The UK government has given the green light to Bharti Global's acquisition of a 24.5% stake in BT. Permission has been granted on the understanding that BT will establish a National Security Committee to oversee, in the words of the government statement, "strategic work that BT performs which has an impact on or is in respect of the national security of the United Kingdom." The stake is being sold by Patrick Drahi, the founder of France-based operator Altice. Bharti is reportedly paying around £3.2 billion (US$4 billion) for the Altice shareholding. Deutsche Telekom remains BT's second-largest single shareholder, with around 12.06%. (See Altice to sell BT stake to Bharti; DT holds firm.)
An industry consortium comprising Eutelsat, Hispasat and SES has signed an agreement with the European Commission and the European Space Agency that will see the consortium design, deliver and operate the IRIS2 satellite constellation for a 12-year period. The constellation, expected to provide services by the beginning of 2030, will be made up of 290 new low Earth orbit and medium Earth orbit satellites. It will be used to provide a secure communications corridor for the EU and its member states, as well as high-speed connectivity for European citizens, government authorities and businesses. The project will be backed by €6.5 billion ($6.8 billion) of public funds. (See Eurobites: EU taps Eutelsat and friends for IRIS2 satellite system.)
The jobs of more than 300 staff – almost 90% of the total workforce – are under threat at pay-as-you-go SIM card specialist Lycamobile, according to a Guardian report. Staff at Lycamobile's London headquarters were told on Friday that the company was facing "pretty serious challenges" and that up to 316 jobs could go, says the report. The company has been involved in a legal dispute with the UK tax authorities over what the authorities saw as unpaid value added tax (VAT).
Dutch operator KPN is to give business and customers more time to make the switch from 2G to 4G and 5G. In a statement, KPN said that there was still a "relatively large group of active users" of 2G, so the switch-off date has been put back by two years, until December 21, 2027, though it advises the remaining 2G users to make the switch to the newer technologies "as soon as possible."
Nokia has joined forces with Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin to investigate the use of wireless sensing technologies in medical applications. The project will focus on how sub-terahertz (sub-THz) frequencies could detect human vital signs from a distance, potentially paving the way for a new generation of non-invasive medical monitoring and diagnostic techniques. For example, in a hospital ward, such a sensing network would be able to distinguish the individual heartbeats and breathing rates of every patient in the room without the need for intrusive sensors such as electrocardiogram electrodes or fingertip pulse oximeters.
Sparkle, the international services arm of Telecom Italia (TIM), has signed a memorandum of understanding with shipbuilding firm Fincantieri to develop new technologies for the surveillance and protection of subsea cables. Instances of subsea cable damage and sabotage appear to be on the rise – only last month two such cables in the Baltic were taken out of service, one of them apparently scuppered by the dragged anchor of a Chinese ship.
Telenor Sweden has appointed Jonas Edén as its new CEO, replacing current CEO Bjørn Ivar Moen, who is leaving the role to return to Norway. Edén has worked for Telenor Sweden since 2012 in various roles.
US-based Vantage Data Centers has announced a new €1.4 billion ($1.46 billion) investment into its EMEA data center platform, courtesy of GIC and MEAG. Vantage's EMEA portfolio currently includes approximately 2.5GW of IT capacity that is operational or in development. The transactions are expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2025.
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