Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: T-Systems helps connect Daimler; SAP does IoT deal with Bosch; EU backtracks on roam-like-you're-at-home; Nokia aims for AlcaLu squeeze-out.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

September 22, 2016

3 Min Read
Eurobites: Ericsson to Close Remaining Swedish Plants – Report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: T-Systems helps connect Daimler; SAP does IoT deal with Bosch; EU backtracks on roam-like-you're-at-home; Nokia aims for AlcaLu squeeze-out.Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) is to close its last remaining Swedish manufacturing sites with the loss of around 3,000 jobs, Reuters reports, citing the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. According to Svenska Dagbladet, the job losses will fall in the network products division. The Swedish vendor is in the midst of a major restructuring following a series of below-par financial results, and it is still searching for a new CEO following the ousting of Hans Vestberg in July. (See Ericsson Ejects CEO Vestberg, Ericsson 'Doubles' Savings Goal as Sales Slump and Trouble at Ericsson: Can the CEO Survive July?)Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT)'s IT services division, T-Systems International GmbH , has done a deal with upmarket carmaker Daimler, which will see T-Systems update and operate the mainframes at the heart of Daimler's connected car program. T-Systems already claims to connect more than 2 million Daimler vehicles worldwide.Also connecting cars, and other Things, to the Internet, is German software firm SAP AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: SAP). Now, as Reuters reports, it has signed an agreement with car parts maker Robert Bosch to combine Bosch's IoT platform with SAP's back-end software.As had been expected, the European Commission has formally introduced a proposal that effectively backtracks on a previous plan to limit the amount of "roam-like-you're-at-home" time across the European Union to 90 days a year. According to the Financial Times (subscription required), operators will, however, still be able to question customers who spend a "suspiciously" long time abroad. This, Commission officials argue, will prevent customers buying a cheap SIM card in one country and using it full-time in another country that has higher mobile tariffs. (See Eurobites: Commission Chief Sinks Spanner Into Roaming Works and Eurobites: Dunroamin'.)KPN Ventures, the venture capital arm of KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN), has invested an undisclosed amount into SecurityMatters, a Dutch cybersecurity company that specializes in protecting industrial control systems from the bad guys.Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has launched its public buyout offer for all the remaining Alcatel-Lucent shares and securities it doesn't already own. "Squeeze-out," as the financial wonks insist on calling it, is expected to occur on October 6.UK "altnet" CityFibre has revealed that Northampton, a town about 60 miles north-west of London, will be the next place to get the "Gigabit City" treatment. CityFibre has installed 45km of pure fiber and from today some Northampton businesses will be able to enjoy gigabit connectivity via CityFibre's ISP partner, DBFB. (See Eurobites: CityFibre Forges Ahead and CityFibre's Gigabit Vision.)Over in Ireland, SIRO has identified six more towns that will benefit from its gigabit rollout by the end of the year. An investment of €40 million (US$44 million) will bring SIRO's fiber to Mullingar, Newbridge, Ennis, Portlaoise, Drogheda and Carlow.BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) has joined forces with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) in a bid to make it easier for customers to build a hybrid cloud infrastructure. BT Compute for Microsoft Azure, as the new service is known, allows BT customers to order Microsoft Azure alongside BT's own cloud services.— 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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