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☆ European telecoms' advertising venture against Big Tech wins EU antitrust nod
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] A man carrying his computer passes by the logo of German telecommunication company "Deutsche Telekom" at the ITS World Congress 2021, a fair for intelligent transport systems, in Hamburg, Germany, October 13, 2021. REUTERS/Fabian BimmerBRUSSELS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Vodafone (VOD.L) on Friday secured unconditional EU antitrust approval for their advertising joint venture to take on Big Tech. "The transaction, as notified, would not significantly reduce competition in French, German, Italian and Spanish markets," the European Commission said in a statement. This is the telecoms sector's first attempt to take on Meta (META.O) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google in the lucrative online advertising sector and diversify their revenue streams. Google is the world's leading seller of online advertising, well ahead of Meta, with the business generating about 80% of its revenue.

☆ The AI craze has sent some stocks soaring up to 300%. This list of over 74 stocks across 5 categories features the top picks from the sector's leading fund managers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

These 74 stocks are picked by AI ETF managers. What she believes is unique about her fund is its heavy focus on quantum computing technology, making up 41.22% of the fund. While big data is used for different technologies, it enables AI to work with massive data sets in its machine-learning process. TipRanks, a financial technology website that uses AI to analyze financial data, created a stock list for what they deem are the best AI stocks based on popularity. TipRanks' list of nine of the best AI stocks have large market caps and are likely to remain relevant for a long time.

☆ Santander is not interested in potential acquisition of Orange Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Spain's Santander (SAN.MC) is not interested in the potential acquisition of Orange Bank (ORAN.PA), the mobile banking unit of Orange, chairman Ana Botin said on Thursday. Les Echos reported on Wednesday that French banks BNP Paribas , Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) were mulling a bid for Orange Bank. The newspaper added that Spanish bank Santander and U.S. private equity fund Cerberus were also considering a bid. "We are not interested in Orange," Botin said during the annual earnings press conference in Madrid. Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Jesus AguadoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: European telecoms' advertising venture set for EU approval -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Vodafone's (VOD.L) plan to take on Big Tech with their own advertising joint venture is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval, people familiar with the matter said. The joint venture marks the telecoms sector's first attempt to take on Meta (META.O) and Alphabet'S (GOOGL.O) Google in the lucrative online advertising sector and diversify their revenue streams. Google is the world's leading seller of online advertising, well ahead of Meta, with the business generating about 80% of its revenue. The EU competition enforcer describes the joint venture as a privacy-led, digital identification solution to support the digital marketing and advertising activities of brands and publishers. Earlier this week, pan-European consumer lobbying group BEUC voiced concerns over how data would be collected by the joint venture and how the partners aim to get users' consent.

☆ Exclusive: EU may miss gigabit target, more investments needed, telecoms group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Total telecom investment in Europe peaked at 56.3 billion euros in 2021, the highest since 2016, but still lagged behind other regions, the report said. "Europe continues to trail its peers worldwide in terms of telecoms investment. The study also noted the large gap between the returns on investment for telecoms operators and those for Big Tech. "There is an acute discrepancy between the returns on investment in European telecoms infrastructure and the returns on investment of the largest services that run over this infrastructure," it said. "When it comes to internet access, it is telecoms operators that shoulder the investment burden, while in terms of new value creation it is tech companies that benefit the most."

☆ EU wants to cut red tape, costs to spur rollout of 5G - document
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The European Commission wants to cut red tape and costs to help Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other telecoms operators roll out fast-speed 5G, according to a Commission document seen by Reuters. The EU executive, which wants all Europeans to have access to gigabit connectivity and 75% of EU companies to use cloud infrastructure or artificial intelligence technology by 2030, is expected to announce its proposal, called the Gigabit Infrastructure Act, on Feb. 10. The measure could save telecoms operators about 40 million euros ($43.5 million) in annual administrative costs, the paper said. The measure also says telecoms providers can access physical infrastructure owned or controlled by public sector bodies irrespective of its location under fair and reasonable terms. ($1 = 0.9193 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: EU wants details of Big Tech, telcos investment plans - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The European Commission wants to ask Big Tech and European Union telecoms providers about their investment outlays and cloud infrastructure plans before tabling legislation that could make the former pay for network costs, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The Commission plans to launch a public consultation with a lengthy questionnaire next week, although the timing may still change, the person said. It will likely last about 12 weeks before the Commission drafts legislation that EU countries and EU lawmakers will need to thrash out before it can become law. The Commission will ask Big Tech and telecoms what they are investing in, how this will evolve and whether there is an investment gap, the person said. Regulators also want to know about the relationship between Big Tech and telecoms providers.

☆ Orange finance head Fernandez to join transport group CMA CGM
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - French telecoms group Orange's (ORAN.PA) deputy chief executive and head of finance, Ramon Fernandez, is leaving the company to join shipping and transport company CMA CGM as finance director. Fernandez will Orange at the end of the first quarter of 2023, the company said on Tuesday, adding that a successor will be named soon. French transport group CMA CGM said in a separate statement that Fernandez would start his new role at the start of the second quarter next year. "I would like to thank Ramon for his unfailing commitment to the group," Orange CEO Christel Heydemann said in statement. "We will continue to work together and in confidence over the coming weeks to finalise our next strategic plan."

☆ European shares drop as BOJ's policy shift dents risk appetite
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Amruta Khandekar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The region-wide STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) was down 0.5% by 0914 GMT, but came off a one-month low hit earlier in the session. The policy tweak was widely seen as the beginning of a potential end to Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy and comes just as hawkish messages from other major central banks last week doused hopes of an end to monetary policy tightening any time soon. Rate-sensitive real estate (.SX86P) stocks led the losses in the STOXX 600, falling 2.5% to hit their lowest in more than six weeks. The real estate sector was also dragged lower by shares of Aroundtown SA (AT1.DE) and Derwent London (DLN.L), which fell 11.4% and 3.5% respectively, after Berenberg cut their price targets. Among individual stocks, shares of Orange (ORAN.PA) slipped after the French telecoms group said its deputy chief executive and head of finance is leaving the company.

☆ Honeywell to Pay $203 Million in Settlements Over Brazil, Algeria Bribery
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Honeywell International Inc. will pay nearly $203 million to resolve investigations in the U.S. and Brazil into bribes paid to public officials in Algeria and at Brazil’s state-owned oil company, the company said Monday. The settlements involve UOP, a U.S. subsidiary of Honeywell that manufactures catalysts used to refine oil. Investigations found that UOP had conspired to pay bribes to a former high-level Petróleo Brasileiro SA official to obtain a $425 million oil refinery contract, authorities said. U.S. authorities accused UOP of violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the settlements require Honeywell to make compliance overhauls and file periodic reports. To carry out the bribery scheme in Brazil, UOP retained a sales agent to funnel a $4 million bribe to the unnamed official at Petróleo Brasileiro, prosecutors said.

☆ Germany, others demand clarity on EU plan on telco network costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) call it a fair share contribution, especially as the six largest content providers account for just over half of data internet traffic. The European Commission's industry chief Thierry Breton has said he will launch a consultation in early 2023 before proposing legislation. "We as member states have always considered an open and transparent debate on substance on the 'fair share' topic as of great importance," Austria, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany, Europe's leading economy, wrote in a joint letter to the Commission. "However, we urge the Commission to further create transparency on its intended timeline, analyses and steps on this topic," they said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, attends the MEDEF union summer forum "La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, LaREF" at the Paris Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, August 30, 2022. 1 telecoms operator Orange (ORAN.PA) said on Wednesday, as the prospect of energy rationing looms amid the war in Ukraine. Executives said at the time there were not enough back-up systems in many European countries to handle widespread power cuts. "The operators put pressure so that we don't cut their antennas, there's a kind of arm wrestling," the source told Reuters. Only a few thousands mobile antennas would be completely shielded from potential power cuts at this stage, a telecoms industry source said, thus covering a fraction of the population and of the territory.

☆ Macron hosts European CEOs to counter US move temptation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

European leaders have been alarmed by massive anti-inflation measures passed by Joe Biden's administration, which make tax breaks conditional on U.S-manufactured content and which EU industries say make investment in Europe less competitive. Macron, who has called on the European Union to launch its own 'European Buy Act' to subsidise European production, has encountered resistance from the more anti-protectionist members of the bloc. It was unclear what Macron would tell the executives to convince them not to move to the U.S. But France has unveiled a number of measures over the weekend to cushion the impact of high energy bills for French companies. Reporting by Michel Rose Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Orange launches first African 5G network in Botswana
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 11 (Reuters) - French telecoms group Orange (ORAN.PA) launched a new 5G network in Botswana on Friday in a first step towards rolling out the high-speed data offering to other markets in the Middle East and Africa, company executives said. Following the initial Botswana launch, Orange's 5G coverage will extend to 30% of the southern African nation's population, including those living in Gaborone and Francistown, the two largest cities. Instead, Orange is mainly focusing on 5G as a way of providing fast internet in Africa, where low population density makes rolling out fibre-optic infrastructure uneconomical. "For us the main use case is fixed wireless access, meaning internet at home," Nene Maiga, CEO of Orange Botswana, told journalists ahead of the launch. Orange's Middle East and Africa CEO Jerome Henrique said the company was targeting 5G rollouts in around half a dozen countries in 2023, most likely starting with Jordan.

