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The European Commission has sent a "Statement of Objections" to KKR over what it suspects was the US investment firm's supply of incorrect and/or misleading information in the lead-up to its acquisition of Netco, which comprises the fixed-network arm of Telecom Italia and joint venture FiberCop. The Commission's initial investigation, opened last year, had been prompted by complaints from rivals that, following the acquisition, FiberCop unilaterally hiked the prices those companies paid to access FiberCop's fixed broadband network. Under EU merger regulations, the Commission can impose fines of up to 1% of the offending company's worldwide turnover or even revoke a merger clearance decision where that decision was deemed to have been based on incorrect information. (See Eurobites: TIM-KKR deal gets EU green light.)
Nexfibre vents anger at merger report
The major shareholders in the Nexfibre consortium – InfraVia, Liberty Global and Telefónica – have issued a statement saying that the UK's Competition and Markets Authority's interim report into Nexfibre's planned £2 billion (US2.6 billion) takeover of altnet Netomnia is "fundamentally flawed" and that they won't be submitting proposed "remedies" requested by the CMA. The three companies said that the report's conclusions "rely on counterfactuals that do not reflect the commercial and financial reality of the UK fibre market. In particular, the assumption that CityFibre will acquire Netomnia is not a credible basis on which to judge this transaction." They also assert that "the market has moved on," not least since BT's acquisition of TalkTalk was announced. (See Eurobites: Nexfibre-Netomnia deal faces in-depth probe and Nexfibre CEO defends £2B Netomnia deal against CityFibre attack.)
Telefónica and NOS do defense
In loosely related news, Telefónica has hooked up with Portugal's NOS to jointly develop defense connectivity services. The agreement between the two companies will allow them to continue exploring areas such as network interoperability, secure communications, edge computing, AI and advanced 5G.
Tele2's Q3
Underlying third-quarter EBITDAaL (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, after leases) at Sweden's Tele2 increased by 3% year-over-year in organic terms, to 3.1 billion Swedish kronor ($310 million), on revenue that was up 2.2% in organic terms to SEK7.6 billion ($760 million). In the light of the results, Tele2 has narrowed the range of its full-year guidance for organic underlying EBITDAaL growth to 4-5% (previously "low to mid-single-digit"). In his earnings statement, Tele2 Group CEO Nicholas Högberg claimed that AI was creating "significant value" for the company in administration, network operations and customer relations. (See Eurobites: Tele2 plans job cuts in cost-control clampdown.)
Spanish collab wants to toughen up 6G
Prospero, a new research consortium coordinated by Spanish university UC3M in collaboration with the Imdea Networks Institute and other organizations, is set to explore how to design resilient 6G networks. Among several aims, it hopes to create an "open and intelligent platform" that reduces costs and – ambitiously perhaps – guarantees mobile services during major blackouts.
AI is no sweat for Germany
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week for a "fireside chat" to discuss Germany’s AI future. (The chip magnate was probably a bit hot in his leather jacket.) During the chinwag, the German government and Nvidia announced work on a joint initiative to advance cutting edge AI models for "physical AI." The initiative, it is hoped, will build on Germany's industrial data, manufacturing know-how and engineering expertise within the context of the federal government's AI roadmap and the "Industry 4.0" platform.
About the Author
Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.
He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.
During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.
Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.