Eurobites: Digital Realty Digests Interxion for $7.15B

Nokia has landed a cloud-native mobile core gig at Ooredoo Tunisia, supplying its AirGile offering to power the operator's 2G/3G/4G network and help it prepare for the transition to 5G.

And, elsewhere on planet Ooredoo, the group saw third-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) grow 6% year-on-year to 3.32 billion Qatari riyal ($912 million) on revenue that crept up 1% year-on-year to QAR7.45 billion ($2.04 billion). The operator attributed the rise in earnings to a group-wide efficiency program but also admitted a new accounting standard helped. The group's customer base has now reached 116 million, boosted in Q2 2019 by new customers in Indonesia and Iraq.

Clear, an Israel-based blockchain specialist, has revealed that it is has been testing the use of the technology with Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, Telefónica and Vodafone to make the once-a-year settlement process between roaming partners (where they work out what they owe each other) easier.

Masmovil, Spain's fourth-largest operator, enjoyed a bumper third quarter, with EBITDA up 41% year-on-year to €120 million ($133.2 million). Customer numbers have risen by 24% over the first nine months of the year, to 8.6 million, of which 7.2 million are mobile and 1.4 million fixed broadband.

Total third-quarter revenue at satellite operator Intelsat fell 6% year-on-year to $506.7 million due to " non-renewals and service contractions." This translated to a net loss of $148.3 million.

The sale of rival satellite firm Inmarsat to a consortium made up of UK-based Apax partners, US-based Warburg Pincus and two Canadian pension funds has been cleared by the UK government, Reuters reports.

Logistics company Gefco has chosen Telefónica Business Solutions France, a joint venture between Telefónica and Bouygues Telecom, to deliver a WAN data network to connect 120 sites in France, Spain and Portugal.

Middle Eastern operators Batelco and du have joined forces to launch Arc, an "intelligent network provider" that they hope will simplify intra-regional connectivity in the region.

The Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland, has begun the process of choosing its preferred supplier to deliver the island's national broadband plan. Expressions of interest are being sought for partners to help the island's government in its target of reaching over 99% of the Island's premises with "ultrafast" fiber broadband.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading