Eurobites: Telenor taps AWS to boost 'sovereign cloud' offerEurobites: Telenor taps AWS to boost 'sovereign cloud' offer

Telenor is expanding its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to boost its "sovereign cloud" offer, with the Norwegian operator investing 100 million Norwegian kroner (US$9.3 million) in a project that sees it using AWS infrastructure in combination with Skygard's data center, which is currently under construction. (Skygard is a joint venture between Telenor, Hafslund and HitecVision.) The collaboration is primarily aimed at enterprise customers, but Telenor says it will consider using the same AWS infrastructure to host its internal workloads, in compliance with Norwegian regulatory requirements (See Eurobites: Proximus taps Google for 'sovereign cloud' in Belgium and Luxembourg and DT plans German sovereign cloud – with Google.)

Nokia, meanwhile, is drawing closer to Google, tweaking its Network as Code API platform so that it can run on Google Cloud. The move, says Nokia, will improve the developer experience, bringing generative AI offerings, including Vertex AI and Gemini 1.5 Pro, into the mix. For its part, Google Cloud's developer community will gain access to standardized 5G network capabilities around the world. (See Network APIs mission builds steam as GSMA eyes $300B in sales.)

Telefónica Tech and IBM are getting together to offer AI-flavored goodies to enterprises, with the two companies deploying Shark.X, which Telefónica Tech describes as an open, hybrid and multicloud hardware and software platform specializing in analytics, data management and AI. The platform encompasses watsonx, IBM's own stab at the AI market. The agreement between the two companies will initially be limited to Spain, Telefónica Tech's home turf.

Dutch operator Odido has turned to Ericsson to spruce up its service order management platform. The overhaul will create a single layer for service order management across Odido and its subsidiary brands, Ben, Tele2 Thuis and Simpel. Odido is hoping the update will help it monetize its 5G investments, increasing efficiency by reducing order fall-outs.

Another Ericsson collaboration sees it chumming up with Norway's Tomra on a recycling system that will connect Tomra's reverse vending machines – which collect, sort and process used drink containers – to Ericsson's own recycling platform. By combining their respective technologies, the two companies hope to demonstrate how producers and retailers can monetize their waste and lessen its environmental impact.

Also concerned with recycling and so-called "circularity" is Piceasoft, which has expanded its Picea software platform by adding AI-supported self-service device diagnostics and troubleshooting capabilities. The new features, currently being piloted with a "major mobile operator," allow end users to remotely detect and resolve device issues or find the best trade-in or repair options. Customers can initiate the service from a link or QR code. (See Eurobites: Secondhand phones market continues to grow.)

Poland's Comarch has won the contract to revamp the OSS armory of du, the UAE-based operator. The contract covers resource inventory and catalog, OSS auto-discovery and reconciliation, and OSS mediation. The inventory part spans RAN 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G, transport (SDM, WDM, IP), mobile and fixed core, fixed access (GPON, Ethernet) and passive components.

Towers? Who needs 'em? Telia has used a drone equipped with its own mobile basestation to extend a 5G network into a hitherto unserved forested region of Sweden, allowing machinery there to be remotely controlled. The test was part of a research project involving Mittuniversitetet, Telia, Ericsson, Skogforsk, SCA, Volvo CE and Biometria. (See Scottish demonstration uses drone-mounted 5G basestation for search and rescue and 5G players reassess the drone opportunity.)