Operators Orange July 23, 2020 Orange launches banking play in Africa Orange teamed with financial services company NSIA to launch mobile banking services into its first African market, Ivory Coast, with plans to expand into Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. By Chris Donkin
Network Tech July 23, 2020 Cellnex targets European growth with €4B war chest Cellnex Telecom detailed plans to increase its share capital by €4 billion, seeking to attract new funds as it looks expand its telecoms infrastructure portfolio across Europe. By Kavit Majithia
Huawei Network Tech RAN Vendors July 23, 2020 Speculation mounts on Huawei position in France Mobile operators in France deploying Huawei equipment in 5G networks were warned they would not be able to renew related licences once they expire in a maximum of eight years’ time, Reuters reported. By Chris Donkin
July 23, 2020 Home demand, forex staves off Vodacom virus impact Vodacom Group reported a jump in data usage in its home market of South Africa in its fiscal Q1 (the three months to end-June), as foreign exchange movements offset a pandemic-related revenue decline in its international operations. By Chris Donkin
Europe Operators Telefonica July 23, 2020 Oi moves closer to mobile asset sale Brazilian operator Oi revealed it is to enter into exclusive negotiations with infrastructure company Highline do Brasil for the sale of its mobile assets, dealing a blow to Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Claro which submitted a rival offer. By Kavit Majithia
5G+ July 23, 2020 HPE tackles open source nerves Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) aimed to build operator confidence around open source products, opening a new 5G lab where they will be able to test kit with different vendors before buying in. By Diana Goovaerts
Network Tech Operators SoftBank July 23, 2020 Nvidia sniffs around Arm Chipmaker Nvidia approached SoftBank Group about a possible takeover of its chip design company Arm in what could be the largest-ever acquisition in the silicon industry, Bloomberg reported. By Joseph Waring