Eurobites: Vodafone turns to Oracle for 5G policy management

Nokia has signed a contract with 450connect, a joint venture backed by German companies from the energy and water sectors, to build its nationwide LTE network, which operates on the 450MHz frequency. According to Nokia, its LTE450 technology is well suited to IoT/M2M applications for critical infrastructure. Under the terms of the deal, Nokia will manage the supply and performance of all LTE components, including maintenance services, until 2040.

Telefónica Tech has come up with a drone-based offering for the maintenance of electricity grids. The drones are equipped with cameras and sensors that transmit the information collected via 5G to be processed with artificial intelligence algorithms, making it possible to spot corrosion in grid insulators and other problems without putting electricity company workers in potentially hazardous situations. The system will be shown at Mobile World Congress later this month.

Openreach, the semi-autonomous network access arm of BT, has plumped for Viavi's Fusion automated testing system to check the end-user speeds being achieved on its full-fiber broadband network.

Huawei's South African unit has had its knuckles rapped for breaking rules on the hiring of locals and has been ordered to mend its ways. As Reuters reports, around 90% of Huawei's employees were found to be foreign nationals, despite the limit being set at 40%. The government has filed court papers seeking a fine of 1.5 million rand (US$99,151) or 2% of Huawei South Africa's annual 2020 turnover for the alleged infringements.

Soccer fans at the match between MK Dons and Ipswich Town over the weekend were able to try out a prototype of the 5G Vista app, which allowed them to view six, high-resolution live streams of the game shown from different angles. Vista is a consortium comprising Virgin Media O2, Ateme, Digital Catapult and others that is exploring the potential of 5G broadcast technology. Sadly, there were no goals to view from six different angles in this match – it ended 0-0.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading