Liberty Global and Telefónica have reached an agreement to combine British operations O2 and Virgin Media. This is under a new, £31.4bn agreement that could have a huge impact on the UK market.
The second day of this year’s ANGA COM conference and exhibition in Cologne saw the Broadband and Media Summit prompt lively debate amongst panellists, particularly regarding the recently announced Vodafone Deutschland-Unitymedia acquisition. Keely Portway reports
Moderator, Claus Strunz mediated between participants Dr. Manuel Cubero, CCO, Vodafone; Lutz Schüler CEO, Unitymedia; Conrad Albert, deputy CEO and group general council, ProSiebenSat.1 Media; Carsten Schmidt CEO, Sky Deutschland; and Dr. Dirk Wössner, member of the board of management for Germany Deutsche Telekom.
UPC Switzerland has acquired a cable network that serves some 15,000 homes in the Höfe region of Germany, from EW Höfe.
EW Höfe said that it decided to sell its existing cable network to long-standing partner and Liberty Global-owned company, UPC Switzerland, in order to focus on the expansion of its new fibre optic network. This is set for completion in 2019.
Vodafone has agreed to acquire Liberty Global’s operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for an enterprise value of €18.4 billion.
The four businesses represent approximately 28 per cent of the cable group’s consolidated 2017 operating cash flow, which does not include its 50 per cent share from the VodafoneZiggo joint venture in the Netherlands.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic has changed many areas of our daily life, from going to a place of work, how we spend our holidays, to eating out and socialising with friends and family. For fibre engineers, it has arguably had a much greater impact.
In 2020, video calls have become ubiquitous thanks to Covid-19, revealing many people’s ‘lousy home broadband’, according to Geoff Bennett, director, solutions and technology, at Infinera.
It’s reasonable to say that the biggest disruptive influence this year has been the global pandemic that still currently has a grip on our lives.
PIA has proven its value in a project to build a carrier-independent dark fibre route between Bristol and South Wales in the UK. Mark Weller explains
Koji Okamoto underlines the importance of rebooting test processes for the ‘new normal’
Geoff Bennett evaluates how 50 years of innovation in optical communications has more recently helped to bring light from the shadow of Covid-19
Guillaume Baral outlines some of the significant benefits of adopting a more agile, modular approach to product development for fibre networks
There is a massive commercial opportunity that fibre network providers are leaving in the ground, says Stuart Large
Mattias Fridström looks at the role of software and collaboration in maximising optical networks in the future
