Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: quantum leap for Nokia and Proximus; Nick Read turns up at EXA Infrastructure; Finland is so ready for 5G.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: quantum leap for Nokia and Proximus; Nick Read turns up at EXA Infrastructure; Finland is so ready for 5G.
VEON, the Amsterdam-headquartered operator that used to have a strong presence in Russia before it decided to do the decent thing and pull out, is to invest $600 million through its subsidiary Kyivstar to aid the recovery of Ukraine's war-ravaged communications infrastructure over the next three years. The focus will be on ensuring the continuity of 4G coverage, though help in the fight against Russia-based cyberattacks will also be part of the package. Since the war began, VEON has already upgraded and deployed nearly 10,000 4G basestations and installed 32,000 new batteries to ensure continuity of service during energy black-outs. (See Downsized VEON looks beyond Russia for growth.)
Nokia and Belgian operator Proximus say they have successfully completed Europe's first live hybrid quantum encryption trial, establishing a "quantum-safe" optical network connection using quantum key distribution (QKD) technology to encrypt and transmit data between two Belgian data centers, one in Brussels and the other in Mechelen. Apparently this is good news because in the not too distant future we will arrive at "Q-day," which is the day when quantum computers become capable of easily cracking traditional encryption schemes and, to paraphrase the boffins, all hell breaks loose.
Nokia has also announced it is part of a 5G private network project with Callio Pyhäjärvi, which runs one of the deepest mines in Europe – reaching a depth of 1,445 meters – in Pyhäsalmi, Finland. Edzcom, a Cellnex affiliate, is also involved. The network will eventually cover 11.5km in length and reach eight underground levels.
Nick Read, who stepped down as the CEO of Vodafone in December after four years following a massive slump in the company's share price during his tenure, has turned up as the new chairman of EXA Infrastructure, a data center interconnect company which describes itself as "largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America."
France's Orange and US-based Palo Alto Networks have joined forces to offer a managed secure access service edge (SASE) product to multinationals. The product is intended to help global companies cope with the added risks posed by the shift to cloud-based "hybrid" working.
Finland has come top of the European pile in a new 5G Readiness Index released by Kearney, a consultancy firm. Finland is home to Elisa, a forward-thinking operator which, along with China Mobile, Singtel and T-Mobile, is officially classed by the Index as an "Innovator." (See Finland's Elisa bucks trend of telco decline.)
Lyca Mobile, the UK-based mobile virtual network operator specializing in prepaid international mobile calls, has appointed Richard Schäfer as its new CEO. Schäfer has previously held high-ranking positions at Three UK, Vodafone UK, Onecom and Lebara.
Clop, the cybercriminals behind the recent large-scale hack that used the MOVEit file transfer software as its mode of attack, says that it does not hold the data belonging belonging to employees of the BBC, British Airways and Boots after all. As the BBC reports, staff at those companies were initially told their personal data had been compromised by last month's attack, which was thought to have affected Zellis, a UK payroll provider for the three companies.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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