Communications group continues its acquisition drive with acquisition of NOS International Carrier Services from the Portuguese operator.

Anne Morris, Contributing Editor, Light Reading

April 2, 2020

2 Min Read
Tofane Global snaps up NOS carrier services unit

Tofane Global said it plans to acquire NOS International Carrier Services from Portugal-based operator NOS as it steps up expansion efforts through further consolidation.

The France-based group said the latest buy builds on recent acquisitions, including the 2018 purchase of the international mobile and voice carrier business of Altice Europe in France, Portugal and the Dominican Republic; and the 2019 acquisition of iBasis from KPN. iBasis has now become the primary brand for Tofane's international and wholesale carrier services.

NOS International Carrier Services is set to boost Tofane's revenue by around €141 million ($154 million) a year. It will also extend the iBasis footprint to Portuguese-speaking markets, including Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, East Timor, Macau, Sao Tome and Principe. Furthermore, iBasis gains 80 wholesale customers, adding over 2 billion minutes annually to its international voice traffic. The group currently generates revenue of around $1 billion and has a presence in 18 countries.

Tofane is pursuing a goal, outlined in November 2018, to become the market leader in the carriers' carrier market through targeted acquisitions. The group was established in 2017 and is led by its founder and CEO Alexandre Pébereau, the former CEO of Orange International Carriers.

Pébereau said: "Within twelve months, we completed the acquisitions and integration of two leaders, Altice Europe N.V. international voice carrier business and iBasis, to become [a] top 3 and [the] first independent global carrier." The CEO noted that mobile services will represent "a third of our total activity" once the latest acquisition has been completed.

TeleGeography estimates that Vodafone, Tata Communications, Orange, Tofane/iBasis, Deutsche Telekom, BICS, Telefonica, Telecom Italia and IDT transported more than 20 billion minutes of traffic in 2019, down from 31 billion in 2015. (See OTT voice traffic reaches 1 trillion minutes in 2019 – report .)

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— Anne Morris, contributing editor, special to Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Anne Morris

Contributing Editor, Light Reading

Anne Morris is a freelance journalist, editor and translator. She has been working in the telecommunications sector since 1996, when she joined the London-based team of Communications Week International as copy editor. Over the years she held the editor position at Total Telecom Online and Total Tele-com Magazine, eventually leaving to go freelance in 2010. Now living in France, she writes for a number of titles and also provides research work for analyst companies.

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