Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT's rivals get onto Ofcom; Netflix sued in France; T-Systems orchestrates data from the cloud.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

November 24, 2014

2 Min Read
Eurobites: BT in Talks to Buy O2

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT's rivals get onto Ofcom; Netflix sued in France; T-Systems orchestrates data from the cloud.

  • BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) has confirmed that it is in preliminary talks about a possible acquisition of Telefónica UK Ltd. (O2), Telefónica's UK subsidiary, reports Bloomberg. BT also admitted it was talking to another, unnamed operator about a similar deal and the Financial Times has been told that this operator was EE , the Orange (NYSE: FTE)/T-Mobile (UK) joint venture. If BT did buy O2, it would be reversing a 2001 demerger, when it spun off its mobile business, then known as BT Cellnet, in what has become labelled as one of the biggest strategic mistakes in corporate history. BT intends to return to the mobile fray in 2015, as it sees its future as a quad-play provider in an increasingly converged market. (See Euronews: BT's Back in Wireless and BT Embraces Small Cells for Mobile Push.)

    • Elsewhere on the BT front, the UK Competitive Telecommunications Association (UKCTA) has called on regulator Ofcom to open up BT's passive infrastructure to all providers so that enterprise users get a better broadband service. UKCTA members include Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD), Sky , Virgin Media Inc. (Nasdaq: VMED) and TalkTalk .

    • OTT streaming giant Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) is being sued in France for not complying with French consumer law, reports Broadband TV News. The CLVC says its case rests on what it describes as "malicious and illegal clauses" contained in Netflix contracts. (See Eurobites: Could Netflix Crash Europe's Networks?)

    • T-Systems International GmbH , Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT)'s enterprise IT subsidiary, has joined forces with Informatica Corp. (Nasdaq: INFA) to offer cloud-based data orchestration in Germany. The service, says the company, enables customers to integrate data and applications from all sources, including those in public or private clouds or in "on-premise environments". Sadly though, this means another addition to the out-of-control lexicon of cloud-based buzz-phrases: Readers, say hello to DOaaS (data orchestration-as-a service).

      — 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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