Eurobites: MTN 'in talks' over retreat from Afghanistan

MTN isn't the only one finding reverse gear in Africa: Africell Group is exiting the Ugandan market, with mobile services there being switched off on October 7, 2021. After that date Africell will no longer be available as a roaming partner in Uganda.

Deutsche Telekom has reduced its stake in advertising company Ströer SE & Co KGaA to 4.9%. The proceeds from the sale have been reinvested within Deutsche Telekom Trust e.V.

Ericsson and Finnish software company Unikie have joined forces to test a new automated factory parking system that relies on an Ericsson-supplied 5G standalone private network. At the test facility in Turku, Finland, vehicles are remotely controlled through the 5G network, using edge computing. In the real world, at, say, a car factory, this would allow carmakers to better control and monitor the movement of cars that have rolled off the production line, prior to their eventual shipment for sale. Other possible use cases for the technology include airport parking, shopping malls and distribution centers.

Nigeria's smartphone market grew 2% in unit terms quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2021, according to the latest Quarterly Global Mobile Phone Tracker from research firm IDC. However, the report also showed that feature phone shipments into the country declined 6.4% over the same period. Feature phones still rule the roost in Nigeria, but only just: they accounted for 51.8% of the market's overall shipments in Q2, while smartphones clocked up a 48.2% share.

In another move intended to chip away at the so-called "digital divide," BT-owned Openreach has decided it will waive broadband connection fees for UK households that are in receipt of Universal Credit welfare and have no other income. In practice this means that broadband providers using the Openreach network who connect new eligible customers will benefit from up to £92 (US$126) of savings on installation charges – a saving they can pass on to their customers in a number of ways.

Finnish telco Elisa has bought a majority stake in TenForce, a Belgian provider of risk management software. TenForce will become part of the Elisa IndustrIQ business unit, which covers smart manufacturing, AI and related areas.

Blackpool, one of the most deprived towns in the UK, could get an economic boost from the arrival of high-capacity connectivity services courtesy of Neos Networks, which has helped create a gateway between the town and Ireland for international businesses and "hyperscalers" looking to access fiber connectivity across the UK and beyond. Neos Networks is acquiring a number of sub-ducts on Aqua Comms' subsea link that will connect Blackpool's landing station directly into its 24,480+km UK network via a 30km dark fiber pathway, creating greater capacity and routing options for the Blackpool region.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading