Ooredoo Group today announced a partnership with du, the leading telecom and digital services provider, to land the Fibre in the Gulf (FIG) subsea cable system in the UAE, marking further progress in the development of a high-capacity international connectivity platform designed to support the region’s growing data and digital infrastructure requirements.
FIG is the largest subsea cable system ever built in the GCC, designed to deliver an unprecedented capacity of up to 720Tbps across 24 fibre pairs. The system is being developed to meet sustained demand from hyperscalers, cloud providers, AI platforms and data centre operators, enabling efficient, low-latency data flows across Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Oman.
The project is led by Ooredoo Fibre Networks (OFN), a recently established independent entity created to manage and scale Ooredoo Group’s international connectivity and subsea infrastructure investments, under the leadership of its CEO, Khalid Al Hamadi.
The UAE landing at du’s cable station adds further depth to the system’s architecture, supporting more diversified data routing and strengthening the overall efficiency of regional and intercontinental connectivity between the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “FIG reflects our continued focus on building high-capacity, resilient connectivity infrastructure aligned with how demand is evolving. This partnership with du marks another step in the execution of the project. Combined with the progress already made across other landing points, it reinforces the role of international connectivity in supporting the region’s long-term digital growth.”
FIG introduces greater route diversity and redundancy, providing alternative data pathways that strengthen connectivity resilience and support uninterrupted international data flows.
Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO, du said: “Landing the FIG subsea cable in the UAE strengthens our international connectivity capabilities and reinfources the UAE’s position as a leading global hub for data, cloud and AI. Our partnership with Ooredoo enables the scale, resillience and performance required to support hyperscalers, enterprises and digital ecosystems as demand for advanced connectivity continues to grow. This initiative aligns with the UAE’s digital transformation and economic agenda, supporting the nation’s vision to build a globally competitive, knowledge-based digital economy.”
FIG will support the next phase of digital infrastructure development across the region, providing scalable, high-capacity routes for cross-border data exchange and enabling continued growth in cloud, AI and digital services.
The submarine cable industry is evolving rapidly. Join the discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA, the world’s most important subsea cable event
The Netherlands is seeing renewed subsea cable activity. Since January, IOEMA B.V. has established itself in the Netherlands, bringing a new submarine cable company into the Dutch digital infrastructure ecosystem. Its planned 1,600-kilometre fibre-optic system is designed to connect five Northern European markets and is expected to come ashore at both Eemshaven and near Scheveningen/The Hague, with Greenhouse Datacenters selected as an additional Dutch landing partner alongside Eurofiber. This reflects renewed interest in the Netherlands as a location for next-generation digital infrastructure.
For the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition*, developments like these underline exactly why international collaboration and practical support for new cable landings matter. Regular visitors to Submarine Networks EMEA may have come across the coalition, either at our stand or in conversations throughout the event. The coalition brings together companies, public organisations and knowledge institutions in the Netherlands with a shared goal: strengthening the country’s position as a digital hub by supporting and attracting new subsea cable landings. In this article, we highlight several recent developments in the Netherlands that are relevant to the international subsea cable community. More information about the coalition and how we work can be found at the end of the article.
Maintaining a leading digital hub
For many years, the Netherlands has been recognized as one of the world’s leading digital infrastructure hubs. Its early investment in connectivity, internet exchanges and data centres helped create a dense, hyperconnected, and internationally competitive digital ecosystem.
But this success also brought new challenges. Due to the Netherlands’ early development as a digital infrastructure hub and its high density of data centers, the country was among the first to face constraints related to power availability and physical space for new digital infrastructure. Members of our coalition still recall a TeleGeography presentation in 2019 in which the Netherlands was described as “closed for business” for new digital infrastructure. It was a sharp characterization of the growing pressure around power availability, space and permitting at the time.
Today, these issues are no longer unique to the Netherlands: power availability, grid congestion and spatial constraints have become defining challenges for digital infrastructure markets around the world. In the Netherlands, they have also contributed to renewed political focus on digital infrastructure. Following the innovation and investment agenda developed under the leadership of former ASML CEO Peter Wennink, digital infrastructure has now been explicitly recognized as a political priority.
The Netherlands also continues to show strong fundamentals. In TeleGeography’s connectivity ranking, the country scores strongly on the metric of “power”, outperforming several other leading digital hubs. The large-scale development of offshore wind in the North Sea further underlines the country’s long-term ambition. While these investments will not solve today’s power constraints overnight, they do strengthen the longer-term outlook for a cleaner and more resilient energy base for digital infrastructure.
Together, these elements – a strong existing ecosystem, renewed political attention and long-term investment in energy infrastructure – are becoming visible in concrete developments across the Dutch digital infrastructure landscape.
Growing demand and new cable initiatives
One example is the continued demand for large-scale digital infrastructure, reflected in recently granted permits for seven hyperscale data centers and the awarding of funding for an AI Factory in the northern part of the Netherlands. This AI Factory, centered around an AI supercomputer and connected to the EuroHPC ecosystem, will provide access for both the private sector and academia to experiment with, train and develop AI applications. Its open-access approach is expected to further strengthen the Dutch digital ecosystem.
IOEMA and new routes through the North Sea
As mentioned earlier, IOEMA is one example of renewed subsea cable activity in the Netherlands. The planned system would add a new North Sea route connecting the Netherlands with Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Norway, strengthening route diversity in Northern Europe. Its planned Dutch landings at Eemshaven and near Scheveningen/The Hague are both close to major internet exchange ecosystems, with NL-IX and AMS-IX both listed among the world’s ten largest internet exchanges.
IOEMA Holding also includes PACS Southern Route, an entity involved in the Pan-Arctic Cable System, which aims to connect Europe and Asia via a northern route rather than through the Middle East. Both initiatives align with areas identified by the European Commission in its Submarine Cable Security Toolkit and Cable Projects of European Interest framework. This fits within a broader European context in which subsea cable security, route diversity and resilience have moved higher on the policy agenda.
Making Dutch cable landing easier to navigate
In parallel, the coalition is working to make cable landings on the Dutch coast easier to navigate by identifying preferred landing locations. For these locations, we are gathering survey data, information on available power infrastructure and backhaul partners, and possible seabed routes. This is done in consultation with relevant government organizations, taking into account the many competing uses of the busy North Sea.
Taken together, these developments underline the Netherlands’ continued relevance to Europe’s digital infrastructure. With a strong ecosystem, renewed political attention, growing demand for AI and cloud infrastructure, preferred landing locations and initiatives such as IOEMA, the country is well positioned to support the next generation of subsea cable systems. At Submarine Networks EMEA, the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition looks forward to discussing these opportunities with partners across the international subsea community.
Meet the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition at Submarine Networks EMEA 2026 Representatives of the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition, including ambassador Martin Prins and coalition strategist Aldert de Jongste, will be present at Submarine Networks EMEA in London this May. Together with other coalition members, they look forward to connecting with the international subsea cable community and discussing the opportunities the Netherlands can offer for future cable landings.
Visit us at stand 13 to learn more about recent Dutch developments, preferred landing locations and the practical support available for parties exploring new routes to the Netherlands.
Aldert de Jongste is a political scientist, goldsmith, and strategic advisor at ECP, a Netherlands-based foundation that brings together public and private stakeholders around the responsible development of the digital society. At ECP, he works on issues at the intersection of digitalisation, infrastructure, the economy and societal values. Through the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition, Aldert is committed to strengthening the Netherlands’ position as a digital hub and to positioning subsea cables as critical infrastructure for the economy, innovation, security and digital autonomy.
The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition: One central point of contact The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition is a public-private partnership that brings together companies, infrastructure providers, data centre operators, wholesale end users, knowledge institutions and different levels of government. Its shared goal is to strengthen the Netherlands’ position as a digital hub by supporting and attracting new subsea cable landings.
The coalition acts as a central point of contact for international cable developers and investors exploring opportunities in the Netherlands. It supports new cable initiatives by sharing knowledge about the Dutch digital ecosystem, connecting landing parties with relevant stakeholders and helping them navigate the regulatory and licensing landscape.
By combining public and private expertise, the coalition aims to make the Dutch landscape more accessible for parties looking to land a subsea cable on the Dutch coast: from first orientation to a successful landing.
Stay informed: Webinar on 29 October The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition will host its annual webinar on 29 October, providing an update on subsea cable landings and related developments in the Netherlands. The session will highlight the opportunities the Netherlands offers for new cable initiatives, as well as the support available through the coalition. The full program will follow soon. You can register here.
*The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition is a collaboration of: AMS-IX, Digital Realty, Dutch Datacenter Association (DDA), Equinix, Eurofiber, Fiber Carrier Association (FCA), KPN, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, i3D.net,, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), NL-IX, Relined, Rijkswaterstaat, Stichting DiNL, SURF and WorldStream.
Telenor is establishing a new Norwegian sovereign cloud company designed for organisations with the most stringent requirements for security, resilience and regulatory compliance
The company will be named Telenor Sovereign Cloud and was announced in connection with a visit from Norway’s Minister of Digitalisation, Karianne Tung.
“Norwegian organisations need modern, scalable cloud services that at the same time provide full national control. We see a clear and growing need in both the private and public sectors. With Telenor Sovereign Cloud, we aim to deliver a solution that combines scalable cloud technology with Norwegian governance, operations and security”, says Jannicke Hilland, Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Infrastructure.
“In a more uncertain world, control over one’s own data and digital infrastructure is critical. Initiatives like this help strengthen Norway’s digital sovereignty and resilience, and are fully aligned with the government’s plan for Norway”, says Minister of Digitalisation Karianne Tung.
Building a sovereign cloud platform in Norway The platform will be operated from nationally controlled data centres in Norway and developed to be isolated from commercial, global cloud solutions. All data will be stored, processed and managed under Norwegian jurisdiction. The service is being developed to meet strict requirements for security legislation, operational independence and the handling of highly sensitive data.
The initiative is part of Telenor’s Nordic ambition within secure and resilient digital infrastructure. In the initial phase, the solution will be established in Norway, partly due to national regulatory requirements and the need for local control, with the possibility of further development across the Nordics over time.
The solution will be built in collaboration with selected technology partners, while Telenor will retain control over architecture, operations and security. The company will also test and use the services internally, alongside work with external customers.
“We are now building a dedicated professional environment with specialist expertise in security, cloud and infrastructure. Recruitment is already under way, and over time the initiative is expected to involve around 50 people. We are starting small and will grow in line with demand and the development of the service”, says Hilland.
In the initial phase, the initiative will target public sector actors and larger enterprises with critical societal functions, with particular focus on the energy and healthcare sectors. Telenor will work with selected customers to test the concept, with the aim of deciding on a commercial launch based on experience from the pilot phase. Telenor Sovereign Cloud will be established as a standalone company under the Telenor Infrastructure business area.
“The pilot phase will provide valuable insight into how the solution performs in practice – from technology and security requirements to regulatory aspects and commercial potential. These experiences will form the basis for further scaling and commercial launch”, says Hilland.
The initiative will be developed in stages, where market demand will determine the pace and scale of future investment.
With this establishment, Telenor strengthens its position as a provider of critical societal infrastructure. With local presence, strong security expertise and a modern cloud platform, the company will be a strategic partner for organisations with stringent requirements for data protection, digital sovereignty and operational resilience.
“This initiative marks an important step in strengthening Norway’s digital sovereignty”, concludes Hilland.
Inaugural cohort gains exclusive access to Canada’s fastest supercomputer and hands-on commercial expertise to build advanced AI solutions
TELUS and L-SPARK have announced a first-of-its-kind program designed to enable high-potential Canadian startups and scaleups to build, train and deploy advanced AI solutions on
Canada’s fastest and most powerful sovereign AI supercomputer. The TELUS Sovereign AI Accelerator will usher in a new wave of Canadian innovation by accelerating the go-to-market strategies and investment readiness of select businesses.
The inaugural cohort includes ambitious Canadian companies developing breakthrough AI solutions across retail, healthcare, robotics, enterprise software and industrial automation:
Airy3D: Airy3D’s DepthIQ™ IP delivers simultaneous 2D images and 3D depth maps from a single passive image sensor – providing a compact, power-efficient, and cost-effective solution for use in robotics, automotive, industrial automation and consumer devices.
Codalio is an AI-driven product and application development platform that empowers startups and companies to launch MVPs and build scalable, enterprise-grade applications faster and more affordably.
Edge Signal helps retail and telco retail use physical AI to increase revenue and profitability, improve customer experience and optimize daily operations across every location.
