Eurobites: Iliad's odyssey with Nokia continues in AirScale dealEurobites: Iliad's odyssey with Nokia continues in AirScale deal

Nokia has extended its contract with Iliad in a deal that covers the operator’s 3G, 4G and 5G networks in France, Italy and other, more far-flung corners of the world including the Caribbean and Indian Ocean Islands. Under the terms of the deal, Nokia will supply hardware and software from its AirScale range, including baseband, Massive MIMO radios, remote radio head products and core offerings. Iliad has been a customer of Nokia since 2010.

Nokia is also claiming a world first with the launch of a 5G-enabled 360-degree camera designed for use in harsh industrial conditions. It comes with built-in security and provides 8K streaming with low-latency, high-resolution 360-degree video coupled with spatial audio (think surround-sound) over 5G, Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

Slovenia's Kontron has landed a routers and modems deal with Czech fiber wholesaler CETIN. More than 100,000 households stand to benefit from the rollout, says Kontron, with residents being able to access data rates of up to 10 Gbit/s thanks to XGS-PON technology.

Vodafone is offering an eSIM (embedded SIM) option on its youth-oriented Voxi mobile brand, stressing the plastic-free eco-credentials and convenience of this increasingly popular approach to connectivity. The eSIM is a fixed part inside a device that acts as a conventional removable SIM but can be programmed remotely, removing the need to obtain a physical card and insert it into a device. (See Vodafone rocks eSIMs to tempt concertgoers with a free ride on its network.)

Sparkle, the international services arm of Telecom Italia (TIM), has signed an agreement with Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) that will see TIM's subsea cables being used to monitor earthquakes and tidal waves in the Mediterranean. Fiber sensing techniques allow the detection of the mechanical vibrations brought to bear on the fibers by such natural phenomena.

Sports streaming service DAZN has turned to LTN's automated linear channel creation and playout technology to bring major international soccer competitions to betting audiences and commercial partner platforms across Germany. LTN's software allows DAZN to deliver 11 live streaming channel variants to around 1,000 betting locations and its distribution partner, Amazon Prime Video.

Sweden's Net Insight has secured a 5G time synchronization order from an unnamed European operator. This first order of 25 units of Zyntai nodes was won in partnership with Net Insight's Turkish partner Sekom and the majority of the revenue was recognized earlier this year.

Aqua Comms and Ciena are claiming to have achieved the first ever 1.3Tbit/s wavelength transmission spanning 5,500km across the Atlantic, using Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) programmable coherent technology. The companies also recorded what they say is another world first, an 800Gbit/s wavelength transmission from the US to Ireland and back.

Sky is to integrate Warner Bros. Discovery's ad-supported Max streaming channel onto its UK and Ireland TV platforms in 2026, at no extra cost to Sky customers, as part of a new contract extension between the two companies. The deal also sees Turner Kids content appearing on a number of Sky channels.