Detailed proposals for a European Commission digital levy on tech firms that were due this week could be postponed until the fall, according to a Reuters report citing the Financial Times. The levy is intended to fund Europe's recovery from the ongoing ravages of the coronavirus pandemic and would apply to mainly European companies in the digital sector, according to the report.

Meanwhile, back at the pandemic coalface, Deutsche Telekom is using IoT technology at 87 vaccination centers across Germany to ensure that its employees can get their COVID-19 shots safely. Sensors keep tabs on the temperature of the vaccine refrigerators, transmitting the data to the cloud. If the defined temperature range is exceeded, a fridge door left open or a sensor fails, an alarm is triggered in the reporting center. Telekom's building services provider, ISS Facility Services, was also involved in the setting-up of the system.

In other IoT news, Swisscom has seen off 4,400 other nominees to win the Global IoT Award at the Microsoft Partner Awards for its project to digitize railway infrastructure construction sites for the Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group. The project, says Swisscom, combines elements of 5G, IoT, AI, cloud and Azure to create "measurable benefits" on construction sites by increasing employee safety and reducing CO2 emissions, among other things.

Three UK has introduced a new TV bundle that includes an actual TV. Customers can choose between Three's 5G Home Broadband with a new 43-inch 4K TV (worth £499/US$691)) or 4G Home Broadband with a 32-inch HD TV (worth £249). Three is pitching this as a potential solution to the familiar battle-over-the-TV-remote problem.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading