Vodafone forms ad tech joint venture with Europe’s biggest telecommunications companies

Four of the biggest telecommunications companies in Europe, including Berkshire-based Vodafone PLC, have formed an ad-tech joint venture in a bid to solidify their grip on a pan-regional advertising market otherwise dominated by US tech firms.

The aim of the campaign is to monetize each of the companies respective customer bases, with their combined total home markets reaching over 166.6 million customers on mobile, 35.7 million customers via broadband, and 28.4 million TV customers. Combining and thus expand beyond the company’s respective home markets proves lucrative, with a potential combined customer base reaching 401.2 million customers on mobile, 83.4 million broadband users, and 45.3 million TV customers.

The platform requires users to opt in and consent to share their information with their chosen brands to ensure the mechanism is compliant. Data is transmitted via pseudo-anonymous digital tokens that cannot be reverse-engineered. TrustPid stakeholders suggest that the temporary nature of the tokens illustrates that permanent identities cannot be shared with publishers, website owners or app owners.

According to Manga Global Estimates the strategy could reach upwards of £113 billion, which is 71.6 per cent of Western Europe’s total ad spend, by 2027. Vodafone, Telefonica SA, Orange, and Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), have each agreed to take a 25 per cent share of a newly formed holding company with Vodaphone and DT taking responsibility as the driving forces of the group.

The Berkshire-based company conducted the first trial last year, testing the platform on its network and DT's in Germany, partnering with local online publishers and advertisers. This allowed the wider group to evaluate the platform's functionality and assess revenue opportunities and compliance complications. The European Commission said it approved the joint venture “unconditionally”, concluding that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area (EEA).

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