News to Watch: Vodafone offers for Liberty Global EU assets - not all. Deutsche Tele vows Regulator fight. LTE-M and NB-IoT providers arising in Europe. M2M delayed by M&A? VOD has been a proponent of LTE-M and Carrier M2M versus unlicensed M2M . Quad- and Triple-play options plus enhanced Enterprise Services emerge from capacity and coverage gains. This is a long-anticipated move that has been negotiated for a couple years like the TMUS and Sprint deal for much of the same reasons.
5G and LTE-based M2M receive greater technical support but the NB-IoT option which is also compatible with WCDMA is also supported.
For SQNS owners, our ties to DT and VOD are slight tailwind. TAM is getting bigger as Europe becomes 'ripe'.
Can our partners make the sale?
GLTA
wsj.com
4-traders.com
Vodafone Confirms Deal to Buy Some Liberty Global European Assets for Nearly $23 Billion Deal includes operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic, would create one of the continent’s biggest telecommunications carriers
By Stu Woo Updated May 9, 2018 3:55 a.m. ET LONDON—Britain’s Vodafone Group PLC agreed to a nearly $23 billion deal to buy operations in four European countries from John Malone’s Liberty Global PLC, a merger that would create one of the continent’s biggest telecommunications carriers. Liberty Global, the world’s biggest international cable company, will sell its businesses in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic to Vodafone, the world’s second-largest wireless carrier by subscribers behind China Mobile Ltd. The deal, which is valued at EUR19 billion ($22.5 billion) and would give Liberty Global EUR10.6 billion in cash, would face a possibly lengthy European Union antitrust review. If completed, the merger would create a continental giant selling the industry's holy grail "quad-play" package: cable, internet, wireless and landline-phone service on a single bill. The deal would represent the latest in a global trend of wireless carriers acquiring cable operations, or vice versa, to offer quad-play packages. Wireless carriers need high-speed cable networks to quickly transmit data to cellular towers for 5G, the coming generation of mobile networks that promise to be fast enough to enable near-instantaneous movie downloads and innovations such as self-driving cars... The deal wouldn't include Liberty Global's businesses in the U.K. and Ireland, which compete with Vodafone's. Mr. Fries said neither side was interested in merging those businesses... He called Germany a competitive market where Deutsche Telekom controls the business, and that Vodafone's acquisition of Liberty Global's assets there would boost innovation and investment. A Deutsche Telekom spokesman said Tuesday that the deal would lead to "considerable restrictions for consumers to fear. It will be up to the antitrust authorities to examine the case carefully as soon as it will be announced." Asked about a potential Liberty Global-Vodafone deal during a February conference call, Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Timotheus Höttges said he didn't think "this kind of concentration in the cable market can be supported" by regulators. "I think there will be no way that this deal is going to be approved and for us it's completely unacceptable."...
(COMMENT: Regulators might ask for adjustments to the deal)
reuters.com
MAY 9, 2018 Vodafone challenges Deutsche Telekom with $21.8 billion Liberty deal LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) has agreed to pay $21.8 billion to buy Liberty Global’s (LBTYA.O) assets in Germany and eastern Europe to take the fight to rivals with a broader range of superfast cable TV, broadband and mobile services... The German provider swiftly emphasised its previously stated opposition to the deal and Vodafone is likely to face a lengthy regulatory review in Brussels. Deutsche Telekom is set to argue that the deal should at the very least lead to an easing of the regulations it faces in its home market.
The deal puts Vodafone back on the front foot in its European heartlands, where it is battling to be one of the few players with the scale to provide the full range of entertainment and communications services that consumers want. “In Europe, Vodafone started historically as the challenger in mobile across all markets, over time we built a presence in fixed and now with this transaction we become the largest provider of mobile-fixed converged services across all European countries,” Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao told reporters... |
