Eurobites: Bouygues Telecom acquires La Poste TelecomEurobites: Bouygues Telecom acquires La Poste Telecom

France's Bouygues Telecom has acquired La Poste Telecom, an MVNO previously owned jointly by La Poste group and SFR. The deal boosts Bouygues Telecom's mobile customer count by around 2.4 million and will allow it to sell its products and services through French post offices. La Poste Telecom, which operates under the La Poste Mobile brand, employs 400 people and generated sales of more than €300 million (US$316 million) in 2023. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Irish operator Eir has announced another €500 million ($527 million) investment in the expansion of its fiber network, which it hopes will ultimately provide gigabit connectivity to 1.9 million homes and businesses throughout Ireland. To date the network is available to around 1.3 million premises. The announcement coincided with the publication of a new report which claims, among other things, that Eir's broadband infrastructure underpins €172 billion ($181 billion) of Ireland's economic activity.

Telkom South Africa's 1.9% year-over-year growth in its half-year group revenue, to 21.4 billion South African rand ($1.18 billion), was largely driven by a strong performance in data services, says the operator. Mobile data revenue increased by 12.7% and fiber data service revenue rose by 15.5% during the period. The operator's adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) increased by 18.3%, to R5.6 billion ($309 million).

Orange is appealing the seizure of €312 million ($329 million) by the French tax authorities for alleged VAT (value added tax) infractions. The rumpus relates to VAT rates applied to certain promotional offers mainly between 2017 and 2019. "Neither Orange's financial situation nor its reputation justifies such a measure," said the operator, huffily, in a statement. The amount will be recorded as a specific item on Orange's balance sheet and will appear as such in its end-of-year financial statements. "This seizure does not call into question the Group's financial guidance," claimed the company.

New data from BT reveals that 72% of UK business leaders feel anxious about sustainability issues and reaching so-called net zero, with two in five of them admitting that such nervousness has made them "freeze" on investment decisions. BT is using its study as a peg upon which to hang the upgrading of its "carbon network dashboard," which is intended to give businesses an overview of their digital carbon footprint. Here at Eurobites Towers we prefer to worry about whether we've left the gas on or if that solitary yoghurt in the communal fridge is past its sell-by date.