In related news, TIM has announced that it has bought TS-Way, an Italian cybersecurity company. The deal was completed through Telsy, TIM's existing cybersecurity subsidiary. Financial details were not disclosed.

Sweden's Tele2 say its first-quarter EBITDAaL (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, after leases) remained unchanged in "organic" terms year-over-year, at 2.5 billion Swedish kronor (US241 million), on revenue that rose 3% to SEK7.0 billion ($677 million). In what is a now-familiar tale, cost savings related to the operator's business transformation program were offset by inflationary pressures. Full-year 2023 and mid-term financial guidance was confirmed.

Another Swedish company, Enea, has warned that a multi-year contract for its Stratum 5G cloud network data layer, signed in June 2020 with an unnamed leading European operator, may be terminated before the final delivery from Enea has taken place. The total contract was initially valued at up to €24 million ($26.3 million) and has so far generated revenues amounting to €14.5 million ($15.9 million), says Enea.

The founder of a UK company specializing in IoT connectivity has voiced his concern about the British government's testing of its nationwide alert system, which is set to make mobile phones across the land make a horrible noise on Sunday afternoon. Eseye's Paul Marshall believes that the trial has failed to take into account non-consumer connected IoT devices on the market, such as smart vending machines and medical equipment running on Android. "Many devices may not be equipped to acknowledge and dismiss this notification, which could cause real-world problems," says Marshall. "For example, Eseye simulated the alert on customer devices and found that one medical device sounded the alert and entered into an alarm state that could not be cancelled, potentially creating risk and causing distress for patients."

Is nothing sacred? Reuters reports that God's representative on Earth, or at least one of them, Pope Francis, has lost his Twitter blue tick verifying that His Holiness says who he is. Madcap Twitter boss Elon Musk says that he has personally paid for the blue ticks of certain celebs, Star Trek hairpiece William Shatner and scary story writer Stephen King among them. But you have to draw the line somewhere. "Kiss my papal ring, Elon!" the Pope definitely didn't say in response.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading