Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) says that its patented "machine learning" technology has been used by Japan's SoftBank Corp. to design its radio network in a more efficient and "intelligent" way. The technology groups cells in clusters and takes factors such as cell coverage overlap and signal strength into consideration for the network design process. The technology was applied to a cluster of 2,000 radio cells and machine-learned statistics were analyzed to devise the best cell configuration.

Italtel SpA is one of a group of companies taking part in a network automation project for Open Fiber, the Italian wholesale-only FTTH operator. Open Fiber chose Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)'s Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) platform to underpin the project, and Italtel designed the IP backbone. According to Italtel, the project has developed "automated workflows" that capture the network to-do list from the customer relationship manager (CRM) and activate it in a heterogeneous multivendor network.

Finland's Elisa Corp. has issued a challenge to startups to build AI-powered applications relating to areas such as industrial IoT and digital healthcare. Participants should submit a three-minute video summary of their concept to Elisa by July 1. The winners stand to pocket €50,000 (US$59,000).

But maybe Elisa could do with a bit of a helping hand from AI right now: YLE reports that key public networks in Helsinki, which are operated by Elisa, ground to a halt yesterday evening, leaving public transport ticket machines out of action causing transport delays and putting the city's health center telephone system out of action. At the time of writing, Elisa was working on getting the services back online.

Swedish cable operator Com Hem AB has come up with a digital platform specifically aimed at multi-dwelling units (MDUs). The smartphone app is aimed at landlords and/or tenant-owned housing associations: They sign a licensing agreement for the app, Com Hem Smart, and then distribute unique login information that residents can use to activate the service on their smartphones. The idea is that the app can be used to, for example, book common spaces and exchange important information relevant to the running of the MDU.

The GSM Association (GSMA) has issued a new report, NB-IoT and LTE-M in the 5G Context, which seeks to explain how NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies are key pieces of the 5G jigsaw, and in particular how they will be integral to the development of what GSMA calls "massive IoT." (Will there be any other sort?)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading