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    Airtel Africa to IPO mobile money unit in 2025 

    Simon Dux
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    Airtel Africa to IPO mobile money unit in 2025 

    The telco’s most profitable subsidiary, Airtel Money, will be listed either in the UAE, the UK, Europe or somewhere else…

    Airtel Africa CEO Olusegun Ogunsanya has announced plans to list the telco’s mobile money subsidiary on the stock market in 2025. Bloomberg suggested the unit could be valued at around $4bn. Speaking at the operator’s full year results, the chief executive – who has announced his ‘retirement’ for July – also hinted at the telco plans to enter more markets ahead of the IPO – the service is currently available in 14 markets in sub-Saharan Africa. 

    Airtel Money is the most profitable subsidiary of the operator listed in London and Lagos. Last week, Airtel Africa reported a loss of $89 million after suffering from the devaluation of the Nigerian naira, like every telco operating in that country. The Bharti Airtel-owned operator put the loss down to an “exceptional loss net of tax”.  

    In contrast, Airtel Money revenue grew by 32.8% in constant currency, with a continued strong performance in East Africa of 36% and Francophone Africa of 22.3%. Mobile money EBITDA margins of 52.1% increased 234bps in constant currency, supporting growth of 39%. Ogunsanya said mobile money subscriber growth of 20.7% reflected the telco’s continued investment into distribution to drive increased financial inclusion across its markets. Its mobile money customer base now serves 38 million customers, which represents 24.9% of the operator’s total customer base. 

    Importantly, mobile money saw the transaction value increase 38.2% in constant currency, with an annual transaction value of more than $112bn in reported currency. The chief executive added that increased transactions across the ecosystem reflected the enhanced range of offerings and increased customer adoption, supporting constant currency ARPU growth of 8.6%.  

    In the past year, Airtel has launched new international money transfer routes, as well as new loan products and continued to integrate more partners into its ecosystem.  It also continued to expand its exclusive distribution channel of AMBs and kiosks to ensure availability of services to customers, even in the rural areas. The number of kiosks and mini shops increased by 45% and Airtel Money branches by over 8.7%. The operator’s non-exclusive channel of mobile money agents expanded by 53%, following implementation of its new digital on-boarding journey.  

    As Ecofin points out, the second largest telecom operator in Africa had already announced in 2021 that it was considering a listing of its mobile money division within the next four years. This announcement was made following investments made by the American private equity fund TPG ($200 million) and the payment solutions giant MasterCard ($100 million) in Airtel Money. 

    Mobile money momentum 

    There is no denying mobile money’s impact on the African continent, where more often than not, it replaces non-existent bank infrastructure. A recent GSMA report suggests that despite the positive impact and growth in the past decade, the market is already showing some signs of maturing.  

    Globally, registered accounts grew to 1.75 billion in 2023, a 12% year-on-year increase. However, this is a lower annual growth rate than the 15% seen in 2022 and 19% seen in 2021. Monthly active accounts also grew at a slower year-on-year rate. By the end of 2023, there were around 435 million active mobile money accounts – a 9% annual rise, compared to 13% in 2022 and 15% in 2021. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to almost three-quarters of the world’s accounts and the GSMA suggests mobile money had increased gross domestic product in the region by more than $150 billion or 3.7% between 2013 and 2022. 

    In 2023, over a third of new registered and active 30-day accounts globally were from West Africa. This was more than any other region with Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal the main drivers of growth. West Africa’s vibrant mobile money ecosystem has developed differently from East Africa. For instance, West Africa has seen more non-mobile-network-operator (MNO)-led mobile money services emerge to compete with MNO-led providers. 

    Airtel’s data centre pause 

    Outside mobile money, Airtel quietly mentioned that its capex was broadly flat at $737m and was below the telco’s guidance largely due to “a deferral in data centre investments”. The acknowledgement is interesting given the operator launched its new data centre business Nxtra to great fanfare last December, promising to build one of the largest network of data centres in Africa with high-capacity data centres in major cities located strategically across Airtel Africa’s footprint, complementing its existing edge sites. 

    Government gives security green light to Three UK, Vodafone merger

    Annie Turner
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    Government gives security green light to Three UK, Vodafone merger

    This comes with some conditions – and it is still unclear whether the merger will be permitted by the Competition and Markets Authority

    The saga of the proposed merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK continues. The UK Cabinet Office announced the proposal passed a national security assessment by the government but imposed some conditions.

