Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Altice hooks up with Amdocs; Arcep probes Orange's wholesale business; new proposals on 'white space' networks.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

January 9, 2018

2 Min Read
Eurobites: France Takes Aim at 'Planned Obsolescence' of iPhones

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Altice hooks up with Amdocs; Arcep probes Orange's wholesale business; new proposals on "white space" networks.

  • Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) may be in hot water with the French authorities over what could be seen as the planned obsolescence of its iPhones. According to a Reuters source, the French consumer fraud watchdog, DGCCRF, has launched a preliminary investigation into the US tech giant's policy of reducing the power demands in some older iPhone models when the phone's battery is struggling to keep up with the processor. Under French law, Apple could face a fine of up to 5% of its annual revenues if it is deemed to have deliberately shortened the life of its products to encourage consumers to replace them.

    • Altice SFR is plugging into software from Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) to improve its customer management. The operator hopes to use Amdocs' wares to modernize its IT architecture so that it can introduce new products and services to its residential market more quickly. Altice has today announced a major restructuring, spinning off its US business and overhauling its European set-up. (See Altice Spins Off US Biz, Rejigs in Europe.)

    • French telecom regulator Arcep has announced two inquiries into the quality of Orange (NYSE: FTE)'s wholesale services on its copper network in the business-to-business market. The details (in French) can be seen here.

    • The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Ltd. , a global organization lobbying for laws and regulations that will lead to more efficient spectrum use, has proposed a new set of rules that it hopes will help regulators better implement so-called TV "white space" networks, not least by bringing more international regulatory harmonization. As Broadband TV News reports, the proposed rules are intended to replace those published in 2014.

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

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.

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