Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodacom offers Azure in South Africa; Facebook gets less presumptuous; EU gets tough on data; Elisa Q1 profits up.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

April 18, 2018

2 Min Read
Eurobites: Interoute Lands Major Dark Fiber Deal

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodacom offers Azure in South Africa; Facebook gets less presumptuous; EU gets tough on data; Elisa Q1 profits up.

  • European fiber network operator Interoute has landed a contract with an unnamed global Internet technology company to provide more than 1,000km of dark fiber across south-west Europe. According to a statement from Interoute Communications Ltd. , which is being acquired by GTT, the expanded capacity will provide "business critical assurance" for the client company's online platform. (See GTT Snaps Up Interoute for $2.3B.)

    • South Africa's Vodacom Pty. Ltd. is to offer a range of Microsoft Azure cloud services to its business customers as from June. The operator says that Azure will allow businesses to provide their customers with "enterprise-proven hybrid solutions."

    • Facebook , newly privacy-aware since the brouhaha surrounding the misuse of its users' personal data hit the headlines, has starting asking its European users for permission to use its facial recognition technology to identify them in photos and videos. According to the BBC, the move is just one of several opt-ins being introduced in advance of the arrival of the EU's GDPR privacy legislation on May 25. (See Facebook: The Sick Man of Silicon Valley and Top 4 GDPR Misconceptions.)

    • Facebook will also be one of the companies likely affected by a new law proposed by the EU on Tuesday, which will force companies, if asked, to hand over users' data to European law enforcement authorities even if said data is stored on servers outside the EU. As Reuters reports, the law has been deemed necessary because of the extreme delays that have dogged such electronic evidence-gathering in the past.

    • Elisa Corp. , the Finnish operator that has recently on these pages been trumpeting its "zero-person network operations center," saw EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) climb 6.7% year-on-year to €153 million (US$189.4 million), on revenue that rose 8.1% to €450 million ($557.2 million). Interestingly, for a company that is partial to a zero-person approach, Elisa's employees apparently voted the operator onto Finland's "Great Place to Work" list. (See The Zero-Person Network Operations Center Is Here (in Finland).)

    • BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Telefónica and ARM Ltd. have all signed up to the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, along with 30 other companies from around the world. The Accord is described as a "watershed agreement" between companies committed to defending their customers from cybercriminal enterprises and naughty nation-states.

    • Cambridge Communication Systems (CCS) says the first phase of a "next-generation" 4G small cell network in London's Square Mile has been completed, a project that saw the use of CCS Metnet's neutral host microwave backhaul. The project was overseen by CTIL, which worked in partnership with Telefónica UK Ltd. (O2).

      — 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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