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Samsung Networks is having a miserable year
Sales numbers are falling at a steeper rate for Samsung's network business than they are for Ericsson and Nokia.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Echostar teams up with Semtech for satellite-based services; Slovak Telekom increases its capacity with Intelsat; BICS simplifies SIMs.
Nokia has launched what it's calling a blockchain-powered data marketplace, a platform to facilitate the secure and trusted exchange and monetization of data for enterprises and communications service providers. The offering hooks into Nokia's existing Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING), which offers global IoT connectivity for a range of markets such as logistics and healthcare.
EchoStar Mobile, a mobile satellite services provider offering connectivity across Europe through a converged satellite and terrestrial network, is teaming up with Semtech to test satellite services enabled by the LoRaWAN protocol to bring new satellite-based connectivity to the IoT market.
Slovak Telekom has agreed a deal with Intelsat that will provide the operator with three new transponders for extra capacity, allowing it to beef up its presence in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, particularly with regard to its DTH TV services.
BICS, the international services arm of Belgium's Proximus, has added private mobile networks connectivity to its SIM for Things offering. This allows connected devices to function both inside and outside the private network on a single SIM, moving between the two scenarios as required.
A1 Telekom Austria Group has raised €2.5 million (US$3 million) in a Series A funding round for Whalebone, its cybersecurity startup that seeks to prevent communication with and downloads of malware. The round was led by Day One Capital.
Slightly further along the line is Antwerp-based Accelleran, a provider of open RAN software for 4G/5G networks, which has raised €6.8 million ($8.1 million) in in Series B funding in a round led by Cogito Capital Partners. Accelleran plans to use the funding to drive its expansion.
Swisscom is to spin off a new startup, Rready, which will use the "Kickbox" innovation method to try to develop monetizable digital services. Among those backing Rready is Fyrfly, a Californian venture capital firm. Kickbox is a methodology developed by Adobe that encourages employees to come up with new business ideas.
What's shakin' on the UK fiber front? Well now, in no particular order: TalkTalk is launching 506Mbit/s full-fiber broadband in the Scottish town of Inverness; CityFibre is expanding its partnership with HighNet, bringing full-fiber services to the people of Glasgow and Renfrewshire through its new consumer brand, Brawband; and London's Community Fibre has signed a wayleave agreement with social housing landlord EastendHomes to bring full fiber services to 4,000 residents in the borough of Tower Hamlets.
Three UK has appointed Jon Davies as its director of digital. Davies joins Three after a six-year stint at Vodafone, though he has also done time at Adobe and Orange, among other companies.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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