What’s up with… Iliad, Claro Brasil, Vodafone Germany

• Iliad maintains growth momentum in 2025
• Claro Brasil buys fibre broadband operator
• Vodafone Germany preps access upgrade

In today’s industry news roundup: Pan-European operator Iliad Group has reported sales and earnings growth for the full year 2025; América Móvil’s Brazilian operation is aiming to add to its fibre broadband base with a strategic acquisition; Vodafone Germany gets edgy and virtual with its cable broadband infrastructure upgrade; and much more!

Pan-European operator Iliad shows no sign of slowing down in terms of its growth and ambition. Its operations in France, Italy and Poland generated revenues of €10.35bn in 2025, up by 3.2%, while its group EBITDA grew by 5% to just over €4bn and as it spent less on capital expenditure (capex) in 2025 – €1.8bn, down by 11.5% year on year – its free cash flow increased by 23.2% to €2.25bn. It ended last year with 42 million mobile customers across the group, having added 1.3 million during the year, and 10 million fixed broadband customers, having added just 200,000. Its key ambitions now lie in digital infrastructure and the provision of sovereign services. “In 2025, the Iliad Group actively continued the strategic transformation that it began in 2023 to become a European leader in digital infrastructure,” the operator noted. “While the current geopolitical environment highlights the importance of digital sovereignty and is generating exponential demand for critical infrastructure, the group is investing heavily in cloud and AI infrastructures in Europe. In 2025, the finalisation of the strategic partnership with Infravia supported OpCore’s ambition to become an independent leader in hyperscale datacentres in Europe. Our subsidiary Scaleway aims to build a European hyperscaler. In 2025, it announced the opening of new availability zones in Germany and Sweden – and last week formalised the launch of its cloud AI activities in Italy. In June, Scaleway also initiated the AION consortium to build the next generation of European AI infrastructure.”    

In an effort to further boost its fibre broadband operations, Claro Brasil, part of the América Móvil empire, has agreed to acquire a 73% stake in Brazilian broadband network operator Desktop in a deal that values the company at 4bn Brazilian reals ($764m) including debt. If the deal is approved by Brazilian regulators, Claro Brasil would then seek to acquire the remaining shares on the public market. Claro Brasil ended 2025 with 89.5 million mobile customers, up by 2.7% year on year, and 10.6 million fixed broadband customers, up by 3.5%, though the majority of those are cable broadband customers. Desktop has about 1.2 million fibre broadband customers across scores of cities in São Paulo state. Claro Brasil reported full year revenues for 2025 of 51.6bn Brazilian reals ($9.9bn), up by 6% compared with 2024. 

Richardson, Texas-based Aurora Networks, the new name for the access network technology vendor that used to be known as CommScope, has teamed up with Swiss network tech vendor Huber+Suhner to supply Vodafone Germany with a next-generation cable broadband system that can provide “multi-gigabit service enablement, long-term support and sustainable expansion” of the operator’s fixed access network. The vendors will supply the German operator with distributed access architecture (DAA) and virtual cable modem termination system (CMTS) technologies that will enable it to make the most of its existing hybrid fibre coax (HFC) infrastructure, they noted in this announcement. Specifically, Aurora will supply its virtual CMTS and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) video solutions as well as systems integration services, while Huber+Suhner will supply next-gen remote PHY (physical layer) devices that play a key role in DAA deployments. Michael Rabes, director of fixed access engineering at Vodafone Germany, stated: “The collaboration with Aurora Networks and Huber+Suhner is long term and promotes future cooperation. The DAA and vCMTS technologies have been deployed in the live network. Our joint efforts will help Vodafone deliver a reliable and high-quality cable network assuring the best user experience to its customers today and in the future.”

Telefónica Tech, the enterprise digital services division of the giant Spanish telco, has announced a partnership with three companies –  Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, QCentroid and Multiverse Computing – in order to “offer a comprehensive quantum AI solution combining quantum hardware, advanced software, orchestration platforms and professional services, with the aim of accelerating the adoption of quantum technologies and artificial intelligence in the public and private sectors,” the operator recently announced. According to Telefónica, the partnership reinforces its quantum tech strategy, which has three areas of focus: Quantum computing, with partners such as IQM, with which it has worked to deploy one of Spain’s first quantum computers; post-quantum security, in collaboration with partners such as IBM; and quantum communications, with investments made in companies such as LuxQuanta through Wayra, Telefónica’s investment arm. During the recent MWC26 event, Telefónica presented its Quantum Telco approach, which comprises a range of solutions based on four pillars: Quantum-Safe communications; the creation of quantum ecosystems; applied quantum computing (the development of projects that respond to the specific needs of customers); and quantum-safe cryptography. 

To capitalise on the expertise it has gained from working with 74 customers and 17 partners around the world, Rakuten Symphony has launched Rakuten Symphony Japan to offer “advanced cloud and OSS solutions to address the digital transformation needs of the Japanese market”. In particular, the new unit will leverage the experience it has gained from having helped to build the virtualised, cloud-native network of its sister company, Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile, by using that “technical framework to support a wide range of enterprise customers, including Japanese infrastructure companies, tech companies and mobile carriers operating datacentres”. The move is part of Rakuten Symphony’s growth strategy: The vendor reported revenues of 85.69bn yen ($540m) in 2025 and its first full year operating profit, and aims to improve on that performance in 2026.

– The staff, TelecomTV