Eurobites: FTTH deployment rate slows in FranceEurobites: FTTH deployment rate slows in France
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: 1&1 signs deal with Vantage Towers; Vodafone aims for greater diversity; Zen Internet wins green gong.
December 10, 2021

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: 1&1 signs deal with Vantage Towers; Vodafone aims for greater diversity; Zen Internet wins green gong.
The latest "scorecard" from Arcep, the French communications regulator, reveals that the rate of FTTH deployment in France has slowed markedly in Q3 2021. FTTH passed 1.3 million additional premises in Q3, 13% fewer than in Q3 2020. During the period, the number of "superfast" broadband (at least 30 Mbit/s) subscriptions increased by 870,000, to reach 17.5 million. Conversely, the number of what Arcep calls "classic" broadband subscriptions decreased by 3 million year-on-year, to 13.7 million.
1&1 Mobilfunk has signed a long-term agreement with Vantage Towers for the provision of up to 5,000 antenna locations throughout Germany. At the same time, an inter-company agreement was concluded between 1&1 Mobilfunk and 1&1 Versatel Deutschland for the provision of fiber-optic connections and data centers. Vantage will be responsible for installing 1&1's 5G antennas on its towers and for related services. The term of the individual location rents is at least 20 years and can be extended by 1&1 if desired.
Vodafone has announced a set of diversity targets with the overall aim of making sure that by 2030 a quarter of the company's global senior leadership comes from "ethnically diverse" backgrounds. That figure currently stands at 18%. Vodafone also committed to ensuring that 20% of its UK-based bigwigs will come from Black, Asian or other diverse ethnicities, with 4% of that figure being Black. Vodacom, Vodafone's African unit, is aiming to have 75% of its South African senior management from ethnically diverse backgrounds – currently this figure stands at 63%.
Zen Internet has been deemed the UK's greenest Internet service provider by Broadband Savvy, a price comparison site. According to Broadband Savvy, Zen is already carbon neutral and performed well in almost every category considered. Sky and BT got silver and bronze, respectively, while Shell Energy Broadband, KCOM and TalkTalk were the worst performers in the index.
Italy's antitrust authority has fined Amazon €1.13 billion (US$1.28 billion) for what it alleges is abuse of market dominance. As Reuters reports, the case relates to what is alleged to be Amazon's tendency to favor the adoption of its own logistics service, Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), for sellers active on Amazon.it. According to the authority, Amazon tied the sellers' use of FBA access to a set of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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