Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Swisscom offers 'maximum Swissness' in AI; MTN explores open RAN's potential in Africa; GenAI is the new porn for UK blokes.
Telefónica Germany is looking into using quantum technology to calculate the optimal placement of mobile antenna in a trial in Munich in collaboration with Amazon Web Services. This trial explores the potential of AWS's quantum processor as a tool for identifying antenna positioning that could maximize network coverage while reducing interference. Once antenna placements have been fixed, the focus shifts to using quantum-powered encryption techniques to secure the highly sensitive data generated in the initial calculations.
Also climbing aboard the quantum train is Vodafone, which has just signed up to Digital Catapult's Quantum Technology Access Programme in the UK. The scheme is part of a wider, partly government-funded, project called Quantum Data Centre of the Future, which aims to embed a quantum computer within a traditional data center to explore real-world access to quantum technologies.
Swisscom has launched its own AI platform, which it hopes it can flog to Swiss businesses. Powered by Swisscom's own data centers, it promises to keep all the relevant data and processing on its home turf – or, as the operator puts it, the platform provides AI infrastructure and applications with "maximum Swissness." Swisscom says it is already working with customers to test applications on the platform.
Orange too is hoping to simplify businesses' adoption of AI, with the launch of what it calls its "Live Intelligence" generative AI offering. Live Intelligence, which has already been tested by more than 50,000 Orange employees over the past year, addresses the issue of "Shadow AI," the name given to the uncontrolled adoption by employees of free online GenAI offerings, exposing companies to data leaks.
MTN has teamed up with US-based ORAN Development to explore the potential of open RAN technology in networks across Africa. The two companies are launching joint lab initiatives and field trials to test open RAN offerings, and plan to examine how the use of open RAN can be optimized by AI to cut network opex.
UK converged operator Virgin Media O2 says that 5G DRIVE, a government-backed project in which it played a significant role, has brought reliable mobile coverage to 31 far-flung tourist destinations that were previously "not spots." DRIVE, by the way, stands for "diversified RAN integration and vendor evaluation."
Saudi operator Zain has been testing Huawei's FWA-based gaming acceleration technology at its headquarters in Riyadh. The Service Turbo software, says Huawei, accurately identifies gaming traffic and generates a suitable network "slice" to keep jitter and lag to a minimum.
Altice subsidiary SFR saw its third-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) decline by 9.9% year-over-year, on revenue that was down 4.7%. During the period, SFR closed the sale of its 49% stake in La Poste Telecom to rival Bouygues Telecom.
Like having very strong views on how the dishwasher should be stacked and taking the bins out, it seems that GenAI is more of a man thing. This is one of the findings of a new study by Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, which also revealed that men were more avid users of Twitter and – surprise, surprise! – porn. Gen Z women (aged 18-24), however, spend more than an hour longer each day online than men of the same age, mainly staring at stuff on Pinterest, according to one of Ofcom's charts.
You May Also Like
