Eurobites: OneWeb and friends plan space-junk zapper

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a second investigation into Google's use of advertising technology, specifically its use of the "ad tech stack," a set of digital services which facilitate the sale of online advertising space between publishers and advertisers. The CMA will attempt to assess whether Google's actions in this sphere distort competition by, for example, making it difficult for rival ad servers to compete in the market. This case follows an earlier CMA probe into online platforms and digital advertising, which, says the authority, "identified significant issues." The European Commission has launched a similar investigation into Google's ad-related shenanigans.

The increasingly digital-obsessed BBC has revealed plans to shift its CBBC children's channel and its arts-focused BBC4 channel to online-only before ultimately closing them, among other measures, in a bid to save money. The announcement – and particularly the CBBC part – has already caused much disgruntlement on Twitter, where several people have pointed out that there are still plenty of UK households that do not a decent broadband connection, let alone the disposable income to splash out on the streamed subscription services that the BBC is being told by its political masters to resemble more closely.

UK broadband provider TalkTalk has completed the acquisition of Virtual1, a wholesaler of high bandwidth services. TalkTalk hopes the purchase will enable it to scale up as a national provider of leased-line services. The combined company, says TalkTalk, will enjoy a UK leased-line market share of 25%.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading