Eurobites: Swisscom looks to Fastweb for Q1 success story

It's been a game of two halves for Swisscom in the first quarter, with its core domestic unit seeing revenue fall by 2.5% year-over-year, to 1.99 billion Swiss francs (US$2.18 billion), but its Italian subsidiary Fastweb still going well, with revenue up 5.6%, to €658 million ($721 million), and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) up 2.1%, to €192 million ($210 million). In March, Swisscom announced its takeover of Vodafone Italia and the merger of this acquisition with Fastweb. Swisscom confirmed its full-year financial outlook for 2024 – it expects net revenue of around CHF11 billion ($12 billion), EBITDA of CHF4.5-4.6 billion ($4.9-$5 billion) and capital expenditure of around CHF2.3 billion ($2.5 billion).

Also confirming its guidance for 2024 is Swisscom rival Sunrise, which generated stable revenue of CHF746.8 million ($818.9 million) in the first quarter. Consumer Mobile revenue was dented by lower device sales (down 1.0% on the previous year) and a declining prepaid base. The picture was brighter on the B2B side, with revenues reaching CHF147.7 million ($161.9 million) – up 4.8% year-over-year on a rebased basis.

Nokia has teamed up with Croatia's Infobip for a combination which, says the Finnish vendor, will enable the global developer community to draw upon both companies' application programmable interface (API) platforms to build a wider range of telco-network-powered applications for consumers and businesses.

Vodafone is using the deployment of 5G standalone in rural Wales as the latest peg on which to hang its argument in favor of its proposed merger with Three, a union that has recently been cast into doubt by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. "While Vodafone 5G and 5G SA are currently available in areas across Wales, including Cardiff, Newport and Swansea," says the operator, "the proposed merger would offer the necessary scale needed to extend 5G technology to more areas of the principality." Not sure that will swing it with the CMA but, hey, it might be good news for the residents of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Who says brick-and-mortar retail is dead? Well not UK mobile operator EE for a start, as it's just lavished lots of pounds on a new "Experience" store in the city of Bristol. Gaming zone? Check. Free coffee? Check.  Swanky fixtures and fittings in EE's corporate colors? You bet.

EE's new Bristol store: If we fill it with swanky furnishings, they will come. (Source: EE)