Finnish vendor also signs patent agreement with Amazon for video technologies, ending all pertinent litigation in all territories
First up, Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) has chosen Nokia to upgrade and expand its optical transport network across some metro and circle locations in India. The upgrade will use Nokia’s optical switching technology to increase capacity for 4G’s growing data traffic. It will also improve flexibility and efficiency, the vendor says, and “boost VIL’s 5G rollout”.
Late starter
VIL launched 5G earlier this month in Mumbai, and will expand coverage to five more major cities. The struggling operator said that it has sufficient capital to cover 100 cities and towns across 17 circles over the next three years, and hopes 5G services will help reduce churn.
Market leaders, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel, said they had 170 million and 120 million 5G customers respectively at the end of December, both having launched 5G services in October 2022.
The network overhaul includes deployment of Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) platform, and CDC-F 2.0 wavelength switching technologies. In addition, Nokia will also implement its photonic service engine (PSE-Vs) optics, iDense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) and optical transport network (OTN) to ensure connectivity even in peak times.
Avoiding forklift changes
Nokia says its solution will enable VIL to scale its network from C-band to C+L band as required, avoiding “forklift changes in platform or architecture,” thereby “reducing operational costs”. The project will also help cut energy consumption.
“We have been a long-standing partner for [VIL] in India, built on our trusted performance in network infrastructure. Our cutting-edge 1830 PSS technology will ensure their readiness to deliver multi-terabit data growth and support upcoming quantum-safe services for their enterprise customers,” said Sang Xulei, VP and Head of Network Infrastructure at Nokia Asia Pacific.
“This…milestone with VIL…cements Nokia’s leadership in India’s optical transport market and commitment to enabling next-generation connectivity in India,” he added.
Patent agreement with Amazon
Nokia has also announced it has signed a patent agreement with Amazon covering the use of Nokia’s video technologies in Amazon’s streaming services and devices. The agreement resolves all patent litigation between the two, in all jurisdictions. The terms – including the financial terms – of the agreement are not being made public.
“We are pleased to have reached agreement on the use of Nokia’s video technologies in Amazon’s streaming services and devices,” said Arvin Patel, Chief Licensing Officer New Segments, at Nokia.
Nokia claims to be a leader in the development of video and multimedia technologies, including video compression, content delivery, content recommendation and aspects related to hardware. In the past 25 years, the vendor has created almost 5,000 inventions that enable multimedia products and services and continues “to play a leading role in multimedia research and standardization”.
Nokia adds that is has invested more than €150 billion in R&D since 2000, including over €4.5 billion in 2024 alone in technologies including cellular and multimedia.
Both are internal promotions from within the Orange Group
Aliette Mousnier-Lompré, CEO of Orange Business (pictured), has announced two appointments to the executive management team.
Wassila Zitoune-Dumontet will be CEO of Orange Business France from 1 April. She was previously Chief Operating Officer at Orange Business, responsible for procurement, operations and customer service. According to the press statement, “Her commitment to customers, employees and technological innovation has helped develop a culture of operational excellence that has a positive impact on financial value creation, as well as sustainability and social responsibility objectives”.
Previously, Zitoune-Dumontet was Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Orange Business and Chief Commercial Officer at Orange Jordan and Morocco. She will retain her role as Diversity and Inclusion Sponsor for Orange Business, a position she has held for several years “with dedication and enthusiasm”.
MireilleHelou will step into Zitoune-Dumontet’s shoes as the new Chief Operating Officer for Orange Business, starting on 1 April. Helou has held “various leadership positions” since joining Orange Group in 2001. This includes oversseing digital transformation at Orange Réunion & Mayotte, improving business operations in Kenya and leading strategic market observation at Orange Silicon Valley.
Most recently, as SVP for MENA Zone at Orange, she strengthened regional development and governance.
“I am delighted to welcome Wassila and Mireille in their new roles. With their extensive industry experience, leadership, and customer focus, they will play a key role in shaping the future of Orange Business, empowering our customers with the strategic advantage they need to thrive in today’s fast-evolving digital landscape,” stated Aliette Mousnier-Lompré, CEO, Orange Business.
Partner content: In a digital landscape, AI-driven automation is essential for maintaining competitiveness and operational efficiency
AI ecosystems are intricate networks of algorithms, data, and technologies that drive intelligent decision-making and automation. As businesses increasingly leverage AI and Generative AI to optimise processes, enhance productivity, and foster innovation, scaling these solutions presents challenges and requires alignment with real-world needs.
Driving efficiency and innovation in the digital era
In today’s fast-paced environment, businesses face a huge amount of pressure to achieve greater efficiency while staying competitive in an ever-evolving market. To meet these challenges, organisations are increasingly turning to AI-driven solutions to optimise their operations. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as AI and Generative AI, businesses can transform their processes – automating repetitive tasks, integrating insights from diverse data formats, and streamlining workflows.
These solutions go beyond mere automation; they focus on solving business challenges. By reducing operational complexities and enhancing productivity, companies can allocate their resources more strategically. Whether it’s accelerating the development of new offerings, reducing errors in routine operations, or improving responsiveness to market demands, AI-powered strategies enable businesses to remain agile and future-ready.
These solutions can go from Competitive Intelligence capabilities, made to help marketeers identifying competitor offers by automatically crawling commercial offers and campaigns from the website and social networks; to Claims Automation capabilities, to optimise the claims analysis phase, reducing time and effort in claims processing.
Ultimately, this approach allows organisations to innovate faster, respond smarter, and thrive in a data-driven economy.
Below are some key benefits of AI-driven solutions:
Enhanced Productivity – AI automates repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities that drive innovation and growth.
Operational Cost Reduction – by streamlining workflows and reducing manual interventions, AI helps lower operational expenses and improve cost efficiency.
Data-Driven Decision Making – AI-powered insights help businesses make informed decisions faster, leveraging diverse data formats for deeper analysis and strategic planning.
Improved Accuracy and Reduced Errors – automating tasks minimises human errors, ensuring greater precision in processes such as data entry, claims processing, and compliance management.
Faster Innovation and Adaptability – AI enables businesses to quickly implement new use cases and respond to market changes with agility, maintaining a competitive edge.
Scalability and Flexibility – AI solutions can scale with business needs, seamlessly adapting to growing demands without compromising efficiency.
Enhanced Customer Experience – AI-driven automation improves response times, personalises customer interactions, and enhances overall service quality.
(Gen) AI & AI Challenges
The rapid adoption of AI and Generative AI technologies has created transformative opportunities for businesses to enhance their efficiency and achieve new levels of innovation. However, while the potential is immense, many organisations struggle to realise tangible value from their investments in AI. The challenge lies not only in deploying AI solutions but also in ensuring that these tools deliver measurable business outcomes, scale effectively, and align with strategic objectives.
As companies explore AI’s potential, they face questions about profitability, reliability, and scalability. Many enterprises find themselves navigating obstacles such as high implementation costs, fragmented processes, data availability, and uncertainty about AI’s integration into their operational workflows. Addressing these challenges is critical for turning AI from a high-cost experimental tool into a driver of business value.
Today, the challenges associated with AI Business Efficiency can be summarised in one question: Is my organisation ready to scale AI and Generative AI to deliver measurable business value?
Common Business Leader’s Questions:
How can we ensure that Generative AI solutions generate tangible business value and are not just experimental projects?
What are the main barriers to scaling Generative AI across enterprise environments, and how do we overcome them?
How can we ensure the reliability, consistency, and accuracy of AI-generated outputs, particularly in critical business use cases?
How do we align AI initiatives with our organisation’s strategic goals, while keeping implementation costs and risks under control?
Addressing these questions requires a thoughtful strategy to optimise AI implementation, focusing on scalability, governance, and alignment with business outcomes to ensure Generative AI becomes a reliable engine for enterprise efficiency and growth.
Strategic AI Deployment: Celfocus’s Approach
Celfocus aims to empower organisations by leveraging AI and Generative AI to transform business operations, ensuring these technologies are strategically deployed to drive measurable value. Our approach is focused on understanding the unique challenges and opportunities within each business, starting with an assessment of whether there is a clear business case for utilising AI and Generative AI capabilities.
AI use cases can be categorised into three main domains to address specific business needs:
Customer Experience – redefining customer engagement through personalised, AI-driven interactions that enhance satisfaction and loyalty.
Process Efficiency – streamlining operational processes by automating repetitive tasks, optimising workflows, and reducing costs.
Marketing & Sales – boosting sales productivity by enabling smarter targeting, forecasting, and campaign management through AI-driven insights.
By following a composable architecture approach, it is ensured that AI solutions are designed to meet the specific needs of each business case, emphasising scalability, agility, and cost optimisation. Celfocus supports its clients by integrating AI seamlessly into their existing processes, providing a foundation for reliable and scalable adoption.
Three Pillars of our AI Business Efficiency view:
Business Case Validation begins by identifying and validating the business case for AI use, ensuring clear alignment with organisational objectives and measurable outcomes.
Flexible Implementation depending on the use case domain, we help organisations adopt and integrate AI capabilities across their ecosystems, including designing AI models, automating processes, and implementing AI-driven systems tailored to business needs.
Governance and Reliability prioritises governance to ensure AI adoption is secure, ethical, and aligned with organisational goals.
Combining technology expertise with a deep understanding of business needs, it is ensured that AI and Generative AI become indispensable tools for driving efficiency, agility, and competitiveness in the modern enterprise. To achieve this, business leaders must focus on:
Assess and Validate AI Business Use Cases – collaborate with stakeholders to evaluate and prioritise AI opportunities, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and measurable business value.
Develop Scalable AI Solutions – design and implement composable, cloud- or on-prem-based AI systems that integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, minimising complexity and maximising impact.
Automate and Optimise Processes – enhance operational efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, streamlining workflows, and enabling AI-driven decision-making across business domains.
Deliver AI-as-a-Service – develop mechanisms to expose and operationalise AI capabilities, such as APIs, automated decision systems, and pre-built models, for seamless integration into business processes.
Accelerate Cultural and Business Adoption – promote the adoption of AI capabilities through targeted strategies, fostering confidence and alignment with organisational goals.
Unlocking AI’s Full Potential: From Challenges to Business Growth
As AI and Generative AI continue to reshape the business landscape, organisations must take a strategic approach to harness their full potential. Beyond automation, AI serves as a catalyst for innovation, enabling businesses to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and enhance customer experiences. However, the true value of AI lies in its ability to deliver measurable business outcomes, scale efficiently, and align with long-term strategic goals.
By addressing common challenges – such as implementation complexity, scalability, and governance – organisations can transform AI from an experimental tool into a powerful driver of efficiency and growth. Celfocus’s AI Business Efficiency approach ensures that AI solutions are not only technically sound but also business-driven, providing a structured pathway for companies to optimise processes, maximise ROI, and maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly data-driven economy.
With the right framework in place, businesses can unlock AI’s full potential, turning challenges into opportunities and paving the way for smarter, more agile, and future-ready enterprises.
About the authors
Amélia Goulão is responsible for the Data & Analytics Cognitive Offer at Celfocus. She started her career as a Business Intelligence Consultant at Celfocus, participating mostly in Financial Services projects. In 2016, she left Celfocus and joined a Data Science team. From 2016 to 2024, she developed several projects, grew and managed the team. In 2024, she joined back Celfocus and is now leading Cognitve Offer at Data & Analytics Business Line, designing the best solutions to help Celfocus’s customers achieve the best results.
Amélia has a vast experience in Data Science, Data Engineering, and Marketing Automation fields. Besides her professional experience, she has a Degree and Master Degree in Information Management.
Gonçalo Cachola is a Manager at Celfocus Data & Analytics Business Line. He spent his career conceiving and delivering high-value transformative data solutions with a track record in Telco and Insurance industries.
Currently, Gonçalo leads the Offer Development activities for Data & Analytics solutions focusing on creating next-generation analytics platforms to provide relevant insights and recommendations, covering both analytical and operational use cases.
Gonçalo is passionate about analysing and defining how businesses can operate, engage and support their customers using data-driven approaches.
He has in-depth knowledge and experience in Data Engineering, Data Visualisation and Marketing Automation technologies, having a Master Degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Postgraduate degree in Digital Marketing & Analytics.
The network operator will target underserved areas and about 30 municipalities and cities across the country – the country’s fibre penetration is about 68%
The Finnish fibre and internet service provider Valoo has secured additional funds from NIBC Bank, SEB, the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), LocalTapiola, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank and the BRIDGE platform and Islandsbanki hf.
The funds are to accelerate the rollout of Valoo’s network across Finland and brings Valoo’s total funding so far to almost €550 million. According to Traficom, at the end of September 2024, 68% of Finnish households had access to fibre broadband and 75% of households had access to a connection with a minimum download speed of 1 Gbps.
A funding round in 2024 combined with the current amount will enable Valoo to expand its footprint to more than 30 municipalities and cities across Finland. As well as passing “tens of thousands of households” with fibre, the work will create almost 1,000 jobs within the company and the wider market, the press statement claims.
Vote of confidence
Valoo’s CEO Vesa Kemppainen, says, “We are delighted that this latest funding round has been completed so quickly, allowing us to focus on our aim of bringing faster home fibre connections to more residential areas in the coming years. Coverage of state-of-the-art broadband remains a challenge in many underserved towns in Finland, holding back local economies – we aim to fix that.”
“Construction will resume across Finland as soon as the weather conditions allow. New orders are coming in continuously, so there is plenty of work to be done,” he Kemppainen adds. “Alongside construction, our operations as an internet operator are also growing. Our highly skilled teams are doing incredibly good work in all areas, bringing cost effective fiber-optic to households across the country.”
Valoo is owned by the global financial investor CVC DIF, the strategic infrastructure arm of the global private markets manager CVC, and TESI (Finnish Industry Investment).
Pullback apparently follows the tech giant’s decision not to take on additional training workloads for OpenAI, owner of ChatGPT in which Microsoft has invested almost $14bn
Reuters has reported that in the last six months Microsoft has abandoned plans to lease data centres in Europe and the US as they would be surplus to its demand forecast.
The news agency cited an analyst team at TD Cowen which suggested pulling back from the proposed leases followed Microsoft’s decision not to support additional training workloads from ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Microsoft has invested almost ¢14 billion in OpenAI by the end of 2024.
Supply chain analysts from investment bank TD Cowen said in February that Microsoft had scrapped leases totalling “a couple of hundred megawatts” of capacity with at least two private data centre operators.
In response to those comments by TD Cowen, Microsoft stated that although it could “strategically pace or adjust our infrastructure in some areas, we will continue to grow strongly in all regions”. It also said it still intends to spend $80 billion on AI infrastructure in this fiscal year.
Investors’ get cold feet
Investors are less ebullient about spending on AI as returns on investment have been slow and less than some expected. China’s DeepSeek also punctured investors’ confidence in the sector in January when it demo’d tech that seemed to rival that developed in Western countries at a fraction of the cost.
Now Reuters says that Microsoft’s retreat has resulted in Google stepping into the breach to provide more capacity in markets outside the US, while Meta Platforms is providing more in the US, according to TD Cowen’s supply chain checks.
Alphabet, which owns Google, has said it will spend $75 billion on its AI infrastructure this year, almost a third more (29%) more than Wall Street expected, while Meta has committed up to $65 billion.
Mobile Europe’s Michelle Donegan speaks with Rick Hamilton, CEO, Infovista on the evolution of the telco industry, monetising 5G, removing complexity, the potential of AI and automation, and how Infovista is working with partners and customers.
Telecom operators face challenges in automating their OSS due to legacy systems that are costly and impractical to replace. We Are CORTEX provides a structured three-stage approach: Consolidation, Simplification, and Optimisation.
Stage One focuses on integrating legacy platforms into automation frameworks, maximising their utility while preparing for eventual replacement. This allows operators to maintain operational efficiency, reduce costs, and bridge the gap to full automation.
By adopting reusable automation processes, operators can ensure that automation investments remain valuable even as infrastructure evolves. CORTEX supports legacy and modern interfaces, enabling operators to automate fault management, service assurance, and other processes without disruption. This approach accelerates progress toward Level 4 automation, allowing seamless integration with emerging AI technologies.
With this method, operators can modernise their OSS estate strategically, ensuring that automation extends across both legacy and future domains—without sacrificing existing functionality or incurring unnecessary costs.
FTTH Council Europe’s launches a slew of reports and resources at its flagship event in Amsterdam this week
Institutions lending money to fibre network builders are focusing their investments on homes ‘activated’ in an attempt to maximise returns. This is according to the FTTH Council Europe’s latest overview of fibre financing transactions in the March 2025 update of the Overview of fibre financing transactions in selected European Countries.*
The report says that after reaching “an all time high in 2022, the challenging market environment has led to FTTX financing markets experiencing less but stable activity over the past six months”.
“Companies involved in rolling out fibre networks across Europe remain strongly supported by the finance sector which continues to see the importance of FTTH and FTTX technologies,” noted the FTTH Council’s President, Roshene McCool (pictured). “Of course, increasing take-up is vital to generating revenue which is why the FTTH Conference 2025 has dedicated a session to exploring how the sector can better monetise their activities.”
Creating a truly open wholesale market
Also released ahead of the conference was a white paper from the FTTH Council Europe’s Open Access Working Group which set out five principles of am open access wholesale environment. They aim to define a ‘gold standard’ for open access as well as helping to foster a healthy and competitive market environment, independent of specific regional models or organisations.
“Over the past decade, billions of Euros of private investment has been channeled into building out fibre networks throughout Europe,” said FTTH Council’s Director General, Vincent Garnier. “To ensure these massive investments deliver for the end customer a fair and open competitive market is vital. We encourage stakeholders to consider the principles of Open Access as one potential approach to realising the benefits of a full-fibre approach.”