PARIS/STOCKHOLM, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Telecom operators are pushing the European Union to implement new laws that would make Big Tech pay for network costs, following Australia's example, according to four sources close to the matter. "GSMA is coordinating a proposal that speaks to Big Tech contribution to European infrastructure investment," said John Giusti, GSMA's chief regulatory officer, without elaborating on the content of the proposal. Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Australia's recently-adopted laws in its own spat with Google and Facebook have emerged as the most-favoured weapon for telecoms operators in their dispute with Big Tech companies, the sources said. The rules, first aimed at compelling tech giants to pay for news content online, allow an Australian government-appointed arbitrator to set fees if Big Tech companies and news publishers fail to find a common ground over copyright.

☆ Telenet in talks with French telco Orange on network access deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Liberty Global's Telenet (TNET.BR) on Thursday said it was in talks with France's No. 1 telecoms company Orange (ORAN.PA) over a potential network access to Walloon cable operator VOO, which Orange plans to acquire. The companies have reached a memorandum of understanding which will structure further negotiations, Telenet said in a statement. The planned purchase - currently under European Union anti-trust review, a source has said - would give Orange control over the cable network in Belgium's French speaking Walloon region and part of the Brussels area. The announced acquisition of 75% in VOO dealt a blow to Orange Belgium's local rival Telenet, which had not been selected to enter into talks.

☆ Telecoms group Orange says Spain returned to growth in Q3, confirms targets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Mathieu Rosemain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe group confirmed its full-year targets, including a growth in core operating profit between 2.5% and 3%. Sales in Spain, Orange's second-biggest market, returned to growth for the first time since the first quarter of 2019, gaining 0.2% in the third quarter, in contrast with analysts' expectations of a fall of 2.8% over the period. Group revenues for the three-month period ending on Sept. 30 rose by 1% on comparable basis to 10.8 billion euros, slightly above expectations. Orange will lay out its next strategic plan when it reports full-year results on Feb. 16 next year. ($1 = 1.0129 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Orange says all options on table after report on plans to sell online banking unit
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Orange (ORAN.PA) is considering "all opportunities" for its online banking arm following a report by French paper Les Echos on Wednesday that said France's biggest telecoms company was planning to sell Orange Bank. "In a very highly competitive environment in the banking market, Orange is considering all opportunities to develop Orange Bank's activities and support its growth," a spokesperson for the group told Reuters. Orange was willing to give up control of its loss-making subsidiary, according to media reports last year, with BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) seen at the time as the leading candidate among French lenders. Citing sources, Les Echos said the telecom operator had mandated investment bank Lazard to launch a new sale or alliance scenario, which Orange declined to confirm. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Mathieu Rosemain, writing by Juliette Portala, editing by Tassilo Hummel, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Europe has nearly half a million telecom towers and most of them have battery backups that last around 30 minutes to run the mobile antennas. Swedish telecom regulator PTS is working with telecom operators and other government agencies to find solutions, it said. The telecom operators are also working with national governments to check if plans are in place to maintain critical services. Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) will use mobile emergency power systems which mainly rely on diesel in the event of prolonged power failures, it said. France has about 62,000 mobile towers, and the industry will not be able to equip all antennas with new batteries, the FFT's president Liza Bellulo said.

☆ Google says shared network costs is 10-year-old idea, bad for consumers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google on Monday rebuffed a push by European telecoms operators to get Big Tech to help fund network costs, saying it was a 10-year-old idea that was bad for consumers and that the company was already investing millions in internet infrastructure. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe idea, floated more than 10 years ago, could disrupt Europe's net neutrality or open internet access, Brittin said. "In 2021, we invested over 23 billion euros in capital expenditure - much of which is infrastructure," Brittin said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EXCLUSIVE With eye on Big Tech, energy crisis, EU telcos call for shared network costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and 13 other European telecoms providers on Monday made their strongest push for Big Tech to share network costs, citing the energy crisis and EU climate change goals. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"Costs of planning and construction works are increasing. Similarly, the hikes in energy prices and in the prices of other inputs are also hitting the connectivity sector," they said. Big Tech has rebuffed such requests, saying they are already investing in equipment and technologies to deliver content more efficiently. ($1 = 1.0301 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Foo Yun Chee;Editing by Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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