Eurobites: Telecom Italia reveals post-NetCo H1 earningsEurobites: Telecom Italia reveals post-NetCo H1 earnings

Presenting first-half results in a manner that, in the company's words, "simulates the effects of the disposal of NetCo [its fixed-line network]," Telecom Italia (TIM) saw EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) grow 9.4% year-over-year, to €2.1 billion (US$2.2 billion), on total revenues up 3.5%, to €7.1 billion ($7.6 billion). Service revenues grew particularly strongly – by 7.6%, to €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) – at its Brazil unit, whereas domestically they were up by 2.2%, to €4.5 billion ($4.8 billion). Based on these results, TIM has confirmed its guidance for the current year. (See Telecom Italia gears up for change as NetCo sale looms.)

Also confirming its outlook for the full year is Spanish towerco Cellnex, which saw first-half EBITDAaL (EBITDA after leases) rise 8.4% year-over-year, to €1.114 billion ($1.198 billion), on revenue that was up 7.1%, to €1.921 billion ($2.072 billion). Earlier this week Cellnex reached a long-term towers deal with UK mobile operators Vodafone and Virgin Media O2, allowing the operators' network-sharing arrangement to continue. In March, Cellnex announced the sale of its business in Ireland to Phoenix Tower International for around €971 million ($1.04 billion), a move presented as forming a part of the towerco's "Next Chapter."

VEON, the operator with networks in six countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ukraine, is to voluntarily delist from the Amsterdam exchange and initiate a share buyback program for up to $100 million. The delisting is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year, though the company will remain on the Nasdaq exchange in the US.

Arm, the UK-based but SoftBank-owned chip designer, saw fiscal first-quarter revenues soar 39% year-over-year, to $939 million, with multiple high-value and often AI-related license agreements playing a major part in the success story. Operating income was up 19.4%, to $182 million. For Arm, AI is clearly where it's at: In its letter to shareholders, the company said: "We expect the migration of AI from the cloud to edge devices to drive even higher compute demand per device over time and Arm's unprecedented share across all end markets means that Arm is uniquely positioned to benefit from this migration, which will increase royalty revenue per chip."

Nokia has secured another customer for its Network as Code platform, which is supposed to make life easier for developers toiling in the the API "ecosystem." The customer in question is the ridiculously named Bounteous x Accolite, which describes itself as a global digital transformation services consultancy. Using the platform, Bounteous x Accolite developers will gain access to operator networks via software development kits; network API documentation; a "sandbox" in which to create software code for use case simulation and testing; and code snippets that can be included in new applications.

In the old days, mobile phone stores were where you went to, well, buy or fix a mobile phone. Get with the retail program, daddy-o: Now they offer "sleep coaching." Or, more accurately, one of them does – the EE Studio store in London's White City. Dr. Sophie Bostock (a.k.a. "The Sleep Scientist") will be in attendance, dispensing hints and tips for how to get a decent night's ZZZZZs – according to EE's research fewer than half of British adults get their recommended seven hours or more. It's all to plug the new Samsung Galaxy Ring, which, according to EE, features "advanced sleep tracking tech." Sounds like the sort of thing that might keep you awake at night…