• Major telco API joint venture appoints CEO
• Dutch operator Odido gets closer to an IPO
• Sigve Brekke set for key telecom role in Thailand

In today’s industry news roundup: Ericsson and its telco API buddies appoint Vonage COO as CEO of the newly formed JV, which has been named Aduna; major Dutch operator’s shares might soon be floated on the Amsterdam exchange; former Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke has a new job in Thailand; and much more!

The telco API joint venture announced last September and being formed by Ericsson and 12 major telcos has been christened Aduna (Latin for ‘many entities uniting as one’). It has also appointed Anthony Bartolo (pictured above) as its CEO, even though Aduna is not yet a legal entity, as it still requires regulatory approval. Bartolo, who will take on the role from 20 January, is currently the chief operating officer at Vonage, the Ericsson-owned business that is pinning its future on the success of the telco API market. “Aduna is at the forefront of the next technology wave,” stated Bartolo. “Providing developers with ubiquitous access to open, programmable network functionality through common APIs will empower them to innovate at global hyperscale and drive value creation for enterprises, their customers and the telecom industry. These new and more advanced applications will create better customer experiences, open new revenue streams, work seamlessly anywhere in the world, and provide businesses with innovative and differentiating ways to operate. I am honored to lead Aduna towards a new frontier for the future of technology, communication and the telecom industry.” According to Ericsson, Aduna “will combine and sell network APIs globally, with a vision that new applications will work anywhere, and on any network, paving the way for developers to innovate much more quickly and easily”: Those APIs will be based on the specifications developed under the Camara common framework. As a reminder, the 12 telcos that helped to found Aduna, in which Ericsson will hold a 50% stake, are América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile US, Verizon and Vodafone. You can read more about Bartolo’s appointment in this press release, get more background on the joint venture in this article from September, and keep up to speed with the major developments in TelecomTV’s dedicated Telco APIs channel. And for greater insight into the hopes and expectations for the joint venture, check out TelecomTV’s exclusive video interview – DT’s Peter Arbitter on the telco sector’s new network API venture.

Odido (formerly known as T-Mobile Netherlands) is edging closer to an initial public offering (IPO), with its private equity owners Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus aiming to raise €1bn from a public float of the Dutch telco’s shares on the Amsterdam stock exchange, Bloomberg has reported, citing sources with knowledge of the planned transaction. The private equity owners have hired three major banks to sell the shares, though that doesn’t guarantee that the IPO will go ahead. The operator, which with about 8 million mobile customers is rivalling KPN to be the country’s largest cellular operator by customer connections (each has a market share of around 35%), is likely to be valued at about €7bn as a result of the IPO process, according to the report. That is almost 40% higher than the €5.1bn that the private equity partners paid for the operator in 2022.     

Sigve Brekke, who stepped down after nine years as the CEO of Telenor at the end of 2024, has reappeared as the executive chairman of the Telecom and Digital Business Group at Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) which, along with Telenor, is the main shareholder in Thai telco True Corp. Starting on 1 March, Brekke will oversee the telecom and digital operations across Thailand and South-east Asia, reporting directly to CP Group CEO  Suphachai Chearavanont. “CP Group has built a strong reputation as a regional leader in connectivity, infrastructure, digital innovation, and financial services for more than 20 years. I am honored to join the team under Mr. Suphachai’s leadership to drive growth of the telecommunications and digital businesses in Thailand and South-east Asia, a region brimming with growth potential. Particularly in this era where AI is transforming consumers, organisations, and society, I look forward to returning back to Thailand and collaborating with CP Group’s talented team.”

Arm, the chip designer majority-owned by SoftBank, is mulling the potential acquisition of Santa Clara, California-based Ampere Computing, a semiconductor developer that has been working with advisors about the potential sale of the company for some months, according to Bloomberg. Ampere was valued at around $8bn in 2021, but it’s not known what kind of valuation it might attract currently. Ampere, which counts Oracle as a major investor (with a stake of about 29%), develops its CPUs based on Arm designs and claims its chips are more efficient than the equivalent products from the likes of Intel and AMD. In November, Japan’s Rakuten Group, the parent company of Rakuten Mobile, announced that it was expanding its collaboration with Ampere to “reduce power consumption for efficient AI compute.”

The Dutch government is in talks with Nvidia and AMD about the development of a national facility that would house an AI supercomputer in the Netherlands, according to De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Dirk Beljaarts, the country’s Economic Affairs Minister, discussed the potential of such a facility with the AI chip firms during a trip to the US, which included a visit to the CES 2025 show in Las Vegas. “Before we can dig deep, we need to be sure that the required knowledge and hardware are available,” Beljaarts told the media. “Nvidia has the knowledge and the high-tech equipment needed to build an AI facility. Today is an important step in that direction,” he added.   

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has confirmed that talks are underway with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its low-earth orbit (LEO) division Starlink about a potential satellite service deal with the Italian government, but noted that the talks are still at an exploratory stage, according to Bloomberg.  

Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) specialist Lyca Group, which claims to have about 16 million customers across 22 markets (including the UK), has announced a “strategic reorganisation”. The restructure will see it reduce its headcount in the UK – reportedly cutting about 300 roles to leave fewer than 50 – and focus on other markets instead, with plans to launch services soon in Spain and the US. In December, The Guardian reported that staff in the UK, where Lyca is battling with the government over tax payments, had been told of imminent job cuts. Now Lyca says “a smaller, more specialised team will remain in London to manage certain limited advisory, compliance and financial functions that require a UK presence. Other roles will be handled either from our existing service centres or at hubs to be established in order to leverage cost efficiencies and expertise, enabling the business to reinvest resources in innovation and strengthen our business.” Quite what this means for Lyca’s customers in the UK (believed to be more than 1 million), where Lyca offers its services over the EE mobile network, is unclear. 

– The staff, TelecomTV