Also in today's EMEA roundup: Ericsson's new CIO; Transmode wins in Slovenia; and the power of the bacon sandwich.
Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) has tightened its grip on debt-laden Telecom Italia (TIM) by upping its stake in the Italian incumbent's holding vehicle, Telco, from 46 percent to 66 percent. It will also have the option to increase this to 70 percent at a later date. For full details, see this press release. Telco owns 22.4 percent of Telecom Italia. In total, Telefónica is paying €748 million (US$1 billion) in the deal, which takes its stake in Telecom Italia to around 16 percent.
Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) has appointed Anders Thulin as its "senior vice president, business excellence" (yep, that's what it says here) and CIO. Thulin, who has been with consultancy McKinsey & Co. for more than 20 years, will take up his new position on October 1. Thulin will head up a new Ericsson unit, Group Function Business Excellence & Common Functions, hence the fancy title. (See Ericsson Appoints a CIO.)
Sweden's Transmode Systems AB has supplied Telemach, a Slovenian cable operator, with its ROADM-based optical gear that will be deployed in a new transport network that runs from the capital, Ljubljana, to other major Slovenian towns and onward to the Austrian capital of Vienna. The network provides 10Gbit/s Ethernet services that can, says Transmode, scale to 100 Gbit/s when needed. (See Telemach Deploys Transmode's ROADM.)
Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco) has suffered the loss of two more high-level executives with the departure of chief financial officer Marco Regnier and "company veteran" Peter Kaliaropoulos, reports Reuters. In May its former CEO, Sheikh Mohamed bin Isa al-Khalifa, tendered his resignation at the former state monopoly.
BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) has completed an upgrade of Visa Europe's corporate network, as the payment giant looks to streamline card authorization, clearing, and settlement services. Visa's internal corporate connectivity needs are also being addressed. BT and Visa have been working together for the past 12 years.
How do these ad agencies come up with 'em, eh? Possibly by scribbling on the back of an envelope in the pub. UK 4G pioneer EE has launched an ad campaign in partnership with YouTube Inc. to promote mobile content, using actor Kevin "The Face of EE" Bacon and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. The campaign appears to center on the pair competing against each other in a bacon-sandwich-making contest. Bacon. And bacon. Geddit?!
Bacon with bacon. This is why we need 4G.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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