PataBid offers AI enterprise-grade construction bidding software designed for complex specialty trades, delivering standardization and risk reduction for commercial, industrial, and institutional projects across teams and regions.
TopoLift transforms generic AI into a bespoke intelligence layer that learns the structure of the customer’s business and grows smarter with their data – delivering clearer reasoning, fewer errors and highly accurate, context-aware decisions.
Participants gain immediate access to the TELUS Sovereign AI Factory, paired with tailored business advisory support from L-SPARK, Canada’s leading corporate accelerator and innovation partner. This powerful combination of high-performance computing and hands-on commercial expertise equips these startups to transform ambitious AI roadmaps into scalable, market-ready offerings that strengthen Canada’s position in the global AI economy.
“Canada has no shortage of talented AI visionaries and founders, but too often they lack the coordinated support needed to scale from promising ideas to globally-competitive businesses,” said Hesham Fahmy, Chief Information Officer, TELUS. “The TELUS Sovereign AI Accelerator demolishes those barriers. By arming founders with the same high-performance AI infrastructure available to tech giants – combined with hands-on advisory support – we’re enabling them to accelerate development, strengthen their market position and build AI companies that dominate the world stage, right here in Canada.”
“Great AI companies aren’t built on technology alone – they’re built on execution, focus and access to the right expertise at the right time,” said Leo Lax, Executive Managing Director, L-SPARK. “Through the TELUS Sovereign AI Accelerator, we’re working hand-in-hand with each company to refine their product and position them for sustainable growth. This cohort represents the future of Canadian innovation, and our mission is to ensure they have everything they need to translate that potential into accelerated traction.”
Participating companies will receive compute credits from the TELUS AI Factory – powered by 99% renewable energy and NVIDIA platform – alongside one-on-one guidance from seasoned L-SPARK executive advisors. The six-month engagement is designed to fast-track product development, unlock new customer relationships and build the investor networks critical to long-term success, all while maintaining complete control over data and intellectual property.
The initiative underscores TELUS and L-SPARK’s shared commitment to strengthen Canada’s AI ecosystem by enabling founders to build and scale transformative technologies – securely, responsibly and domestically.
Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC) (“Belden” or the “Company”), a leading global supplier of specialty networking solutions, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RUCKUS Networks (“RUCKUS”), a global provider of intelligent network solutions, from Vistance Networks (Nasdaq: VISN) (“Vistance”) for approximately $1.85 billion. The acquisition establishes Belden as a leading provider of complete, end-to-end IT/OT networking solutions.
RUCKUS is a leading provider of enterprise networking solutions delivering purpose-built connectivity for high-density, mission-critical environments, serving more than 48,000 customers globally. RUCKUS offers an integrated portfolio of Wi-Fi, enterprise switching and an AI-driven cloud networking platform that enables organizations to optimize performance, simplify operations and securely connect users and devices. RUCKUS is known for its differentiated technology, strong channel ecosystem and focus on reliability and user experience at scale.
“The addition of RUCKUS brings a leading provider of purpose-driven enterprise networks to Belden and accelerates our transformation into a full-stack networking solutions provider,” said Ashish Chand, President and CEO of Belden. “RUCKUS offers proven, differentiated Wi-Fi and enterprise switching technology that our customers in hospitality, education and healthcare are actively demanding, allowing us to deliver a more complete, end-to-end networking solution. Equally important, these same capabilities create a powerful opportunity to bring high-performance wireless and switching to our industrial customers, who are increasingly looking to converge their IT and OT environments. Together, Belden and RUCKUS will deliver a broader, higher-value networking solution for customers across enterprise and industrial environments, while strengthening our financial profile, generating strong free cash flow that supports rapid de-levering, and creating meaningful long-term value for stockholders.”
Compelling Strategic and Financial Opportunities:
Significant Growth Catalyst: Adds industry-leading Wi-Fi and enterprise switching capabilities that directly strengthen the Company’s solutions offering across core enterprise growth verticals, including hospitality, education and healthcare.
Expands Total Addressable Market: RUCKUS adds Wi-Fi and enterprise switching technology, product categories Belden does not currently offer, to markets where Belden already operates, meaningfully expanding the combined organization’s addressable opportunity. The combination positions Belden to deliver a more complete, higher-value active networking solution spanning enterprise campuses, high-density public venues and industrial facilities.
Capitalizes on Industrial Opportunity: RUCKUS’ proven high-performance networking platform creates a compelling opportunity to extend best-in-class wireless and switching into Belden’s industrial customer base, where demand for converged IT and OT connectivity is accelerating.
Delivers Compelling Financial Profile: RUCKUS’ high-margin profile is expected to drive accretion to Belden’s gross margins, Adjusted EBITDA margins, and Adjusted Earnings Per Share, representing a meaningful enhancement in Belden’s financial profile.
Clear Path to Rapid De-levering: Combined with Belden’s strong free cash flow generation and RUCKUS’ high cash conversion, the Company expects to reduce net leverage to below 3.0x within the first full year following close, and to reach its long-term target of approximately 1.5x by 2029. Belden will prioritize debt paydown while maintaining its commitment to disciplined capital allocation.
At approximately 13x projected 2026 Adjusted EBITDA, the transaction reflects a disciplined and attractive entry point for a high-margin, high-growth asset. RUCKUS brings a high-quality financial profile to the combined company, with high-single-digit revenue growth, gross margins above 60%, and Adjusted EBITDA margins above 20% in the first full year of ownership, each meaningfully above Belden’s current profile. As a result, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Adjusted Earnings Per Share. The acquisition is also expected to serve as a growth accelerator, further advancing Belden’s long-term financial framework.
Transaction Details
The acquisition was approved by both companies’ Boards of Directors and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals.
Belden has obtained fully committed debt financing from J.P. Morgan that provides the Company flexibility to optimize its permanent capital structure between signing and closing based on market conditions.
Belden’s disciplined capital allocation and strong free cash flow generation support a clear path to de-levering post-close. With a combined Adjusted EBITDA base of approximately $650 million and RUCKUS’ high free cash flow conversion, Belden expects net leverage (a non-GAAP measure) to decline below 3.0x within the first full year after close, and to reach its long-term target of approximately 1.5x by 2029. Consistent with this priority, Belden intends to temporarily pause share repurchases until leverage returns closer to our long-term target.
We caught up with Amol Gadre, Founder and CEO of Sarathi Softech, to discuss why flexibility is an integral feature of the company’s AI-enabled telco billing platform, EarnBill, and how it is helping telecom operators and MVNOs stay ahead in an increasingly complex market.
From 5G and the IoT, to AI and personalised services, each year the telecoms sector continues to grow more complex. This offers a huge challenge for telco billing systems, particularly for those largescale telcos with slow-moving legacy systems that can act as bottlenecks for innovation.
For Gadre, these limitations were front-of-mind when developing Sarathi’s EarnBill platform, a core billing engine focussed on fast implantation and flexibility. Backed by over 13 years of Enterprise jBilling partnership and more than $2 billion in processed billing and payments, EarnBill has been built and battle-tested for precisely this moment.
“The big legacy systems for Tier 1 telcos mean implementations can be multi-year,” Gadre said. “We try to cut such implementation times by as much as half through our own agility.”
This agility is not just a matter of project management and efficiency in deployment. As the market moves towards increasingly complex data models and products, the billing system must be as flexible as the network itself.
“Take the data bank offering in Australia, for example, where unused monthly data allowance is ‘banked’ for use in later months,” said Gadre. “These kinds of offers are gaining popularity because they give customers a lot of flexibility. However, introducing innovative offerings like this requires a backend that is quickly customisable”.
Of course, building a billing system with this level of flexibility is no easy task, particularly given legacy constraints. EarnBill, however, benefits from the fact that it did not originate in the telco sphere, but rather enterprise billing through the jBilling platform. This gives it a level of flexibility not typically seen in more specialised telco billing systems.
“EarnBill is a ‘no assumptions made’ core billing engine,” explained Gadre, noting it can be applied to various domains, from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers. “It’s not a platform that we have inherited from an existing telco system. Instead, it was built from the ground up to meet the needs of various domains including telcos, SaaS, IoT and IaaS amongst others.”
“Telcos are offering innovative plans in a competitive market. It’s EarnBill’s job to ensure they can come up with innovative offerings in a short amount of time,” he added.
Leveraging AI to plug leaking revenue
Naturally, AI plays a key role in EarnBill’s ongoing evolution in the telco sector. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has long been a core feature of efficient and autonomous billing systems, allowing them to handle complex operational workflows with limited human intervention.
The recent development of agentic AI is showing a lot of promise of making this automation more intelligent. The autonomous AI agents can analyse data, make decisions, and execute tasks across workflows with minimal human intervention – this development marks a significant shift towards a more fluid and intelligent model. Specialised AI agents can dynamically review tariffs, suggest dispute resolution options in real time, and help personalise charges based on individual usage patterns and context, providing the much-needed agility.
“AI has sped up this automation process, with agentic AI taking over certain aspects of daily operations,” said Gadre. “Today, these processes are somewhere in the middle, where you have part automation, part human handling. We will see more and more of these processes handed over to AI agents as the technology matures. EarnBill would help operators make this transition.”
With telco complexity growing rapidly, stemming revenue leakage is emerging as a key initial target for these agents.
“We’re using automation to report billing errors in real time,” he said, emphasising that this not only saved telcos money but ultimately improved the end customer’s experience.
From services to full stack BSS
Ultimately, Gadre’s goal is for Sarathi to leverage AI to move up the value chain and begin offering a full stack BSS solution for telco customers.
Crucially, Gadre emphasizes that this platform must remain service oriented. In an industry where vendors often force operators to change their business processes to fit the software, EarnBill intends to remain the inverse.
“We don’t want to make our clients learn our platform and use it in a way where they need to change how their business operates,” Gadre concludes. “We have a very flexible system and a platform that is still evolving to cater to their needs as seamlessly as possible.”
For telcos looking to innovate and differentiate themselves from their competition, flexible, intelligent billing will only grow in importance.
Sarathi Softech is a Pune-based billing and revenue management specialist with over 15 years of deep expertise in Enterprise jBilling.
The company’s flagship platform, EarnBill, is a flexible, enterprise-grade billing and revenue management platform built on top of jBilling, helping telecom operators and MVNOs launch complex offerings faster, protect revenue, and automate billing end-to-end.
Request a tailored demo and discover how EarnBill can cut your implementation time, protect revenue, and adapt to your business.
The European Commission accused Meta of “failing to diligently identify, assess and mitigate the risks of minors under 13 years old accessing their services”
The European Commission has released its preliminary findings into whether Meta had breached the Digital Services Act (DSA), claiming the company had failed the adequately prevent under-13s from accessing its Instagram and Facebook platforms.
In a press release, the Commission said that Meta’s measures to prevent access by minors “do not seem to be effective”.
“Despite Meta’s own terms and conditions setting the minimum age to access Instagram and Facebook safely at 13, the measures put in place by the company to enforce these restrictions do not seem to be effective,” said the statement. “The measures do not adequately prevent minors under the age of 13 from accessing their services nor promptly identify and remove them, if they already gained access.”
It further stated that there are “no effective controls in place to check the correctness of the self-declared date of birth” and that Meta’s tools for reporting minors on the platform were “difficult to use and not effective”.
The first launched its investigation into company in 2024 following the implementation of the DSA, a broad legal framework covering how online platforms handle content and manage risks to customers online.
If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover.
Meta’s turnover in 2025 was roughly $201 billion, suggesting a fine could be in the region of $12.6 billion.
“Meta’s own general conditions indicate their services are not intended for minors under 13. Yet, our preliminary findings show that Instagram and Facebook are doing very little to prevent children below this age from accessing their services,” said Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. “The DSA requires platforms to enforce their own rules: terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users – including children.”
In a statement to the New York Times, Meta said it disagreed with the findings, claiming its methods of preventing access by under-13s were effective. It nonetheless says that it is rolling out additional measures “soon”, adding that “understanding age is an industry-wide challenge”.
EE has today unveiled an all-new and upgraded Scam Guard, its most powerful and comprehensive fraud protection service to date.
Available to EE pay monthly mobile customers for £2 a month on a 30-day rolling contract, the service builds on EE’s existing Scam Guard offering and provides AI Triple-Lock Protection, Scam Assistant, Mobile Device Security and Dark Web Monitoring to give customers complete peace of mind against today’s increasingly sophisticated scam landscape.
