Eurobites: BT sees off landline class actionEurobites: BT sees off landline class action

UK incumbent operator BT has fought off a £1.3 billion (US$1.6 billion) class action brought against it for "disproportionately overcharging" its landline-only customers, with the Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling that though BT's charges were "excessive," they were not "unfair." (Go figure.) The class action was instigated by Justin Le Patourel, a former executive at UK communications regulator Ofcom, which in 2017 had concluded that BT had unfairly charged millions of landline customers over a period of two years. Le Patourel had been seeking between £300 ($375) and £400 ($500) in compensation for more than 3 million BT customers. Le Patourel and his lawyers may now go to the Court of Appeal to challenge the verdict. BT, of course, welcomed the ruling, which marginally boosted its share price on Thursday. (See Eurobites: BT braces for £1.3B class action.)

Swedish police yesterday boarded the Chinese cargo ship suspected of having damaged two subsea cables in the Baltic Sea, Finnish website YLE reports. The Yi Peng 3 has been linked to the severing of the two cables, one running between Finland and Germany and the other linking Sweden to Lithuania. Both cables have now been repaired but the authorities have still to get to the bottom of what caused the outages. (See Eurobites: Sabotage suspected after latest subsea cable cut and Subsea cable risks are only increasing.)

The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into Liberty Media's proposed acquisition of Dorna Sports, the Spanish company that holds the TV rights to the MotoGP series of motorcycle races. A preliminary probe by the Commission had led it to believe that the €3.5 billion ($3.6 billion) deal may reduce competition in the market for motorsports content, as Liberty Media holds the broadcast rights to Formula One motor racing. The Commission will make a final decision on the matter in May.

Another day, another claimed world first for Nokia: This time the trumpet-blowing relates to a demonstration of "quantum-safe" IPsec network cryptography for customers of Turkcell, the Turkish mobile operator. The integration of quantum-safe cryptography into Turkcell's transport network, says Nokia, helps prepare the operator for quantum-driven cyberattacks in the future. (See Telecom is already preparing for future quantum threats, BT is in quantum fight against 'Q Day' Armageddon and Eurobites: Telefónica and friends develop quantum-safe cybersecurity tool.)

Spanish towerco Cellnex Telecom has completed the sale of its Austrian business to a consortium made up of Vauban Infrastructure Partners, EDF Invest and MEAG for €803 million ($834 million). Cellnex had been operating in Austria since early 2021, when it acquired CK Hutchison's sites in the country as part of an agreement to buy CK Hutchison's infrastructure portfolio in six European countries. (See CK Hutchison to sell almost 25,000 towers to Cellnex.)

This is the last Eurobites of 2024. Team Eurobites wishes all its readers a happy holiday season. See you in 2025.