Eurobites: European smartphone market resurgence continues

The European smartphone market continued its recovery in the second quarter of 2024, says Counterpoint Research, with 10% year-over-year shipment growth being recorded across the region. The upward trend was most pronounced in the Central and Eastern Europe sub-region, where growth reached 12% YoY, while Western Europe saw an 8% YoY increase. Brand-wise, Apple saw a resurgence, recording 18% YoY growth, while Samsung was up 8% YoY and maintained its position in the number-one spot overall. However, the fastest-growing brand in the region was Tecno, which displaced Honor from the fifth-ranked position and primarily made its presence felt in Central and Eastern Europe (especially Russia).

Bite Group, an operator serving customers in Latvia and Lithuania, has chosen Nokia's packet core technology to help it make the transition to advanced 5G services, expand its existing fixed wireless access (FWA) offerings and simplify its network architecture. As part of the deal, Bite will use Nokia's MantaRay software for a more complete view of its network.

FTTH becomes FTH as Virgin Media brings fiber to 11,000 more homes in the northern English town of Huddersfield. The rollout is part of a £4.5 billion (US$5.9 billion) investment by Nexfibre, the wholesale network joint venture between InfraVia Capital Partners, Liberty Global and Telefónica, which is meant to provide high-speed FTTH connections to 5 million homes across the UK by 2026.

Tech magazine Connect has once again been testing fixed-line broadband speeds in Switzerland, and both Swisscom and Sunrise seem happy with the results. Scoring 982 out of a possible 1,000 points, Swisscom said it remained the leading national provider and received the award for outstanding performance. Sunrise, meanwhile, pointed out that it won outright in two specific categories, namely fastest download and most reliable Internet connection.

Scarlet, the Belgian broadband company owned by Proximus, is increasing the speed of its Internet services but keeping prices at the same level. The maximum download speed of Scarlet's unlimited Internet packs (Loco, Trio and Trio Mobile) will increase from 70 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s, while the maximum upload speed will double from 10 Mbit/s to 20 Mbit/s. Fiber Boost, the option for more data-heavy users, will see its maximum download speed increase from 200 Mbit/s to 300 Mbit/s, and its maximum upload speed rise from 20 Mbit/s to 30 Mbit/s.