The ongoing decline of copper and coax has hit the first-half results of Danish operator TDC Net, with revenues down 1.2% year-over-year to 3.14 billion Danish krone (US$480 million). Landline voice revenue fell by 20% to DKK122 million ($19 million), while tweaks to its TV portfolio saw revenue from TV and other services tumble 7% to DKK412 million ($64.2 million). EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) was down 0.5% to DKK2.31 billion ($350 million).
On a brighter note, TDC Net added approximately 22,000 additional addresses to its fiber footprint in H1 2026, increasing total coverage to around 875,000 households and businesses. This, says the operator, represents roughly half of the planned 2026 fiber buildout. (See Eurobites: Ericsson claims network-autonomy breakthrough with TDC Net.)
U-turn in Eagle S cable-cutting case
The Helsinki Court of Appeal has ruled that Finland does, after all, have jurisdiction in the case of the Eagle S oil tanker, which was accused of deliberately severing subsea cables on Christmas Day 2024 by allowing its anchor to drag across the seabed for 90km. As Finnish website YLE reports, the decision overturns a previous district court judgement on the matter. This time, the appeal court ruled that Finland does have jurisdiction because the events directly affected the country. The Eagle S, though flagged in the Cook Islands at the time of the incident, was suspected of being part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of sanctions-dodging ships. (See Eurobites: Finland plans to curb subsea cable carnage and Eurobites: Finland scuppered in cable-damage ship case.)
Google exempts EU from ‘parasite SEO’ demotions
Google has changed its policy on so-called “parasite SEO [search engine optimization]” in the EU following complaints from publishers, Reuters reports. Parasite SEO, where pages from a third-party are hosted on a site to improve search rankings, was targeted by Google as an abuse of its systems. The tech giant actively demoted media websites found guilty of the practice in its search rankings. Following pressure from those suffering such demotions and the European Commission, Google has now said that from August 30 any “manual actions” to demote sites would not apply to users in the EU and the European Economic Area.
Bouygues offers help to voluntary organizations
France’s Bouygues Telecom has launched a call for bids from volunteer organizations for financial endowments worth up to €20,000 ($23,290) and free technical support under its Incub’Asso incubation scheme. Those applying for the support will need to be working on projects that are deemed to have a chance of making a high impact in metropolitan France.
Six years ago today…
Eurobites reported that Which?, the UK consumers association, had accused the country’s mobile operators of ripping off customers who come out of contract by effectively charging them for a handset they have already bought.
