On the old-school mobile side of things, Vodafone is close to reaching a UK merger deal with CK Hutchison, the Hong Kong-based owner of mobile operator Three, according to a Reuters report. The deal, if it goes ahead in the face of what is certain to be intense scrutiny from competition watchdogs, would create the UK's largest mobile operator. (See What's the Story? Three/Vodafone merger could rattle UK market.)

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been asked by the government to have a good, long think about artificial intelligence and how the technology's "foundation models" can operate fairly in the marketplace. Specifically, the CMA will look at AI in relation to what it calls "five overarching principles," namely: safety, security and robustness; appropriate transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress. It sounds like nailing-jelly-to-the-wall territory, but the CMA is hoping for views and evidence from interested parties by June 2 with a view to publishing its findings in September. (See After hefty cuts, AI puts thousands more telco jobs on the line and Be afraid – ChatGPT has caught the eye of telecom.)

First-quarter earnings at Swisscom rose by 2.4% year-over-year, to 1.16 billion Swiss francs (US$1.31 billion), with Italian broadband unit Fastweb proving once again to be a star performer, increasing revenue in local currency terms by 4.7%. Swisscom confirmed its outlook for full-year 2023, envisaging net revenue of CHF11.1 to CHF11.2 billion ($12.5 to $12.6 billion), and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of CHF4.6 to CHF4.7 billion ($5.2 to $5.3 billion).

Also maintaining its financial outlook for 2023 is Telenor, which saw first-quarter service revenues climb 2% on the same period last year, to 14.9 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.4 billion). Reported EBITDA was flat, at NOK8.1 billion ($757 million). In his results statement, Telenor President and CEO Sigve Brekke noted that Telenor's fixed business had "turned positive" after completion of the copper decommissioning process.

Nokia is in talks with labor unions to cut up to 208 jobs in Finland, Finnish website YLE reports, the cuts forming part of the wider program of up to 10,000 redundancies announced in 2021. Nokia employs around 7,000 people in Espoo, Oulu and Tampere, though it is understood the current cuts being discussed do not affect the Oulu site.

Sky, the UK-based purveyor of pay-TV and more, is bringing together its business TV and business broadband units into one combined clump, to be named Sky Business. In the purple prose of the press release, the integration "brings together teams that are experts in their field, who thrive on new ideas and make them happen, who believe in a better tomorrow for business customers." Here at Eurobites we also believe in a better tomorrow, especially when it's Friday.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading