In right this moment’s trade information roundup: Qualcomm has abruptly ended its satellite-to-smartphone growth partnership with Iridium; Fujitsu innovates to assist with AI workloads and deploys an energy-efficient community utilizing liquid cooling with SoftBank; towers large Cellnex is in search of additional M&A offers as its revenues rise however its working income fall; and rather more!
Satellite tv for pc operator Iridium is feeling considerably miffed after being dumped by wi-fi chip large Qualcommwith which it had been creating know-how that can allow direct satellite-to-smartphone communications, one of many hottest areas of the worldwide telecom sector proper now. The 2 firms introduced at first of this 12 months that that they had collectively developed Snapdragon Satellite tv for pcan answer that may “present world connectivity utilizing cell messaging from around the globe, beginning with units primarily based on the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Cell Platform.” Snapdragon Satellite tv for pc, the chip vendor famous on the time, will “allow OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] and different service suppliers to supply really world protection. The answer for smartphones utilises Iridium’s weather-resilient L-band spectrum for uplink and downlink,” famous Qualcomm. However now Iridium has famous that regardless that the pair “efficiently developed and demonstrated the know-how… smartphone producers haven’t included the know-how of their units. Attributable to this, on 3 November 2023, Qualcomm notified Iridium that it has elected to terminate the agreements, efficient 3 December 2023.” Brutal! Iridium’s CEO, Matt Desch, said: “Whereas I’m dissatisfied that this partnership didn’t bear instant fruit, we imagine the route of the trade is evident towards elevated satellite tv for pc connectivity in client units. Led by Apple right this moment, MNOs [mobile network operators] and gadget producers nonetheless plan, over time, to supply their prospects with expanded protection and new satellite-based options, and our world protection and regulatory certainty make us properly suited to be a key participant on this rising market. Consumer expertise will probably be vital to their success, and we’ve confirmed that we will present a dependable, world functionality to cell customers,” added Desch. Iridium stated it’s now free to straight re-engage with smartphone distributors, different chipmakers and smartphone working system builders with which it had been collaborating beforehand. “Iridium may even be pursuing new relationships with good gadget [vendors]chipmakers and builders for its present and future service plans,” the corporate famous, in a not too refined message to its soon-to-be ex associate. Learn extra.
Having recognised that demand for know-how able to supporting AI workloads is more likely to exceed provide for fairly a while, Japanese large Fujitsu has developed what it claims is “the world’s first know-how to optimise the usage of CPUs [central processing units] and GPUs [graphics processing units] by allocating assets in actual time to provide precedence to processes with excessive execution effectivity, even when operating applications that use GPUs. Fujitsu designed the brand new know-how to handle the worldwide scarcity of GPUs as a result of explosive demand for generative AI, deep studying and different functions, by optimising customers’ present computing assets.” The seller says it has additionally developed “a brand new know-how for parallel processing that switches processing of a number of applications in actual time with out ready for the completion of a operating program in an HPC [high-performance computing] system that performs large-scale computations by linking a number of computer systems. This know-how makes it doable to instantly execute the processing of functions that require large-scale computational assets and real-time efficiency like digital twin and generative AI applications.” Learn extra.
That’s not all from Fujitsubecause it has additionally been making nice headway within the inexperienced networks sector. Japanese community operator SoftBank has accomplished the deployment of an all-optical community utilizing a disaggregated information transport system that helps open networks, together with Fujitsu’s next-generation optical transmission platform, the 1 FINITY Extremely Optical System T900. In line with the 2 firms, the community “realises a discount of energy consumption of as much as 90% in comparison with earlier networks” by utilizing photoelectric conversion know-how and the applying of liquid cooling know-how. “With the introduction of the brand new optical transmission system, SoftBank goals to construct a community that achieves carbon neutrality whereas assembly the ever-increasing demand for information communication in anticipation of future networks primarily based on Past 5G/6G know-how,” famous Fujitsu. To get all the small print on this fascinating growth, see this in-depth press launch.
European towers large Cellnex Telecomwhich right this moment introduced the deliberate sale of its non-public wi-fi networks unithas reported a 16% improve in revenues for the primary 9 months (three quarters) of the 12 months to simply over €3bn, although its working revenue sunk by greater than 50% in contrast with the identical interval a 12 months earlier to €137m. “This era has been marked by glorious industrial efficiency and constant operational execution, with revenues and EBITDA properly on observe and our free money stream turning constructive sooner than anticipated,” famous CEO Marco Patuano. “As soon as once more, we’re confirming all our short- and medium-term monetary targets, together with reaching constructive FCF [free cash flow] by the tip of the 12 months, forward of the deliberate 2024 timeframe, due to a strict management of Capex expenditure. We’re making good progress on decreasing debt due to the disposal of websites in France and the current deal within the Nordics,” added the CEO. Cellnex has this 12 months bought websites in France to Phoenix Towers and offloaded a 49% stake in its operations in Sweden and Denmark to Stonepeak. The corporate famous that it “continues to judge the potential of monetising different property to crystallise worth and velocity up the method to attain S&P funding grade,” so anticipate additional M&A bulletins from Cellnex in 2024. For additional particulars on its financials, see this press launch.
Alticethe multinational telecom operator owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, is about to hunt bids for its Portuguese unit and a stake in its French operations because it scrambles to cut back the dimensions of its debt pile, stories Bloomberg. Studies have been swirling for months that Drahi is in dire want of some group divestments in an effort to hold his telecom empire afloat.
Zegona Communications has began the method of elevating €300m by issuing new shares because it strains up the funds wanted for its deliberate €5bn acquisition of Vodafone Spain – see Vodafone sells Spanish unit for €5bn.
Neigh, neigh and thrice neigh… A storm is brewing over feedback made by BT’s chief digital and innovation officer Harmeen Mehtawho has shared an unsympathetic view of these whose jobs are below menace from AI-enabled automation. As The Guardian famous, in an interview with the enterprise web site RaconteurMehta stated: “I don‘t understand how horses felt when the automobile was invented, however they didn’t complain that they had been put out of a job; they didn’t go on strike. It’s a part of evolution. Some jobs will change, some new ones will probably be created and a few will now not be wanted.” Mehta’s view will strike a reasonably loud notice internally, as BT earlier this 12 months introduced that it plans to reduce its labour drive by as much as 55,000 roles, from the present 130,000, earlier than the tip of this decade, and that at the least 10,000 of these are linked to automation and digitisation efforts as AI performs an growing position within the telco’s operations.
– The workers, TelecomTV
