Eurobites: Ericsson's Latest Smart Factory Nears Completion

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Colt hires new marketing boss; ADVA trumpets its eco-commitments; Zain Jordan upgrades its billing systems.

Ericsson says it is nearing completion of its "smart factory" in Tallin, Estonia, a 25,000 square meter facility that will make 5G-related equipment and will use the Swedish vendor's technology to create highly automated, largely robot-dependent systems. The news follows recent announcements regarding the setting up of smart factories in Poland and Texas as well as the overhaul of its existing factory in Nanjing, China. (See Made in China, by a Swedish Robot: Ericsson Gets Smart in Nanjing and US to Get New Ericsson Factory – but Not Many Jobs.)

Colt Technology Services, which sells telecom services to enterprises, has appointed Yasutaka Mizutani as its chief marketing officer. Mizutani has been with Colt for 12 years, most recently acting as head of global business partner marketing. He replaces Stephanie Lynch-Habib, who joined the GSMA as its CMO last month.

Maybe it's the Greta Thunberg effect, but announcements from vendors and service providers regarding eco-friendly initiatives are certainly coming thick and fast at the moment. Today's shout-out goes to Germany's ADVA, which wants the world to know that its targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction have been approved by something called the Science Based Targets Initiative. ADVA's agreed targets include switching sites to renewable power and improving the energy efficiency of its entire product line.

Zain Jordan has completed an upgrade of its authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) infrastructure with help from Alepo, a provider of revenue management software. The souped-up system will provide several enhancements, including a more robust automated failover, improved security, real-time monitoring and proactive alerts.

Polish data center company Beyond.pl has appointed the marvelously named Claes Meyer zu Allendorf as its new, "passionate about rock climbing" CEO. Beyond.pl describes itself as the first carrier-neutral data center in Poland providing IT services for business.

Still in Poland, Broadband TV News reports (citing Media2.pl) that the owner of pirate video site patrzajto.pl has been sentenced to eight months in prison for distributing original content shown by Poland's Platforma Canal+.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading