Page 22 - SAMENA Trends - October-December 2024

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

e& and PPF Close €2.15 Billion Deal

Czech telco group PPF has completed PPF’s telecom experience in Central and Investment, making PPF the sole owner of
the sale of a 50% plus one share stake in Eastern Europe with e&’s global tech CETIN Czech. “Together, we have created
its telecom assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, resources to boost telecom services in the a platform to drive value creation in fast-
Serbia, and Slovakia to Emirati-based region. PPF will retain full ownership of developing telecommunications markets,”
telco e&. In doing so, the companies have its telecom assets in the Czech Republic, said PPF CEO Jiří Šmejc in a press release.
formed a new joint venture called e& PPF including O2 Czech Republic and CETIN “Our partnership with e& testifies to the
Telecom Group. The deal is valued at €2.15 Czech, which are outside the partnership’s quality of PPF’s industry expertise and
billion, with a potential earn-out of up to scope. Additionally, PPF is set to acquire a local knowledge. In return, PPF’s telco
€350 million. The joint venture combines 30% stake in CETIN Group from Roanoke teams will benefit from the global scale and
technology know-how of e&, enabling us to
meet our ambitions for further growth,” he
continued. Earlier this year, the European
Commission (EC) opened an investigation
into the deal, over concerns that it has
been “granted foreign subsidies that could
distort the EU internal market”. Concerns
stemmed from discussions that e& may
have received financial support from UAE
banks and the national government, which
would have given PPF an unfair edge in the
EU market according to newly introduced
competition rules that came into effect in
July last year. Earlier this month, the EC
unanimously approved the deal.

e& UAE Claims World’s Fastest Aggregated 5G-A Speed of 62 Gbps

e& UAE aggregated multiple carriers individuals and organizations today a 5G commercial network for the first
across high-band and low-band over but also paving the way for ultra-high time in the Middle East and Africa. The
simplified architecture, reaching a new download speeds in the future, amplifying technology was demonstrated through a
record speed of 62 Gbps. The telco said their overall experience,” Murshed added. cloud gaming showcase conducted on e&
it used “cutting-edge” hardware and In a separate announcement, Ericsson UAE’s 5G Standalone commercial network
“sophisticated” algorithms like MU- and e& UAE claimed the successful on the sidelines of GITEX Global 2024,
MIMO (multi-user, multiple input, multiple implementation of Low Latency, Low where L4S resulted in reducing the latency
output) to achieve this record speed. Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S), a time- to less than half and perfectly maintaining
Khalid Murshed, chief technology and critical communication technology, in it within a predefined range, Ericsson said.
information officer (CTIO) at e& UAE,
said: “We are thrilled to announce e&
UAE’s achievement of the world’s fastest
5G-Advanced (5G-A) network speed. With
the target of 10Giga nation, we are poised
to unleash the boundless potential of
technology, empower innovative services
and applications that will transform the
fabric of society and the economy.” e&
UAE also noted it is “harnessing the power
of artificial intelligence (AI)” to deliver
personalized experiences to customers
and to “spearhead” intelligent energy-
saving initiatives. “By adopting the latest
5G-Advanced solutions, we are not only
delivering unparalleled experiences to

22 OCT-DEC 2024