Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Bellens gets the chop; AlcaLu partners with NextiraOne; MegaFon's DREAM project; Skype cleared of snooping.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

November 18, 2013

3 Min Read
Euronews: Openreach CEO Jumps Ship

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Bellens is on his way; AlcaLu partners with NextiraOne; MegaFon's DREAM project; Skype cleared of snooping.

  • Liv Garfield, the highly rated CEO of Openreach , BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA)'s access network unit, is to quit in spring 2014 to become CEO of utility company Severn Water. Garfield has overseen the rollout of BT's fiber network, which has not been entirely controversy-free but has helped set the stage for the operator's broadband-based future. (See Liv Garfield Quits BT Openreach and Euronews: BT Expands FTTX Rollout.) Figure 1: Liv Garfield: Forsaking fiber for water. Liv Garfield: Forsaking fiber for water.

    • It's official: Didier Bellens, the CEO of Belgacom SA (Euronext: BELG), is on his way. Bellens upset both regional and federal government in various ways, which isn't a good idea when the government is the majority shareholder in your company. Ray Stewart, Belgacom's CFO, will take temporary charge of the company until a permanent replacement is found. In this company statement, the hope was expressed that Stewart and his team "will see to it that the daily functioning of the company continues in a serene and efficient way," -- which is another way of warning the management team not to mouth off about the government. (See Euronews: Belgacom CEO for the High Jump.)

    • Alcatel-Lucent has forged a three-year global partnership with NextiraOne that strengthens the duo's relationship in the enterprise communications technology and services market. See this press release for more information. The news comes as market speculation suggests Alcatel-Lucent is once again seeking to offload its enterprise business. (See Euronews: AlcaLu's Enterprise Biz Back on the Block .)

    • Russian operator MegaFon has completed the first phase of its 100G "Diverse Route for European and Asian Markets" (DREAM) project, which runs from Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany to the Kazakhstan-China border. This first phase, which was completed with the help of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , provides DWDM channels with speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s. (See MegaFon Completes Phase 1 of DREAM Project.)

    • The Luxembourg data protection regulator has cleared Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s Skype Ltd. unit of data privacy violations connected to the ongoing NSA controversy, reports Bloomberg. What's it got to do with little ol' Luxembourg? That's where the two tax-savvy companies choose to have their European headquarters.

    • A one-year study conducted in secondary schools in East Africa and funded by Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) has concluded that ICT in education is a great idea -- but only if its introduction is supported by appropriate teacher training, reliable connectivity, and a consistent energy supply. See this press release for more details on the project.

    • And finally: Never mind the snow-capped majesty of the Alps, I wanna get on Facebook! The European Commission has given the all-clear to airlines to allow passengers to use 3G and 4G technology when flying over European Union airspace (until now only 2G was allowed). Of course, it will be up to the individual airlines to decide which services they will offer passengers, and to equip their aircraft accordingly. More details of the Commission's decision are available here.

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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