(Source: Vodafone)

VodafoneThree, the UK operator that started life as a joint venture between Vodafone and CK Hutchison but which became the sole property of Vodafone in May, has upped its cost-saving target from £700 million (US$924 million) a year by FY30 to £1 billion ($1.3 billion) a year by FY32. In a briefing note to investors, group CEO Margherita Della Valle said: "After a strong start, we now have even greater confidence in the opportunity ahead. That's why we are upgrading our cost target to £1 billion, with VodafoneThree set to become an increasingly important contributor to Vodafone's growth ambitions." (See After less than a year, Vodafone takes back control in UK.)

Nokia cuts jobs in Finland

Nokia is planning to cut around 250 jobs in Finland, according to a report on Finnish news website Helsingin Sanomat. The layoffs will be targeted at the company's sites in Espoo, Tampere and Oulu, says the report, and are part of a wider cost-saving program announced in 2023, which looked to cut Nokia's operating expenses by between €800 million ($894 million) and €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) by the end of this year. In an email to company employees, Mikko Hautala, Nokia's country manager for Finland, wrote: "The changes we are planning are not easy, and they will not be implemented lightly. However, they are necessary to secure our competitiveness in a rapidly changing operating environment." (See Nokia is cutting thousands more jobs this year.)

KLM taps Starlink for in-flight connectivity

Dutch airline KLM is tapping Elon Musk's Starlink for in-flight connectivity, with its passengers being offered free satellite-powered Wi-Fi on intercontinental flights from mid-2027. Since the beginning of this year, KLM has also been offering free Wi-Fi on most of its European fleet. (See Starlink shines where Europe's terrestrial broadband lags – Ookla.)

VEON hooks up with Amdocs

Dubai-headquartered VEON has signed a ten-year deal with Amdocs which will see Amdocs help run VEON's core technology operations through the deployment of the Israeli company's aOS, which is described as an agentic AI operating system purpose-built for telecom. Amdocs said the deal expands its presence in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the wider Eurasia region. (See Telecom is the cheapest way to distribute AI – VEON.)

BICS signs up with SCION

BICS, the international services arm of Belgian operator Proximus, is ditching Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) in favor of SCION for Internet routing. BICS has been testing SCION technology since 2023 but has now taken the plunge and signed up to the SCION Association. Hans Wouters, head of capacity connect at BICS, said: "SCION lets enterprises control the exact network paths through which their data travels, eliminating risks like route hijacking that traditional Internet routing cannot prevent."

Orange offers home cinema system

Orange France has introduced the Home Cinema Decoder for those who seek to emulate the big-screen audio experience from the comfort of their own chaise lounge. The system, which features Bang & Olufsen technology, offers a woofer for deep bass, two side speakers for "spatialized sound" and a central channel for clear dialog. The Home Cinema Decoder is available with Orange's Livebox Max TV package.

Proximus ups fiber speeds, goes symmetrical

Proximus has raised the speeds of some of its fiber broadband services and made them symmetrical – so upload's the same as download. Internet Go Fiber will have maximum download/upload speeds of 250/250 Mbit/s (up from 150/30 Mbit/s); Internet Mega Fiber will have 600/600 Mbit/s (up from 500/100 Mbit/s); while Internet Giga Fiber will have 2/2 Gbit/s (up from 2 Gbit/s/200 Mbit/s). Business users on equivalent plans will get similar upgrades.