In today's roundup: Operators combine media distribution assets; MasterCard's latest partnership; NSN builds in Brazil; and more

August 28, 2012

2 Min Read
Euronews: Operators Merge Their CDNs

Telia Carrier , its parent Telia Company , EE , Nokia Networks , ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763), KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN), Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR), Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) and Iliad (Euronext: ILD) lead today's regional news charge.

  • TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC) and Hibernia Atlantic are combining their media distribution assets to create a joint content delivery network (CDN). As part of the deal, Hibernia will acquire TSIC's MediaConnect business for an undisclosed sum. Both companies have built their CDN capabilities using Net Insight AB (Stockholm: NETI-B)'s Nimbra MSR platform. The move comes as traditional telcos grapple with their CDN strategies. (See CDN: Build or Buy?)

  • More news from the Scandinavian giant: TeliaSonera's Spanish mobile operation, Yoigo, has appointed Eduardo Taulet, currently chief commercial officer, as its new CEO from Sept. 1. He takes over from Johan Andsjö, who is leaving the company. TeliaSonera is believed to be looking to sell its majority stake in Yoigo. (See Euronews: For Sale – Spanish Mobile Operator.)

  • U.K. mobile operator EE -- the joint venture between T-Mobile (UK) and Orange UK with about 27 million customers -- has teamed up with MasterCard to deliver mobile and digital payment services. Their first foray will be a co-branded, pre-paid offer that uses Near-Field Communications (NFC) to enable customers to make contactless payments with their mobile devices. The partners say such payments can be made at 100,000 retailers in the U.K. (See Telefónica & Visa Cozy Up and Nokia Adds NFC to Lumia for Orange .)

  • NSN is setting up a mobile networks production facility in Brazil with contract manufacturer Flex (Nasdaq: FLEX) as part of its strategy to move production facilities closer to core markets, reports Reuters.

  • ZTE is providing its mobile evolved packet core (EPC) system to KPN Belgium. The Chinese vendor already has a mobile packet core deal with KPN's German operations.

  • Juniper has appointed Mark Quartermaine, a former BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) executive, as vice president for the U.K. and Ireland. Quartermaine, who will report to the vendor's EMEA boss, Sean Dolan, will be responsible for sales to service providers and enterprises.

  • Level 3 has hooked up to the refurbished London Data Exchange (LDeX)-owned facility in North London as part of its efforts to target small and medium-sized business customers.

  • French competitive carrier Iliad (also known as Free) has secured a €200 million (US$250 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help fund its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) rollout and ADSL2+ expansion investment plans. Iliad says its plans include the delivery of high-speed fixed broadband access to "less densely populated areas" of France. (See France's Free Banks on FTTH and FT-Orange, Free in FTTH Deal.)

    — Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like