Eurobites: Altice Sells Off SFR Fiber Assets for $2.3B

Telefónica has launched what I suppose we are legally obliged to call a "digital transformation program" as it seeks greater growth for its stakeholders. Officially entitled "Reconnect," the three-year initiative seeks to make the operator more relevant to its customers, through the simplification and personalization of its offerings made possible by new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Rallying the troops in Madrid, Telefónica's Chairman & CEO José María Álvarez-Pallete seemed to channel the fortune-cookie wisdom of The Water Margin, saying: "Whether the glass is half empty or half full isn't important… the only thing that matters is that it can be refilled." Deep, José, deep.

Italy's far-right League party, currently in a ruling coalition with the 5-Star Movement, wants to see the networks of Telecom Italia (TIM) and state-controlled Open Fiber combined into one network under state control, Reuters reports. A potential spin-off of TIM's fixed-line network is the central issue at stake in a tussle between two rival shareholder camps, French conglomerate Vivendi and Elliott Management, for control of the Italian incumbent. (See Telecom Italia Caught in Clash of Clans While Rome Burns.)

Online giant Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) is coming under more Euro-centric scrutiny, this time from Germany's Federal Cartel Office, which suspects that Amazon's dual role as both the largest retailer and largest online host for small businesses acts against the interests of other sellers on its platform. As the Telegraph reports, German regulators say they have received numerous complaints from aggrieved sellers on Amazon about the way the company collects information on products in an apparent attempt to gain competitive advantage over its smaller rivals.

BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) is buffing up its green credentials by announcing that it is within 4% of its 2020 target to power the company's entire global operations with 100% renewable electricity. The signing of two new energy supply deals means that BT is 15% nearer its target than it was this time last year. The company claims that EE, its UK mobile arm, is powered by 100% certified renewable sources, such as wind farms and solar plants.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading