Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson in IoT alliance; Vodafone gets Deutsche Bank gig; termination rates slashed in Saudi Arabia; AlcaLu integrates Siklu.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

February 23, 2015

2 Min Read
Eurobites: Apple Invests €1.7B in European Data Centers

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson in IoT alliance; Vodafone gets Deutsche Bank gig; termination rates slashed in Saudi Arabia; AlcaLu integrates Siklu.

  • Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is to spend €1.7 billion (US$1.9 billion) on two new data centers in Europe, one in Ireland and the other in Denmark. The data centers, each with a footprint of 166,000 square meters, will power Apple's panoply of online services, such as iTunes and the App Store, and will run on 100% renewable energy. Apple also intends to work with local partners to develop additional renewable energy sources. (See Apple to Invest €1.7B in European Data Centers.)

    • Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) has formed an Internet of Things partnership with the Bridge Alliance, which comprises 36 mobile operators across Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Under the terms of the partnership, the Alliance members will use Ericsson's Device Connectivity Platform for their IoT projects, providing, it is hoped, a more unified and standardized experience.

    • Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) has agreed a deal to take over the supply of Deutsche Bank's fixed and mobile telephony needs across 28 countries for at least the next five-and-a-half years. The contract also covers centralized services such as ordering and billing. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

    • Saudi Arabia's regulator has cut call termination rates by 40%, reports Reuters, from 0.25 riyals per minute to 0.15 riyals. The move, says the report, should benefit Zain KSA (Zain Saudi Arabia) , the smallest of the country's three mobile operators.

    • Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) has integrated millimeter wave radio equipment from Israel's Siklu Communications Ltd. into its microwave small cells backhaul portfolio.

    • Orange (NYSE: FTE) has bought out Orascom Telecom 's shares and voting rights in Egyptian operator Mobinil for €209.6 million ($237.1 million), underlining its commitment to expansion in Africa and the Middle East.

    • Sweden's Transmode Systems AB has got its hands on a piece of packet-optical network action in the Spanish-owned Canary Islands. Tenerife Island Council has built a high-capacity network based on the vendor's TM-Series and TG-Series platforms to connect the organization's 38 sites across the sun-kissed isle.

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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