Eurobites: UK considers VoD content clampdown

Sparkle, the international services arm of Telecom Italia (TIM), says it has opened the first "green" data center in Greece. Metamorfosis II, located in Athens, encompasses an area of about 6,000 square meters, with a maximum capacity of 700 racks and 7.7 MW of total power. Like its other three Greek data centers, this facility is integrated with Nibble, Sparkle's pan-Mediterranean optical network, and with Sparkle's Tier 1 global backbone Seabone, to deliver high-speed connectivity services as well as access to major cloud providers.

MDS Global, which promises "BSS-as-a-Service," and UK MVNO iD Mobile have signed a new, "direct" contract. MDS will supply its Cloud Monetisation Platform, which underpins iD Mobile's VNOnDemand offering. Launched in 2015, iD Mobile now has more than 1 million subscribers.

Colt Technology Services and Getlink have signed a 25-year agreement to install and operate a new fiber-optic network through the Channel Tunnel, which connects the UK to France. The link will boast a transfer capacity of several terabits per second per fiber pair. Colt will carry out the installation and operation of the IQ Network in accordance with the Channel Tunnel's safety and security regulations, while Getlink will be responsible for maintenance. Colt IQ is a 100Gbit/s high-bandwidth and low-latency network that connects over 900 data centers and over 29,000 on-net buildings globally.

Quelle surprise! Google is to appeal against the €500 million (US$591 million) fine imposed on it by France's antitrust authority for what was seen as a refusal to cooperate properly with the country's traditional news publishers over the regurgitation of their content on the search giant's platform. As Reuters reports, Google whinged: "We disagree with a number of legal elements, and believe that the fine is disproportionate to our efforts to reach an agreement and comply with the new law."

SES has launched a new streaming app in Germany, HD+ ToGo, which will allow iOS and Android devices to access to the more than 50 HD channels on its satellite-based HD+ platform.

MLL Telecom has landed a second fiber contract with public authorities in Essex, UK. Phase Two of the South Essex Local Full Fibre Network will expand the initial 130km of fiber infrastructure to over 200km, with a further 100 connections added to the 129 already supplied.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading