Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: SoftBank to buy T-Mobile US? Irish merger plan has its critics; Google caters for would-be data-deleters.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

May 30, 2014

2 Min Read
Eurobites: SDN's Italian Job

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: SoftBank ready to buy T-Mobile US?; Irish merger plan has its critics; Google caters for would-be data-deleters.

  • Telecom Italia (TIM) has teamed up with Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) and five Italian universities to build a testbed for research into SDN. A blog by Cisco's Erica Schroeder reveals that the consortium in question, Joint Open Lab, began its first six-month research phase earlier this year and could continue its work until 2017. One of the first projects looks into what Cisco calls "network slicing" using OpenFlow, which is intended to allow different teams to experiment on the network without impinging on each other.

    • Has Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) agreed to SoftBank Corp. buying T-Mobile US Inc. ? That's the rumor being aired on Reuters, citing a Japanese news agency. The German giant has so far declined to comment on the matter. In other DT news, Reuters reports that the operator has complained to the European Commission about what it sees as some municipal utilities firms cross-subsidizing the expansion of their broadband networks from their principal energy-related businesses. And, rounding up the DT bulletin, the operator is seeking more partners for its Qivicon smart-home consortium. Its current Qivicon partners are Samsung Corp. , Miele, EnBW, and eQ-3.

    • The European Commission may have given its blessing to Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (Hong Kong: 0013; Pink Sheets: HUWHY)'s proposed acquisition of Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF)'s O2 unit in Ireland, but the country's own regulator and the operator's rivals aren't so sure, reports the Financial Times (subscription required). Ireland's Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) said that "competition concerns will not be fully addressed" and warned that "significant negative consequences" might unfold for the Irish consumer should the deal go ahead. Vodafone Ireland , meanwhile, has warned that it may consider using legal options to block the deal.

    • Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has responded to the recent Court of Justice "right to be forgotten" ruling by launching a service that allows disgruntled Europeans to ask for personal data they'd rather wasn't visible to the whole of planet Earth to be removed from online search results. According to this BBC report, Google says it will assess each request on its merits in an attempt to balance the "privacy rights of the individual with the public's right to know and distribute information." Sounds like quite a big job, and a job that won't make Google any money.

    • Turkey's highest court has ruled that a block on access to YouTube imposed by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government two months ago was a violation of rights, reports Reuters, citing local media outlets. The YouTube ban, imposed because the site was being used for criticizing the government, was lifted in April, along with a similar ban on Twitter.

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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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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