Dutch incumbent operator KPN says strict cost controls helped prevent a year-on-year 3.7% fall in third-quarter revenues translating into a fall in adjusted EBITDA (after leases) – EBITDAal actually rose by 1.3% year-on-year, excluding divestments. During the quarter, KPN recorded a 27,000 increase in fiber net adds, though total broadband net adds fell by 4,000. On the mobile front, postpaid net adds increased by 9,000.

France's Iliad has received the antitrust green light from the European Commission for its €3.5 billion (US$4.14 billion) takeover of Polish mobile operator Play, Reuters reports. Play is Poland's number-one mobile operator, says the report, competing against Orange Polska, T-Mobile and Polkomtel.

South African operator Vodacom is deploying Nokia's AirScale radio network gear to help it switch on 5G services across several spectrum bands. It will also use the Finnish vendor's FastMile 5G gateway to offer fixed wireless acess (FWA) broadband services in areas not currently served by a fiber network.

Lycamobile, which describes itself as the world's largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Belgium, in the capital, Brussels. The MVNO, which is known for its cut-price international calling services, plans to expand its Belgian presence with stores in Antwerp, Ghenet and Liege.

UK-based Virgin Media Business has launched an initiative to support Black-owned businesses, charities and organizations. The two outfits that receive the most public votes will each be rewarded with a "digital makeover and consulting package" that Virgin says is worth £10,000 ($12,900). The initiative marks the final week of Black History Month.

Israeli media company RGE has chosen Kaltura's Cloud TV Platform to power its new kids' cloud TV service, BIGI. RGE will use Kaltura's smarts to, among other things, give it the ability to conduct live audience polls.

Ericsson has seen the future of remote working – and it's touchy-feely. That is one interpretation of the vendor's new IndustryLab report, The Dematerialized Office, which reckons that during pandemic-mandated isolation "people everywhere are rediscovering the importance of the smells and the flavors and the sheer physicality of the locations they normally frequent and do business in." And to recreate that reassuring office pong in the digital world, Ericsson is pushing the idea of the "Internet of senses," which will use VR/AR technologies to get us beyond the Zoom-call cliché and into a more immersive online workplace. As long as we still get to yell "You're on mute!" at least three times a day…

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading