Eurobites: Three UK earnings slump 19% in H1 as inflation bites

Germany's 1&1 is replacing Telefónica Deutschland (O2) with Vodafone as its network partner to cover the areas it cannot reach with its own mobile network, according to a Reuters report. Telefónica Deutschland's shares plummeted 16% to a three-year low in the wake of the announcement; Vodafone's rose 3%. 1&1 is a subsidiary of United Internet. (See 1&1 slowly ramping up 5G rollout as costs start to mount.)

Vodafone has hooked up with blockchain company Aventus in an alliance that they hope will help businesses take advantange of the baffling technology. Initially, the two companies are aiming to help the aviation sector improve the security and reliability of its supply chain, developing a system that involves equipping cargo tracking pods with blockchain-enabled SIM cards connected to Vodafone's Digital Asset Broker (DAB) platform.

Vodafone Spain has turned to Amdocs for a fresh dollop of "customer engagement" software. Amdocs reckons the upgrade will furnish the operator with "improved system stability, security and performance," while Vodafone Spain rashly brandishes the term "future-proof."

Virgin Media O2 has come up trumps in the UK's High Court against EE in a case that centered on VMO2's decision to switch to Vodafone's network for 5G services. As City A.M. reports, the court dismissed EE's £24.6 million ($31.1 million) claim – that VMO2 switched from EE's network to Vodafone before the contract had formally expired – as "fanciful."

United Arab Emirates operator E& wants to increase its stake in Vodafone from 14.61% to 20%, according to a Reuters report citing an interview with E& CEO Hatem Dowidar.

Openreach, the semi-autonomous network access arm of BT, has deployed Adtran's FSP 3000 open optical transport technology to launch its new Optical Spectrum Access 100G Single enterprise service, which offers companies a choice of point-to-point Ethernet links at 100 Gbit/s or ten separate channels at 10 Gbit/s.

Meanwhile, down at the coalface, Openreach has been experiencing rodent trouble at its cabling in the southern English town of Tring. The varmints' efforts resulted in several severed fibers, which left many homes and businesses without broadband or phone services for days. The damage was discovered last weekend and was finally resolved on Wednesday, the repair necessitating the rerouting of 650 meters of cabling to avoid disturbing the rodents' nest.

OneWeb, the satellite broadband provider co-owned by the UK government and India's Bharti Global, is targeting the all-important superyacht demographic with the launch of a "try before you buy" service on its flat-panel LEO connectivity technology. Interested zillionaires, oligarchs and celebs can sign up to put the Kymeta Peregrine u8 LEO terminal through its paces from September.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading