Eurobites: French prosecutors raid Huawei's Paris office

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson soups up its Operations Engine; Armenia's Ucom upgrades with Nokia; Bas Burger's job is a whopper.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

February 9, 2024

2 Min Read
Huawei logo at trade fair
(Source: Josef Kubes/Alamy Stock Photo)
  • French prosecutors have raided Huawei's Paris office as part of a preliminary investigation into "improper behavior," according to a report in Le Monde. In a statement, Huawei unsurprisingly denied any wrongdoing, saying that "it has always respected all French laws and regulations." According to Le Monde, "improper behavior" can be code for corruption and "influence peddling." Huawei has had a presence in France since 2003, and now runs six research centers and a global design center there.

  • Ericsson is introducing something called AI-powered intent-based operations to its Operations Engine network-management doohickey. According to the Swedish vendor, this development will enable communications service providers to offer differentiated premium 5G services – such as network slicing – for consumers and enterprise businesses. The technology has already been tried out by Malaysia's Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), which pronounced itself happy with the results.

  • Armenian operator Ucom has chosen Nokia to upgrade its nationwide radio access network (RAN), core and IP network infrastructure. As part of the deal, Nokia will supply gear from its 5G AirScale range powered by its ReefShark system-on-chip technology. Ucom will also use Nokia's MantaRay network management system. The deal is an extension of an existing business relationship between the two companies.

  • Meanwhile, Nokia's Technologies unit says it has signed its last major smartphone agreement that remained under negotiation – its seventh such patent license agreement in the past 13 months. It doesn't name names this time round, but recently it has kissed and made up, patents-wise, with Honor, Oppo and Vivo. (See Eurobites: Nokia and Oppo make patents peace and Eurobites: Will Houthis slice through the Internet?)

  • How does BT's Bas Burger sleep at nights? The head of the UK operator's business division has told City A.M. that he feels "personally responsible" for the performance of the UK economy as his company builds out the networks on which so much of said economy depends. "The responsibility we have as BT and for me leading BT … is enormous and the challenges are to make sure that you constantly balance speed, performance, reliability and long-term focus," said Burger. No pressure.

  • Enet, which describes itself as Ireland's largest open access telecoms network provider, has now delivered high-speed Internet connections to more than 650 national and secondary schools across the republic. Enet has been working in partnership with HEAnet, Ireland's national education and research network. Of the completed connections, 419 are fiber-based and 245 wireless.

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Europe

About the Author

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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