Eurobites: Nokia gets the nod for Openreach's One Network PlatformEurobites: Nokia gets the nod for Openreach's One Network Platform

Nokia has won the contract to build Openreach's One Network Platform, which the wholly owned subsidiary of BT describes as an open access fiber network serving communications service providers in the UK. Nokia's offering is based on a modular data center approach which it says will enable Openreach to build a large-scale open access network that can more than halve the power and space requirements at Ethernet access exchange sites. The use of what Nokia calls "intent-based management" will also help simplify operations through the use of a service-oriented interface, says the vendor. (See Eurobites: UK signs Project Gigabit contracts worth £289M with Openreach.)

BT pursues electric dreams with EV order

In other Openreach-related news, parent company BT claims it has put in the UK's largest ever order for commercial electric fleet vehicles. Around 3,500 EVs are being pressed into service, adding to the 4,300 EVs that already form part of Openreach's 27,000-strong fleet. The latest batch of EVs will be made by Ford, Stellantis, Toyota and Renault, and will be delivered over the next two years. BT has committed to reaching "net zero" by March 2031. (See BT sets out green ambitions post COVID-19.)

Starlink's Italian job isn't in the bag just yet

Italy's defense minister has played down talk of a government connectivity deal with Elon Musk's Starlink, saying that no contracts have been agreed. As Reuters reports, Guido Crosetto told the Italian parliament that there was "a need to study and evaluate every solution technically capable of providing the aforementioned capabilities." Reports of a possible $1.6 billion deal first appeared on Bloomberg last weekend.

Eagle S has its wings clipped

Eagle S, the ship suspected of damaging a number of subsea cables in the Gulf of Finland on Christmas Day, has been found to have 32 specific "deficiencies" by the Finnish authorities following an inspection. As Finnish website YLE reports, the ship has been detained due to safety concerns and will not be allowed to operate until the various issues are resolves. An anchor from the Eagle S was retrieved from the sea bed earlier this week – an anchor that had left a 100km-long trail in its destructive wake. (See Eurobites: Sabotage suspected after latest subsea cable cut.)

EU scolds EU over data transfer violation

In what could be seen as either an admirable piece of self-policing or a comical ironic twist, the EU General Court has ruled that the European Commission must pay damages to a German citizen for contravening the Commission's own rules on data privacy. As Reuters reports, the citizen in question had used the "Sign in with Facebook" option on the EU login web page to register for a conference. The court decided that this data transfer – of the user's IP address to Meta in US – fell foul of EU data protection rules. (See Is Facebook facing the end of EU-US data transfers?)

Will O2 users be left high and dry?

More than 4 million UK mobile customers may lose service when O2 switches off its 3G service later this year, according to research carried out by Uswitch, a price-comparison website. The change will also affect four MVNOs, namely Tesco, Giffgaff, Virgin and Sky Mobile. Vodafone, Three and EE have already completed their 3G switch-offs. (See UK telcos prepare to turn off 3G to boost energy efficiency.)