Optimising the last hop
In recognition of advances in home networking technologies such as Wi-Fi 7, Fibre to the Room (FTTR), Wi-Fi Mesh and containerisation, the Council released the third edition of the In-home Broadband Excellence (IBE) Guide. It covers three areas: how to extend fibre performance to the end device; how to manage the user experience; and how to add value and monetise it.
The Council’s goal is for the guide to become the standard reference for communication and internet service providers.
All in the planning
The Council’s Deployment and Operations committee released two white papers. The role of IT in accelerating FTTH Deployments and Operations covers IT solutions for challenges faced by operators in deploying and operating fibre networks and addresses FTTx pain points for the network at the plan, design, build and operate stages.
A case for end-to-end fixed access solution disaggregation explains the advantages of disaggregating solutions for end-to-end fixed access which is says is “a strategic shift from traditional vertically integrated, silo-based approaches to more open, standards-driven optical access networks”.
* It was produced by Macquarie on behalf of the Council and released at this week’s FTTH Conference 2025 in Amsterdam.
Lobbyists, MEPs and European parliamentary assistants are under investigation by Belgian authorities for allegedly accepting gifts in exchange for promoting the vendor’s interests
Politico and Follow the Money report that Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei made illegal payments to the eight Members of the European parliament (MEPs) who signed an open letter sent to three European Commissioners in January 2021.
In the letter, the signatories argued against what they called the “politicisation of the deployment of 5G technology” and described security concerns “unsubstantiated fear of national security risks”. Huawei is not mentioned specifically.
Follow the Money says it is now suspected that illegal payment for the letter ran to “tens of thousands of euros”.
The letter was sent as an apparent protest against the banning of Huawei’s equipment in 5G networks by some governments across Europe and the wider world due to concerns about security. The anti-Huawei initiative, which included other Chinese tech firms like ZTE, was championed by the first Trump presidency.
A whistleblower alerted Transparency International, a non-governmental organisation, in 2021 claiming the signatories or their staff had been bribed for signing and sending the correspondence.
Expanding investigation
The investigation into possible corruption by members of the European parliament began earlier this month, triggered by Belgium’s intelligence services. The initial probe included a raid on Huawei’s offices in Brussels. Overall, more than 100 police officers searched 21 buildings. There have been suggestions that the alleged activity was sanctioned by top management at Huawei in Brussels.
Individuals were questioned about alleged bribes from Huawei like smartphones, several thousand euros and frequent tickets for football matches. The alleged payments were apparently disguised in travel expenses or the alleged bribes involved a number of intermediaries to hide their origin.
The Belgian police arrested five people, four on charges including corruption and being members of a criminal organisation. A fifth was arrested about money laundering but has since been released. Raids were also carried out in Portugal and a person was arrested in France.
Not a good precedent
The current Huawei scandal is not the first incidence of allegations of bribery, corruption and criminal enterprise.
In 2022, Eva Kaili, other MEPs and parliamentary assistants were investigated due to suspicions that Qatar and other countries had bribed EU legislators to cast a favourable light on them and make decisions in their favour.
The investigation has been engulfed in legal wrangling and no-one has yet been brought to trial regarding the accusations of money laundering, corruption and participating in a criminal enterprise. In January investigators arrested the former MEP Maria Arena as part of this investigation.
This could be just the first such agreement between the two and could be extended to the RAN and fibre, but the partnership does not exclude deals with other parties
MTN Group and Airtel Africa have agreed to share mobile networks in Uganda and Nigeria to optimise investment while expanding their coverage.
MTN Group’s CEO, Ralph Mupita (pictured), said in a statement, “There are opportunities within regulatory frameworks for sharing resources to drive higher [operational] efficiencies and improve returns.”
Airtel Africa’s CEO, Sunil Taldar added, “As we compete fiercely in the market on the strength of our brand, services and our offerings we are building common infrastructure, with in the permissible regulatory framework, to provide a more robust and extensive digital highway to drive digital and financial inclusion at the same time avoiding duplication of expensive infrastructure to drive operational efficiencies and benefits for our customers”.
Other possibilities
MTN and Airtel Africa are exploring various opportunities in other markets, including Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda and Zambia. They are considering sharing RANs and establishing commercial and technical agreements to share fibre infrastructure and possibly the construction of fibre networks.
The statement also noted that, “This engagement does not preclude the parties from collaborating with other operators in any respective market”.
