Eurobites: OneWeb secures US DoD deal worth up to $900M

Eutelsat shareholders will vote on the proposed merger with OneWeb during a meeting called for September 28. The deal would be subject to regulatory approvals before its completion. If it goes ahead, the new unit will combine Eutelsat's fleet of geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites with the LEO satellites belonging to OneWeb. Read more here: Eutelsat, OneWeb join forces to launch beefed up European satcomms player.

Telenor has announced it is making changes to its leadership, which include hiring Amol Phadke from Google Cloud as CTO. The fate of the current CTO, Ruza Sabanovic, remains unknown, with Telenor's press release only saying she "will be the subject of another announcement in due course." Other changes at Telenor include Petter-Børre Furberg's appointment as executive vice president (EVP) and Head of Telenor Asia. These positions are currently held by Jørgen C. Arentz Rostrup, who will take over as EVP and Head of Telenor Nordics, replacing Furberg in that role.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Broadcom's $61 billion acquisition of VMware, bringing the merger a step closer to fruition. The EU gave the deal its blessings back in July, but the CMA's go-ahead is not the final approval needed. China has yet to clear the purchase, and it has reportedly been holding up mergers involving US companies in response to measures taken by the US against Chinese tech firms. Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission's investigation has not formally ended, although Broadcom has argued that since the legal pre-merger waiting period has expired there is no legal impediment to closing the deal under US law.

In other CMA news, Microsoft has submitted a revised deal for its purchase of Activision Blizzard, after the CMA confirmed it had struck down the original acquisition plan. The CMA says this was done to safeguard innovation and choice in cloud gaming. Microsoft now proposes to exclude cloud streaming rights from Activision games for 15 years outside of the European Economic Area.

Austrian broadcaster Österreichische Rundfunksender (ORS) says it has successfully tested 5G broadcast transmission during the MotoGP event that took place in the city of Spielberg over the weekend. The testing saw signals including onboard camera perspectives of the riders transmitted to compatible devices located at the race track. Also participating in the testing were technology partners Bitstem, Insys VT and Syes.

Danish cable TV and Internet provider Stofa will change its name to operate under the brand of its parent company Norlys. The energy company acquired Stofa in 2021 and is poised to grow its footprint in the telecom sector, having announced in April a preliminary agreement to buy Telia's Danish business for an expected 6.25 billion Danish krone (US$910 million).

— Tereza Krásová, Associate Editor, Light Reading