Eurobites: Bouygues upgrades IP core with Nokia

Nokia has got the nod to upgrade Bouygues Telecom's IP core network and expand the capacity of the French operator's security gateway services. Hardware-wise, Nokia will be supplying its 7750 Service Router (SR) platform, which is powered by Nokia's own FP5 routing silicon. (Bouygues is currently on the FP4 platform.)

Orange is combining with UN agency UNIDO in an attempt to establish a formalized market for secondhand devices and network/IT equipment in Egypt. As part of the EU-funded program, a device refurbishment center will be set up in 2024 using locally recruited technicians. According to Orange, Egypt's e-waste represents 20% of the total produced by Africa as a whole.

BT's exploration of a possible takeover of musicMagpie appears to have crash-landed, with BT deciding not make an offer for the secondhand device seller after all. As City AM reports, musicMagpie said last week that it was in preliminary discussions with BT and Aurelius Group regarding an unlikely-sounding buyout offer. The interest in musicMagpie was thought to be linked to the launch last month by EE, BT's mobile arm, of a new consumer platform, EE ID, through which it hoped to offer a broader range of products, including, it was suggested in some skeptical quarters, fridges and coffee machines.

A Vienna-based digital rights group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems has filed a complaint with the Austrian regulator against Meta's paid-for, ad-free subscription service, which Meta last month announced would be available for its Facebook and Instagram users. As Reuters reports, Schrems and his gang, collectively known as NOYB (None of Your Business), believe that the move amounted to users having to pay Meta a fee to ensure privacy, which was a concept of consent they weren't happy with.

Arcep, the French communications regulator, is having its remit broadened with the creation of a new data and cloud services unit. The unit's responsibilities will include the regulation of data intermediation service providers (as defined by the European Union's Data Governance Act) and what Arcep calls the "unlocking" of cloud services in terms of interoperability and data portability.

Well, waddya know? Kids feel comfortable using generative AI. Of course they do. This is the headline finding of new research from UK communications regulator Ofcom, which discovered that four in five teenagers aged 13-17 now use generative AI tools and services, with a significant minority of those aged 7-12 also giving them a go. Snapchat My AI is apparently the platform of choice for most teenagers, with teenage girls its most avid users. Those aged 16 and above – and particularly the boys – tend to for boring old ChatGPT.

Now in an industry awash with PR stunts that often don't even make any sense, here's a good bit of corporate publicity that actually helps people in need: Giffgaff, O2's youth-oriented, pay-as-you-go MVNO offshoot, is providing vendors of the Big Issue (a homelessness charity magazine sold on the streets by vendors who get to keep 50% of the cover price) with refurbished phones equipped with NFC technology that allows them to take cashless payments without the need for an additional card reader.