By James Calloway

Nokia has found takers for its fixed wireless access and private network assets, but its site implementation and microwave businesses remain unsold and their fate unresolved. The Finnish vendor disclosed no buyer names, no valuations and no timetable for the two remaining units, which means the divestment programme that aimed to sharpen Nokia's portfolio is only partly complete.

The sale is one thread of a busy EMEA week. Around the region: a UK IoT operator raised £35 million ($46 million); Ericsson joined Sweden's sovereign AI supercomputer; Bouygues Telecom collected a Wi-Fi award; and the UK government moved toward blocking a major broadcasting deal.

What did the EU say about space?

At a debate on the future of satellite connectivity organised by Spanish operator Sateliot, European Parliament vice president Javi López warned that Europe cannot afford to be a "mere observer" in space governance and security. "Control of our space infrastructure is not a technical issue, but a strategic one," said López.

Sateliot CEO Jaume Sanpera pressed the commercial case. The ongoing review of the 2GHz band is a "historic opportunity" for European digital sovereignty, he said. "Opening spectrum access through open standards like 3GPP is the pathway to fostering European industrial champions and ensuring our critical infrastructure does not depend on third countries," Sanpera told the event. Sateliot is separately seeking €100 million in a Series C round to fund its space-based 5G push.

The regulatory point matters. If the 2GHz review opens the band to 3GPP-standard NTN services, standardised satellite IoT becomes cheaper for European operators to adopt. That is the outcome Sateliot is lobbying for.

Connexin lands £35M for smart water meters

UK IoT company Connexin secured £35 million ($46 million) in financing, drawn mainly from Santander bank and investment firm Patrizia. The money will fund growth of its smart water meter network, which serves water companies under pressure over leakage and pollution records. Connexin did not disclose deployment targets.

Ericsson joins Sweden's Sferical AI supercomputer

Ericsson has signed on to Sferical AI, Sweden's new sovereign supercomputer built with AstraZeneca, Saab, SEB, Wallenberg Investments and SKF on Nvidia technology. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang attended the launch. "You have done the hardest part… you have started," Huang told the audience. The consortium was first announced in May last year, with a plan to run compute-heavy AI workloads — training of domain-specific models and large-scale inference — on an Nvidia-powered machine.

For Ericsson, membership gives an in-country platform for telecom-domain AI development. No commercial terms were disclosed.

Bouygues Telecom wins Wi-Fi award

France's Bouygues Telecom took Best Wi-Fi Network Operator at the WBA Industry Awards. Judges cited the large-scale deployment of its Wi-Fi 7 range and its environmental certifications. The award is vendor-neutral recognition, but Bouygues supplied no subscriber or coverage figures alongside it.

Will Sky's ITV takeover survive scrutiny?

The UK Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said she is "minded" to issue a public interest intervention notice on Sky's proposed takeover of ITV's Media & Entertainment arm. The concern: Sky owner Comcast could influence the editorial stance of Sky or ITV. If the deal survives, ITV keeps only ITV Studios, its programme production arm. The government statement noted that a completed acquisition would leave just two entities — Sky/ITV and the BBC — holding roughly 86% of all linear news and current affairs viewing minutes. That concentration figure is the number regulators will now weigh.

Finland switches on cell broadcast alerts

Finland will activate FI-Alert, a new emergency warning system built on Cell Broadcast technology. According to national broadcaster YLE, the government said the system will complement existing warnings by sending alerts to phones in specific areas virtually instantly. Comparable systems already run in several European countries, including the UK. No launch date was given.

Also this week

• Salesforce is offering free AI tools to UK undergraduates as recruitment shifts toward AI fluency; City AM reports UK graduate vacancies at their lowest since 2020.
• EU member states signed a "Joint Declaration on Cloud" mapping the bloc's approach to cloud-based computing.

What does this change for European telecom? On spectrum and space, the 2GHz review and Sateliot's funding round could decide whether the EU gets a standardised satellite IoT champion or keeps watching from the sidelines. On divestments, the two Nokia units still without buyers will test whether distressed telecom assets find a market at all this year.