Eurobites: Telia plans 5G corridors for robo-trucking

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: talk of Telefónica selling Tech unit; Vodafone and Docomo opine on open RAN; ETNO keeps it light (on detail).

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

October 6, 2023

2 Min Read
Aerial view of road in Sweden
(Source: Niklas Veenhuis on Unsplash)
  • Nordic operator Telia is planning to set up 150km of 5G transport corridors between significant industrial and technology clusters in Sweden to test and develop systems for connected and autonomous vehicles, such as self-driving electric trucks. The corridors, says Telia, will connect controlled test areas with public roads and enable vehicles to switch between local dedicated mobile networks and the public 5G network. Full-scale tests are scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2024. The project forms part of the NorthStar innovation program and is co-funded by the EU.

  • Telefónica is contemplating the sale of its technology unit, Telefónica Tech, according to a Bloomberg report (paywall applies) citing unidentified sources. The report says that any deal struck could value the company at more than €2 billion (US$2.1 billion).

  • Vodafone and Docomo have published a joint white paper which they hope sets a "clear path" to the promise of greater automation associated with open RAN. The gist of the 16-page document is that greater standardization of the interfaces between existing parts of the network and the O-RAN Alliance-specified Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) platform is the key to unlocking the potential benefits of the technology.

  • After its annual gathering in Vienna this week the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) has announced its strategy for 2024 which, it's fair to say, doesn't contain anything that will frighten the horses. It intends, among other blather, to focus on Europe and "support a policy positioning fit for the age of network virtualization." It doesn't specifically mention banging on about how Big Tech should be paying its "fair share" of network costs, but you can be sure that will get an airing before the year is out.  (See Eurobites: ETNO, GSMA lean on EU (again) and Eurobites: European telecom sounds its 'fair share' foghorn once more.)

  • The UK's data regulator has issued a preliminary enforcement notice against Snap, the company behind the Snapchat messaging platform, over its "potential failure" to properly assess the privacy risks posed by its generative AI chatbot, "My AI." The Information Commissioner's Office provisionally found the risk assessment Snap conducted before it launched My AI in February did not adequately assess the data protection risks posed by the technology, particularly to children.

  • Senegal is refusing to lift its ban on TikTok, a ban it imposed in August in the belief that the video-sharing platform was being used to distribute "hateful and subversive messages." As Reuters reports, Senegalese authorities want the company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, to sign an agreement that would allow for the creation of a mechanism to remove accounts.

Read more about:

Europe

About the Author

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like