Vodafone CEO Nick Read has mentioned that in order to thrive and further drive the development of 5G and fiber tech, European telcos need to team up for the foreseeable future.
BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 25: Chief Executive Officer Vodafone Group Nick Read gives a speech during the first day at the mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona, Spain on February 25, 2019.
LiveMint says that Read, who just got promoted as the head of the Vodafone group back in 2018, says that capital returns in the region are now down to half over the past ten years. He believes that this is destroying value by virtue of "duplicating infrastructure," which he believes must be changed.
As a result, the Vodafone CEO is supporting "consolidation on the right terms." In other words, he wants more mergers of telcos to happen during the next few years, which will likely help encourage investors to put more resources into 5G and fiber technology.
5G tech is still in its relative infancy, but it has already gone through so much trouble. European telcos have implemented it well enough, but the US is still notably iffy about the new wireless tech. Specifically, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) did everything they could to limit the release of 5G tech in or around airports, for fears that they might cause "catastrophic" anomalies with the safety instruments on airplanes.
Perhaps with more investment in the sector, the Vodafone CEO is hoping for a better reputation for the tech. It does have a lot of perks after all.
Vodafone's Own Push Into 5G
For now, it remains to be seen whether Read's plans for European telcos will bear fruit-as well as the hope of more investment coming into 5G and fiber. But the company itself is making its own moves, specifically with 5G.
POLAND - 2022/01/19: In this photo illustration a 5G logo is displayed on a smartphone with stock market percentages on the background.
Tech Times reported recently that Vodafone is actually planning to kill its 3G network by next year. This is apparently in the works so they can completely focus on next-gen wireless tech, which for now remains in need of further improvements and service expansions.
If the company's 3G network does get axed, it will have served 17 years co-existing with newer and faster networks in the market.
Read Also: 5G Rollout Increases Smartphone Cellular Data Speed 'Almost Everywhere,' Report Says
About Vodafone CEO Nick Read
Nick Read is a 20-year telecommunications industry veteran whose career actually didn't start in telco. According to Mobile-Magazine, he started off as the director of FP&A of UK & Northern Island for FedEx, a position he held from 1989 to 1992. Eventually, he would leave FedEx seven years later.
Read came to Vodafone in 2022 as the company's CFO and later CCO. His first CEO job was with Vodafone UK in 2006, which then led to his appointment as the CEO of the entire Vodafone group twelve years later.
Ever since, he has been hard at work at strengthening Vodafone's reputation as a global leader in the IoT (Internet of Things) market. Furthermore, he is also a figure for the UN solidarity movement HeForShe, which aims to further promote gender equality all over the world.
25 February 2019, Spain, Barcelona: Vodafone CEO Nick Read (r) speaks at Mobile World Congress with Mats Granryd, Chairman of GSMA, the Mobile Communications Industry Association.
As such, Vodafone's commitment to inclusion has expanded under his leadership by offering parental leave, pushing for a stop in domestic violence and abuse, and even "setting clear diversity targets" for the company's senior leadership members (via Vodafone).
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Written by RJ Pierce