    A national security investigation is usual for any proposed changes of ownership to any organisation viewed as strategically important to the country, which includes communications infrastructure.

    Concerns about security were raised due to Three UK being an indirect but wholly owned subsidiary of the CK Hutchison Holdings, which is listed in Hong Kong. There are concerns in the UK and many other countries about the Chinese government using Chinese companies for espionage and other security risks. This had led to governmental bans on using Chinese vendors’ equipment in communications infrastructure.

    In January the UK government expressed concern that the 14.6% stake in Vodafone held by the self-styled global technology company e& could be a potential national security risk to the UK. e& had net profits of AED9 billion (€2.255 billion) in 2020. Its headquarters are in Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates government has a 60% stake in the operator, the other 40% is publicly traded.

    Security by committee

    The UK government has investigated these potential risks and green light to the merger on the following terms. The combined entity must set up a national security committee to oversee any sensitive work and “topics relating to cyber, physical and personnel security”. The committee will be required to report to the government regularly.

    There are also conditions regarding the governance of the combined entity and there must be an independent review of its network migration plans.

    However, the merger is not a done deal. The companies are still waiting for a decision about whether their proposed merger can go ahead from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It is expected to announce its decision after concluding its in-depth investigation in September.

    The investigation was launched after a preliminary assessment raised concerns the potential impacts of reducing competition in the UK. If allowed, the joint venture will reduce the number of mobile network operators from four to three. There are also possible ramifications for MVNOs as well as end users.

    Vodafone and Three argue that combining their businesses is essential to achieve the scale they need to make a return on network investment and assets.

    Cameroon and Angola connect their cross-border networks to subsea cables 

    Simon Dux
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    Cameroon and Angola connect their cross-border networks to subsea cables 

    Camtel and Angola Cables act on their agreement to develop business opportunities in West Africa and the Atlantic region

    Angola Cables has partnered with Cameroon’s incumbent telecommunications operator, Camtel to expand digital and connectivity services in Cameroon and the West Africa region.The agreement follows an intent by both companies to develop business opportunities in West Africa to boost redundancy, network resilience and the quality of services (QoS) both nationally and internationally.  

    Taking advantage of the subsea cable connections of SACS, West Africa Cable System (WACS) and Monet within the backhaul network of Angola Cables – and the added connectivity provided by Camtel on the South Atlantic Inter Link (SAIL), the operator said businesses will have extended capacity options with a better traffic access to West Africa local and regional networks through Angola Cables and Camtel’s PoPs. 

    Camtel owns, and operates networks including: a national backbone fibre connectivity with the CEMAC region including Nigeria, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea through its multiple submarine cables (SAIL, WACS, SAT3 and NCSCS) landing at three stations with gateways, a Tier III designed data centre in Yaounde – Zamengoe, and three satellite ground stations. The operator is also working on the West to East Africa initiative – WE-Africa-NA – a high-speed digital corridor connecting the Gulf of Guinea to the Horn of Africa. 

    Transatlantic routes 

    In addition to its subsea connectivity Angola Cables also operates two data centres, AngoNAP Fortaleza Tier III (Brazil) and AngoNAP Luanda (Angola). The operator also manages PIX in Brazil and Angonix Angola – one of the largest Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in Africa.  

    In January, Angola Cables announced plans to invest up to 400mn reais ($80m) to build a second data centre in Brazil’s Fortaleza, the state capital of Ceará. The operator has two submarine cables landing in the area: South Atlantic Cable System (SACS), launched in 2018, and Monet, activated in 2017 and operated in a consortium with Uruguay’s Antel, Brazilian Algar Telecom and Google.  

    SACS was built by NEC and connects Fortaleza to Angolan capital Luanda through a 6,200km sub-sea route. There, it interconnects with another Angola Cables submarine cable system, the WACS (West Africa Cable System), which links Angola with South Africa and the UK. Monet connects Fortaleza to the Brazilian city of Santos and to Miami, spanning more than 10,000km. 

    West Africa’s WACS cable system was repaired earlier this week after being damaged in a suspected undersea landslide that impacted four cables off the West coast of Africa earlier this year. The WACS cable is the third of the four impacted cables to be restored, with only one cable, MainOne, now awaiting repair. The outages have sent African operators scurrying to build further resilience in their routes. 

    “The partnership once the necessary due diligence has been completed, could transform internet connectivity and data transmission in West Africa,” said Fernando Fernandes, the Nigerian country manager of TelCables West Africa, a subsidiary of Angola Cables. “For users, it will help to secure connectivity, trade, boost economies and help expand as well as grow businesses across the region.” 

