What’s up with… Colt, HPE & Juniper, Baltic cable cuts

• Colt Data Centre Services forges India JV, preps $1.7bn investment
• HPE and Juniper Networks pray for DoJ clearance
• Baltic Sea cable cuts blamed on sabotage

In today’s industry news roundup: Colt Data Centre Services has formed a joint venture with an Indian investor and plans to pump $1.7bn into datacentre infrastructure in the country; HPE and Juniper Networks are waiting anxiously to see if the US Department of Justice moves to block their merger; the finger of blame is pointing at Russia following cuts to two subsea cable in the Baltic Sea; and much more!

Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS) has teamed up with Bengaluru, India-based alternative investment firm RMZ to form a joint venture that plans to invest up to $1.7bn in datacentre facilities in India. The investment will initially focus on accelerating the development at existing datacentre sites in Navi Mumbai and Ambattur, Chennai, with a third site to be added in future. The datacentres will have a combined capacity of approximately 250MW on completion of all phases, according to Colt DCS. “We are witnessing an extraordinary shift in the datacentre landscape, driven by the accelerating demands of cloud adoption and the AI revolution,” noted RMZ Infrastructure CEO Deepak Chhabria. “We recognise that digital infrastructure is not just an investment theme but a cornerstone of India’s economic future. Colt DCS’s proven track record in delivering high-quality, scalable solutions aligns perfectly with our vision for India. Colt DCS’s commitment to operational excellence and innovation complements our mission to build state-of-the-art facilities that meet the evolving needs of sectors, such as banking, financial services, and media. This is our opportunity to shape the future of data infrastructure in India, and we are ready to rise to the challenge.” Colt DCS CEO Niclas Sanfridsson added: “In terms of our expansion, India remains a strategic country of focus and [is] key in terms of delivering against our aggressive growth strategy. Colt DCS has a proven track record, working with the world’s largest hyperscale cloud providers and multinational companies. The partnership with RMZ will provide the opportunity to further accelerate and execute our ambitious plans.” Colt DCS is part of Colt Group Holdings (owned by Fidelity Investments), which is also the parent company of Colt Technology Services.

Executives from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks met with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) last week in a last-ditch attempt to persuade antitrust officials not to challenge the planned $14bn acquisition of Juniper Networks by HPE that was announced in January this year, according to Bloomberg. A challenge is a possibility, not a certainty, but DoJ officials have voiced concerns over the anti-competitive nature of some parts of the deal, so the officials could wave the deal through if HPE agrees to some concessions. If the DoJ does attempt to block the deal, HPE and Juniper may wait until next year, when Donald Trump’s more pro-M&A administration takes charge, before fighting any such decision, notes the Bloomberg report. HPE and Juniper Networks have always been aiming to complete the deal by early 2025. 

Sabotage is being blamed for cuts in two subsea cables in the Baltic Sea in the past two days. On Sunday, a cable operated by Telia Lithuania that runs between Lithuania and Sweden’s island of Gotland suddenly stopped working, while on Monday, Finnish backbone network builder Cinia announced that its 1,173km C-Lion1 cable that runs between Finland and Germany had suffered a cut that would take between five and 15 days to repair. A company spokesperson told local media that the C-Lion1 cable may have been severed “by an outside force” and, according to this BBC report, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said damage to two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea looks like an act of sabotage and that “nobody believes that these cables were cut accidentally”. All eyes are pointing at Russia as the conflict in Ukraine escalates and international tensions rise in the region. 

Another day, another warning that Europe needs to pull its socks up if it is not to fall behind other regions of the world in terms of digital infrastructure and services. The latest shot across the European Union’s bows comes from Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm, who told Bloomberg that Europe is becoming a weak market for the telecom sector because of how hard it is for operators to get a return on their investments or to gain scale, and that there is more business to be had in North America for a company such as Ericsson. The CEO even gave a not very subtle warning that the Swedish company might even shift its headquarters to the US if trends continue. Whether or not Ericsson might relocate to the US is “always a question that comes up,” Ekholm said, noting, however, that the company has deep ties to the European country. “But, you know, we always need to also look at: How will the world look in the future?… Would we relocate at some point in time? That could well happen.” That’s going to upset a few people…

India’s Bharti Enterprises has completed the acquisition of a 24.5% stake in UK national telco BT Group: In August, billionaire telecom and media investor Patrick Drahi agreed to sell the stake he held in BT via his Altice UK vehicle to Bharti in two transactions, the second of which has now been completed. Bharti’s stake is worth about £3.6bn based on BT’s current share price of 148 pence. The UK telco’s stock has risen since the start of the year as new CEO Allison Kirkby introduced various cost-cutting measures and strategic initiatives, most of which focus on developing the UK business and shrinking BT’s international operations. Since she took over at the beginning of February, the telco’s share price has gained in value by more than 35%. Bharti Enterprises is the majority stakeholder in Bharti Telecom, which in turn is the largest shareholder in India’s second-largest telco, Bharti Airtel.  

– The staff, TelecomTV