Norway's Telenor hacked into operating costs to protect third-quarter profit, reporting 4% growth in underlying earnings, to about 14.6 billion Norwegian kroner (US$1.6 billion), despite its 2.3% dip in revenues, to roughly NOK30 billion ($3.3 billion). Sigve Brekke, the operator's CEO, attributed the savings to "organizational modernization and accelerated digitalization programmes," jargon that translates into job cuts for many of Telenor's employees. The company did not cite its current headcount but had 20,044 employees at the end of 2019, down from 30,800 just two years earlier. While many have left as a result of divestment activity, others have lost their jobs due to automation. Telenor's share price was up 1.3% in Oslo at the time of writing.

The opening of new retail outlets is now a rarity on Planet Coronavirus. As consumers retreat indoors and venture online, closures and derelict city centers are becoming the norm. Bucking the trend, Sky today announced plans to open its first retail shops in the UK, starting in Liverpool, where a store will open on October 26. The service provider said its outlets would be a "departure from traditional shops," allowing consumers to engage in various interactive experiences and binge on its huge library of digital content. Commenting in a tweet, CCS Insight analyst Kester Mann said the move was "great news for the embattled high street" and that it was "logical to focus on customer experience and service." Might Sky have alighted on a blueprint for the high street's survival?

The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance has clambered aboard the increasingly crowded 6G bandwagon with the launch of a new project focusing on the "vision and drivers for 6G." The industry association, headquartered in Germany, said its goal was to provide "early and timely direction for global 6G activities." If it seems too early for all that, work on 5G started around 2010, according to Alan Carlton, the vice president of wireless and Internet technologies for InterDigital, which owns a number of 5G patents. "It is definitely beyond the academic and philosophical stage but still a long way from standardization talk," he told Light Reading. The NGMN's update comes after a recent burst of 6G activity as US and European firms try to seize the technology initiative from the Chinese. (See AT&T, T-Mobile take different views on 6G.)

— Iain Morris, International Editor, Light Reading