The launch comes as Cifas, the UK’s leading fraud prevention service, has revealed that more than 444,000 cases were recorded to the National Fraud Database in 2025, the highest number ever recorded in a single year, and a 6% increase on 2024. The surge is widely attributed to the growing use of AI by criminal networks to generate convincing phishing emails, fake websites, deepfake calls and targeted SMS scams at unprecedented scale.
As the UK’s best network, EE introduced Scam Guard to mobile customers in 2024. Since then, more than 169 million scam and spam attemptshave been stopped by EE’s service – a testament to its commitment to customer protection. The new Scam Guard builds on that foundation, raising the bar not just on EE’s own capabilities but on what customers can expect from network providers more broadly. Looking ahead, EE expects the new service to prevent at least twice as many scams over the next 12 months.
With a suite of AI-driven features designed to tackle the full spectrum of modern threats, it represents a significant step forward in helping keep customers one step ahead of increasingly sophisticated scams:
AI Triple-Lock Protection: three layers of AI defence, around the clock
At the heart of the new Scam Guard is AI Triple-Lock Protection – a trio of cutting-edge digital safety features powered by Norton’s Genie AI engine, built to keep customers protected all day, every day. This includes:
Safe Email: providing 24/7 proactive scam protection for email inboxes, scanning and flagging suspicious messages so customers know if something is a scam before they even open it.
Safe SMS: using advanced AI to detect sophisticated scams in text messages, giving customers real-time protection and peace of mind every time they check their messages.
Safe Web: harnessing AI to protect customers from scams while shopping or browsing online, blocking malicious sites before they cause harm.
Scam Assistant and Call Labelling: real-time analysis across every channel
New Scam Guard also introduces Scam Assistant, a tool that allows customers to upload screenshots of texts, emails, websites, social media messages or even QR codes to receive instant advice on whether they are safe. Alongside this, Call Labelling delivers automatic, network-level screening of every incoming call, giving customers the information they need before they pick up.
Monitoring, security and password management: complete digital protection
Social Media Monitoring and Dark Web Monitoring watch for suspicious activity across a customer’s online footprint, sending quick notifications so they can take action without delay. Mobile Device Security provides real-time protection against ransomware, viruses and other online threats, automatically blocking dangerous attachments before they can cause damage. Additionally, Password Manager creates, stores and auto-fills strong, secure passwords, removing one of the most common vulnerabilities in personal online security.
Malcolm Cubitt, Director of Product, Mobile, EE, said: “Fraud in the UK is at a record high, with AI making scams more convincing and harder to detect. As these threats evolve, we continue to adapt as the UK’s best network—constantly seeking new and innovative ways to protect and support our customers. This includes leading industry alliances, investing in network-level controls, and employing a dedicated team of security experts. And now with our newly enhanced Scam Guard service, we’re providing customers with an even greater level of cyber security protection.”
EE is committed to helping customers enjoy the benefits of the digital world with confidence through practical protections like Scam Guard. This is underpinned by BT Group’s purpose to connect for good and its wider work to help people with the digital skills, tools and support they need to connect, stay safe and succeed.
EE Scam Guard forms part of a number of cyber security solutions offered to BT Group, which collectively over the last 12 months (Jan-Dec 2025) saw:
Blocked 1.6 billion attempts to access malicious domains
Stopped 200 million scam SMS messages
Blocked 61 million scam calls
Flagged a further 175 million nuisance and fraud calls to keep customers protected
The new Scam Guard is now available to all EE pay monthly mobile customers and will be available to purchase as an add on.
The deal with Egg Power will supply roughly 5% of the company’s energy demands
Today, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) is expanding its renewable energy usage, signing a new 10-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with solar power provider Egg Power.
The deal will see VMO2 source power from Egg’s new solar farm 70MW solar farm in Suffolk, which is currently under construction and is expected to begin power generation in 2027.
In total, the agreement is expected to cover around 5% of VMO2’s total energy demand.
Egg Power is a natural energy partner for VMO2, with both companies being owned by Liberty Global.
The deal is expected to significantly contribute to VMO2’s Net Zero carbon emissions goals, with the operator currently aiming for neutrality across its entire value chain by 2040.
“This agreement with egg Power is the latest step in Virgin Media O2’s journey to achieve net zero emissions by the end of 2040,” said Mark Hardman, Director, Finance Operations at VMO2. “We’re committed to growing and operating our business in a way that’s good for people and the planet, where we’re cutting carbon, securing renewable energy on a long-term basis, and sourcing renewable energy generation from the UK.”
The deal builds on a similar 10-year agreement for wind power that VMO2 signed with The Renewables Infrastructure Group last year. Combined, the two deals mean around 20% of VMO2’s energy usage will come from renewable PPAs.
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118812.fr met en relation des spécialistes du monde entier par le biais d'événements, de renseignements et d'éditions savantes. Nous sommes une société du FTSE 100 et notre réseau de marques internationalement respectées aide les gens à travailler plus intelligemment, à prendre de meilleures décisions et à se développer sur des milliers de marchés spécialisés. Les données et les informations sont au cœur des activités de 118812.fr, et nous prenons au sérieux les questions de confidentialité des données. Nous respectons nos relations avec les clients, les visiteurs, les sponsors, les exposants, les fournisseurs et les collègues, ainsi que la confiance qu'ils nous accordent pour la conservation de leurs données personnelles.
Contrôleurs de données de 118812.fr
Cette politique de confidentialité explique comment les membres du groupe 118812.fr collectent, utilisent et protègent les informations personnelles à travers nos marques. Les références à "nous", "notre" ou "nos" renvoient au contrôleur 118812.fr concerné qui traite vos informations personnelles.
118812.fr est structuré en cinq divisions opérationnelles :
Au sein de ces divisions, il existe des entreprises sectorielles et des marques de produits, d'événements et de services. En général, lorsque nous interagissons avec vous, c'est par le biais de l'une de ces marques. L'entité juridique du groupe 118812.fr responsable des données personnelles (désignée comme le contrôleur des données dans l'UE et désignée comme le contrôleur 118812.fr dans la présente politique de confidentialité) sera l'entité indiquée sur les formulaires de réservation, les formulaires Web et les contrats ou les factures. Différentes entités juridiques de 118812.fr sont responsables de différents événements et produits. Pour mettre à jour vos informations personnelles ou vos préférences en matière de marketing, contactez les équipes de marketing de nos divisions énumérées ci-dessous. Pour toute question ou plainte concernant la confidentialité des données, vous pouvez vous adresser à l'équipe 118812.fr Privacy via notre formulaire en ligne.
Couverture internationale et variations
118812.fr opère dans plus de 20 pays, qui ont chacun des lois différentes sur la protection des données. La présente politique de confidentialité s'applique à toutes les activités de 118812.fr dans le monde, sauf dans la mesure où il existe une exigence spécifique à un pays qui la complète, comme indiqué dans le menu de gauche.
Ce que nous recueillons
Cette section vous indique quelles informations personnelles nous pouvons recueillir lorsque vous utilisez nos produits et services, et quelles autres informations personnelles nous pouvons recevoir d'autres sources. Dans la présente politique de confidentialité, les informations personnelles désignent les types de 118812.frtions personnelles qui peuvent être collectées et utilisées, notamment : Les coordonnées, telles que le nom, l'adresse électronique, l'adresse postale et le numéro de téléphone.Informations sur l'éducation, la nationalité et la professionles noms d'utilisateur et les mots de passeCommentaires, réactions, messages et autres contenus soumis, y compris les informations relatives aux enquêtes.Intérêts et préférences de communication, y compris les autorisations de marketing, le cas échéant.Informations de localisation, telles que celles fournies par une application mobileInformations de vérification de l'identité, telles que les détails du passeport, afin de se conformer aux obligations légales dans certains pays et de fournir des lettres d'invitation de visa, le cas échéant.Informations sur l'utilisation du site web et des communications, telles que la correspondance et les détails de votre utilisation de notre site web et de nos services obtenus par le biais de cookies ou d'autres technologies de suivi.
Ces informations personnelles concernent les catégories de personnes suivantes :
Prospects, contacts clients, abonnés et utilisateurs en ce qui concerne nos services et produits ;Visiteurs, sponsors, exposants et conférenciers lors de nos événements ;Les professionnels figurant dans les produits numériques et imprimés, tels que les détails des cadres supérieurs mis à disposition par les produits de renseignement, les recherches et les publications.les auteurs, éditeurs et réviseurs de nos publications.les contacts de nos prestataires de services et partenaires commerciaux.Informations personnelles sensibles
