'Tech-Co First, Telco Second' - Private 5G Firm Citymesh Emerges As MNO For Enterprises
RCRWirelessNews, Thursday, November 9,2023
On the face of it, the acquisition of local internet service provider EDPnet by Belgium-based Citymesh, which describes itself lately as a telco 'challenger' brand in its home market, holds limited interest - to RCR's enterprise readership, at least. But in ways, the deal tells the unlikely story of a private 5G tech-co specialist that became a public 5G telco challenger brand, whilst never veering from its original vision to serve the developing Industry 4.0 market.
The circumstances of EDPnet's troubled ownership are interesting, insofar as the company filed for bankruptcy last winter and sold (for 20.5 million USD ) to operator Proximus this spring, only for the local competition authority to force its resale in the summer, which is where eventually Citymesh stepped in. But the real diversion is to chat about its parallel activities in the private 5G market - where Citymesh can hardly be considered a 'challenger' - and discern how all the pieces might just fit together in a comprehensive Industry 4.0 puzzle.