Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: MTN looks for satellite hook-ups; Deutsche Telekom picks Perplexity for AI injection; TDC Net opts for Viavi's network monitoring software.
Russian foul play is suspected after the severance of a telecom cable on Monday connecting Finland to Germany. As Finnish website YLE reports, Tapio Frantti, a professor of cybersecurity at the University of Jyväskylä, said the incident on the 1,200km C-Lion1 cable between Helsinki and Rostock had all the hallmarks of a deliberate act: "If you look at this from the point of view of probability, then yes, this is on the side of intentionality … they [Russia] really seem to think that they have a special right to do such things." The day before, as the Guardian reports, a shorter cable between Lithuania and Sweden's Gotland island went out of service, according to Nordic operator Telia.
South Africa-based operator MTN is seeking tie-ups with satellite connectivity companies to extend its mobile coverage to the more remote corners of the African continent, according to a Reuters report (paywall applies). "To keep customers and businesses connected at all times, we're going to have to embrace satellite as an additional technology form," Group CEO Ralph Mupita said in a media call, adding that his company is "exploring several" such partnerships. The South African government has recently been in talks with Elon Musk about the possibility of the excitable billionaire bringing his Starlink satellite broadband service to the country, though it's only a year since South Africa's communications regulator warned that importing and selling Starlink terminals was considered illegal.
Deutsche Telekom has hooked up with San Francisco-based Perplexity to bring an AI-powered search-engine-with-knobs-on to its MeinMagenta smartphone app. Instead of providing just a long list of links, Magenta AI provides "formulated answers to complex questions and also names the underlying sources," says the German operator. If customers get a taste for the technology they can, until the spring at least, sign up to a Pro version of Magenta AI, which offers further options such as access to other AI models, free of charge.
Sky, the UK-based purveyor of pay-TV and more, has extended its partnership with Amazon Prime, meaning that Sky customers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland with a Prime Video subscription will be able to watch Amazon Prime and Sky content on the Sky platform.
Danish digital infrastructure provider TDC Net has chosen Viavi's Nitro AIOps software to keep tabs on its network. Drawing on AI and machine learning technology, the software enables automated topology mapping and event correlation to identify the root causes of network problems, among other features.
UK mobile operator O2 has completed the upgrade of its 4G and 5G networks in the city of Wolverhampton. Virgin Media O2 – of which O2 is the mobile bit – claims to be spending £2 million (US$2.5 million) every day on its mobile networks.
The European Commission is carrying out unannounced inspections at the offices of companies involved in data center construction to check for evidence of cartel-like behavior. The Commission says it is particularly interested in signs of possible collusion in the form of "no-poach" agreements.
You May Also Like
