Also flicking the 5G switch is Telekom Slovenije, though the Slovenian operator will use existing basestations and the 2600MHz frequency it already runs its 4G services on for the new launch. Telekom Slovenije has already upgraded 150 basestations, offering approximately 25% coverage, and it hopes to push this figure beyond 33% by the end of the year. It also needs to start selling phones that support 5G – it says this will happen "soon."

French operator Orange is taking its banking operation to Africa, teaming up with insurance company NSIA to set up shop in Côte d'Ivoire. Orange Bank Africa, through its Orange Money service, will offer a range of savings and "micro credit" services allowing customers often excluded from mainstream banking to borrow money using their mobile phone. For more details, see this story on our sister site, Connecting Africa. (See also Should Telcos Become Banks? and Orange Bank Job Is Going Europe-Wide.)

Euskaltel, the Spanish operator that has its roots in the Basque Country, saw second-quarter revenues inch up 0.3% year on year, to €171.6 million (US$198.8 million). EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) grew 3.7% to €87.5 million ($101.3 million), including the cost of launching its new brand, Virgin Telco. During the period, Euskaltel gained 11,300 new customers, 4,800 in the Group's traditional markets and an impressive 6,500 from Virgin Telco.

Sky, the UK-based purveyor of pay-TV and more, is to team up with TV measurement company TVSquared to enable advertisers to find out if their ads are leading to website visits and, ultimately, product sales. As Reuters reports, the tool is timely as media companies fret about losing advertising spend during the coronavirus pandemic.

Vodafone has used an existing O2 site to expand its 4G coverage to the rural community of Longnor in the UK's Peak District, the second site to go live under the new UK Shared Rural Network mast-sharing initiative, which the British government optimistically describes as a "£1 billion deal to make poor and patchy rural phone coverage a thing of the past."

Belgium's Proximus has signed a five-year deal with Eleven Sports under the terms of which Eleven will use Proximus' Media House to produce live coverage of Belgian soccer.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading