Eurobites: Eutelsat launches 20 more satellites with SpaceX

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Intelsat satellite goes AWOL; Italian government fancies its 'fair share' chances; Ericsson collaborates with Nigeria on 5G development.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

October 21, 2024

2 Min Read
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket taking off
(Source: Blueee/Alamy Stock Photo)
  • France-based Eutelsat launched 20 OneWeb satellites into low Earth orbit over the weekend on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The launch, which took place at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, comes a year since the merger between Eutelsat and OneWeb to create what they describe as the world's only GEO-LEO satellite operator. (See OneWeb, Eutelsat merge to form integrated GEO-LEO satellite firm.)

  • In less happy space-related news, customers in Europe, Africa and parts of the Asia-Pacific region suffered a major outage as an Intelsat satellite, IS-33e, went missing on Saturday. "Based on the information available to us, we believe it is unlikely that the satellite will be recoverable," said Intelsat in a statement. Intelsat says it is working with third-party providers to mitigate service interruptions. The offending satellite was manufactured by Boeing Space Systems and launched in August 2016.

  • The Italian government is hoping it can do what countless others have tried and failed to do – namely make Internet giants contribute to the cost of network rollout. As Reuters reports, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters: "We are all working on this issue. It's important that we go in this direction … It makes good sense for big tech to contribute to the workload that is then entrusted to the large telecommunications networks." (See European telco 'fair share' case looks ready to collapse.)

  • Ericsson has signed a 5G agreement with Nigeria to promote collaboration on 5G development, deployment and innovation. The Swedish vendor has had a presence in Nigeria since 1978.

  • Timsi, which is an MVNO in several EU countries as well as offering MVNE services to companies, is being investigated by UK communications regulator over the possible misuse of allocated phone numbers. "The evidence suggests that Tismi may have suballocated numbers without taking appropriate steps to ensure that they are not being misused," said Ofcom in a statement. Misuse of such numbers could, for example, include using them to perpetrate scam calls and texts.

  • Losses at Sky, the UK-based purveyor of pay-TV and more, doubled in 2023, to £224 million (US$292 million), as costs increased, the Guardian reports. Revenues grew by 1.6%, to £8.5 billion ($11.07 billion), but this was offset, said the company, by the falling popularity of its Sky Q box as consumers move towards Internet-connected smart TVs.

  • Nokia and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) are to collaborate on 5G in Vietnam, with the Finnish vendor deploying equipment from its AirScale range powered by ReefShark system-on-chip technology. Nokia will also deploy its AI-based 5G MantaRay network management offering to improve VNPT's network operation efficiency.

  • VEON, the multi-country operator that is currently headquartered in Amsterdam (though soon to move to Dubai), has achieved full compliance with the Nasdaq stock exchange.

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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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