    “Our strategic intent is to build on the robust backhaul connectivity of the Angola Cables network, and the existing interconnections we have in place with other submarine cables connecting the region and the world, to provide flexible and secure value added services for our clients and businesses,” said Camtel CEO Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi. 

    UK fibre overbuild now reaches 7 million premises 

    Simon Dux
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    UK fibre overbuild now reaches 7 million premises 

    As BT’s Openreach accelerates its FTTP to 946k homes in Q1, fixed broadband overbuild in the UK is almost getting like Spain

    In its latest UK fixed broadband availability numbers, analysts Point Topic has found that two or more FTTP networks now covered 7m UK premises in Q1 2024. At the same time, 0.8m were covered by three or more fibre networks. The inevitable risk to altnet business models is palpable given that the incumbent Openreach has actually accelerated its full fibre rollout in Q1 hitting 946,000 additional FTTP premises, compared to 917,000 added in Q4 2023, which resulted in Point Topic’s total recorded Openreach FTTP footprint of 12.9 million premises, up 7.9% quarter-on-quarter. 

    A new report from strategic consultancy firm Eight Advisory highlights the problem for UK altnets which are shifting from building networks to filling them with end customers – otherwise known as penetration and expressed as a “take-up” percentage KPI. Growing penetration over time is a key contributor to achieving profitability. 

    Eight Advisory found that Altnet networks have, apart from CityFibre with TalkTalk and Vodafone and a couple of altnets which supply TalkTalk, been unable to break into this significant route to market. The result of this is that FTTP take-up of the different altnets in the UK market is on average 16% (roughly half of BT Openreach) with ranges from 5 to 30% based on network maturity. 

    Wholesale model isn’t healthy 

    The UK consumer broadband market is highly concentrated on five big ISPs, four of which buy wholesale broadband from Openreach. One of the issues identified by the consultancy is that the proliferation of multiple small networks makes it costly and complex for the larger ISPs to work with altnets. The much-anticipated consolidation and the integration of networks and IT systems may provide a clearer route for larger ISPs. 

    As a result they conclude that the combination of significant capital expenditure to build networks , highly competitive “overbuild” in specific geographical areas and low take-up in the UK is unlike other European countries – although Spain would beg to differ here. “The situation is unsustainable and will be resolved by M&A and restructuring,” said Eight Advisory.  

    Point Topic estimates the total Altnet combined footprint to be 11.5m premises so not far behind BT Openreach but with around half the penetration. CityFibre covers 3.2m homes and of the top five ISPs serves only Vodafone and TalkTalk which represents up to 25% of the total retail market (including altnets). 

    One light at the end of the tunnel will be the arrival of Virgin Media O2 in the wholesale market. The operator is not an open access network yet although it has announced plans to do so in 2025. This is a significant change from operating a closed cable network serving only Virgin Media retail. With a total of 4m full fibre homes to date and rapid growth Eight Advisory believes this could in time have quite a significant impact on the UK wholesale market, especially if some of the larger ISPs also join their network. 

    No stopping Openreach 

    In the meantime, with access to 80% of the consumer broadband market by base size compared to c25% of its next nearest competitor, Openreach leads with 32% average take-up across its network. Eight Advisory point out that BT also stated that its earliest FTTP cohorts are now at 50% penetration and rising, while newer cohorts are following a similar trend. It is likely that many other altnets will see a similar mixed take-up view across their footprint. 

    All upgrades, migrations, speed regrades, and new customers should end up on a fibre service. BT claim 62% migration of lines to FTTP within 3 years of the new network going live (a faster take-up rate than they expected) or 50% within just 20 months.  

    Contrast that with the longer established altnets which report average take-up across their networks of around 30% with fluctuations impacted by changes in rollout speed and some churn. “Hyperoptic and Gigaclear show that convincing people to move to a full fibre service takes a long time and consistent marketing effort,” states Eight Advisory. “As with the longer established altnets, in established footprint take-up can be much higher. In Stirling, CityFibre state their penetration has exceeded 23% and in Milton Keynes, its most mature network footprint, penetration has now passed 27%. As with any average, some areas will be lower.”  

    Helpfully, Eight Advisory will soon publish a Part 2 document on what altnets can do about the creeping doom some must be feeling.  

    Point Topic said Openreach full fibre now covers 40.3% of all UK premises, up from 37.4% three months earlier. In turn, the decline in the number of Openreach ADSL, FTTC and G.fast only premises has speeded up – their number went down by 944,000, compared to 915,000 in Q4 2023. Once again, the largest decline (-799,000 premises) was in FTTC only coverage, as this technology is being replaced by FTTP. Non-fibre platforms still covered 18.7 million premises in the UK, with this number having decreased by 4.8% in Q1 2024. 

    UK market has been transformed 

    According to Point Topic, at the end of Q1 2024, the overall FTTP coverage in the UK was 20.7m premises (64.7% of the UK total). This metric was up by 6.5% compared to Q4 2023. 

    In Q1 2024, the largest number of FTTP premises added was in Glasgow (+24.5k), Birmingham (+24k), Buckinghamshire (+20k), and Pembrokeshire (+20k). Among the FTTP altnets with at least 100,000 premises, Point Topic recorded the highest quarterly growth in premises passed FW Networks (+90%), Grain Connect (+59%) and nexfibre (+54%). Across the UK, 19% of premises still lacked gigabit access, down from 21% three months earlier. 

    Government plans to stop cryptocurrency mining in Norway

    Annie Turner
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    Government plans to stop cryptocurrency mining in Norway

    Ministers believe crypto-mining is not socially beneficial, regulated or green – and this is the first such step by a government in Europe

    Norway’s Digitisation Minister, Karianne Tung, and Energy Minister Terje Aasland are introducing a law that will regulate the data centre industry, making it the first country in Europe to pass such legislation.

    A report on the Norwegian news website VG explains the intention is to separate data centres that are “socially beneficial from climate-damaging crypto-mining projects”.

    The Ministers are aware that data centers are increasingly important to Norwegian infrastructure and digitalisation, but the government wants more control over them.

    The law will oblige data centres to submit information including identifying the person who is managing each centre and which services the centre offers. Minister Aasland said that this information should enable local politicians in municipalities to make better decisions about whether to allow data centres to set up in their areas.

    Minister Tung reportedly said, “The purpose is to regulate the industry in such a way that we can close the door on the projects we do not want,” adding “The government does not want such cryptocentres” because they are associated with large emissions of greenhouse gas and bring little social benefit. Also, while the industry is not regulated, but it should be possible control the data centres they rely on for mining.

    In 2023, the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen wrote that ‘crypto-processing centres in the north of the country use almost as much electricity as the famous Lofoten archipelago (pictured), also in the north.

    Tung said Norway needs data centres for digitalisation and data storage on Norwegian soil, particularly in the light of the current security situation. But insists the government needs more accurate information regarding the amount of cryptocurrency mining that takes place in Norway’s data centres.

    Automation in telco, media, and entertainment – Document by Red Hat

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    IoTco Pairpoint and Sensos run pilot to address supply chain fraud

    Annie Turner
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    IoTco Pairpoint and Sensos run pilot to address supply chain fraud

    Pairpoint is a global platform for the “Economy of Things (EoT)”, owned by Vodafone and Sumitomo – supply chain fraud is a growing problem

    Pairpoint is partnering Sensos, which was founded by Sony Semiconductors and specialises in solutions for supply chains, to combat the growing problem of supply chain fraud. Pairpoint is a global IoT platform – or as the marketing would have it, Economy of Things (EoT) platform – owned by Vodafone and Sumitomo Corporation.

    Sensos’ management solution working with Pairpoint’s EoT platform will enable logistics companies to track their goods securely at every stage of the supply chain.

    Pairpoint’s secure technology overlays Sensos’ real-time supply chain management solution through the Pairpoint-enabled iSIM and device agent software embedded into a smart label.

    Every logistical transaction, from port of departure to final deliveries – is then verifiable, transparent and resistant to tampering, helping to combat fraud and improve trust across the supply chain ecosystem.

    Goods are then authorised to make automated payments using blockchain technology and smart contract capabilities.

    The approach is designed to enhance security and reliability, as well as driving operational efficiency and cost savings for businesses across multiple industries.

    Unilog pilot

    The combined solution is being piloted in cooperation with the global logistics operator Unilog, part of the ICL Group, at several sites in US and Europe. It is automating logistic transactions, streamlining proof-of-delivery processes and facilitating asset sharing through smart contracts.

    Jorge Bento, CEO of Pairpoint, said, “There are billions of parcels and pallets operating across supply chains, and this partnership has huge potential to make them intelligent and equipped for e-commerce through globally connected cellular labels and the Pairpoint platform.”

    Aviv Castro, CEO of Sensos, said: “This collaboration represents a major step towards a more resilient and trustworthy supply chain ecosystem. By integrating Pairpoint’s blockchain technology with our AI-powered control tower, we are empowering businesses with unprecedented security over their supply chains, and by proxy granting them more business agility that translates into bottom line savings.”

    Telefonica Germany moving 5G subscribers onto AWS-based core this month

    Annie Turner
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    0
    Telefonica Germany moving 5G subscribers onto AWS-based core this month

    It is the first time an established mobile operator has moved its core network to the public cloud – and a breakthrough for AWS in Europe

    Reuters reports that Telefonica Germany will move 1 million 5G customers onto AWS’ cloud later this month. It describes AWS’ action as “a bold move by the US online retailer to break into the global telecoms market”. No financial details about the arrangement have been disclosed.

    The report adds, “While some telecom networks have moved IT and other non-core operations to the public cloud, the move by the subsidiary of Spanish group Telefonica is a global first where an existing mobile operator is switching its core network to a public cloud”.

    Telefonica Germany has 45 million customers.

    Rao’s roadmap

    Mallik Rao, CTIO at Telefonica Germany (which operates under the O2 Telefonica brand), is quoted by Reuters saying, “I want to see it working for at least one to two quarters and have a roadmap to move at least 30-40% of my customer base by 2025-2026”.

    An interview with FutureNet World earlier this year shows how Rao has always seen cloud as the way to compete against the incumbent Deutsche Telekom and other rivals in Germany since he took up his post in 2019.

    AWS and O2 Telefonica did not disclose financial details of the deal. The move to public cloud is intended to reduce operating costs, make scaling easier and enable repairs and maintenance without disrupting services.

    Role for Nokia

    The US’ DISH Networks is unique in that it built its core mobile network from scratch on AWS in 2021. Nokia worked with DISH and AWS on that implementation, and will provide software to help Telefonica Germany with its core network deployment on AWS’ cloud.

    This is a salve for Nokia which lost out to Ericsson when AT&T awarded the Swedish vendor a contract worth up to $14 billion at the end of last year, replacing Nokia. Telefonica Germany originally worked with Ericsson and AWS before switching to Nokia to work with the cloudco.

    Evidence grows that consumers are warming to AI in their handsets 

    Simon Dux
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    Evidence grows that consumers are warming to AI in their handsets 

    ‘AI-less’ Apple still holding its own as consumers warm to AI hype, but for how long?

    Smartphone sales in Europe, the US, and Australia experienced significant growth in Q1 2024, indicating robust demand across all markets, according to analyst firm Kantar. In Europe’s top 5 markets, France, Germany, and Great Britain all experienced double digit % growth. Apple’s iPhone15 remains the top selling model, accounting for 5% of all smartphones sold.  

    Meanwhile, Samsung remains the top selling Android brand, with the Galaxy S24 series accounting for 6% of all sales. Honor experienced strong growth in France and Spain. Xiaomi was number 1 in Spain, up +4% share YoY. Overall, for Europe, the top 5 handsets were iPhone 15, Galaxy A14 5G, Galaxy A54, iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 13.  

    Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series, featuring artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, resonated well with consumers, contributing to Samsung’s continued dominance in the Android market. Kantar, with its ComTech consumer mobile phone tracking panel, has already started tracking the trend of how consumers are becoming more receptive to AI messages from their suppliers and it looks like although consumers don’t really understand what is and isn’t AI-based on their handsets, they are willing to give operators and handset manufacturers the benefit of the doubt on AI-based features.  

    What impact has AI had on consumer behaviour? 

    Samsung announced that ‘Galaxy AI is here’ alongside the launch of the Galaxy S24 Series in January. Apple is rumoured to be partnering with Google to embed Gemini AI into iPhones – or is imminently signing up OpenAI as a partner, depending on who is spinning the stories. Kantar said it already sees AI contributing to brand loyalty and improved ASPs. 

    Across the European 5 and USA, 24% of Galaxy S24 series buyers cite ‘AI’ as a key reason why they chose their phone. Amongst consumers that are driven to purchase by AI, 27% are Gen Z; hardly surprising, say Kantar, as current AI use cases largely align with this highly sought after demographic, from circling a desired product in a TikTok video, to condensing notes scribed in a university class. 

