South Africa's MTN isn't messing about: As from January, the operator will require its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of service, unless they have "certain clearly defined grounds" for refusing the jab. MTN has also criticized the latest travel bans on passenger from African countries, dismissing them as "not based on science." According to MTN, the latest data shows that only 7% of Africans have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

On a less contentious note, MTN has begun building new headquarters for its Côte d'Ivoire subsidiary and started a local trial of 5G services in Abidjan, the capital of the West African nation. The two developments were indicative of MTN's long-term commitment to Côte d'Ivoire, said MTN Group Chairman Mcebisi Jonas.

French media group Vivendi, which is the major shareholder in Telecom Italia (TIM), has told Reuters that it would be open to the idea of the Italian government taking control of TIM's fixed-line network. The statement – which suggests an apparent change of heart by Vivendi – comes as TIM's shareholders prepare to evaluate a $12.2 billion takeover bid put forward by US private equity fund KKR. (See Telecom Italia faces $12.2B privatization bid from KKR, Eurobites: Private equity rivals consider joint bid for TIM – sources and Telecom Italia CEO quits as KKR circles.)

In related territory, Open Fiber, TIM's state-backed rival, has announced a new board of directors that sees its current general manager, Mario Rossetti, being made CEO and Barbara Marinali being made chairwoman.

Nokia is deploying a 5G private network for a Volkswagen pilot project in Wolfburg, Germany. The campus will use Nokia's Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) offering to trial new smart-factory applications.

Deutsche Telekom is incorporating Adobe Sign software into its cloud portal, allowing small and midsized companies to manage, send and archive legally signed documents without ever printing them out. Companies will have to pay €249 ($281) per year per user, and there is a cap of 150 transactions.

BT's network research director, Paul Crane, is joining the UK's University of Surrey as a visiting professor. His brief is to help identify and develop collaborative research opportunities with BT and other industry partners and advise on the relevance of current research themes to emerging industry needs. He will also provide careers advice to postgraduate students and support the university's 5G/6G work.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading