What’s up with… Singtel, Cisco, Vodafone

• Singtel revenues flat but EBIT up 7.9%
• Cisco rides AI “supercycle” to 18% revenue boost
• Vodafone’s procurement arm lands Telenor voice deal

In today’s industry news roundup: Singtel chief cites infra investments as first quarter earnings jump 7.9% ; Cisco revenues rose 18% year-on-year, marking a “record year” for the vendor; Vodafone Procure and Connect has sealed an international voice deal with Telenor; and much more!
 

Singtel reported revenues of 3.56bn Singapore dollars (US$2.78bn) for its fiscal first quarter that ended 30 June, up just 0.4% at constancy currency conversion rates compared with the same period last year, though the multinational operator managed a 7.9% increase in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to S$462m (US$361m). Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon noted: “We had a strong start to the year, reflecting the consistent and disciplined execution of our Singtel28 plan despite heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. Underlying earnings continued to grow, supported by sustained momentum in NCS, Optus and Digital InfraCo and robust contributions from our regional associates particularly Airtel and AIS… We are beginning to reap contributions from our new growth investments in Digital InfraCo with our datacentre arm Nxera seeing good growth in contracted capacity in Singapore and the region from strong customer demand for AI and cloud. Our AI cloud service RE:AI is also set to scale as sovereign AI gains in importance among government agencies and businesses." Operating revenue at Digital InfraCo – the division that comprises Singtel’s datacentre, subsea network and satellite operations – increased by 18.9% to S$127m (US$99m) “on higher contributions from datacentre arm Nxera, following the operational commencement of DC Tuas in Singapore in January 2026, as well as growth in RE:AI’s AI cloud services,” the operator noted. As with many telcos, Singtel is highlighting the growth being generated by its AI infrastructure and services operations, even if the sales numbers are still relatively small at this point.

Nokia isn’t the only one excited about the networking “supercycle” that is underway thanks to seemingly ever-increasing AI infrastructure investments, as Cisco is also riding the same wave. The San Jose, California-based tech giant reported an 18% year on year increase in fiscal fourth quarter revenues to $17.3bn, while full year sales grew by 12% to $63.3bn. Cisco expects its revenues in the current quarter (Q1 2027) to come in at between $18bn to $18.2bn, while full year fiscal 2027 sales are expected to reach between $72.2bn and $73.4bn. Fourth quarter operating profits grew by 38% to $4.3bn, while full year operating profit was up 31% to $15.4bn. The giant vendor noted that its networking product orders grew by 40% year on year in the three months that ended on 25 July, “marking the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth”. Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins noted: "We delivered a very strong close to fiscal 2026, marking another record year for Cisco. Our record performance is a testament to the accelerated pace of innovation and the excellent execution by our teams. With the breadth and depth of our portfolio and our competitive differentiation in secure networking, Cisco is well positioned to support our customers however or wherever they decide to deploy AI."

Vodafone Procure & Connect, which comprises the international telco’s procurement unit with its international voice and roaming services divisions, has landed a deal with Telenor to manage the Nordic telco’s international voice operations (currently operated by Telenor Linx, the company’s global division) across Telenor Norway, Telenor Sweden, DNA Finland, Telenor Denmark and Telenor Maritime. “The agreement enables Telenor to leverage Vodafone’s global scale, international voice expertise and established operating platform,” noted Voidafone in this announcement. Stig Waagbo, CEO at Telenor Linx, noted: “As the telecommunications industry continues to evolve, strategic partnerships play a crucial role in driving efficiency and delivering greater value to customers. This agreement with Vodafone reflects our commitment to optimising our operations while maintaining the highest standards of service. We are confident that Vodafone is the right partner to support this next chapter of our voice business.”

Sticking with Vodafone, a UK ‘politician’ has issued an ill-advised threat against the CEO of Vodafone Group after accusing the telco of providing SIM-cards to migrants looking to enter the country. Zia Yusuf, who is the chairman of the Reform Party as well as its home affairs spokesman, wrote a letter warning that Vodafone chief Margherita Della Valle and the operator's board of directors would face prosecution should the party – which has led in the majority of voter polls conducted since the last UK General Election – ever come to power. Yusuf’ made his threat after migrant charity Care4Calais revealed it had given 2,221 pre-paid Vodafone SIMs to migrants. Vodafone supplied the SIMs as part of the charities.connected scheme it launched in 2021 as part of a commitment to connect 1 million digitally excluded people. Any UK registered charity can apply for a pre-paid SIM and more than 1,800 charities have taken part. The scheme is due to end in October. Despite this, Yusuf – who, it should be noted, is not a member of the UK parliament – challenged Della Valle to “disavow” distribution of the SIMs or face a law he plans to introduce, called Polanski’s Law, which would make “assisting or encouraging” illegal entry into the UK a criminal offence. He also threatened to review any public contracts Vodafone has with the UK government. It is important to note that the Reform party currently only has seven sitting MPs and would not be able to even propose any such law without winning a general election.

UK electrical retailer AO has launched a new SIM-only MVNO service running on Vodafone’s UK network. AO Mobile offers a single 30-day rolling SIM-only plan priced at £12 per month for AO members, and costing £18 per month for non-members (with membership costing £39.99 a year). The mobile plan comes with unlimited UK calls and texts, 15Gbytes of EU data roaming and 500Gbytes of data. Customers can add up to nine additional SIMs (eSIM and physical versions are both supported) on one account. AO is the latest firm to join the UK’s very competitive MVNO market, following digital bank Monzo’s launch in partnership with Virgin Media O2 earlier this year. Figures from FDM CCS Insight released earlier this month predicted that by the end of 2031 the UK will have around 30.7 million MVNO customers, up from 22.3 million this year.

The US division of Italian fibre maker Prysmian has announced plans to invest more than $1.2bn in three US facilities as part of its “global commitment to more than double domestic optical cable and fiber capacity – including the glass performing stage – and create 600 manufacturing jobs in the US.” The news comes only weeks after Prysmian landed a $5.5bn deal with Molex to supply optical cables for datacentre deployments. More than $1bn of this investment will go to Prysmian’s Claremont, North Carolina campus, doubling the size of the fibre manufacturing facility onsite while also expanding the optical cable plant. In Jackson, Tennessee, a $100m investment will double the capacity of its optical cable facility, while a further $80m will be spent on the company’s Lexington, South Carolina facility to expand its optical cable capabilities. Prysmian North America CEO, Andrea Pirondini, stated: “This investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting the growth of the US demand for advanced digital solutions. We are one of just three US manufacturers of fibre and optical cables, and now we are committing more than a billion dollars to new innovative solutions and transformational capacity growth.” Prysmian is one of a number of fibre makers, including Corning, STL and HFCL, to be benefitting from the current AI infrastructure investment cycle, as we noted earlier this month - see Fibre makers ride the AI wave.

Ooredoo has struck a strategic partnership with digital identity firm Callsign to launch next-generation fraud protection services for businesses across Qatar, according to a report in the Qatar Tribune. The partnership will see Ooredoo offering Callsign’s Digital DNA technology available through its existing enterprise business. Digital DNA offers digital authentication and fraud prevention services in an integrated solution, with the partners especially targeting the finance, airline and healthcare industries. Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Fahad Al Thani, senior director of business accounts at Ooredoo, said “At Ooredoo, we drive Qatar’s digital transformation by empowering organisations across the nation to navigate technological change with confidence. As digital services become central to every aspect of business and daily life, trust and security must evolve just as quickly. Our partnership with Callsign strengthens this foundation, combining advanced authentication and fraud prevention capabilities with our world-class digital infrastructure.”

– The staff, TelecomTV