    It looks like convincing consumers of the benefits that AI can bring will help manufacturers and operators acquire more valuable consumers, too. Kantar’s research indicates that Galaxy S24 buyers who identified AI as a key reason for their choice were more likely to have owned a previous Samsung device vs those that were not influenced by AI, (93% vs 87%). As smartphone sales growth remains restricted, installed base retention is more important than ever. AI is also driving higher ASPs, with 70% of AI-interested consumers spending €800+ on their device, versus 55% of those for whom AI was not relevant. 

    “Following a sustained period of stalled hardware innovation, AI will be the next differentiator for smartphone manufacturers,” said Kantar ComTech global consumer insights director Jack Hamlin. “The technology presents two distinct growth opportunities. Firstly, driving greater volume and value of smartphone sales. Secondly, through monetising the installed base via subscriptions to access unique capabilities.”  

    All eyes on Apple at WWDC 

    While Apple indicated the smartphone market had stabilised in its recent Q3 results, CEO Tim Cook was name-dropping AI into his commentary raising expectations that something may be announced at the company’s WWDC in June. He told investors the company wasn’t planning to build new data centres to run or train AI models and would instead stick to a “hybrid” approach similar to how it manages clouds services.  

    He was also at pains to emphasise AI will impact all of Apple’s products, not just iPhones. “I think AI – generative AI and AI – both are big opportunities for us across our products, and we’ll talk more about it in the coming weeks,” he said. Apple obviously already utilises AI in the background to improve user experience – from smart battery utilisation to image stabilisation – but they no doubt want to avoid the mobile sales shop manager saying “That Samsung has AI, the iPhone doesn’t” given how receptive younger consumers are to such messaging.  

    On the digital personal assistant front, Siri trails alternatives and AI will only make this worse. Now, all big ecosystems are pressured to offer gen AI to their consumers or face them deserting to another brand. In addition, most bots are cloud-based as well in contrast to Siri. 

    4iG Group and REMRED begin work on satellite manufacturing centre 

    Simon Dux
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    0
    4iG Group and REMRED begin work on satellite manufacturing centre 

    The 4,000 sqm facility in Martonvásár, Hungary, will design, manufacture, and test satellites and advanced space systems from 2026

    4iG Group and its subsidiary REMRED have laid the foundation stone of Hungary’s first space industry manufacturing centre that will manufacture, assemble, integrate and test satellites weighing up to 400kg, with modular technology.  

    Designed to meet the needs of domestic and international markets, 4iG said the space technology centre creates a centre of innovation, international cooperation and domestic knowledge base, with multiple links to education and R&D activities. It will also create 85 new, high value jobs. 

    In February, the telecom group established 4iG Space and Technology Zrt as a subsidiary, transferring its space and technology interests into the new company. The new unit was made responsible for managing all 4iG’s space and satellite manufacturing, autonomous aircraft development and manufacturing, drone defence, defence industry digitalisation services and business strategy of the companies. At the same time, 4iG acquired a 45% stake in Hungarian aerospace company REMRED.   

    The process transformed 4iG S&T Zrt. into a holding company, which directly owns the shares of 4iG Plc technology and aerospace companies, including Rotors and Cams, RAC Antidrone., Hungaro DigiTel., Spacecom, CarpathiaSat and REMRED.  4iG acquired Israeli company Spacecom in 2021 and in doing so, gained a satellite operator and service provider with a global coverage, consisting of four geosynchronous satellites, which provides its services in Hungary and the Central and Eastern European region via the AMOS 3 satellite. 

    The final frontier 

    The greenfield project will be supplied by an independent photovoltaic power station and will include a 1,500 sqm special laboratory with ISO8 and ISO5 certified clean-room technology. The facility also has a place for vibration, shock, mechanical, thermo-vacuum, climatic, EMC/EMI and acoustic testing systems. 

     “With the joint investment of 4iG Group and REMRED, we gain unique capabilities and infrastructure in Central Eastern Europe. As part of our technology and defence holding, space has the greatest growth potential, alongside 4iG Group’s traditional businesses, IT, and telecommunications,” said 4iG Group chairman Gellért Jászai.  

    “The services and satellite manufacturing capacity of the space technology center further strengthens the international presence of 4iG Group and develops new domestic and international partnerships. We can enter a manufacturing market that combines state-of-the-art equipment with the latest knowledge to produce cutting edge technologies.” he added.  

    “Our goal in the space industry is to build on our own engineering capabilities to develop new and unique space equipment and satellites, and to become strategic partners of the biggest satellite and space companies, as well as national and international space agencies,” said Dr István Sárhegyi, founder of REMRED, and CEO of the space industry and technology holding company of 4iG Group. 

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