Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT security guru exits; Telecom Italia board on tenterhooks; Swiss SPIT; Austrian LTE roaming.
It's a case of déjà vu for Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU)'s Tim Krause, who has been appointed as CMO at the vendor for the second time, effective January 1, 2014. Krause was originally named CMO in 2008, but has been most recently handling the AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) account as senior vice president in charge of the AT&T customer team. Krause transitioned to that role in December 2009 before Stephen Carter was appointed as head of marketing, strategy, and communications in April 2010. Carter is no longer with AlcaLu. Krause will report to CEO Michel Combes, and, as well as marketing, will be charged with leading AlcaLu's "diversification strategy" -- including the development of five key new target markets including cable and "Government Driven Broadband Initiatives" -- as set out in Combes's Shift Plan. (See AlcaLu Names New CMO, Alcatel-Lucent Builds Future Around IP, Get Carter!, and AlcaLu's Giere Gone From CMO Post.)
BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) security guru Bruce Schneier is to leave the UK giant after eight years in what some are interpreting as fallout from the recent NSA data-spying revelations, reports Infosecurity, citing The Register. Schneier, whose official job title at BT was "security futurologist," had written a number of blogs criticizing the collusion of state authorities and telcos in surveillance activities. BT itself is alleged to have been involved in such collusion with GCHQ, the UK spy center. (See British Spooks Tap the Global Net.)
These are nervous times for the board of Telecom Italia (TIM) : A shareholder meeting could vote for it to be ousted if activist investor Marco Fossati has his way, reports the Financial Times (subscription required). Fossati and his followers are dismayed at the thought of Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) gaining control over the Italian incumbent via the Telco investor group, and want to maintain Telecom Italia's independence. (See Euronews: Telefónica Ups Stake in Telecom Italia.)
Dante (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe), which plans, builds, and operates the Géant pan-European research network that interconnects Europe's National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), has ended the year on a high: Géant, which is co-funded by the European Commission under the European Union's 7th Research and Development Framework Programme, has received an "excellent" rating (the highest possible) in a European Commission review, putting it in the top 10% of all EC-funded projects. It has been a busy year for Dante, which was, among other developments, involved in a networking world record. (See Euronews: Infinera & Dante Claim World Record, DANTE, UbuntuNet Connect With Sub-Saharan Africa, and Dante Tackles 100G Bottleneck.)
iGATE Global Solutions Ltd. has landed a Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) deal worth $80 million with Orange Switzerland to upgrade the operator's IT infrastructure and provide infrastructure-as-a-service to Orange and specific partners. iGATE will update and manage all enterprise systems, including ERP, business intelligence, infrastructure, and data network and telephony services.
Telekom Austria AG (NYSE: TKA; Vienna: TKA) has become the first Austrian operator to offer 4G international roaming services, deploying Diameter Router Agents to make this possible. Telekom Austria's A1 subsidiary provides 4G LTE coverage to nearly 35% of the Austrian population.
BT has released a new version of its BT Cloud online storage service, offering a new mobile app for the Windows Phone 8 operating system. BT Cloud has gained nearly a quarter of a million customers since its launch 10 months ago, says the operator.
Still with BT, UK regulator Ofcom has issued a new set of rules governing the speed with which BT's wholesale access unit, Openreach , carries out installations and repairs on its lines. Ofcom is proposing that Openreach will in future be required to complete around 80% of fault repairs within one to two working days of being notified, and provide an appointment for around 80% of new line installations within 12 working days of being notified. And if the targets are missed, fines could kick in.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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