Eurobites: Three UK goes all in with Amdocs

Three UK, the mobile operator that is in the process of being absorbed into Vodafone, has decided to put all its OSS eggs in one basket and signed a five-year, multi-million-pound deal with US vendor Amdocs. Three says the deal will have no impact on its direct employees, although some of the staff working for Three's current software partner companies will be transferred to Amdocs. The operator, which is part of the Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison group, believes the move will increase the reliability of its systems, rashly promising that its customers shall henceforth enjoy the fabled "seamless" experience.

Dutch operator KPN is to incorporate cloud gaming from Nvidia into its range of retail offerings from the beginning of next year. Nvidia's GeForce NOW service, which KPN claims brings high-performance PC gaming to nearly any device, will be available to new and existing customers on KPN's SuperFiber and 5G Unlimited tiers. KPN customers will also be able to access their own games catalogue from popular digital stores such as Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox and Ubisoft Connect.

The UK's competition watchdog has extracted commitments from Amazon and Meta which it hopes will make for a more level playing field when it comes to both companies' retail platforms. The Competition and Markets Authority believes that the two tech giants have long been abusing their dominant positions in their respective online "Marketplace" features, with third-party sellers struggling to get a look-in. Amazon has also promised to allow such sellers to negotiate their own delivery rates with independent providers, rather being forced to use Amazon's logistics operation.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has signed a connectivity-and-more deal with Red Sea Global, the developer behind some of Saudi Arabia's largest planned tourism projects. STC's job, in the not overly humble words of its press release, will involve "priming the connectivity services to all existing and prospective sites in the Red Sea area to revolutionize the region's tourism experience." The operator's role will encompass both fixed-line and 5G technologies.

Get the beers in, put the bunting out and generally rejoice: Black Friday, that heartwarming celebration of online bargain-bagging, is almost upon us. And Virgin Media is marking the non-event by offering three months' "free" broadband on some of its packages taken out between now and November 27, meaning the actual monthly cost of the package will kick in during February, just when you're at your lowest ebb. Happy holidays!