
- Zayo set to pounce on Crown Castle fibre assets
- Samsung predicts better year ahead for its networks business
- Elisa grows as it innovates
In today’s industry news roundup: Zayo could expand its US data transport infrastructure with the acquisition of Crown Castle’s network; Samsung sees a better year ahead for its networks division; Finland’s Elisa grows its sales and margins as it deploys cutting-edge tech; and much more!
Long-distance network operator Zayo, which recently unveiled plans to build more than 5,000 fibre network route miles in the US “to meet the growing demands of AI workloads”, is in talks to potentially acquire US fibre network assets from Crown Castle in a deal that could be valued at up to $8bn, according to Bloomberg. Crown Castle is looking to offload the fibre network assets so it can focus on its mobile towers business and had previously been in talks with investment giant TPG, but Zayo, which is owned by investment firms EQT and DigitalBridge, is now believed to be the frontrunner to acquire the US fibre network.
Samsung reported fourth-quarter 2024 revenues of 75.8tn Korean won (KRW) ($52.1bn) and an operating profit of KRW6.5tn ($4.47bn): Its full year 2024 revenues totalled KRW300.9tn ($207bn) and full year operating profit hit KRW22.5tn. “Although fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit decreased on a quarter-on-quarter basis, annual revenue reached the second-highest on record, surpassed only in 2022,” the company noted. In the fourth quarter, the Samsung Networks division, which provides radio access network technology to mobile operators, “reported significant improvements in revenue and operating profit in key markets” – its fourth-quarter revenues came to KRW800bn ($550m). “For 2025, performance is set to improve as the [networks] business expects to win new orders and as major operators expand their network and increase adoption of virtualised and open radio access networks (vRAN/Open RAN),” noted Samsung. Could it possibly be referring to a RAN deal with Vodafone?
Finland’s Elisa has reported a near 3% year-on-year increase in fourth-quarter revenues to €580m, including a 4.1% increase in mobile service revenues to €255m. Like-for-like EBITDA increased by 3.3% to €198m. Full year revenues edged up by just 0.5% to €2.19bn, “despite net business disposals, acquisitions and regulatory changes impacting revenue negatively,” the operator noted, while comparable EBITDA grew by 3.6% to €783m. For the year ahead, Elisa, which has about 2.8 million customers for its consumer and enterprise mobile and fixed line services, expects revenues to be about the same or slightly up, while comparable EBITDA is anticipated to be at the same level as or slightly higher than in 2024. The operator noted that it “continues to improve productivity, for example by increasing automation and data analytics in different processes, such as customer interaction, network operations and delivery. Additionally, Elisa’s continuous quality improvement measures will increase customer satisfaction and efficiency, and reduce costs. Elisa’s transformation into a provider of exciting, new and relevant services for its customers is continuing. Long-term revenue growth and profitability improvement will derive from growth in the mobile data market, as well as domestic and international digital services.” The company prides itself on being a technology innovator, with CEO Topi Manner noting that the operator “continued expanding our standalone 5G and fibre networks and pioneering technologies to benefit our customers. During the fourth quarter, Elisa and Nokia became the first companies in Europe to trial 100 Gbit/s speeds in a production fibre network as well as opening the first 5G cloud radio access network (cloud RAN), marking a significant step towards the era of 6G. We were also the first operator in the world to deploy 800 Gbit/s coherent technology within our backbone network.”
Despite lower-than-expected iPhone sales, Apple reported record quarterly revenues of $124.3bn, up by 4% year on year, for its fiscal 2025 first quarter, which ended on 28 December 2024. “Today Apple is reporting our best quarter ever, with revenue of $124.3bn, up 4% from a year ago,” stated CEO Tim Cook late on Thursday. “We were thrilled to bring customers our best-ever lineup of products and services during the holiday season. Through the power of Apple silicon, we’re unlocking new possibilities for our users with Apple Intelligence, which makes apps and experiences even better and more personal. And we’re excited that Apple Intelligence will be available in even more languages this April.”
Beleaguered Intel had a better-than-expected end to what was a tumultuous year for the chip giant, which culminated in the exit of CEO Pat Gelsinger in early December. The company reported fourth-quarter revenues of $14.3bn, down 7% year on year, while full year sales came in at $53.1bn, down by 2%. “The fourth quarter was a positive step forward as we delivered revenue, gross margin and EPS [earnings per share] above our guidance,” noted Michelle Johnston Holthaus, interim co-CEO of Intel and CEO of Intel Products. “Our renewed focus on strengthening and simplifying our product portfolio, combined with continued progress on our process roadmap, is positioning us to better serve the needs of our customers. Dave and I are taking actions to enhance our competitive position and create shareholder value.” That ‘Dave’ is David Zinsner, Intel’s CFO and the company’s other interim co-CEO. “The cost-reduction plan we announced last year to improve the trajectory of the company is having an impact,” stated Zinsner. “We are fostering a culture of efficiency across the business while driving toward greater returns on our invested capital and improved profitability. Our Q1 outlook reflects seasonal weakness magnified by macro uncertainties, further inventory digestion and competitive dynamics. We will remain highly focused on execution to build on our progress and unlock value.” Intel expects its first-quarter 2025 revenues to be between $11.7bn and $12.7bn.
Japan’s SoftBank is set to invest up to $25bn in ChatGPT developer OpenAI, a move that would make it an even bigger stakeholder in the generative AI firm than Microsoft, according to the Financial Times (and as reported by The Guardian). SoftBank and OpenAI are two of the main companies behind The Stargate Project, a new company that plans to invest up to $500bn in the construction of new AI infrastructure (datacentres) in the US, with $100bn to be deployed with immediate effect. According to the FT report, SoftBank’s investment would be linked to its involvement in Stargate.
– The staff, TelecomTV
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