Eurobites: VMO2-TalkTalk deal back on the table – report

UK converged operator Virgin Media O2 is once again in takeover discussions with TalkTalk, according to a Telegraph report (paywall applies). The last time VMO2 cast its eye over TalkTalk, nearly two years ago, it was considering acquiring the whole company, but this time around the focus is apparently just on TalkTalk's consumer unit, which serves around 2.4 million residential customers. TalkTalk is a broadband retailer with something of a consumer-service reputation problem, regularly coming up smelling of something other than roses in customer satisfaction surveys carried out by communications regulator Ofcom. Whatever the outcome of the current talks, TalkTalk will from next month split into three separate legal entities: B2B Wholesale Platform, TalkTalk Consumer (the unit reportedly being discussed at present) and TalkTalk Business Direct.

In related matters, VMO2 is being investigated by Ofcom over its compliance (or otherwise) with rules intended to protect vulnerable customers from potential harmful effects of the UK's switchover from analogue to digital-only phone lines, such as healthcare communications pendants failing to work properly. As the BBC reports, the operator pointed out that other parties, such as telecare companies and local authorities, also had an important role to play in making the switchover a success. VMO2 is not the only operator to have faced flak over the switchover – in 2022 BT announced it was pausing its rollout of what it calls Digital Voice after admitting that it had gone, in the words of CEO Marc Allera, "too early, before many customers – particularly those who rely more heavily on landlines – understood why this change is necessary and what they needed to do."

Less controversially, VMO2 is rolling out AI-powered spam fighting tools and new caller identification services to its mobile customers to help protect them from fraud. The software will work in the background, and at no additional charge to the customer. The move has been made possible through a partnership with US-based Hiya, which specializes in security software.

A Ukrainian military official claims that Russia's armed forces are illicitly getting their hands on Starlink satellite terminals from "third countries" and using them on the frontline to coordinate attacks. As Reuters reports, Elon Musk-owned Starlink says categorically that it does not do business with Russia's government. (See Starlink helps Vodafone Ukraine reconnect battle-scarred towns.)

Vodafone has been pushing the potential of generative AI in the hospitality industry, using the FiturTechY event in Madrid to share its vision of a virtual assistant that can act as a sort of hotel receptionist, albeit one that couldn't lug your bags up to your room. "Using artificial intelligence," gushes the press release, "the assistant can communicate naturally with guests in multiple languages and provide enriched answers through intelligent virtual support." Think Basil Fawlty, but on castors.

(Source: Vodafone)