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Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya: we’re putting our infrastructure in one bucket

Nick Booth
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Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya: we’re putting our infrastructure in one bucket

Mobile operator de-coupling its hardware from its brain-ware

Airtel Africa, one of the continent’s biggest telcos, is separating its fibre-network operations into a new unit before looking for investors, its CEO Segun Ogunsanya has told Bloomberg.

The carrier, listed in Lagos and London, has received ‘expressions of interest’ in its 65,000 kilometer (40,000 miles) fibre-optic connections but, the CEO told Bloomberg News, he hasn’t yet evaluated them as Airtel wants to keep the lion’s share of the unit in any potential transaction.

Put all the infrastructure in one bucket, that’s Airtel’s plan, Ogunsanya said: “Once we are able to legally put all this under one structure, then we begin to explore the options to monetise.”

Airtel is on trend according to Bloomberg because telcos the world over are selling their property to investors who are playing it safe in the property market and investing in the prospect of long-term rental income from masts. Meanwhile telcos like Airtel need cash now to fund the building of 5G’s infrastructure which offers a very slim chance of instant gratification.

Airtel Africa has already sold some towers, most recently in Malawi, as have its African rivals, including the so-called ‘Gold Standard’ for the continent, the MTN Group.

Airtel has 125 million customers in 14 sub-Saharan markets. Ogunsanya took over in October after previously heading up the Nigeria division. He was part of the team that took the firm public in 2019 after a split from India’s Bharti Airtel. Airtel’s fastest-growing division is Airtel Money, a mobile-finance service. Fintech businesses are booming in Africa due to the large number of people who have smartphones but no bank accounts.

It took a Lorawan for Aqualabo, DTS and Kerlink to help clean up Mauritian oil spill

Nick Booth
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It took a Lorawan for Aqualabo, DTS and Kerlink to help clean up Mauritian oil spill

Their Internet of Things keeps African economy clean and green

Two French Internetworkers of Things (IoTs) are helping to clean up the island of Mauritius after the worst environmental disaster in its history threatened to devastate the economy of the African state.  

Water analysis specialist Aqualabo and machine to machine networker Kerlink are leading the clean up after an incident that the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) calls “one of Mauritius’s worst environmental catastrophes [with a] devastating impact that’s expected to last for decades.”        

On July 25, 2020, a Japanese bulk carrier called MW Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef southeast of Mauritius, near Pointe d’Esny, a wildlife sanctuary in the India Ocean. It released more than 1,000 tons of fuel oil into the crystal-clear waters of the island and formed an oil spill on the coast of the archipelago.

The spill will seriously impede the recovery of a Mauritian economy highly dependent on coastal tourism and already battered by COVID-19 travel restrictions, said ISS: “Mauritius and other African states need to promptly review their contingency strategies and response capacities so we can start positing immediate lessons to be learnt.”  

The Aqualabo-Kerlink partners were summoned by the Mauritian government as part of its Blue Resilience programme, which appealed for innovative proposals to manage the island’s Blue Economy and its resources.

The proof-of-concept presented by the French ‘digital twins’ laid the foundation for setting up an island-wide IoT that set up instant online monitoring systems for seawater quality, as outlined in the Mauritian government’s request for an IoT-based Lagoon Water Quality Index (LWQI). This would, in turn, promote the maintenance of clean beaches, by ranking their water quality. 

The first site of the pilot project was installed in October 2021 in Pointe aux Feuilles on the east coast of the island and a second pilot site is imminent on Albion on the west coast. The pilot monitoring installation uses several stand-alone communicating modules from Aqualabo’s AquaMod range of digital sensors. These can form a self-governing system consisting of a stand-alone long range low power wide area network (LoRaWAN) that comprises many wireless, waterproof modules with antennae.

The dissolved oxygen and temperature of the azure Mauritian coastal water is measured using Optod Titanium for example. Turbidity is monitored with an NTU sensor, the sea’s conductivity and salinity is checked using a device called a C4E. Down in the coral reefs another type of sensor is used for oxygen and turbidity measurement, with the Hydroclean device being more sited to the environment, where the Pheht sensor measures pH and the Ehan sensor gauges redox potential.

The system transfers continuous seawater data over a private IoT network by Kerlink’s industrial grade Wirnet iStation outdoor gateways. Data then transfers to a private IoT platform in the government’s datacentre. The critical seawater parameters outlined above are displayed in the form of a dynamic graph/timeline that highlights the targeted levels and critical thresholds that the government specialists’ need to act on.

Oil spill put a blot on the economy of island whose GDP relies on tourism

“The integration was simple and quick with a private LoRa Network Server,” said Aqualabo CMO Severine Goulette. Benjamin Maury, Kerlink’s head of international partnerships said that collaborating with Aqualabo will help preserve Mauritius’s pristine setting and protect the environment.

The monitoring system was designed and installed by Digital Twin Services (DTS), a Mauritian technology solutions provider specialised in Industry 4.0 systems. 

Vodafone puts Nokia Controller on trial – charged with SDN of an FWA

Nick Booth
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Vodafone puts Nokia Controller on trial – charged with SDN of an FWA

Telcos can mass produce accessible fixed networks on Altiplano

Finland’s Nokia is to work with Vodafone to see if its software-defined network manager and controller (the Altiplano SDN-M&C) can solve the telco’s problems with creating a multi-access fixed network technology for its divisions in Europe and Africa. The two companies have begun the collaboration with proof-of-concept trials in Europe. If the initial proof of concept trials prove successful, the SDN technology will be deployed more widely later this year, Nokia says.

The trials will put Nokia’s Altiplano SDN-M&C in the dock. In the initial arguments, Nokia said that Vodafone selected Altiplano for its ability to work across its diverse and eclectic systems that span multiple generations of technology and a Smörgåsbord of different vendors’ kit with multi-access networks. Vodafone said it currently addresses 143 million marketable Next Generation Network (NGN) broadband homes in Europe.

Nokia’s SDN management and control functions will be used to simplify, automate, visualise, optimise and improve Vodafone’s broadband networks and support its network-as-a-platform (NaaP) approach. It will also help Vodafone customise other services for its customers.

Gavin Young, Vodafone’s head of Fixed Access Centre of Excellence said the telco wants to simplify and automate its network and IT systems across Europe and Africa because that can make the customer experience better and help it manage more devices as demand grows.

“The last few years proved that the resilience of economies depends on our ability to quickly respond to changing societal needs,” said Young. “Nokia’s Altiplano will help our customers adapt to new developments even quicker.”

The secret of the SDN Controller is that it uses open and standardised application programming interfaces and open source where applicable, according to Sandy Motley, president of Nokia’s Fixed Networks. Nokia’s Altiplano Access Controller can manage and control anything, Motley said. “SDN-native, disaggregated, legacy and third-party equipment is highly customisable,” said Motley, “[it] can suit operator needs now and in the future.”

Foundries and Arduino claim they’ve lifted the insecurity curse on the Internet of Things

Nick Booth
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Foundries and Arduino claim they’ve lifted the insecurity curse on the Internet of Things

Embedded security makes each board a unit of fortification

Cloud-centric Internet of Things (IoT) developer Foundries has used its edge computing expertise in its partnership with processor board maker Arduino to create Linux IoT and Edge systems with embedded security. The inherently secure IoT design is based on the idea that each processor board has embedded security functions in its silicon. The latest incarnation of this concept, the Arduino Pro Portenta X8, was released this week.

Arduino is an open source electronics company that makes open hardware development boards that, it claims, are used by millions of developers. It will use Foundries’ cloud service, FoundriesFactory, to build its connected products. Foundries promise simplify the complicated process of incorporating your own IP and applications. It claims it can cut development time and costs, as well as eliminate mistakes.

With its first product, the Yún, Arduino invented a new category of system building component by combining microcontrollers and microprocessors on a single hardware platform. Now the Portenta X8 offers more flexility, more option and more processing power, according to Arduino CEO Fabio Violante. 

“You cannot think about a Linux-based device without anticipating the challenges of securing and maintaining it over time. This requires expertise, commitment and attention to every detail related to security and maintenance,” said Violante. 

For this reason, it has partnered with Foundries to simplify its approach by giving customers ready-to-use system building blocks that they can us with confidence in their security.

The IoT market will more than double in the next five years, according to Foudries, with demand for Edge devices expected to triple as the industrial IoT, Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure and robotics all take off. Managing the security of these devices, and the expenses associated with building and maintaining Linux, will be a major issue. 

FoundriesFactory has claimed it is addressing these challenges with a cloud-based DevOps service to build, test, deploy and maintain these devices. It includes a customisable Linux microPlatform Operating system built using security industry ‘best practice’ and incremental over the air updates. 

“Foundries is uniquely positioned to help Arduino install and maintain Linux systems for IoT and Edge applications,” said George Grey, CEO at Foundries. “The combination of the Portenta X8 and the FoundriesFactory will expedite production, increase product security and encourage rapid deployment of the Linux-based IoT and Edge products.”

“This is a powerful alignment that will result in tangible advances for embedded developers and enterprises across a variety of vertical industries,” said Jeff Steinheider, general manager of the industrial edge processing product line at NXP Semiconductors. “This is the kind of strategic partnership that signals a new way of doing things and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.”

Orange to test AST SpaceMobile’s Network

Nick Booth
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Orange to test AST SpaceMobile’s Network

Satellite could make mobile subscriptions out of this world

Orange is teaming up with AST SpaceMobile to test its space-based cellular broadband network, reports Satellite Today. The two companies announced the non-binding memorandum of understanding on March 25.

Orange will test AST SpaceMobile’s service in one African country, following AST SpaceMobile’s planned launch of its BlueWalker 3 test satellite that is designed to communicate directly with cell phones via 3GPP standard frequencies. The companies have said this announcement paves the way for discussions on a potential agreement to serve Orange subscribers through AST SpaceMobile’s planned network of BlueBird satellites. Orange has 220 million mobile customers across the globe.

“AST SpaceMobile’s satellite constellation could revolutionise how mobile subscribers connect. We look forward to working with AST SpaceMobile to explore expanding Orange’s service offerings to geographic regions where it is difficult to build out cellular infrastructure,” said Jean-Luc Vuillemin, Orange International Networks’ EVP. Vuillemin has spoken to Via Satellite about Orange’s partnerships with satellite providers.

AST SpaceMobile is working to develop a cellular broadband network in space in which satellites communicate directly with mobile phones. The company has agreements with other telcos including Vodafone and Rakuten.

Europe’s Big Five push Open RAN’s superior security and sustainability

Annie Turner
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Europe’s Big Five push Open RAN’s superior security and sustainability

Their efforts support those of TIP and O‑RAN Alliance projects, and European Union goals on security, supply chain diversity, security and data protection

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, TIM and Vodafone publish updates on the tech behind the Open RAN movement.

The five publicly threw their considerable combined weight behind the RAN disaggregation movement in early 2021 with an MoU followed by technical specifications. 

Since then they have been working with the wider industry, including through TIP and the O-RAN Alliance to further the cause, and have now published a security white paper which proposes an open architecture that draws on IT security protocols and built on zero-trust methodology.

The paper also outlines requirements for energy efficiency that they say should be considered in new open RAN solutions to support the operators’ sustainability goals and those of the European Union (EU).

The aim is to keep up momentum for the commercialisation of open RAN, develop standards and foster European leadership in this tech that is foundational to the success of 5G Standalone and future generations of cellular tech.

Who does the work?

The O‑RAN Alliance Security Focus Group (SFG) will research the requirements outlined in the white paper with support from the European operators.

However, the global stakeholder group founded by AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO, and Orange, is the driving force behind security specifications in the O‑RAN Alliance with more than 300 members.

Risk analysis for Open RAN is under development within the framework of creating a zero-trust architecture to secure the access network to a degree equal to or better than their traditional counterparts.

The disaggregated nature of Open RAN present, in the jargon, a bigger attack surface that the tightly integrated alternative but the white paper suggests that, done right, transparent, open interfaces allow greater oversight of vulnerabilities and failures.

They also argue that the infrastructure will be able to isolate risks more easily by supporting continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) for service updates and upgrades. Only segments of services are addressed at any one time, not the whole network.

The paper reasons that if the currently widespread, integrated proprietary network elements were looked at in the same way as open alternatives, their attack surface would be akin to that of the proposed open architecture.

Attacks aside, the paper also says that vendor-neutral architecture lessens the risk of operators having to rely on a very few vendors, giving them the flexibility to chose exactly what they need rather than what is available.

The white paper points out that the on-going development of open, secure RANs also supports the EU’s 5G Toolbox Programme, which is all about creating a wider ecosystem of vendors, and its 5G Cybersecurity Framework as well as enshrines data privacy laws.

Sustainability to sustain Open RAN

In its Focus on Energy Efficiency report, the MoU partners highlight: the market impact of operators choosing energy-efficient hardware; metrics for monitoring energy usage and efficiency by hardware and software; and aspects of Open RAN that have the potential to increase energy efficiency.

It also looks at the roles of intelligence and orchestration to automate energy efficiency in the network and suggest energy efficiency targets for each of the network components.

An interesting, overarching feature of the MoU partners’ approach is its flexibility. Yes, some tech specs are given more priority than others but accommodates each member’s own commercial approaches and unanimous agreement does not appear to be the goal, beyond presenting a united front politically to the region’s regulators and legislators.

Cevian to vote against Ericsson CEO and board members in tomorrow’s AGM

Nick Booth
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Cevian to vote against Ericsson CEO and board members in tomorrow’s AGM

Silence over ISIS but board can’t ignore the agitant in the room

Boardroom agitant Cevian Capital has said it will vote against granting discharge to either Ericsson’s board members or its president Börje Ekholm at the annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow (Tuesday 29th March), reports Reuters. Ericsson has been criticised by both the US Justice Department and its own shareholders for its furtive system of selective disclosure over an internal investigation in 2019 that probed into the company’s payment to terror groups in Iraq.

“We still lack the information necessary to make an informed judgment of what went wrong, why and who should be held responsible,” said a statement from Cevian. “Given the lack of information and the magnitude of the damage, we have no choice but to hold the entire board accountable.”

Under Swedish law, a Companies Act rules that any company or shareholders can bring action against board members or the CEO if a group representing at least 10 per cent of the company shares votes against ratifying acts of the CEO in the past year.

However, activist investor Cevian cut its stake in Ericsson last year and now owns just under 5 per cent of Ericsson’s shares. If a board member or the CEO is granted discharge from liability at the AGM, the company or its shareholders may not be able claim damages related to the person’s management of the company during the financial year.

Christer Gardell, Managing Partner at Cevian Capital, has previously complained about the way the company is run, most recently when Ericsson reported that year on year profits were up by 41 per cent. Gardell said that Ericsson’s “very strong” earnings do little to address the firm’s undervalued price and recommended that Ericsson should cut its losses in its Digital Services unit and sell its managed services business.

Gardell also demanded that Ericsson’s board and management “justify” to the market why it spent 60 billion kronor ($6.4 billion) on Vonage in 2021, its biggest ever acquisition.

In January the Swedish activist group reprimanded the entire telecoms industry for following the classic evolutionary path of market consolidation.

Virgin Media O2 asks VMware to integrate its diverse IT systems before 5G launch

Nick Booth
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Virgin Media O2 asks VMware to integrate its diverse IT systems before 5G launch

Can VMware’s container service create cohesion out of chaos?

UK cable company turned telco Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has asked VMware to orchestrate its eclectic range of IT systems in a bid to prepare for a 5G rollout. 

Surveys by UK regulator Ofcom have shown that Virgin Media O2 runs the most complained about service in the UK. Part of the problem, according to systems integrator sources, is that the telco originally grew by acquisition of small cable companies and inherited systems that were incompatible with each other.

VMware has worked with Virgin Media for the past 16 months in preparation for its 5G launch. However the telco is now using VMware’s Telco Cloud Infrastructure to hurriedly design, build and implement virtualised network functions, according to a release. The software vendor has been appointed to help the telco ‘boost innovation across the network and improve the speed of delivery of new services’. 

Virgin Media O2 will use automated application moderniser VMware Tanzu for Telcos which is a ‘Kubernetes cluster’ (a type of sealed off system) in order to build a proficiency in offering ‘Containers as a Service (CaaS)’. CaaS, in layman’s terms, allows developer to bundle entire systems up into one virtual container (or silo), with software partitions defining its perimeters. 

The Container strategy will help Virgin Media O2 to add more virtual network functions to its service, said VMware. It will also help the telco maintain the network more efficiently and support multi-vendor systems. Adding functions and creating cohesion between different vendors is essential in quick installations and VMware’s system should help Virgin Media O2 add new functions incrementally, according to Sanjay Uppal, VMware’s general manager of service providers and edge computing.

“As the rollout of 5G networks comes close to completion, service providers need to modernise their network infrastructure quickly,” said Upal. But it needs to be simple and cheap too, Upplal said. “The best way to do this is through a single platform that can automate and streamline delivery of multi-vendor network functions,” said Uppal.

VMware’s Telco Cloud Infrastructure, it claims, delivers a single horizontal platform that Virgin Media O2 can use to simplify, scale and protect its core cloud networks. Operating a reliable, agile network that can be efficiently upgraded to maintain quality of coverage is fundamental to the success of VMO2’s 5G network, said VMware’ statement . “Particularly in highly regulated and competitive markets,” it said. VMO2 has been fined by Ofcom on several occasions for breaking consumer protection rules.

Working with VMware is VMO2’s best chance of getting a network infrastructure cohesive enough to support the roll out of its 5G services without limitations, according to Uppal. It needs to “harness the agility, flexibility and consistency of a common platform,” said Uppal.

Chris Buggie, VMo2’s director of infrastructure, cloud engineering and delivery, said that virtualising and modernising VMoO2’s network is essential. A consistent system of network functions created within a ‘cloud-native’ platform for provisioning and managing and workloads and network functions, would help MO2 “reinvest into the network”, said Buggie, who claimed that VMO2 is to “to cement our position as the leading telco provider across UK and EU.”

Telenor Group accused of leaving millions of Myanmar subscribers at risk of junta

Nick Booth
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Telenor Group accused of leaving millions of Myanmar subscribers at risk of junta

Activists say Telenor sale to M1 Group broke sanctions

The Telenor Group has come under fire for its exit strategy from Myanmar, which has given the military regime a gateway to snoop on citizens who’d trusted Telenor Myanmar to protect their privacy.

Pressure group Justice for Myanmar has alleged that the M1 Group, which is owned by the family of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikat, is set to violate sanctions on Myanmar. The acquisition of customer stalking technology, as part of their purchase of Telenor Myanmar, puts the lives of millions of subscribers in danger, according to a report in Myanmar news web site Mizzima. The exposure of Myanmar citizens has infuriated human rights groups in Norway.

Justice for Myanmar, which describes itself a ‘covert group of activists dedicated to improving the lives of all the people of Myanmar’ said that M1 Group would violate those sanctions through their acquisition, activation and transfer of a German-made lawful interception gateway (LIG) as part of their purchase of Telenor Myanmar. Once activated, the LIG will allow the Myanmar military junta to monitor communication on the Telenor Myanmar network in real time. The sale will also involve the transfer of historical call data of more than 18 million current subscribers, which the junta can use to hunt down activists, journalists and humanitarian workers, who face torture and murder at the hands of the Myanmar military.

According to Norwegian news site E24, M1 Group entities involved in the purchase of Telenor’s Myanmar operation are based in Cyprus and the Cayman Islands. That makes them subject to EU and UK sanctions that prohibit the transfer and operation of surveillance technology. Justice for Myanmar alleges that the impending sanctions violations are being ‘aided and abetted by Telenor Group’, which is majority owned by the Norwegian government.

According to the activists’ industry source, Telenor Myanmar management were aware that M1 Group and its local partner, Shwe Byain Phyu, intended to activate the LIG that Telenor Group has installed. Telenor Group CEO Sigve Brekke told Norwegian paper Aftenposten that the lawful interception system would be left in place. He refused to comment on the legal repercussions of the sale.

“Telenor Group and M1 Group are continuing to show an appalling disregard for the law and for the lives of Myanmar people,” said Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung, “the sale of Telenor’s Myanmar business to Shwe Byain Phyu and M1 Group will put millions at risk and embolden the military junta, which is a terrorist organisation. Telenor has already provided de-facto recognition to the illegitimate junta in seeking regulatory approval. It is now proceeding to transfer dangerous surveillance technology to companies that intend to activate it, which will support the junta to intensify its terror campaign against the people.”

In February, activist group Forum for development and the Environment (ForUM) has reported Telenor to the Norwegian police for selling a business in Myanmar to a company that voluntarily supports the military Union. “We fear that sensitive personal data, especially related to human rights activities, will be shared with the junta,” ForUM General Manager Kathrine Sund-Henriksen told NRK.

ForUM is an umbrella organisation for about 50 Norwegian development and peace organisations. It refers to several violations of the Criminal Code Chapter 16 on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It contends that Telenor’s 18 million subscribers in Myanmar have shown Telenor trust and shared sensitive personal data that any company with military training can now obtain.

“We have military personnel in Myanmar who have made many thorough assessments, and we have made special demands on the special conditions, privacy and security of having a partner. Based on these assessments, there is no basis for any review,” said Telenor Group’s communications manager Gry Rhode.

“Civil society in Myanmar is already in a very vulnerable situation, which could be made even worse by the actions of a Norwegian company. That they then do not do the only right thing, namely to delete personal data back in time, is incomprehensible,” Lise Sivertsen, head of Department for Communication and policy for Norwegian Church Aid, told Norwegian news site NTB in February.

Sivertsen said that several activists and human rights defenders have used Telenor in Myanmar precisely because the company has promised not to contribute to human rights violations. “If ethics are important, it is natural to use sensitive personal data for sales,” said Sivertsen. Telenor has said it has no choice but to fulfil the personal data change-over to its new owners.

“Telenor in Myanmar is required by law to store customer data for several years, and the company must also do so when it changes ownership. We understand that anyone can react to this, but [we are] obliged by law,” Telnor replied in an email to NTB. “We understand the…. debate around this decision. At the same time, we ask for understanding that the situation is far from black and white and that there are no easy ways out.” 

CVC Capital Partners breaks cover in bid to tear off Telecom Italia’s services arms

Nick Booth
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CVC Capital Partners breaks cover in bid to tear off Telecom Italia’s services arms

A colony of private equity companies has been watching TIM

More private equity companies expressing an interest in breaking up Telecom Italia. On March the 25th CVC Capital Partners submitted a non-binding expression of interest for a stake up to 49 per cent of Telecom Italia’s (TIM) enterprise services arm, according to Reuters’ sources.

The non-binding approach targets TIM’s cloud, internet of things (IoT) cybersecurity and connectivity services for large corporate clients, which broker Bestinver valued at €10.5 billion ($11.5 billion) based on last year’s core earnings of between €730-760 million.

CVC is proposing a reallocation of the business as part of a group reorganisation, one of the sources said. In CVC’s scheme the newly-created unit would find jobs for 6,500 people out of the 42,000 staff that TIM currently employs in Italy, said the source, which revealed that multiple private equity investors are looking to invest in TIM’s services arm. Apollo Global Management is allegedly also looking at a potential investment into TIM’s service operations.

“At least three big funds are assessing TIM’s situation with the view of a potential investment into its service arm,” the Reuters source said.

Meanwhile Italy’s government is drafting new rules that will force owners of strategic assets to notify it of any preliminary discussions with potential suitors. These new safeguards are part of a broader plan to beef up Italy’s existing anti-takeover rules. They are primarily aimed at policing any changes to TIM’s ownership structure, government officials have told Reuters.

Reuters said CVC has been watching the reorganisation at TIM and waiting for its moment and now it is set to formalise an expression of interest in TIM’s service arm, possibly on Friday. TIM is already assessing a €10.8 billion ($11.9 billion) takeover approach from US fund giant KKR. 

Chief executive Pietro Labriola has unveiled plans to split TIM’s service businesses from its domestic fixed network operations to unlock value and pursue merger and acquisition deals.

After tumbling to a record low earlier this month, TIM’s shares jumped as much as 7.2 per cent to hit a three-weeks highs around €0.35 euros on Friday, with traders and analysts citing speculative appeal linked to private equity interest. The KKR bid was pitched at €0.505.

TIM, whose top investor Vivendi has dismissed KKR’s offer as too low, is seeking to revive a long-held project to merge its fixed line assets with those of Open Fiber. This move would be backed by TIM’s second-largest investor, state lender CDP, which own a 60 per cent stake in Open Fiber.

TIM has now kept left KKR waiting for nearly four months without an answer before engaging in formal talks earlier this month. Reuters’ insider says it is preparing another letter to request further clarifications from KKR. The same source said TIM board of directors will be updated on the KKR developments at a meeting next Tuesday.

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