Also in today’s EMEA regional roundup: Telefónica fosters innovation with China Unicom; Bouygues job cuts look likely; revenge of the cabbies.
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is to deploy its NE5000E 400G core routers to provide Egyptian mobile operator Etisalat Misr with an upgraded and expanded backbone network. The third-largest mobile operator in Egypt, Etisalat Misr has been straining to cope with the greatly increased demand for data-based services. (See Huawei Pressures Its 400G Router Rivals.)
Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF) has formed an “open innovation” partnership withChina Unicom Ltd. (NYSE: CHU) and Tsinghua Holdings Technology and Innovation (THTI), with the intention of pooling their innovation tools and resources to incubate innovative projects. THTI operates 18 science parks in more than 50 cities across China. (See Euronews: Telefónica to Support 1,000 Startups.)
It’s a red-letter day for Bouygues Telecom and its workers — the French mobile operator is meeting up with union leaders to discuss what could be massive job cuts, reports the Financial Times (subscription required). Bouygues, which is being eyed by Orange (NYSE: FTE) and cut-price rival Iliad(Euronext: ILD) as a potential acquisition target, is looking to make savings of around €300 million (US$406 million) by 2016. (See Eurobites: Orange Eyes Bouygues, EE IPO.)
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is facing a formal investigation by the European Commission into its tax arrangements in Ireland, reports the Irish Times. The Commission is particularly interested in the way Apple shifts its profits around between various company entities to reduce its tax bill. Two such entities, Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe, are on Irish soil.
Expect gridlock in many of Europe’s biggest cities today as taxi drivers in London, Milan and elsewhere demonstrate against the Uber car-sharing service app and its associated drivers, reports Bloomberg. (See Uber Drives Mobile App Bubble With $1.2B VC Round.)
UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB Ltd. (NYSE, London: BSY) says that more than half its 10.6 million Sky TV customers are now connected to broadband so that they can access its on-demand services, such as catch-up and boxed sets of popular series. See this press release for more detail.
EE , the UK mobile joint venture, is creating 300 new contact-center jobs in the city of Derby. The jobs are being created in partnership with Webhelp UK, which describes itself as a provider of “outsource solutions.” Anything that can help to improve EE’s customer service levels is to be welcomed.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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