OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company jointly owned by the UK government and India's Bharti, has secured another $500 million in funding, bringing its total funding to $2.4 billion. This new cash injection comes from Bharti under a Call Option agreement and is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. The announcement comes on the heels of news that OneWeb had struck a deal with BT as the UK incumbent operator looks to improve its coverage of more remote areas. On Thursday (July 1), OneWeb is scheduled to carry out its eighth satellite launch, giving it more coverage of the Arctic region. (See Eurobites: BT hooks up with OneWeb for wider broadband coverage and Eurobites: OneWeb emerges from Chapter 11, hires new CEO.)

Orange Ventures is one of the main investors in a $75 milllion series C funding round for Brut, a French media brand that creates digital video content aimed at those aged 18 to 35. The additional funds will enable Brut to extend its operations into new markets such as the US, India and Africa.

Belgium's BICS has added robocalling prevention capabilities to its FraudGuard product range, enabling operators to identify and automatically block spam robocalls to protect their networks and their subscribers. Robocalling is a worldwide problem: In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is from today (June 30) mandating the implementation of several measures and controls, including caller identification technology known as STIR/SHAKEN, which is aimed at combating fraudulently spoofed caller identity. (See US robocall rules require action from foreign carriers – i3forum.)

Openreach, the semi-autonomous network access arm of UK operator BT, has started calling businesses to encourage them to conduct a review of their communications set-up as the date (December 2025) for the end of the UK's PSTN network fast approaches. Over the next four years, more than 14 million traditional lines across the UK will be upgraded to new digital services, says Openreach.

UK altnet CityFibre has connected up its first customers in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham, with Internet service being provided by Purebroadband.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading