Orange has landed its AMITIE subsea cable on a beach at Le Porge, near Bordeaux, in what is the first phase of a 6,800km project that will ultimately connect the US state of Massachusetts with Le Porge and Bude in the UK. The link, which is scheduled to be switched on in early 2022, comprises two pairs of fiber-optic cables, offering capacity of up to 32 terabits per second each. Orange says that the project was implemented at the Le Porge end with the fragile nature of the local environment in mind, using horizontal drilling 20 meters beneath the beach and dunes and following existing forest paths and the edges of local roads.

Cambridge Wireless and Huawei – the Chinese vendor that has officially been told it's no longer welcome in the UK's 5G networks – have launched a private 5G testbed within the UK's Cambridge Science Park. Now they are looking for innovative startups that want to develop and test 5G applications in a range of areas, including connected autonomous vehicles, electric vehicle charging and traffic management. The first phase of the accelerator program will run until March 2021.

UK altnet CityFibre has teamed up with wholesale-only network provider Virtual1 to offer fiber business services. Under the terms of the partnership, Virtual1 will enable its customers to access CityFibre's business Ethernet infrastructure in its full-fiber towns and cities across the UK from February, while CityFibre will use Virtual1's national network to deliver fiber options beyond its own fiber footprint its customers.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has settled its debt differences with Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Company, which trades under the "Go" brand. According to an STC statement, the agreement was reached after an "intense and continuous negotiations between the two parties."

Lycamobile, the UK-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) focused on cut-price international calling, has beefed up its management team with three new appointments. Anil Tandan, formerly of Idea Cellular, joins as chief technology officer; Mikah Martin-Cruz, who has had stints at BT and Microsoft, becomes group chief marketing and digital officer; and ex-Vodafone man Karl Booth has been made chief commercial officer. Lycamobile operates in 23 countries across five continents, and claims 15 million customers worldwide.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading