Eurobites: Telcos behind the AI curve, finds Nokia study

Telcos' legacy systems are preventing them from using AI properly, says a new, Nokia-commissioned report. According to the report, which was carried out by Analysys Mason on behalf of the Finnish vendor, telcos find themselves unable to access high-quality data sets necessary for AI to function as it should because they tend to be using older systems with proprietary interfaces. Nokia's Andrew Burrell says that telcos need to build up the right "ecosystem" of vendor partners with appropriate skills that can better cater to their network needs – the clear implication being that Nokia is one such vendor. The report found that 87% of telecom service providers have started to implement AI into their network operations.

Russia's Vimpelcom has been fined 1 million roubles ($10,400) by its government for having the temerity not to put an 18+ age rating on a movie that made reference to LGBT relationships, according to a Reuters report. Last December, Russia's parliament passed a law banning what it termed "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations"; previously Vladimir Putin has described LGBT rights as "pure Satanism."

OneWeb, the satellite broadband company co-owned by the British government and India's Bharti Global, has been demonstrating the potential of its low Earth orbit technology to representatives of various international humanitarian organizations at the Red Cross headquarters in Geneva. Specifically, OneWeb showcased the recently launched Kymeta Hawk u8 user terminal, which is intended for fixed applications and mountable on moveable vehicles and vessels, and its new portable flat-panel Inster terminal, which fits into a backpack and could be appropriate for emergency response situations.

The Ethiopian unit of Kenya-based Safaricom has made the M-Pesa mobile money service available to its customers, just three months after being granted a license to do so and ten months after the commercial launch of its GSM network. M-Pesa, launched in 2007, is widely considered the world's first mobile money transfer system, and has since grown into a broader financial services offering.

MTN South Africa has lost its chief technology and information officer, Michele Gamberini, who is leaving the company to take up a job that allows him to be closer to his family in Italy, according to a Technext report. He is being replaced by Rami Farah, who has been with MTN since 2001.

BT says it has around 1,000 of its iconic yet sadly redundant red phone boxes available to be "adopted" by local communities in the UK for repurposing as, perhaps, mini-libraries or, as seen below, tributes to sadly redundant members of royalty.