In today's EMEA roundup: Iran plans 'domestic' Internet that doesn't include Google; UN ranks Net usage; UK 4G latest; plus NSN, Spirent and ECI

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

September 24, 2012

2 Min Read
Euronews: Iran Prepares to Ringfence Internet

Iran, EE , Spirent Communications plc and Nokia Networks start the week in today's jog through the EMEA headlines.

  • Following the posting of an American-made anti-Islamic movie on YouTube that prompted protest throughout the Arab world, Iran has announced that it plans to block Google and transfer its citizens onto a separate domestic "Internet" network, reports Reuters. Officials claim the move is an attempt to improve cybersecurity, but Iran has a history of blocking access to what it deems to be "offensive" or "criminal" websites.

  • European countries dominate a new Internet usage ranking released by the United Nations. In an extensive and insightful report, The State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion for All, published by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and freely available for anyone to access, eight of the top 10 nations in the "Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet" ranking are in Europe, headed by Iceland (with 95 percent). Of course, the real point of the ranking and the report in general is to identify the countries that fall below the average of 32 percent and to suggest ways in which those countries might boost their digital capabilities (and illustrate how such a boost can empower their citizens). You can see it right here. (See UN Reports on Global Broadband.)

  • Everything Everywhere's plans to launch 4G services earlier than its rivals in the U.K. could still be thrown off-course by legal challenges, according to a report in the Financial Times (subscription required) that cites sources "close to the confidential negotiations" between the various operators concerned. A government-brokered "truce" that prevents such legal action is due to expire next week. (See Europe Set for LTE Laggard Status, Britain's Bloomin' LTE and Europe Set for LTE Laggard Status.)

  • Spirent, the test and measurement specialist, is to sell its PG Drives Technology unit to Curtiss-Wright Corp. for US$64 million. PG Drives designs and supplies DC and AC controllers for electric vehicle applications in the medical mobility and industrial markets. The vendor recently announced the $52-million acquisition of Metrico Wireless Inc. (See Spirent Sells Non-Telecom Unit and Spirent to Buy Mobile Device Test Specialist.)

  • NSN's cost-cutting program, which involves the loss of thousands of jobs worldwide, is ahead of schedule, according to CEO Rajeev Suri, speaking in a Reuters interview. (See Restructuring Costs Hit NSN's Q2 and NSN Could Lose More Than 17,000 Staff.)

  • Romanian cable TV and Internet service provider RCS & RDS has deployed ECI Telecom Ltd. 's tasty OMLT (Optimized Multi-Layer Transport ) technology to provision 100Gbit/s channels on its existing transport network. (See Romanian Operator Does 100G With ECI and ECI's New Flavor of P-OTS.)

    — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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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