Cevian Capital, an activist investor based in Sweden, has "slashed" its stake in Vodafone, according to a Reuters report citing the Financial Times. The thinking had been that Cevian was building up its stake in Vodafone to exert pressure on the mobile giant to move faster on M&A and generally put a bit more pep into its performance. (See Vodafone CEO quizzed on lack of M&A.)

Neos Networks, the UK-based business connectivity company, has launched what it describes as a "managed variant" of its dedicated Internet access (DIA) service. Customers can deploy the service to gain access to the Internet over an FTTP/C connection or an Ethernet fiber connection. The service uses devices placed at either end of the line, enabling Neos to perform monitoring operations and provide improved visibility to feed back insights and analytics to support network maintenance and availability.

UK fixed-line provider TalkTalk has completed on its acquisition of SSE Phone & Broadband from OVO Energy, bringing approximately 135,000 SSE broadband customers into the TalkTalk fold. SSE Phone & Broadband was acquired by OVO as part of its purchase of SSE Energy Services from SSE in 2020.

Forty-three companies operating in the online price-comparison sector have written a joint letter to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager calling on regulators to police more vigorously Google's dominance of the sector which its rivals say is being perpetuated through how Google presents its home-page search results. As Reuters reports, the letter said the "Commission needs to re-open space on general search results pages for the most relevant providers, by removing Google's Shopping Units that allow no competition but lead to higher prices and less choice for consumers and an unfair transfer of profit margins from merchants and competing CSSs [comparison shopping services] to Google." (See Eurobites: EU Fines Google $2.7B Over Shopping Shenanigans.)

Which?, the UK consumer rights organization, is calling on broadband providers to allow customers to leave without penalty if their prices are hiked mid-contract. The call comes as Which? publishes new research that shows people could face inflation-linked increases of almost 14% in 2023. According to Which?, its research shows that the average BT customer would suffer the most, facing a potential annual increase of £113.07 ($127.81) compared to the amount they were paying in January 2022. A number of UK broadband firms – such as BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Vodafone – raise prices every April in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus an additional 3.7% or 3.9%. As the cost-of-living crisis starts to really bite, this policy may no longer be sustainable.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading