry-wide price hike, has made the survival of Vi far more viable, with both Vodafone and Aditya Birla saying they would continue to support the business after all, preparing to raise additional capital via the issuance of equity shares.

At the start of this year, the Indian government also agreed to take a 35.8% stake in Vi, converting the roughly $2.1 billion debt they owed the government into equity.

“The first step in this process included the conversion of $2.1 billion of AGR and spectrum interest into equity, which will make the Indian government the largest shareholder of Vi. Vodafone and ABG intend to contribute towards an issue of equity shares by Vi (a ‘capital raise’) once the terms of such a capital raise have been evaluated and decided on by the board of directors,” the company said in a statement. 

But despite fresh investment and relative relief from government dues, Vi still has its work cut out for it, with the company recording its steepest subscriber fall in five months back in November. In that month alone, the company lost around 1.9 million mobile subscribers, while its rivals, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, continue to grow, gaining 2 million and 1.3 million subscribers, respectively. 

Vi’s subscriber base, at the time, had been declining for 36 consecutive months.

With both Airtel and Jio continuing to grow, Vi will need more than just the funding from this stake sale if it is to turn its fortunes around.

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US public housing has become infamous for it’s poor quality, underfunding and mismanagement resulting in tenants living in crumbling buildings with billions in repair backlogs, whilst Americans usually see it as the last resort for those with no other options. Now a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission is going to ease one part of the puzzle for those living and working in apartments…

US public housing has become infamous for it’s poor quality, underfunding and mismanagement resulting in tenants living in crumbling buildings with billions in repair backlogs, whilst Americans usually see it as the last resort for those with no other options.

Now a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission is going to ease one part of the puzzle for those living and working in apartments, public housing, office buildings, and other multi-tenant buildings, by enhancing broadband competition. This is a crucial part of the move towards a more connected America, prohibiting broadband providers from keeping competitive providers out of buildings – typically via revenue sharing agreements with building owners – and making any information about marketing deals readily (and clearly) available.

Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said in a statement “One third of this country live in multi-tenant buildings where there often is only one choice for a broadband provider, and no ability to shop for a better deal,”

An extension to the ruling covers the wiring inside the building, prohibiting so-called sale-and-leaseback arrangements that block competitive access to alternative providers, meaning that in many multi-tenant environments already existing coaxial networks can be used by competitive providers rather than having to install expensive and labour-intensive fibre to the building.

One company that sees the advantage of this is InCoax Networks who provides fibre access extension technology which can be leveraged to enhance the capabilities of existing networks.

InCoax Head of Marketing, Sales and Product Management Helge Tiainen said “The FCC’s ruling will help open up the choice of broadband providers to empower millions of US tenants in their multi-tenant environments and lessen the barriers of broadband competition,”

“By reusing existing in-building infrastructure for broadband access, it can address the complexities that operators face when looking to bring connectivity to existing apartments and office buildings.”

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