Eurobites: Orange and Másmóvil merger faces EU heat – report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: ElevenLabs secures Series A funding; BT begins Digital Voice rollout in earnest; Telenor, Hafslund in data center JV.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

June 20, 2023

2 Min Read
Eurobites: Orange and Másmóvil merger faces EU heat – report
(Source: l_martinez/Alamy Stock Photo)

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: ElevenLabs secures Series A funding; BT begins Digital Voice rollout in earnest; Telenor, Hafslund in data center JV.Orange and Másmóvil should expect to receive a warning growl from the European Commission's competition watchdog over their proposed merger in the next few days, according to anonymous sources cited by Reuters. If the deal does go ahead, it would leave Spain with just three network operators (down from its current four). The Commission is due to pronounce on the fate of the deal on September 4, the report said. (See Orange, Másmóvil sign €19B Spanish merger deal.)ElevenLabs, a London-based voice technology company, has raised $19 million in Series A funding to continue its research into "generative voice AI" products. The funding round was co-led by Silicon Valley hotshots Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross and Andreessen Horowitz, with further participation from Credo Ventures, Concept Ventures and a host of "angel" investors.BT is to begin the rollout of its controversial Digital Voice program – which sees the traditional PSTN-based landline being replaced by voice services over a broadband line – in the East Midlands region of the UK. Last year BT paused the rollout of the program after admitting that it had, in the words of CEO Marc Allera, gone "too early, before many customers – particularly those who rely more heavily on landlines – understood why this change is necessary and what they needed to do." Certain groups of people, including those who wear a landline-connected healthcare pendant and those over 70, will be exempt from being "proactively" switched to the new service by BT.Nordic operator Telenor is teaming up with energy firm Hafslund to create a new company that will build data centers in and around Oslo. The plan, say the two companies, has been prompted by a request from the Norwegian security authorities for more secure, homegrown storage of sensitive data. HitecVision, which invests in developing energy companies, and research firm Analysys Mason are also involved in the creation of the joint venture.It seems an unusual piece of branding, but Reduced Capability (shortened to RedCap) is what Ericson has chosen for its new 5G RAN software that, says the vendor, will facilitate new 5G use cases as well as enhancing existing ones for a range of devices such as smartwatches and industrial sensors. According to David Hammarwall, Ericsson's head of product area networks, the energy-saving software will "open up a new world of possibilities for new types of devices that do not require the full range of 5G's capabilities."Liquid Intelligent Technologies says it has successfully installed the Mauritius Telecom T3 subsea cable connecting Mauritius to South Africa, deploying the cable at Liquid's landing facility south of Durban. The T3 cable consists of four fiber pairs, with a design capacity of 13.5 Tbit/s per fiber pair and 54 Tbit/s for the whole system.— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

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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