Eurobites: Vodafone highlights network-shutdown epidemic

A report from Vodafone has highlighted what the company says is the excessive and often unjustified use of complete network shutdowns by governments around the world. Network Shutdowns in a Connected World found that there were 47% more hours of full Internet blackouts in 2025 than there were in the previous year, with 313 deliberate such shutdowns recorded across 52 countries. These shutdowns, says Vodafone, impose increasingly several social, economic and security costs on citizens while often failing to achieve the policy objectives governments were ostensibly seeking to deliver. They disrupt healthcare, education, public safety and livelihoods, with the harm often falling disproportionately on low-income households and rural communities.

To address such issues, the report proposes a Transparent Governance Framework under which any network shutdown should be considered only as “an exceptional measure of last resort.” The framework requires governments to demonstrate that no less restrictive alternative is available and that the expected benefits of the shutdown outweigh the social, economic and security harms. If a shutdown fails any of these tests, it should not proceed, according to the proposed framework.

Deutsche Telekom expands IoT roaming with Iridium

Deutsche Telekom is expanding its multi-orbit IoT roaming offer through a partnership with low-Earth orbit satellite company Iridium. The partnership, says the operator, gives eligible customers another way of keeping their IoT devices connected when terrestrial mobile coverage is unavailable. Deutsche Telekom already has similar deals in place with Skylo, Sateliot and OQ Technology. The Iridium NTN Direct constellation is now commercially available to Deutsche Telekom’s IoT customers using compatible NB-IoT devices.

Ericsson trials drone-sensing technology

Ericsson is trialing drone-sensing technology with Erillisverkot, a provider of ICT services to the public sector in Finland. They jointly tested Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) at a demonstration in Helsinki, including a live trial at Vuosaari Harbor. The demonstration, said Ericsson, showed how ISAC can add a “sensing layer” around ports, borders and other sensitive sites to strengthen Finland’s security and preparedness. Essentially, ISAC turns existing mobile network sites into a distributed sensing platform, helping authorities monitor drone activity.

Nokia teams up with Microsoft on network automation

Nokia is collaborating with Microsoft on AI-driven network automation, combining the Finnish vendor’s Data Suite products with Microsoft Fabric’s unified analytics, governance and AI capabilities. According to Nokia, the joint offering, which uses AI-driven operational assistants act as “co-pilots” for network engineers, will allow operators to access high-quality, trusted network data in minutes instead of weeks.

Don’t speak

Nokia is also involved, along with fellow Finnish companies Scailarc and Elisa, in a proof-of-concept based on IMS Data Channel technology that enables secure non-verbal interaction to kick in when the customer is unable to take part in a voice call. The technology was explained using an Elisa customer service scenario: Elisa calls about a fiber installation; the customer cannot answer but sees a trusted interactive call screen and selects “Book installation time.” Elisa sees the customer has gone down the self-service route, and the customer completes the task without having to answer the voice call. IMS Data Channel is a 3GPP standard that enables rich data interactions inside a normal phone call.

DE-CIX pushes into Alps-Adriatic region

Germany-based DE-CIX has joined forces with BIK Breitbandinitiative Kärntento to launch ALPSix, a neutral Internet exchange in southern Austria serving the Alps-Adriatic region. The regional interconnection platform provides connectivity to key international interconnection hubs such as Munich and Vienna.

Sateliot gets with IRIS2 program

The European Space Agency has chosen Spain’s Sateliot as a contributor to the IRIS2 sovereign connectivity program. The company will be tasked with studying direct-to-device (D2D) and secure IoT connectivity applications, and will look at how non-terrestrial network (NTN) capabilities, built on the 3GPP standard for satellite and terrestrial convergence, can extend resilient, “sovereign” communications to European governmental users. (See Making the most of satellite D2D.)

Finns fight data centers

A citizens’ petition calling for tighter legislation on data centers in Finland has reached the 50,000 signatures required for it to be debated in parliament by lawmakers within just three days, Finnish news website YLE reports. Last week Google announced that it was planning to invest €13 billion (US$15 billion) in AI-related digital infrastructure in Finland over the next two years, including data centers and associated investments in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala.

Three years ago today…

Eurobites reported that Nordic operator Telia had entered into a final and binding agreement to sell 100% of its Danish operation to Norlys for 6.25 billion Danish kroner ($894 million at the time). Telia said that the deal was in line with its strategy to “focus on markets in which there is a clear path to securing and defending leading market positions.”