In this week's news roundup, we looked at the top news stories from the B2B tech & telecoms industry. The stories cover topics including fibre, agri-tech, AI and fintech news. Here are our highlights from the week.
monday:
Virgin Hyperloop pod transport tests first passenger journey
Virgin Hyperloop has trialled its first ever journey with passengers, in the desert of Nevada.
The futuristic transport concept involves pods inside vacuum tubes carrying passengers at high speeds.
In the trial, two passengers - both company staff - travelled the length of a 500m test track in 15 seconds, reaching 107mph (172km/h).
Read the full story here: https://bbc.in/3kdYCXN
CityFibre delivering on job promises, awards £1.5bn construction contracts
CityFibre has announced that it is has awarded £1.5 billion in full fibre construction contracts across 27 towns and cities. The finished fibre network will provide connectivity to around three million premises.
The new contracts span 27 towns and cities and are set to generate around 3,750 new jobs.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3leVX15
Tuesday:
SA agri-tech startup swiftVEE raises $1.5m funding for regional expansion
South African agri-tech startup swiftVEE has raised a $1.5 million funding round it will use to expand into neighbouring countries and expand its platform.
Founded in 2019 and selected for the Google Launchpad Africa accelerator in the same year, swiftVEE conducts real-time online livestock auctions. So far, the startup has done over 150 auctions, and it has 125,000 farmers in its network.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3paEFVz
KT unveils Seoul’s largest hyperscale data centre
South Korea's KT has completed construction on Seoul’s largest hyperscale data centre, KT DX IDC Yongsan.
Located in Seoul’s Yongsan district, the facility is KT’s 13th and boasts and array of environmental credentials. Efficient cooling systems claim to cut cooling costs by 20% and this will contribute towards KT’s target of reducing annual carbon emissions by 26,000 tons.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/38sLsDX
Wednesday:
Telus International spends big on US AI firm Lionbridge
Telus International has made another acquisition ahead of its forthcoming IPO, announcing the C$1.2 billion purchase of Lionbridge AI.
The Canadian company said the debt-and-equity deal – which is worth around US$935 million – will help accelerate its digital transformation push, adding key artificial intelligence capabilities to its portfolio.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/38ylnU2
Altibox’s Skagenfiber subsea cable goes live
Altibox's Skagenfiber submarine cable, linking Hirtshals in Denmark to Larvik in Norway, is now in operation.
The cable spans 173km across the Skagerrak, the strait that separates the North Sea from the Baltic.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/36s5iMP
tHURSDAY:
NBCUniversal ramps up shoppable content with new platform and partner PayPal
NBCUniversal launched One Platform Commerce to unify a growing array of commerce initiatives. PayPal is a new partner of One Platform Commerce, with the payments platform enabling viewers to complete their transactions, including via a number of shoppable gift guides soon to be launched online on Bravo, E!, NBC Sports, Syfy Wire, Telemundo, Today, among other properties.Orange launches Djoliba: the first pan-West African fibre network
Orange and its subsidiaries have announced the commercial launch of Djoliba, the first pan-West African fibre backbone.
This new network connects the capitals of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. All of which are natively interconnected with their country’s domestic networks, which will centralise connectivity access for operators and companies.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/38C08k3
Friday:
Hivelocity picks Vapor IO's Kinetic Edge platform for bare metal cloud in 36 US cities
Bare metal cloud provider Hivelocity has announced it has selected Vapor IO's Kinetic Edge Platform, to extend its bare metal cloud to the service provider edge in 36 US cities.
Telstra to split business in three and “monetise” $3.3bn towerco
Australian telco Telstra (TLS.AX) is to split its business into three units, according to reports from Reuters .
The business will be divided into infrastructure assets, radio access network and spectrum assets, and mobile towers, with plans to “monetise” the mobile tower assets due to “strong demand and compelling valuations for this type of high-quality infrastructure”.
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3eZk0iy
