Eurobites: Tele2 plans job cuts in cost-control clampdownEurobites: Tele2 plans job cuts in cost-control clampdown

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BBC looks at TV license options; Nokia upgrades 1Global's core; GSMA welcomes Nigerian tariff hike.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

January 29, 2025

3 Min Read
Tele2 sign
(Source: Jerome Cid/Alamy Stock Photo)

Nordic operator Tele2 is planning to cut around 15% of its workforce as it looks to transform itself into a more streamlined and profitable company. Presenting Tele2's fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, CEO Jean Marc Harion said that there was "untapped potential" in the company that needed to be fulfilled. "We will reduce complexity, reinforce cost discipline and carefully select investments to focus on those that make a real difference for our customers," he said. "Our organization will undergo significant changes during 2025. This will be a challenging time for all our colleagues, especially those directly affected by the reorganization."

Fourth-quarter EBITDAal (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, after leases) at Tele2 increased by 1% year-over-year in organic terms, to 2.7 billion Swedish kronor (US$245 million), and full-year results were in accordance with previous guidance, said the operator. (See Eurobites: Iliad takes 19.8% stake in Tele2.)

BBC considers license raid on streamers

The UK's best known public service broadcaster, the BBC, is considering extending its mandatory license fee to households that claim to only use streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter (paywall applies). The license fee currently stands at £169.50 ($210.60) a year, and applies to all households that watch live TV or use BBC iPlayer. The government is also looking at having a tiered licensing fee so that lower-income households do not have to pay as much as more wealthy people.

Nokia lands core gig at 1Global

Nokia has been chosen by eSIMs specialist 1Global to upgrade its core network infrastructure, making it fully cloud-native. Nokia's Evolved Packet Core, IMS Voice Core and NetGuard security products will all be deployed across eight countries, the UK and the Netherlands amongst them.

Neos and friends bring broadband to rural midlands

Neos Networks is teaming up with Openreach and Netomnia to build a new, partly government-funded fiber broadband network covering up to 28 public buildings in rural parts of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in the English midlands. Currently the £1.2 million ($1.5 million) project is only at the initial survey stage but it is hoped that the full network will be live by the spring of next year. (See Neos slams Openreach on costly and difficult exchange closures and New Neos boss targets return to profit in UK's 'brutal' B2B market.)

Orange kicks off connectivity upgrade for French overseas territory

Orange has marked the beginning of its new Nuanua connectivity project in the French-run Wallis and Futuna islands, which will see the operator using SES's medium Earth orbit (MEO) O3b mPOWER satellite system to boost coverage in the region. Currently the South Pacific archipelago is served by a single subsea cable which limits Internet access for the territory's nearly 12,000 residents in the event of a disruption. The project is co-financed by the EU under the "Connecting Europe Facilities – Digital" program.

GSMA likes Nigerian tariff hike

The GSMA has welcomed the Nigerian government's decision to allow the country's telcos to hike their tariffs by 50%, saying that the decision is "set to unlock substantial investment in telecommunications infrastructure, increasing 4G coverage to 94% of the population and enabling mobile internet access for an additional 9 million people, with 2 million people in underserved areas." The GSMA is calling for further policy measures to amplify the impact of the tariff hikes, including the streamlining of right-of-way permits and a reduction in the tax "burden" on the mobile sector.

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About the Author

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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