Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Com Hem profits up; Telefónica cozies up to Huawei; former Gowex boss could face long stretch.
The world's wealthiest individual, Carlos Slim, is to take a majority stake in Telekom Austria AG (NYSE: TKA; Vienna: TKA) following a public tender offer for shares in the European operator. Investors holding nearly 104 million shares, about 23.47% of Telekom Austria’s capital, agreed to sell to Slim's América Móvil S.A. de C.V. in a move that will cost €743.4 million (US$1.01 billion). Once the shares are bought, América Móvil will own (either directly or indirectly) 50.8% of Telekom Austria’s capital. Slim, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes at about $78.9 billion (equal to that of Bill Gates, who shares the "wealthiest" title currently), made his first significant move on the Austrian carrier, which has fixed, mobile and cable operations in multiple markets in Central and Eastern Europe, in mid-2012. (See Telekom Austria Acquires Macedonian Cable Operator, Telekom Austria Acquires B.net and Telekom Austria Notes America Movil Holdings.)
Com Hem AB , the Swedish cable operator that launched an over-subscribed IPO last month, posted core second-quarter profits up 3.5% year-on-year to 566 million Swedish kroner ($83 million), reports Reuters. (See Eurobites: Com Hem Sparks Gold Rush.)
The disgraced former CEO of Spanish WiFi networks provider Gowex Jenaro Garcia Martin could face more than 10 years in jail following fraud revelations at the company, reports Reuters. Garcia Martin admitted on July 6 that he had misrepresented Gowex's accounts for at least the last four years. For a full and frank examination of the shenanigans he was involved in, see this Bloomberg report.
Gemalto , the Dutch mobile security specialist, has joined a pan-African mHealth initiative that focuses on maternal and child health. Backed by the GSM Association (GSMA) , the PAMI initiative will use Gemalto to help it bring mHealth and nutrition-related services to those who need it through its SmartMessage interactive messaging product.
mHealth in Africa: Ain't no better mobile application.
It appears BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) suffered something of a lost weekend -- as in lost email. The BBC reports that tens of thousands of BT customers were left without email services over the weekend, as the operator attempted to migrate those users who previously used the Yahoo-run email platform to its own offering. The migration was being handled by Openwave Messaging Inc.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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Light Reading founder Steve Saunders talks with VMware's Shekar Ayyar, who explains why cloud architectures are becoming more distributed, what that means for workloads, and why telcos can still be significant cloud services players.
A CSP's digital transformation involves so much more than technology. Crucial – and often most challenging – is the cultural transformation that goes along with it. As Sigma's Chief Technology Officer, Catherine Michel has extensive experience with technology as she leads the company's entire product portfolio and strategy. But she's also no stranger to merging technology and culture, having taken a company — Tribold — from inception to acquisition (by Sigma in 2013), and she continues to advise service providers on how to drive their own transformations. This impressive female leader and vocal advocate for other women in the industry will join Women in Comms for a live radio show to discuss all things digital transformation, including the cultural transformation that goes along with it.
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