The Friday File: Ericsson looks to US; TSMC incentives endorsed

Mobile World Live brings you our top three picks of the week as Ericsson mulled a US move, TSMC’s $6.6 billion incentives got approved, and Veon and Microsoft experts hailed AI opportunities.

Ericsson boss opens door to future US relocation

What happened: Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm dropped a bombshell in an interview with Bloomberg, suggesting it would consider relocating its headquarters from Sweden to the US.

Why it matters: Ekholm acknowledged the question of officially relocating to the US is a recurring topic, noting Europe is falling behind and lawmakers in the continent must prioritise consolidation and reduce regulation to improve the situation. Referring to future investments, he added: “The natural conclusion of that is we’ll be shrinking in Europe and growing in North America.”

Veon, Microsoft experts reveal AI opportunities

What happened: Veon Group and Microsoft executives agreed in a MWL Unwrapped session the short-term revenue opportunity for operators deploying AI centres on boosting customer engagement.

Why it matters: Montgomery Hong, telco business strategy lead with Microsoft, stated AI is tipping customer experience as a key driver of top-line revenue growth and also opening opportunities for cross- and up-selling of services by providing self-service options. Veon CIO Inanc Cakiroglu suggested the technology offers the potential to improve aspects of operators’ current procedures, with customer service an obvious target.

US finalises $6.6B TSMC incentive package

What happened: The US government cleared a record incentive package for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company of up to $6.6 billion in direct funding to support the company’s planned investment of some $65 billion in three greenfield fabrication facilities.

Why it matters: President Joe Biden’s administration pushed through the funding soon after Donald Trump was elected due to concerns about his commitment to supporting subsidies for non-US companies. The timing was not ideal, coming just weeks after the US ordered TSMC to stop shipping advanced chips to Chinese companies and a month after it was forced to stop supplying chips made for a China-based customer after discovering the components ended up on a Huawei processor.