Madrid-based telecoms group Telefonica has unveiled a five-point ‘action plan’, which CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete says will serve as a catalyst for the company’s future transformation. Going forward, the group lists its key objectives as follows: · To prioritise Spain, Brazil, the UK and Germany, as key markets in which Telefonica can provide differential value to its customers and grow in a sustainable manner; · To work towards an operational spin-off of its businesses in Hispanoamerica; · To launch a new Telefonica Tech unit to boost B2B growth in areas with greater potential (i.e. IoT, Big Data and Cloud); · To create a Telefonica Infra unit, to leverage the strength of its Telxius assets and develop alternative models of infrastructure deployment; and · To evolve its operating model to increase agility, speed up execution and maximize synergies between all Telefonica units. The most eye-catching aspect of the plan is the decision to spin-off its Latin American businesses (excluding Brazil) and Alvarez-Pallete writes: ‘Until a few years ago, our operations in Latin America were the driving force behind the company’s growth. However, the particular conditions in these markets have had an impact on the business, reducing its contribution in recent years for various reasons (macro and regulatory environment, greater competitive pressure, insufficient scale or volatility of currencies), and despite the enormous efforts of our local teams, which have always shown a strong commitment. This situation has led us to adopt a new model for these operations, which will now be managed as an autonomous unit with a dedicated team. With this step, we begin the review of our portfolio of assets in Hispanoamerica, with the dual objective of modulating our exposure to the region, while creating the conditions to maximize its value, both via growth, consolidation and potential corporate operations.’ Alfonso Gomez, currently responsible for Telefonica’s ‘Hispam Norte’ cluster, will lead the new Hispanoamerica unit. He was responsible for the recent wholesale deal with AT&T in Mexico, this year’s sale of Telefonica’s Central American units and for the successful restructuring of Colombia Telecom while he was CEO. The unit will comprise Telefonica’s operations in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela. Telefonica is confident that these measures will generate more than US $2.2 billion of additional revenues by 2022.   Source：https://www2.telegeography.com/

Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica has struck a deal to use some of U.S. rival AT&T´s infrastructure in Mexico, a move analyst said would better position both to compete with the market´s juggernaut, billionaire Carlos Slim´s America Móvil. Under the agreement announced, Telefónica will use AT&T´s wireless “last-mile” equipment – the final link of telecom networks that delivers service to consumer through towers, antennas and fiber-optic cables. After a three-year transition period, Telefónica will see savings of US $253 million per year, as well as a reduction in net debt of US $550 million. Analysts framed the deal as a lifeline for Telefónica in Mexico, where the company has long struggled to gain traction. Despite a 2013-2014 reform intended to lessen its dominance, America Movil still holds nearly 2/3 of the mobile lines in Mexico, according to data from telecoms regulator IFT. AT&T, too, has failed to significantly dent America Movil´s market share since it spent billions to enter the country in 2015 by buying two local carriers. The agreement will give both Telefónica and AT&T a boost in a brutally competitive market, said Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics.   Source：https://www.reuters.com/places/mexico

57% of Mexican consumers surveyed prefer to make their purchases through mobile devices, these transactions represent 41% of total online sales volume. The number in the app payments category is slightly higher in Mexico than in other key markets, where 54% of respondents said PayPal is more secure than other forms of payment. Mexico is one of the top markets for mobile purchases (only below India) showing that 57% of consumers prefer to buy through portable devices, compared to the global average figure of 43%, and 51% use PayPal as a payment method for online purchases. Faced with this, 60% of merchants say they are already optimized to receive payments online, very close to the average figure of 63% of other markets, and 2 out of 5 merchants say that purchases through mobile are a priority, according to the study "Panorama del E-Commerce en México" commissioned to Ipsos by PayPal. The study, applied in 11 world markets, had the participation of approximately 22,000 consumers and 4,603 directors or business owners to know the panorama of mobile commerce. Below are the most important findings of the study for Mexico: While 78% of all respondents use mobile devices to make purchases, only 63% of businesses are optimized to be displayed on smartphones or tablets. In Mexico, for example, 42% of businesses consider optimizing their sites for mobile is a priority within 12 months.   75% of Mexican consumers look for products or services on the web daily compared to the world average of 56%. Millennials have the same habit (79%), which coincides with certain behaviors that indicate that this population frequently carries its cell phone most of the time since they see it as an important connection with the world. As for their shopping habits, 18% say they shop from their smartphones when they are physically in stores, 17% when they go out with friends and only 9% make mobile purchases spontaneously. Debit cards are the most widely used payment method (62%) for mobile purchases, followed by PayPal (51%) and credit cards (41%). Among the main online payment methods accepted by the surveyed merchants are debit, credit, PayPal and bank transfer (SPEI) cards.   Source：https://www.amvo.org.mx/

