Financial

India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved Reliance Communications’ merger with Aircel, taking the deal a step nearer to completion, according to reports.

ADVA Optical Networking has today completed its acquisition of MRV Communications, a provider of innovative network solutions for data centre operators, service providers, and enterprises, for around $69 million.

Private investment group Abu Dhabi Investment Group (ABDIG) has acquired a 62.5% stake in Fiber Prime Telecommunications (FPT) and named the CEO tasked with heading the company.

Helios Towers Tanzania (HTT) has acquired all unique mainland tower sites from Zanzibar Telecom’s (Zantel), growing HTT’s portfolio to 3,700 owned towers.

Fixed networks continue to dominate data transfer in the UK telecoms market, where revenues overall remained flat, according to regulator Ofcom.

Cisco has completed the acquisition of Viptela, a privately held software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) company based in San Jose, US.

Vodafone Qatar has snapped up Brett Goschen as its new chief financial officer (CFO).

Zeetta Networks has completed its latest follow-up funding round, led by Bloc Ventures, with existing investors IP Group and Breed Reply also participating in the round, securing £1.6 million.

Comcast should strike a deal to buy Verizon Communications as it looks to get in on the mobile industry, according to an analyst from Citigroup.

Google’s parent company Alphabet saw its revenue grow 21% in its second quarter earnings results, driven in part by a huge boost to its cloud business.

Crown Castle, from two of its offerings, are selling $3.25 billion worth of common shares and $1.5 billion worth of convertible preferred stock in order to help finance the Lightower buyout.

Nine months on from announcing its bid to buy Time Warner, AT&T has reportedly begun talks with the US Justice Department over the $85.4 billion deal.

The government of Guinea-Bissau has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the World Bank, Orange and MTN for a $47 million project to link the country to the African Coast to Europe (ACE) subsea cable.

The government of the Philippines is considering lifting restrictions on foreign ownership in telecoms in order to boost investment and improve services.

Global cloud and network provider Interoute has today announced a partnership with Montran Corporation and HWG to give companies the ability to securely deploy financial systems in the cloud.

Atlantic Broadband, a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications, has announced that it will acquire all of the cable systems belonging to Harron Communications subsidiary MetroCast.

Openreach has revealed the next steps of its separation from BT, including new branding that is completely distinct from the BT Group, a symbolic step for the company.

Tata Group and Bharti Enterprises are assessing the option of creating a partnership across their telecoms, cable and enterprise services businesses, according to reports in India.

Zayo Group has closed its previously announced private offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.750% senior notes due 2027, through an add-on to its existing issue.

ADVA Optical Networking has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MRV Communications, a provider of innovative network solutions for data centre operators, service providers, and enterprises, for around $69 million.

Ezequiel Gil Huerta, director general of telecommunications, policy and broadcasting at the Secretaria De Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), has shared the ministry’s transformation vision of Mexico’s telecommunication sector to an audience at Mexico Connect attended by around 300 delegates.

GTT Communications has bought high-speed network provider Perseus Inc. for $39.5 million in its latest acquisition.

Verizon will take a $500 million pre-tax hit in Q2 as part of its $4.5 billion takeover of Yahoo, completed on 14 June.

The World Bank’s board of executive directors has approved $36 million in grants to help provide reliable fibre-optic broadband internet in Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

Three Chinese operators will spend 48% more on 5G than 4G, driven by HDTV, says bank report.

Telecoms and cable group Altice has inked a multi-year global partnership with Netflix as it launches an initial public offering (IPO) for its US arm, which aims to raise as much as $1.4 billion.

Digital Realty has announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with DuPont Fabros, which will see it merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.6 billion.

Canadian operator Telus to expand fixed and mobile infrastructure in province of Alberta.

Fair trade regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the ongoing merger between the Indian division of Telenor with Bharti Airtel.

Intelsat’s merger with OneWeb has collapsed after the two companies failed to strike a deal with debtholders over existing bonds believed to be worth around $15 billion.

Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has struck a loan refinancing agreement that it claims will allow the company to explore new business opportunities.

Canada’s media and telecoms regulator has started a consultation on how it should run a new fund to bring broadband to poorly served areas.

Verizon’s first quarter results reveal adjusted earnings per share of 95 cents on revenue of $29.8 billion which has dipped 4.5% from revenues in the first quarter of 2016.

Axiata and its subsidiary, edotco, have announced that the second largest pension fund in Malaysia, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), has taken a $100 million stake in the telecoms infrastructure services unit.

California fibre operator Wilcon has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Crown Castle International.

Uniti Group has struck a definitive agreement to buy Gulf Coast data transport provider Southern Light in a deal worth $700 million.

Akamai Technologies has entered into an agreement to acquire digital performance management company, SOASTA.

TelOne, Zimbabwe's state-owned fixed-line operator, has launched a $4 million data centre, which is part of the China Exim Bank-funded national broadband project.

President Trump and Tom Rutledge, Charter CEO, have announced that Charter Communications is to invest $25 billion on broadband infrastructure and technology over the next four years.

Bharti Airtel will transfer a 21.63% stake in mobile tower arm Bharti Infratel to wholly-owned subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments, the Indian operator has announced.

The Indonesian subsidiary of Huawei has bought a 16.83% stake in the regional operator Bakrie Telecom.

European regulators have given the thumbs-up to AT&T’s proposed $85 billion takeover of Time Warner, leaving American regulators to rubber stamp the deal.

Zain Group’s newly elected board has appointed Mohannad Al-Kharafi as chairman and Bader Al-Kharafi as vice-chairman and CEO of Zain Group.

GTT Communications has reported revenue up 41% in 2016 to $521 million compared with the previous year, even without the acquisition of Hibernia Networks – as that deal was completed in the first few days of 2017.

From June this year wholesale roaming rates are set to be capped across all of the European Union. We look at how this will affect wholesale service and prices.

FirstLight Fiber has agreed to buy data, Internet and voice solutions provider Finger Lakes Technologies Group (FLTG), expanding its reach in the North East United States.

Bharti Airtel and Millcom have struck an agreement that will see them merge their subsidiaries in Ghana in a 50:50 JV.

ZTE is close to striking a deal with US authorities that will see the Chinese vendor plead guilty to breaching strict sanctions over the sale of technology to Iran.

Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile money business should be split off from the main company, an unconfirmed report for the Communications Authority of Kenya is believed to recommend.

US carriers Windstream and EarthLink have completed their merger in an all-stock deal valued at $1.1 billion.

Daisy, the telecoms and internet services company, is rumoured to be planning a stock market flotation soon.

Shrem Group has acquired a 10% stake in messaging and voice API firm Route Mobile for $23 million.

BT has named Chet Patel as the new head of its operations in continental Europe, overseeing its base across key European hubs.

ARRIS International and Broadcom have a struck a deal that will see ARRIS acquire Brocade Communication’s wireless arms, Ruckus and ICX Switch, for $800 million in cash.

Liquid Telecom is considering a share sale after its successful purchase of Neotel.

PCCW has announced that it plans to dispose of an 11.1% stake in telecommunications company HKT Trust (HKT), raising HK$8.5 billion ($1.1bn).

China Mobile is reportedly set to expand its presence in Pakistan by investing $200 million this year.

Senegalese mobile money company Wari is to buy Millicom’s Tigo mobile business in the country for $129 million.

CK Hutchison subsidiary Three UK has agreed to buy UK Broadband Limited from PCCW for £250 million.

Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) and Airtel have resolved an interconnection agreement over accumulated debts, which would have seen customers from either company unable to make calls to one another from 3 February.

Sprint is looking to acquire mobile operator Open Mobile in Puerto Rico in a cashless deal, according to local media reports.

Telenor Group has contacted Aircel and Reliance Communications over a possible tie-up in India, as rumours of consolidation in the market continues to grow.

Telia Company CEO Johan Dennelind said he was “confident” the Swedish firm will sell off its remaining Eurasian assets in 2017 after failing to find a buyer for the bulk of its business there last year.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken its first action under new chairman Ajit Pai, by voting to provide up to $170 million to expand broadband deployment in under-served rural areas of New York State.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said he was optimistic about the future of tax and investment in the US after meeting President Donald Trump earlier this month.

Abdulaziz Salem Al-Ruwais, governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in Saudi Arabia, has reportedly said spending on the Kingdom’s telecom sector should grow to SR138 billion ($36.8bn) this year.

An end to the Nortel Networks bankruptcy saga appears to be on the horizon after the troubled firm won approval to start distributing $7.3 billion to creditors.

Pension commitments will mean AT&T will record a $1 billion loss when it files its quarterly accounts on Wednesday.

Avaya has successfully bid to tap into $425 million of a $725 million loan as it attempts to carry through a restructuring process following a bankruptcy filing.

DataBank has signed a definitive agreement to acquire data centre service provider C7 Data Centers, immediately making it a leading provider in Salt Lake City.

Conterra Ultra Broadband Holdings has nearly tripled its footprint after acquiring two regional optical fibre-based broadband businesses.

FXecosystem has further expanded in Asia by establishing a point of presence (PoP) in Equinix’s Hong Kong data centre, HK1.

The Chinese government has challenged private firms to get involved in the country’s telecommunications industry to increase competitiveness and reduce costs and fees.

Zayo Group plans to offer up to $800 million in senior notes ahead of its $1.42 billion takeover of Electric Lightwave, which is expected to close in Q1 2017.

GTT Communications has added strategic fibre assets and extended its global network with the completion of the $590 million acquisition of Hibernia Networks.

Saudi Arabian operator Mobily has appointed a new CEO, just two weeks after the company ended its management contract with 27.4% shareholder Etisalat.

Japan’s second largest mobile operator KDDI has appointed a new CEO for its joint venture in Myanmar

Alternative asset manager GI Partners has acquired Seattle-based carrier hotel and data centre facility KOMO Plaza for $276 million.

Oak Hill Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Oxford Networks and combined its operations with FirstLight Fiber, creating a 415,000 fibre mile network with 10 data centres.

O2 is getting ready to float again with a valuation of £10.3bn after its abortive attempt last year.

Electra Consumer Products has agreed to acquire mobile phone operator Golan Telecom for NIS 350 million ($91 million).

Liberty Global and Vodafone Group have agreed to merge their operating businesses in the Netherlands to form a 50:50 joint venture which will operate under both the Vodafone and Ziggo brands.