• Vodafone sees revenues rise thanks to gains in Africa and Turkey
• BT sales decline amid ‘record’ fibre build rate
• Mobileum files for bankruptcy in a bid to cut debt

In today’s industry news roundup: Vodafone reports modest revenue growth in the three months to the end of June, boosted by improvements in Africa and Turkey; BT posts slight revenue decline but boasts a ‘record’ number of new fibre connections; Mobileum enters bankruptcy protection in the US to eliminate debt pile; and much more!
 

Vodafone Group has reported a 2.8% year-on-year increase in revenues for its first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (ending 30 June 2024), to €9bn (US$9.77). CEO Margherita Della Valle highlighted strong revenue growth in Africa and Turkey for the period, while in Europe lower inflation slowed down revenue growth and accelerated group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL). The group’s service revenue grew 3.2% to €7.5bn, although Della Valle pointed to an expected service revenue decline in Germany due to a change in TV laws that prohibits collective TV contracts with housing associations. Business service revenue grew by 2.6%, although the telco did not provide a figure for its total amount on a group-wide level. Vodafone’s chief used the earnings announcement to highlight the company’s recent move to reduce its stake in Vantage Towers to 50% for €1.3bn, alongside the start of a €2bn share-buyback programme, following the sale of its operation in Spain to Zegona Communications. “We continue to progress our transactions in Italy and the UK as well as the broader transformation of Vodafone, focused on customer experience, Business [unit] growth and operational execution in Germany. The actions we are taking now will deliver improved performance and underpin the turnaround of Vodafone,” she noted.

BT has reported a record number of new fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections in its first quarter of fiscal year 2025 (ending 30 June 2024), passing more than 1 million new premises in the period. Reaching an average build rate of 78,000 per week, its FTTP footprint now stands at 15 million with 4.2 million rural premises passed and around a further 6 million where initial build is already underway. The British incumbent telco noted that its FTTP customer base surpassed the 5 million mark in the quarter, and the strong demand for such services has resulted in a 29% year-on-year increase in orders and net additions of 387,000. BT’s quasi-autonomous wholesale fixed access division, Openreach, reported 196,000 broadband line losses, and noted it had seen “moderately higher competitor losses combined with a weaker overall broadband and new homes market”. BT CEO Allison Kirkby said that in the Consumer segment, “the widespread availability of FTTP and 5G, combined with our new EE propositions, has contributed to an improved trend in our customer base, in what remains a very competitive market”. She also highlighted “improved trends” across its Business unit, as the company is focused on portfolio and operations modernisation. Adjusted revenue in the quarter was down 2% to £5.1bn, which it attributed to legacy managed contract declines, reduced low margin sales activity and contraction in the portfolio unit within the Business unit, in addition to a continued shift to mobile SIM-only in the consumer business. BT’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 1% to £2.1bn due to “transformation and tight cost control, including lower staff costs”. “Our ongoing cost transformation contributed to EBITDA growth, and more than offset the expected revenue declines in Consumer and Business in the quarter. There is much more to do to simplify BT Group and deliver for our customers. We remain on track to deliver our financial outlook for this year,” Kirkby argued.

California-based analytics and network solutions provider Mobileum has entered into a Chapter 11 (bankruptcy protection) ‘restructuring support agreement’ with the US Bankruptcy Court in a bid to eliminate $529m of debt and create $60m of “new money” through a debtor in possession (DIP)-to-exit facility. Mike Salfity, CEO of Mobileum, said the move was “an important step forward that will position Mobileum to continue as a leading provider for the telecom industry for the long-term”. In a statement, the company added that it would be able to “continue to capitalise on long-term 5G and IoT [internet of things] tailwinds.” It expects to complete its financial restructuring and emerge from Chapter 11 within 60 days. Private equity company HIG Capital bought a majority stake in Mobileum from rival private equity firm Audax Group in a $915m deal in 2022. The two companies have since been embroiled in ongoing court action over claims by HIG that Audax artificially inflated Mobileum’s financial results. Audax, which denies the allegations, was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as saying that Mobileum’s bankruptcy was a “disappointing and avoidable chapter in the story of what was once a strong, thriving company.” Back in January, the Financial Times (FT) reported that Audax had described a HIG-led inquiry into Mobileum’s accounting practices as a “Stalinist show trial”.

Doom and gloom for the radio access network (RAN) sector… A new report from Dell’Oro Group suggests that following revenue increases between 2017 and 2021, the RAN market has now gone into decline with conditions remaining challenging both for this market and the broader mobile infrastructure sector. What’s more – these trends are set to prevail throughout the forecast period of 2024 to 2028, although the pace of the decline should be more moderate after 2024. The research house forecasts that global RAN revenues will decline at a 2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years, as “continued 5G investments will be offset by rapidly declining LTE revenues”. “It is not a surprise that there is rain after sunshine. In addition to MBB [mobile broadband]-based coverage-related challenges, this disconnect between mobile data traffic growth and the capacity boost provided by the mid-band, taken together with continued monetisation uncertainty, is clearly weighing on the market,” noted Stefan Pongratz, vice president for RAN market research at Dell’Oro Group. Find out more.

Saudi Arabian telco group STC has reported a 4.79% year-on-year rise in revenues for the first half of 2024 to 38bn Saudi riyals (SAR) (US$10bn). The operator attributed this performance to an increase in commercial unit revenues in its home market, alongside gains made across its other subsidiaries. Net profit for the six-month period rose by 7.73% to SAR6.6bn ($1.8bn). Read more.

- The staff, TelecomTV