Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EE offers immersive soccer coverage; France and the Netherlands want to tame tech titans; Telia goes climate neutral.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

October 16, 2020

3 Min Read
Eurobites: EU member states map out their cloud future

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EE offers immersive soccer coverage; France and the Netherlands want to tame tech titans; Telia goes climate neutral.

  • European Union member states managed to put their differences aside and crank out a "Joint Declaration on Cloud" this week, attempting to map out the way forward for cloud-based computing within the political bloc. As you'd expect, it's a long-winded affair, but words such as transparency, interoperability and openness loom large. Try this for size: "Completely interoperable, open, multi-vendor cloud platforms and services, based on European, international or open source standards, will enable users to migrate effectively to the cloud, reaping its full economic benefits and availing of a high degree of choice in the market." The signatories agreed to work towards a "European cloud federation initiative," which they believe will shape the "next generation secure, energy-efficient and interoperable cloud supply for Europe."

    ETNO, the association representing Europe's leading operators, welcomed the document, describing it as an "important milestone towards a stronger European commitment for deploying next generation cloud infrastructure and services," adding that it fully supports the "EU's vision of building a pan-European cloud 'federation' of interconnected cloud capabilities."

    • UK mobile operator EE is hoping to appeal to soccer fans starved of in-the-flesh live action with its Match Day Experience wheeze, which offers a more "immersive" approach to watching soccer via the BT Sport app. Fans can "watch together" thanks to split-screen wizardry, take advantage of "360-degree" viewing and use an augmented reality "doorway" in the BT Sport app to be "transported from wherever they are into exclusive behind the scenes experiences of leading football teams and sporting stadiums."

    • France and the Netherlands have called for the creation of a new body dedicated to regulating tech titans such as Google and Facebook, and ultimately prevent them from abusing their market dominance. As Reuters reports, French junior minister Cédric O and his Dutch opposite number Mona Keijzer said in a joint statement that such an authority should be able to stop all-powerful tech platforms from blocking access to their services without good reason.

    • Sweden's Telia says it's on course to go "climate neutral" in 2020, two years ahead of its original target date. The operator plans to do this by offsetting its remaining emissions in 2020 in the form of "carbon removals."

    • KCom, the UK operator that has until now provided service entirely in the northern city of Hull is to cross the adjacent River Humber for the first time, according to a report on BusinessLive. South of the river, 10,000 homes in the villages of Barton and Brigg will feel the fiber benefit. Figure 1: Heading south: KCom is stretching across the Humber Bridge to reach 10,000 homes on the other side of the estuary. (Source: 43 Clicks North on Unsplash) Heading south: KCom is stretching across the Humber Bridge to reach 10,000 homes on the other side of the estuary.
      (Source: 43 Clicks North on Unsplash)

    • Saudi Telecom Company (STC) wants the world to know that it is employing more women, with a 22% increase in their numbers compared with the previous year. There are now around 3,000 female employees at STC, around 18% of them in leadership positions, according to the operator. But steady there, ladies, it's important to know your limits. You'll be wanting to drive next.

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

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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