Eurobites: Virgin Media O2 begins backing out of Cornerstone

Orange has joined forces with a dozen other big names from the world of French industry and academia to launch FranceQCI, a program to oversee the development of hack-resistant quantum communications networks in the country. FranceQCI is part of a wider quantum communications initiative launched by the European Union in 2019; 26 out the 27 EU member states will also be running their equivalent programs.

First-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) at go-ahead Finnish operator Elisa rose 3.5% year-over-year, to €183.4 million ($200.7 million), on revenue that climbed 5.5%, to €539.7 million ($590.4 million). In Finland, post-paid churn decreased to 14.9%, from 16.2% in Q4 2022. Looking ahead, the invasion of Ukraine by Finland's neighbor from hell, Russia, will continue to put pressure on Elisa throughout 2023, and the operator predicts that over the full year both revenue and EBITDA will remain at the same level or be slightly higher than they were in 2022.

BT is launching something it calls a "proposition" to both help multinational customers make their networks greener and measure just how green they are. The, ahem, proposition combines BT's digital carbon measurement tools, network design services, in-life support and recycling and reuse schemes with partner companies to offer a managed service for customers. For example, BT's Digital Carbon Calculator can assess network designs for their potential carbon footprint, while its Carbon Network Dashboard provides customers with real-time data and reports on their devices' energy performance.

In a similar ballpark, Sweden's Telia has developed a tool in collaboration with consultancy Arthur D. Little that, says the operator, can be used to calculate the potential savings that residential and commercial building owners can make by investing in IoT technology and digital services. Telia is showing its workings in a new report, Real-estate Industry Challenges and Digital Solutions.

The number of UK households shelling out for at least one video streaming platform fell to 16.1 million between January and March of this year, down from 16.91 million during the same period of 2022. As City A.M. reports, citing data from market research company Kantar, around 7% of UK homes cancelled at least one subscription in a post-Christmas downsizing.

When artificial intelligence goes stupid: The family of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is planning to sue a German magazine for the AI-generated "interview" with him that it published. As Reuters reports, Schumacher has not been seen in public since a serious skiing accident in 2013 left him with a life-changing brain injury.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading