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☆ New BT boss’s biggest test is investor relations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - BT’s (BT.L) board faced the challenge of hiring a new CEO willing to implement a turnaround strategy decided by their predecessor. It has solved that problem by appointing one of its own members, Allison Kirkby, to the post vacated by outgoing Philip Jansen. Shares in the Swedish telco sank 4% on news of her departure, suggesting Telia’s loss is a gain for BT. Kirkby won’t take over until January 2024 but, having sat on BT’s board for more than four years, she should be able to hit the road running. Keeping these two investors on her side will be the real test for Kirkby at BT.

Persons: Allison Kirkby, Philip Jansen ., Swedish telco, Kirkby won’t, Patrick Drahi’s, Jansen, Pierre Briançon, Liam Proud, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Telia Company, BT, Kirkby, Deutsche Telekom, Twitter, Soaring, of Japan, Thomson Locations: Swedish, Kirkby

☆ Morgan Stanley picks ‘particularly high conviction’ global stocks it says the rest of the market is missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Morgan Stanley has named several buy-rated global stocks it expects to beat the market. "We expect Ozempic to drive a further upgrade to guidance before the 2Q results," the analysts wrote — the company reports on Aug. 10. Other drugmakers the bank is positive on are Grifols , where the bank expects a "solid performance," and Indivior , which is set for a "strong quarter," Morgan Stanley said. French materials manufacturer Saint-Gobain is also a Morgan Stanley pick, with the bank saying that consensus has not yet priced in its management's optimism on margins discussed at its annual general meeting last month. "While another positive beat ratio looks likely for 2Q23, a slowdown in global and European economic momentum suggests that the magnitude of the said beat will be closer to normal levels," they added.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Giorgio Magagnotti Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Deutsche Telekom, . Energy Locations: Germany

SummaryCompanies BT boss who spearheaded fibre roll-out to step downJansen simplified former monopoly, retreated from sportsShares nearly halved under his tenureLONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - BT (BT.L) Chief Executive Philip Jansen will step down within the next year, having set plans in motion for Britain's biggest telecoms provider to cut jobs, become leaner and complete the roll-out of a national fibre network. Jansen had informed BT's board of directors that he plans to leave at "an appropriate moment" within the next 12 months, BT said on Monday. Since early 2019, Jansen has steered BT through a crucial period in its 177-year-history, secured funding for a national fibre network for 25 million homes and businesses and handled the arrival of billionaire investor Patrick Drahi on the shareholder register. "We suspect investors will find this transition a little premature given the fruits of BT's fibre investments have still yet to be proven out," analysts at J.P.Morgan wrote in a client note. Analysts named BT's consumer brands boss Marc Allera and Allison Kirkby, a BT board member and chief executive of Sweden's Telia, as possible successors.

Persons: Jansen, Philip Jansen, BT's, Patrick Drahi, J.P.Morgan, Adam Crozier, Marc Allera, Allison Kirkby, Sweden's, Sarah Young, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton Organizations: BT, Britain's, Discovery, Deutsche Telekom, Ofcom, Thomson Locations: France, United States, Portugal, Israel

☆ Subsidies from Big Tech should be last option for EU telcos - Meta Platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 15 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Thursday subsidies from Big Tech should be the last option for European Union telecoms operators trying to get U.S. companies to foot some of their network cost. The European Commission launched a consultation early this year on whether tech giants should bear some of the costs of Europe's telecoms network. A majority of European Union countries have also rejected the push to levy a network fee on Big Tech, sources told Reuters earlier this month. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. It added any subsidies be awarded by a tender to ensure availability to all network operators, not just the large players.

Persons: Meta, Akash Sriram, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Big Tech, European Union, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, European Commission, Meta, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Orange, Bengaluru

"This would be the nail in the coffin for Huawei in Europe," said Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight. China has asked for Huawei to be one of the main points on the agenda, one of the sources familiar with the matter said. Germany's China hawks expressed outrage in March when a Reuters story revealed that German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn was using Huawei gear to digitalise its operations. Berlin in 2021 passed a law setting high hurdles for makers of telecommunications equipment for the "critical components" of 5G networks. It is estimated it would cost billions of euros to rip out and replace Huawei equipment in European countries, potentially burdening telecom companies already sitting on huge debts.

Persons: Paolo Pescatore, Andrew Small, Mikko Huotari, Sweden's, Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Supantha Mukherjee, Foo Yun Chee, Sergio Goncalves, Mark Potter Organizations: European, Huawei, Deutsche Telekom, Foresight, Deutsche Bahn, Mercator Institute for China Studies, Telecom, Nokia, Sweden's Ericsson, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, STOCKHOLM, Germany, Brussels, Berlin, Beijing, Europe, China, China's, Denmark, Portugal, West, U.S, Stockholm, Lisbon

☆ EU's Breton cites telcos' investment gap for Big Tech network fee push
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It is better to be a telco in the U.S. than in Europe," Breton told a conference. Adjusted for GDP, 5G investment in the EU is lower than in other regions of the world," he said. He dismissed fears that requiring some users to pay more than others would breach EU net neutrality rules which say all users should be treated equally. "We will not touch net neutrality. It is not a question of changing net neutrality.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Richard Chang Organizations: Big Tech, EU, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Alphabet's, Google, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, United States, U.S, Breton, Orange

☆ Majority of EU countries against network fee levy on Big Tech, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 3 (Reuters) - A majority of EU countries have rejected a push by Europe's big telecoms operators to force Big Tech to help fund the rollout of 5G and broadband in the region, people familiar with the matter said. Telecoms ministers from 18 countries either rejected or criticised the proposed network fee levy on tech firms at a meeting with EU industry chief Thierry Breton in Luxembourg on Thursday, the sources said. That echoed comments made last month by EU telecoms regulators' group BEREC. Breton is expected to issue a report by the end of June with a summary of feedback provided by Big Tech, telecoms providers and others which will indicate his next steps. Any legislative proposal needs to be negotiated with EU countries and EU lawmakers before it can become law.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: EU, Big Tech, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, French, Google, Apple Inc, Inc, Netflix Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Luxembourg, Orange, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania

☆ Internet data growth has not pushed up telcos' network costs, Dutch government says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) - The Dutch government has stepped up its criticism of a push by EU telecoms operators to get Big Tech to help pay for the rollout of 5G and broadband, saying claims that unchecked data growth has pushed up network costs are not backed by facts. "In reality, contrary to all these persistent claims, the strong growth of Internet data in the past did not confront large telecom operators with higher network costs," the paper seen by Reuters said. "In reality the total network costs have remained constant despite the consistently high growth over the last decades, whilst the profit margins of European telecom operators have improved significantly over the last decade," the paper said. They said direct payments are unjustified as end-users already pay for their access line including network traffic costs while such intervention would affect the functioning of the internet. "The synergies for such cross-border mergers to telecom operators are generally considered relatively limited, whilst there don’t seem to be convincing benefits to wider society."

Persons: Foo Yun Chee, Chizu Organizations: EU, Big Tech, European Commission, Reuters, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Google, Apple Inc, Inc, Netflix Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp, Netflix's, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Luxembourg, Orange, Dutch

The logo of Russia’s state gas company Gazprom was emblazoned on the shirts of players at the soccer club Toennies chaired. In Germany, Toennies’ story is far from unique. At the centre of Gazprom’s influence campaign was Schalke 04, the soccer club Toennies chaired at the time and which Gazprom began sponsoring in 2006. Russian gas imports have dropped dramatically and Germany is supplying tanks and other weapons systems to Ukraine. In 2001 Toennies assumed another of his older brother’s roles – chairman of soccer club Schalke 04.

Persons: Clemens Toennies, Vladimir Putin, Toennies, Willy Brandt, ”, Putin, Sberbank, Angela Merkel, “, ” Merkel, Bernd, Clemens, Putin’s, Alexei Gromov, Gromov, Gerhard Schroeder, Schroeder Organizations: Gazprom, Toennies, Schalke, Gazprom’s, Reuters, Miele, Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, ” Schalke, Chelsea, Kremlin, Former Locations: WIEDENBRUECK, Germany, Russia, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine, Berlin, Russians, Crimea, Gazprom, Rheda, German, Europe, Nord Stream, Dresden

☆ BT’s miss may spur big investors into action
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Trumpeting massive job cuts is usually one way to boost a share price. The 14 billion pound telco said on Thursday it would shed 55,000 jobs over the next seven years, but shares slumped 8%. That will stretch the patience of Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and Patrick Drahi’s Altice, which collectively control 30% of the UK group. The catch for Drahi and Höttges is that it’s not obvious what they should demand to reinvigorate BT’s share price. Still, if the two bigwigs decide to join forces, BT’s job cuts may yet move up to the company’s C-suite.

[1/2] An advertising board shows a 5G logo at the International Airport in Zaventem, Belgium May 4, 2020. The proposal is part of feedback to the European Commission which launched a consultation into the issue in February. The document, which was reviewed by Reuters and has not been published, was compiled by lobbying groups GSMA and ETNO. Telecom operators have lobbied for years for leading technology companies to contribute to funding 5G and broadband roll-out, saying that they use a huge part of the region's internet traffic. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Apple (AAPL.O), Meta (META.O), Netflix , Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) account for more than half of data internet traffic.

☆ Deutsche Telekom reaches majority stake in T-Mobile U.S. - CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) now holds a majority in T-Mobile U.S. (TMUS.O), the chief executive of the German telecoms company said on Wednesday. The company reached a majority stake in T-Mobile U.S late Tuesday, CEO Tim Höttges said at the company's annual general meeting. "We have the majority and are the largest shareholder of the world's most valuable telecommunications company - T-Mobile U.S.," he said. Since 2013, the value of T-Mobile U.S. has increased by 153 billion euros ($167.44 billion). The increase in value for Deutsche Telekom's shareholders stood at more than 70 billion euros, Höttges said.

☆ Raymond James says this telecom stock is a strong buy as it enters a new market segment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investors should turn their attention toward Ciena as the firm plunges deeper into edge routing, according to Raymond James. He also hiked his price target to $70 from $58 on the stock, implying upside of 44%. Leopold highlighted the firm's potential success from investments in the edge routing sector, as well as continued market expansion and "Huawei displacements." CIEN YTD mountain CIena's plunge into edge routing could be the rocket fuel the firm needs to displace Huawei, according to Raymond James. But Ciena also has the opportunity to significantly displace Huawei, Leopold said, specifically in the optical transport and switching and routing markets.

☆ Meta says a network fee is not the fix for European telecoms firms' financial problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other operators have lobbied for two decades for U.S. tech giants to contribute to 5G and broadband roll-out. "We recognise the financial challenges that European telecom operators now face after decades of strong performance," Kevin Salvadori, Meta's vice president for network and Bruno Cendon Martin, its director and head of reality labs wireless, wrote in a blog post. "However, proposals by some European telecom operators to impose network fees on Content Application Providers (CAPs) such as Meta are not the solution," they said. It dismissed telecoms providers' arguments that the expansion of the metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via the internet, would strain infrastructure capacity. The development of the metaverse will not require telecom operators to grow capital expenditures for greater network investment," Salvadori and Martin said.

Ardian, which is the second largest shareholder in INWIT behind European tower company Vantage Towers AG (VTWRn.DE), wants to take INWIT private and is working with advisers at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) on a potential offer, the people said. Deutsche Telekom last year sold 51% of its tower business Funkturm to a consortium of Canada's Brookfield and U.S. private equity firm DigitalBridge. Any offer for INWIT could take months to materialise as preparations remain at a preliminary stage, one of the people said. The sources cautioned that an offer is not certain and asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Ardian, Vantage Towers, INWIT and JPMorgan declined to comment.

☆ Germany to examine Deutsche Telekom, Huawei ties - Handelsblatt
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, March 22 (Reuters) - Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is concerned about the close ties between Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and Chinese company Huawei (HWT.UL) and wants to examine them, Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Wednesday. "That doesn't look good," Faeser was quoted as saying by the paper. Germany is considering banning certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE (000063.SZ) in its telecoms networks, a government source said, in a potentially significant move to address security concerns. read moreReporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Christoph SteitzOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A DB spokesperson told Reuters that under current IT security legislation it did not have to run network components by Germany's cybersecurity office, the BSI, unlike public telecoms network operators. A BSI spokesperson said it was not aware of any law that determined the DB IT systems as "critical components". A Huawei spokesperson said the firm would never harm any nation or individual. The December contract with Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, is for Huawei tech like switches and routers. A government source said it had detected some operators had already built in Huawei critical components without waiting for a BSI green light and could be required to replace those.

Google , Netflix , Meta , Apple , Amazon and Microsoft generate nearly half of all internet traffic today. Big Tech firms say this would amount to an "internet tax" that could undermine net neutrality. They bemoaned spending billions on laying cables and installing antennas to cope with rising internet demand without corresponding investments from Big Tech. One suggestion is to require individual bargaining deals with the Big Tech firms, similar to Australian licensing models between news publishers and internet platforms. "The imbalance is not down to Big Tech, it's not down to streamers, and it's not down to telcos.

"But after years of dithering, the German 5G network is deeply dependent on Chinese suppliers. Huawei, ZTE and China's government reject these claims, saying that they are motivated by a protectionist desire to support non-Chinese rivals. GERMANY LAGGINGWhile several countries across Europe are still formulating telecom policies, only Britain and Sweden have so far banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying critical 5G network equipment. The German government was last month unable to answer a parliamentary request about how many Huawei components operators were using in their 5G networks, filed in part in response to the report. The deadline to remove all Huawei gear from Britain's 5G networks by the end of 2027 remains unchanged.

☆ There’s hope beyond moaning for European telcos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The annual Barcelona tech fest this week was in line with tradition, but a different mood music could also be heard beyond the bleatings of European telco executives. The good news for them is that European competition authorities seem to have been mollified by the constant pleading, and could take a softer approach to consolidation in the industry. Höttges compared the 55 billion euros invested by European telcos on infrastructure last year to the 1 billion euros invested in connectivity by those he calls the “hyperscalers”. The hope is now that, considering the European telcos’ low return on investment, European competition authorities will review their strict stance on consolidation in the sector. But European telcos also have means to address some of the problems they are facing without giving the impression that everything depends on forces beyond their control.

☆ Big Tech vs. Big Telco: Top EU official says there's no 'battle' over network funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

BARCELONA — A top European Union official insisted Monday that the debate around tech giants paying for their usage of telecom networks is not sparking a "battle" between Big Tech and telcos. In it, there was a questionnaire asking whether to establish a digital fund at the EU or national level, or require a direct contribution from internet giants to the telco operators. "The consultation has been described by many as the battle over fair share between Big Telco and Big Tech. However, he insisted that there is not necessarily a "battle over fair share between Big Telco and Big Tech." WATCH: European telcos want U.S. big tech to pay for the internet — but tech giants are hitting back

☆ Dutch warn against internet toll as EU looks to Big Tech to fund networks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other operators have long lobbied for a Big Tech contribution and have found an ally in Breton, a former chief executive at Orange. These companies account for more than half of data internet traffic, according to telecom operators. Adriaansens said the Dutch government had commissioned a study by economic consultancy Oxera which showed the drawbacks of such a tax. "I think that there is this concern that our infrastructure is not able to meet our expectations and our ambitions. According to Oxera's study, Europe's telecoms providers have not been burdened with higher network costs despite the strong growth in internet data traffic.

☆ EU industry chief Breton says not favouring Big Telecoms over Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Monday defended a consultation on whether Big Tech should foot the bill for billions of euros of investments in Europe's telecoms infrastructure, saying it was not about putting Big Telecoms' interests above tech companies. Still, Breton took a swipe at the big U.S. tech companies with their large-scale data centres, their cloud-based radio access network (RAN) - the radio element of a cellular system - and their closed ecosystems. "And interoperability or openness are not currently a strong feature of their business model." "I see these two issues as currently holding back our collective potential compared to other continents," Breton said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BARCELONA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A clash between Big Tech and European Union telecoms firms over who will underwrite network infrastructure is set to dominate discussion at the world's largest telecoms conference this week. More than 80,000 people, including tech executives, innovators, and regulators, are set to descend on this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Thursday launched a 12-week consultation on its "fair share" proposals, under which Big Tech platforms would bear more of the costs of the systems which give them access to consumers. By contrast, Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) have been actively lobbying for Big Tech to pay the fees. "This discussion around 'fair share', or what we sometimes call the 'investment gap', is going to be a threshold question," said John Giusti, GSMA's chief regulatory officer.

☆ Telekom reports Q4 growth, forecasts slightly higher earnings in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom's (DTEGn.DE) fourth-quarter earnings came in slightly above consensus on Thursday as the German telecomms operator issued guidance for slightly higher earnings this year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDA AL) stood at 9.96 billion euros ($10.58 billion) for the quarter, beating consensus estimates of 9.9 billion euros in a poll of analysts published by the company. The telecoms operator's quarterly revenue increased by 4.0% to 29.8 billion euros, below consensus estimates of 30.0 billion euros. For the full year 2022, Telekom reported revenue of 114.4 billion euros, up 6.1% from the previous year, and EBITDA AL of 40.2 billion euros, up 7.7%. The group said it now expected adjusted EBITDA AL of more than 40.8 billion euros in the 2023 financial year.

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