• Global disruption lights a fire under Telenor’s AI Factory
• Zhone Technologies is reborn!
• Orange’s loss is Eutelsat’s gain

In today’s industry news roundup: Telenor says growing geopolitical concerns are fuelling demand for its sovereign AI services; Zhone Technologies is back, with the latest iteration of the name being used by the company that has acquired broadband equipment vendor DZS; Orange’s head of France has jumped ship to become the new CEO at Eutelsat; and much more!

Telenor has reported first-quarter service revenues of 16.11bn Norwegian krone (NOK)($1.56bn), up by 2.2% year on year, though its operating profit plunged by 26.3% to  NOK4.15bn ($402m), mainly due, however, to the previous year’s number being bolstered by the sale of satellite assets. “We live in turbulent times. The global economy and world trade has been thrown into disarray by unpredictable and fast-changing tariffs,” stated CEO Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer. “So far, our business is not directly affected, but we monitor how this uncertainty may affect Telenor and our customers, both operationally and financially. In general, the telecom sector tends to be more resilient to global turbulence,” added the CEO. In fact, the turbulence might even benefit some aspects of Telenor’s business. In its quarterly report, the operator noted: “Telenor AI Factory is Norway’s first fully integrated platform for generative artificial intelligence. The factory leverages Nvidia’s full-stack AI platform and will process Norwegian data on Norwegian soil. This sovereign AI initiative was launched last autumn and has been well received by customers. The recent geopolitical concern has led to further interest from customers and Telenor is now preparing to scale up with a four-fold increase in GPU capacity towards the end of the year.” The CEIO added: “We will continue managing Telenor based on clear priorities and simplification efforts that will involve significant reductions of legacy, transforming and improving the customer experience. While navigating through choppy seas comes with risks, we are on course and reconfirm our financial ambitions and full year outlook.”

As previously announced, Canadian ISP MNSi (Managed Network Systems Inc) has established a new tech company based in Plano, Texas, called Zhone Technologies and acquired “substantially all of the assets” of DZS, the broadband access technology vendor that collapsed in March. No financial details were shared. The ‘new’ Zhone Technologies – also the original name of one of the companies that merged with Dasan Network Solutions in 2016 to form the company that eventually became DZS – has acquired “all technology, intellectual property, lab facilities, IT systems, and certain customer and supplier contracts” from DZS, and has exercised its option to acquire “all of the issued and outstanding shares of four international subsidiaries of DZS” – DZS International Inc, DZS Canada Inc, DZS Solutions India Private Limited and NetComm Wireless Pty Ltd. It is separately acquiring NetComm’s assets through a process overseen by the Australian bankruptcy courts and intends to “acquire substantially all of the former DZS assets worldwide”. Zhone Technologies CEO Clayton Zekelman stated: “We are very excited to complete this strategic acquisition… Our team has worked tirelessly within the United States Bankruptcy Court proceedings to reestablish and renew forward-looking partnerships with key third-party development (ODM) and contract manufacturers. These relationships are critical to securing vital silicon chip technology, manufacturing, IT systems, and globally established facilities that will support Zhone’s long-term growth.” The move “positions the company as a strong and financially stable global player in the fibre optic broadband industry” and gives it a broad portfolio of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), optical transport, access point and Wi-Fi gateway products, as well as a suite of management, automation and orchestration software systems. Let’s see if the reborn Zhone can do better than DZS.  

Jérôme Hénique, currently CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa (MEA), has been appointed as the new CEO of Orange France, with effect from 1 June, to succeed Jean-François Fallacher, who is leaving the giant French telco to become CEO at French satellite network operator Eutelsat, one of the many companies battling for domination in the low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based communications services sector. Yasser Shaker, currently CEO of Orange Egypt, will become CEO of Orange MEA, effective from 1 July. Orange Group CEO Christel Heydemann stated: “I would like to thank Jean-François Fallacher for his unwavering commitment throughout his career at Orange. More recently, I would like to underline the essential role he played in the creation of MasOrange,” the Spanish telco formed by the merger of Orange Spain and MásMóvil in March 2024, “and the implementation of the Lead the Future strategy in France. On behalf of all the teams, I warmly thank him and wish him much success in his new position. I have complete confidence in Jérôme Hénique – who knows the group perfectly and has successfully developed the Africa-Middle East region – to lead and grow Orange France’s activities. I am also delighted with the appointment of Yasser Shaker as CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa. His extensive experience and deep knowledge of the region will be essential for continuing our growth momentum.” Commenting on his appointment at Eutelsat, which counts LEO satellite constellation OneWeb as part of its portfolio, Fallacher noted: “I am excited to be joining Eutelsat at such a pivotal moment in its history. Technology is evolving faster than ever, and in today’s increasingly complex geopolitical context, satellite networks have become a key element in the connectivity landscape.” Fallacher replaces Eva Berneke, who has been Eutelsat’s CEO since January 2022. 

Australian operator TPG Telecom, formerly Vodafone Hutchison Australia, says it has “successfully sent the first direct-to-smartphone text message on the Vodafone mobile network” using the fleet of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites operated by Lynk Global, which is building a constellation it describes as a “cell tower in space”. TPG Telecom sent a series of text messages from rural New South Wales to standard smartphones, including Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy devices and Google Pixel handsets, via the Vodafone mobile network and the Lynk fleet. “The landmark achievement represents a stepping stone to near 100% mobile coverage in Australia, putting us on the path to eliminate mobile coverage dead zones and improve rural and remote connectivity right across the country,” stated TPG Telecom CTO Giovanni Chiarelli. “LEOsat technology will be a game-changer for emergency communications and keeping Australians connected no matter where they are,” he added. Read more. 

Having cut its headcount in Spain last year by more than 3,400, Telefónica is reportedly drawing up plans to reduce its domestic workforce by a further 4,000 to 5,000 roles, according to El Confidencial (as reported by Reuters). Telefónica is under new management, with CEO Marc Murtra having recently initiated a major strategic review – that review might result in further headcount reductions, it seems – see New Telefónica CEO preps massive overhaul.

– The staff, TelecomTV