Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BSkyB teams up with Twitter; Ericsson in OpenStack deal; Glastonbury latest!

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

April 16, 2014

3 Min Read
Eurobites: Telefónica Bets on Mobile Ads

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BSkyB teams up with Twitter; Ericsson in OpenStack deal; Glastonbury latest!

  • Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) has teamed up with Blackstone's GSO Capital Partners to create Axonix, a mobile ad exchange platform that allows advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space, often through real-time auctions. Simon Birkenhead, currently Telefónica’s director of global advertising sales, has been appointed chief executive of the new company. Telefónica claims to be the first telco to own a mobile ad exchange platform, and clearly has high hopes for its new baby. See this press release for more information and executive comment. Figure 1: Simon Birkenhead has been appointed chief executive of Axonix, Telefonica's new mobile ad exchange. Simon Birkenhead has been appointed chief executive of Axonix, Telefónica's new mobile ad exchange.

    • The world and his wife, apparently, is tweeting-while-they-watch. Watching the telly, that is. Sky wants to jump on this bandwagon and has started a trial of #WatchOnSky, a new Twitter tool that reminds its customers that a particular program is about to start and provides a link for them to watch it via their Sky Go service, or if they want to wait till they get home to watch it, allows them to set their Sky+ box to record it remotely. In other BSkyB news, regulator Ofcom is to review the condition it inserted into the broadcasting license it granted to BSKyB mandating that the broadcaster had to offer its Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 channels wholesale to its rivals, if asked. See this Ofcom statement for more details.

    • Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) has entered into a five-year partnership with Mirantis Inc. to deploy Mirantis's carrier-grade OpenStack software in the Ericsson cloud software platform. Through the move, Ericsson hopes to be able to reduce the number of hardware platforms in its network, reducing power consumption and operating expenses. Ericsson has previously invested in Mirantis. (See Mirantis Confirms Ericsson OpenStack Deal and Ericsson Commits to OpenStack With Mirantis .)

    • Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is to upgrade the network of Finnish operator Elisa Corp. , wheeling out its IP/MPLS network package, which comprises the 7950 eXtensible Routing System (XRS) core router and associated gubbins. For more detail on the gubbins, see this press release.

    • Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) has been given the green light by the European antitrust authorities to acquire GTS Central Europe , for €546 million ($754 million), reports Reuters. The deal will substantially bolster Deutsche Telekom's presence in eastern Europe.

    • EE will once again be doing the mobile connectivity honors at this year's Glastonbury Festival, providing a 4G network on site and providing free phone charging to the (probably) muddy masses. In case you're wondering, Dolly Parton, Robert Plant, and Bryan Ferry are all in the lineup. That's quite the supergroup. Figure 2: Glastonbury: The lengths people will go to to avoid Coldplay. Glastonbury: The lengths people will go to to avoid Coldplay.

      — 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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