Wireless

The CMA has provisionally blocked the VMO2/nexfibre-Netomnia transaction, primarily because of the network overlap, and it is hard to see a path to approval from here.

CityFibre is back in the driving seat to consolidate the altnets, with the pressure now on the retail altnets to secure deals earlier rather than later.

There are substantial silver linings for VMO2/nexfibre in the deal being refused, it is positive for Sky/VodafoneThree/TalkTalk in our view, and more neutral for BT/Openreach given the pluses and minuses.

Meta Connect showcased the company’s determination and ambition to compete simultaneously across multiple fiercely contested technology spaces, with Apple’s wearable products and services a primary target.

In attempting to both capture developer mindshare and change consumer perceptions of AI and wearables, Meta buried new and interesting AI developer frameworks and agentic experiences behind cartoon AI agents and a Tamagotchi-like device.

Smart glasses category expansion, and a radical VR glasses reveal, were tightly bound to AI as the missing component to assist app and service development, driving improved experiences for consumers. Meta’s hardware strategy remains US-centric with very slow international rollout for flagship devices.

The government is considering an update to the definition of public service media, to ensure its provision across a converging, over-populated online media ecosystem.

This opens up difficult questions about how we should define and incentivise quality content, and content that serves the public good—as well as defining success in carrying out public service obligations.

These definitional challenges bleed into the practical challenge of designing a prominence system for online platforms. There must be realism about the commercial upside to such a system for PSBs, and any potential to disadvantage other types of content creators.