TelecomLive January-2019

greater infrastructure sharing, operational efficiencies and cost optimisation,” which would result in delivery ofmore "affordable telecomservices". EU probes $22 bn Vodafone, Liberty Global deal on antitrust concerns Vodafone's purchase of Liberty Global's assets in Germany and east Europe may damage competition in Germany and the Czech Republic, EU antitrust regula- tors said, as they opened a full-scale probe into the $21.8bndeal. The deal between the world's second-largest mobile operator and US cable pioneer John Malone's Liberty would enable Vodafone to compete more effectively with Deutsche Telekom in the German rival's home market. It also expands Vodafone's reach in broad- band, cable and mobile services elsewhere in Europe as it includes Liberty Global assets in the CzechRepub- lic, Hungary andRomania. The European Commission said some rivals might be shut out of the Czechmarket, where Vodafone offers mainly mobile telephony services and Liberty Global offers fixed services. In Germany, the deal might reduce competition in the retail fixed telecoms markets and retail TV mar- kets, curb investments in next-generation networks and give the merged firm more power as a TV broad- caster, the EUcompetition enforcer said. It sawno issues in Romania andHungary and said it will decide whether to clear the deal by May 2. The deadline can be extended if Vodafone offers conces- sions. Vodafone said it still expected EU approval by mid-2019. Telefonica Deutschland, which has called for the deal to be blocked, said it expected Vodafone to make every effort to avert the negative effects singled out by the Commission. Google renames Project Fi to Google Fi Google has renamed its Project Fi wireless network as Google Fi, while making it available for a wide range of Android devices as well as for some iPhones in the US. Google Fi is now available for select models from [ News Bytes ] www.telecomlive.com 8 Telecom LIVE January 2019 Huawei, LG, Motorola, Samsung , Es s en t i a l , Nokia, OnePlus, Xiaomi, HTC, Google andApple. Launched in 2015 , Project Fi set out to make wireless experience fast, easy and fair for users and brought features at no extra cost, like interna- tional data coverage in 170 countries and territo- ries, spam protection, and data-only SIMs for users' other devices. It also introduced a feature called Bill Protection which gives users the flexibility to use unlim- ited data when they need it, but only pay for what they use. Verizon to give VRS to 10,400 employees in restructuring Verizon Communica- tions said 10,400 employ- ees, or about 6.8 pc of its total staff, were accepted for voluntary buyouts as the company looks to trim $10 bn from costs and retool for 5G wireless technology. The exit pack- ages were available to as many as 44,000 Verizon employees. The buyout is the company's second- largest, after a 2003 offer in which 21,600 employ- ees accepted severance packages. The move comes five mo n t h s a f t e r H a n s Vestberg took over from Lowell McAdam as CEO at the largest US wireless At least 12more related compani es inc luding O P P O w h i c h m a k e mobile phone accessories and software's are likely to apply for land. Voda-Idea demerges fibre into separate unit Vodafone Idea has demerged its fibre infra- structure business by transferring such assets to a wholly-owned unit, Vodafone Towers Ltd (VTL). The move sets the stage for an early sale of Vodafone Idea's fibre assets as the telecom market leader urgently needs to bring in cash to counter competition from Jio andAirtel. Vodafone Idea has 156,000 kms of fibre network assets bulk of it on inter-city routes that is used for backhaul capac- ity. Earlier, Vodafone Idea had announced plans to monetise its fibre assets - estimated to be worth roughly $430-450 mn - a l o n g s i d e p l a n s t o arrange an Rs 25,000 cr equity fund-raise to bol- ster its balance sheet and meet future capex needs to boost 4G coverage in its efforts to catch up with Jio andAirtel. Vodafone Idea said “the rationale for the demerger” is to sharpen focus on fibre infrastruc- ture business to achieve