Eurobites: Telekom Austria Launches 'Digitalization' Unit

News Analysis Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe 2/14/2017

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone wants EE to share mast info; BT brings Symantec on board for managed security services; Queen endures cybersecurity spiel.

Telekom Austria Group has launched a new subsidiary, A1 Digital International, whose stated aim is to help companies "digitalize" their businesses. The new outfit, which will initially focus on the Internet of Things and the cloud, will be headed up by Elisabetta Castiglioni, late of Siemens and MCI, as was.

Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) has complained to the UK government that mobile rival EE is playing its cards too close to its chest when it comes to revealing the location of its next wave of phone masts in rural areas. EE needs the new masts to deploy its new, 4G-based emergency services network and, as the Financial Times reports (subscription required), Vodafone says it needs the information from BT so it can plan its own masts strategy. (See Eurobites: EE Lands Emergency Services Deal.)

BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) has signed an agreement with Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), which sees the US security firm's technology being integrated into BT's range of managed security services. More specifically, Symantec SSL Visibility Appliance is intended to help organizations eliminate blind spots that can arise from encrypted data traffic, while Symantec Cloud Service offers some protection against malware, viruses and other nasties.

In related territory, noted hat-wearer Her Majesty the Queen has opened the UK's new National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in London. Here she is, with The Duke, being talked at by an NCSC operative. (We think her mind may be on lunch.)

The Queen and The Duke watch @ncsc trigger a mock cyber attack #NCSClaunch pic.twitter.com/s2VT1ulBke
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 14, 2017

And back to BT-related matters: Openreach , the UK incumbent's network access unit, has appointed Liz Benison as its fourth independent board member. The appointment forms part of BT's attempt to keep UK regulator Ofcom sweet -- Ofcom, responding to pressure from BT's disgruntled rivals, has threatened to structurally separate BT from Openreach unless BT takes steps to erect at least notional barriers between itself and its subsidiary. Benison is currently chief executive (UK & Europe, Local & Regional Government) at public services provider Serco. She joins Chairman Mike McTighe, Sir Brendan Barber and Edward Astle on the non-executive line-up. (See BT Bulks Up Openreach Board to Appease Ofcom and Only BT's Dismemberment Will Sate Rivals.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading