Tuesday Roundup: Liberty, Gold, Softbank, Cubic, Telefonica, Windstream

Two inorganic moves, some layoffs on tap, and a leadership shift:

Liberty Networks and Gold Data are teaming up for a new subsea cable project in the Caribbean. To be called Liberty Networks 1, the new cable will incorporate the already planned Gold Data 1 cable, connecting to it off of Cancun and provide additional connectivity down to Panama and Colombia. Liberty Networks and Gold Data will jointly invest in and operate GD-1, while Liberty Networks will fully own the new southern leg. The cable is expected to be ready for service in the second half of 2026.

Softbank is investing €473M into Cubic Telecom. The deal gives them a 51% stake in the company, which focuses on the software-defined connectivity of connected vehicles and other IoT assets. Cubic has relationships with 900 MNOs and currently counts 17M connected vehicles around the world. Cubic’s Barry Napier will stay on as CEO, while three Softbank appointees will join Cubic’s board.

Telefonica is looking to slim down in Spain. UGT union spokespeople said last week that the international operator wants to cut its Spanish workforce by 5100 in the country over the next three years. That would be a 25% haircut in Spain and 5% overall. Exactly how and when they might make that happen is not yet clear, but layoffs will probably be involved.

And Windstream has further enhanced its leadership team this week. After naming Paul Sunu CEO last month, the company is promoting Joe Scattareggia as president of Windstream Wholesale and Mike Flannery as president of Windstream Enterprise. The duo will replace Buddy Bayer, who had led both units and will be departing at the end of the year to pursue ‘another opportunity’. I’m sure we’ll find out about that before too long as well.

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Categories: ILECs, PTTs · IoT, M2M · Jobs · Undersea cables