Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) boss Vittorio Colao says that if Britain votes to leave the EU in Thursday's referendum it will no longer be able to play a significant role in shaping Europe's digital future, reports the BBC. "The next big opportunity is in digital. Britain is particularly strong in digital, and it would be a missed opportunity if it tried to sit outside," said Colao in an interview with the BBC's flagship Today radio news program. He also said that Vodafone may have to reconsider having its headquarters in the UK should Britain go down the "Brexit" route.

Russian operator Rostelecom has teamed up with Huawei Marine Networks Co. Ltd. to begin the construction of a 900km subsea fiber link between Kamchatka in the far east of mainland Russian and the Russia-owned island of Sakhalin in the North Pacific. The new link will provide high-speed broadband Internet access to the residents of Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Magadan.

FreedomPop , the US-based MVNO that launched in the UK last year, is enjoying considerable success in converting British users of its free voice and data plans to optional paid-for services, reports Reuters. CEO Stephen Stokols claimed that FreedomPop has a conversion rate -- converting non-paying subscribers to paying subscribers -- of 48% in the UK, dwarfing the rates achieved by the likes of Spotify and WhatsApp. (See MVNO Free Europe: FreedomPop Adds $50M, Thinks Global.)

And on the subject of Spotify , Music Week reports that while the Swedish music streaming service has now topped 100 million active users worldwide, only 14% of Brits actually pay to stream music, according to a new study from Kantar Worldpanel Entertainment. The study was based on a sample of 15,000 people.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is moving further into the healthcare sector in a collaboration with HUS/Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki's Faculty of Medicine. The first project centers on remote patient monitoring systems. Last month Nokia completed the acquisition of Withings, a specialist in "wearables" and other health-monitoring equipment. (See Nokia to Acquire Withings for €170M.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading