Eurobites: Brits commit to less screentime (again)Eurobites: Brits commit to less screentime (again)

As far as "New Year, New Me" commitments go, it's right up there with eating more fruit and regular flossing. More than one in three Brits are planning to reduce their screentime in 2025, according to new research from UK converged operator Virgin Media O2 – though smartphone addicts perhaps shouldn't get their hopes up as nearly half (49%) of them have tried unsuccessfully to wean themselves off their devices in the past. Unsurprisingly, the research found that more than eight in ten (81%) of Brits reach for their smartphones as soon as they emerge from under the duvet, and while most are doomscrolling through social media or news sites, 6% are scanning the stock market before they even get vertical.

Environmental and ethics policies win green brownie points for Telia

Nordic operator Telia has been rated in the world's top 1% for sustainability performance in 2024 in an audit of 130,000 global companies carried out by EcoVadis. Its high rating was mainly attributable to strong results in the Environment and Ethics categories: In the former, Ecovadis highlighted Telia's use of renewables; in the latter, Telia's particular strengths were deemed to be the way it conducts corruption risk assessments, training and the provision of whistleblower mechanisms. (See Telia seeks win-win with green energy deals.)

Cellnex and friends make the sustainability cut

In a related neck of the telecom woods, Cellnex, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Telecom Italia have all made it into the latest Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI Europe), which is put together by S&P Global. Only the top 10% of the more than 3,500 participating companies in each sector were chosen to be part of the index.

CityFibre connects the Sussexes

UK altnet CityFibre has begun to connect more than 57,000 homes and businesses across the more hard-to-reach areas of East and West Sussex, two neighboring counties in southeast England. The rollout was made possible by a £108 million (US$133 million) government grant as part of its Project Gigabit program, the stated aim of which is full UK gigabit coverage by 2030. Now comes the hard part: getting people to sign up to the service. (See CityFibre's take-up rate lags altnet average even as it declares profitability.)

Finnish authorities examine suspect anchor

Finnish authorities have released a photo of the massive anchor thought to have caused Christmas Day cable carnage in the Gulf of Finland. As Finnish news website YLE reports, the anchor is thought to belong to the tanker Eagle S, and the authorities are now carrying out technical examinations of the anchor to confirm that this is indeed the case. They are also trying to work out at what point the anchor became detached from the vessel. (See Eurobites: Sabotage suspected after latest subsea cable cut.)

Anchor's away, for examination. (Source: Finland Police)

Three years ago today…

Eurobites reported that the then chairman of Telecom Italia (TIM), Salvatore Rossi, was coming under pressure from a group of TIM directors to appoint a new CEO following the resignation of Luigi Gubitosi a few months earlier. Gubitosi's resignation came in the wake of an unsolicited takeover approach from US investment fund KKR. The sale of TIM's fixed-line grid finally got the EU green light in May 2024.