FPT Software announced on October 31 its successful pilot demonstration of autonomous driving technologies at Ecopark, an urban township 20 km east of Hanoi. The demonstration was carried out as the company had pledged in an agreement with Yamaha and Ecopark last April. The Yamaha electric golf car, after having been upgraded with FPT Software’s latest autonomous technologies, completed a full journey of 4 km around Ecopark without human interaction. The route was designed with five bus stops and various cross-sections to form a slightly challenging environment for the vehicle. As users booked trips via a mobile app, the vehicle automatically calculated the most optimal route and prioritized passengers in chronological order. It also managed to detect and avoid obstacles / vehicles along the way, as well as pick up and drop off passengers with 100 per cent accuracy. When there were no passengers onboard, the vehicle returned to the starting point and handled the auto-parking function entirely on its own. These features are equivalent to Level 3 - “Highly Automated Driving” - as defined by the US-based Society of Automotive Engineers. According to FPT Software Chairman Hoang Nam Tien, this successful demonstration is a major milestone towards making self-driving vehicles a reality, with the potential to transform mobility across urban areas, airports, and luxury resorts, etc. FPT Software is proud to be one of the first companies in Southeast Asia to drive autonomous technologies forward. At the event he also invited the public to experience highly-automated vehicles firsthand on FPT Tech Day, scheduled for November 21 at the National Convention Center in Hanoi. “For the first time, vehicles integrated with FPT Software’s Made-in Vietnam autonomous technologies will become ‘Transporters’ at FPT Tech Day 2019,” he said. “We are delighted to see that the demonstration was a success,” said Mr. Nguyen Dung Minh, Deputy General Director of Ecopark. “Going forward, we will seriously consider adopting autonomous driving technologies to offer our residents a better living experience.” “We look to leverage the power of digital technologies to become a world-class smart city. Ecopark residents will be the first to experience the latest technology advancements, modern facilities, high-quality management services, as well as solutions to use resources effectively.” FPT Software introduced its first autonomous vehicle in October 2017 based on in-depth research and capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, the Internet of Vehicles, cloud computing, and image processing, etc. The company has successfully tested autonomous technologies on four-seat passenger cars and electric golf cars around local high-tech zones and its own campus. It is also developing an autonomous mobility solution with advanced features such as on-board diagnostics (OBD) and over-the-air (OTA) software updates to optimize transportation costs and time. With these solutions, the company looks to continue reinforcing its position as a digital transformation pioneer and becoming a world-leading digital transformation services provider within a decade.   Source: http://www.vneconomictimes.com/article/business/fpt-software-successfully-demonstrates-autonomous-driving-technology

The government will conclude the main details of Thailand Cyberport development in the next two months before getting the project off the ground by year-end to create a national digital community and one-stop facilitator for startups and entrepreneurs. The announcement comes after the digital economy and society (DE) minister and his team met the chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co last week. The two parties agreed to drive development of Thailand Cyberport. Hong Kong Cyberport is a digital community whose management company is wholly owned by the Hong Kong government. DE Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said Thailand Cyberport, through a collaboration with Hong Kong Cyberport, aims to be a national innovative community for multiple sectors and a centre of the startup ecosystem in the region, attracting venture capital firms and global enterprises.  "The existing ecosystem for startup incubation is not enough to drive the government's Thailand 4.0 roadmap, and thus the government needs a more practical driver of digital ecosystem development," he said. Mr Pichet said the existing incubation projects for startups operated by private and state agencies lack the necessary functions for startups from seed-level incubation, connecting them to strategic partners and investors, and driving collaboration with local and international business partners. "Thailand Cyberport will help incubate startups at all levels seeking angel funds, skills management coaching and venture capital," he said, adding that the project will embrace areas as diverse as culture, tourism and agriculture. Thailand Cyberport will be set up in the vicinity of the Digital Park in Chon Buri province under the government's Eastern Economic Corridor scheme. The DE Ministry is working with the Science and Technology Ministry, the Industry Ministry and the Board of Investment to finalise major details of the Thailand Cyberport project, Mr Pichet said Monday on the sidelines of the "Big Change to Big Chance" event celebrating the eighth anniversary of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA). Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak visited Hong Kong and met the head of Hong Kong Cyberport Management. Mr Somkid initiated the development of Thailand Cyberport along similar lines. Hong Kong Cyberport is a business park consisting of four office buildings, a hotel and a retail entertainment complex. It describes itself as a "creative digital community" with a cluster of technology and digital content tenants. According to a statement on the Hong Kong Cyberport website, the park is the flagship of Hong Kong's digital tech industry, with a committed team of professionals providing value-added services to support the digital community. Mr Pichet said the government through the DE Ministry is pushing several tasks to fulfil the digital transformation of Thailand. One highlight is establishing a test base for 5G wireless broadband at the Digital Park in Chon Buri. The 5G test base was approved Monday by the National Digital Economy and Society Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong.

An Egyptian application titled “7keema” has been named as the best startup in Egypt at the 2018 Seedstars world competition 7keema is a mobile application owned by HealthApp Group that provides safe, instant and high quality services in the field of home care nursing through registered and licensed professional nurses. The app service is provided 24/7, initially in Egypt and planned to reach other MENA countries soon. The competition finalists included five intriguing startups in Egypt (7akeema, Hitchhiker, Odiggio, Vapulus, and Skolera) who successfully presented their companies goals to a jury of local investment and the Regional Manager for MENA at Seedstars. At the end of the pitching round, 7keema startup snatched the prize as the first of its kind in the Middle East. Odiggio, an e-commerce company that sells car parts, ranked second while Hitchhiker, a social media platform connecting users looking to ship items are linked to trusted travelers, grabbed third place. 7keema will represent Egypt at the global Seedstars Summit in Switzerland, held on April 2019. The summit includes a week-long training program which provides an opportunity for app developers and owners to meet with 65 other winners from fast growing economies, along with iconic global investors and mentors. 7keema will also have a chance to win up to $1M in equity investment. The Seedstars world competition is a global startup competition covering more than 65 emerging and developing markets.

“Vkontakte” began testing their payment platform VK Pay and are aiming to become the largest online trading platform in Russia, as is stated in the message by the social network itself. As of today, every VK community will be able to activate a convenient payment solution within the network – the company is beginning their testing of the platform VK Pay. Transfer of funds occurs instantly, as when paying in any store. Gazprombank became a partner of the social network. So far, you can make purchases and pay for services both in the special section "VKontakte" and on the sites of VK Pay partners. Gradually, all users will have access to the service. At the same commission for the input, withdrawal and transfer of funds from either buyers or sellers will not be taken. The launch of VK Pay is an important stage for the final formation of a full-scale e-commerce ecosystem. According to him, the combination of communication and payment functions will make VKontakte the largest site for online trading in Russia. Taking into account the ‘Vkontakte’ demographic and its readiness to make purchases, it is safe to assume a market with a value of no more than 100 billion rubles in the next few years. “Collaborative projects that we are starting to work on aim at introducing an entirely new way of offering services and items for purchase in the digital space, which was dictated by the rapidly changing market of financial services and growing customers’ demand,” – noted Gazprombank. Starting from 2015, over 490 000 communities have activated the service “Market.”

Walmart has announced a new partnership with Waymo, the self-driving car service created by Google.  Walmart and Waymo will launch a pilot project to transport customers to and from a store location to pick up their groceries.  The project is currently being tested out in one Walmart store located in Chandler, Arizona to a group of nearly 400 Waymo daily users. The pilot customers will place an online grocery pickup order on the Walmart website or app. Once the order is complete and fulfilled then, Waymo will transport the customer to and from the pickup. According to Tom Ward, VP of digital operations of Walmart U.S., “while giving customers a unique experience with amazing technology, we’re learning how we can make Walmart Online Grocery Pickup even more convenient. Waymo’s experience, industry leading technology and mission on safety is helping us enter this space in the right way.” Walmart offers online grocery pickup in nearly 1,500 locations and has plans to expand to more stores this year. Walmart and Google have also partnered in the past. Walmart has hundreds of products available for voice shopping via Google Assistant, which is Google's online shopping platform that lives on its smart speaker Google Home and other smart devices.