Eurobites: Proximus brings Microsoft, Intel and Thales tech into sovereign cloud offer

Belgium's Proximus has launched a new "sovereign cloud" offering which adds Microsoft's Cloud for Sovereignty platform and cybersecurity expertise from Thales and Intel into its existing cloud product. The combined system is currently being tested by the Agoria group of technology companies as a proof-of-concept exercise. New legislation – namely the NIS2 and DORA directives – requiring EU companies to take additional data security measures to protect themselves against cyberattacks is due to come into force within a year.

In other cloud news, the UK's Colt Technology Services is hoping to boost its data protection capabilities through a partnership with OVHcloud, a France-based cloud player. Colt provides connectivity to OVHcloud via eight points of presence (PoPs) in Europe and one in Singapore.

German carmaker Audi has plumped for AI shiny-thing ChatGPT as its "infotainment" engine of choice. From next month, owners of around 2 million Audi models made since 2021 and equipped with the third-generation modular infotainment system (MIB 3) will be able to interact with their car using natural language ("no, I don't want to listen to Kraftwerk's Greatest Hits") and listen to the information they might like to know while driving. New vehicles such as the Q6 e-tron and future models with the E3 1.2 electronics architecture will receive ChatGPT via Cerence Chat Pro as an extension of the Audi assistant.

MTN Ghana is to undergo a major network upgrade, Ghana Web reports. Existing mobile network infrastructure will be replaced by more efficient and environmentally friendly gear, with the project due for completion in August, says the report.

WightFibre, the altnet serving the Isle of Wight, the spiritual home of Eurobites located just a short but horrifically expensive ferry ride from England's south coast, says that it has achieved 30% share of the island's broadband market, with its fiber now within reach of 80% of all properties there. WightFibre says it's on track to reach 90% coverage by the end of 2025 and 98% coverage by 2027.

UK mobile operator EE has opened its second "Experience" store in the northern English city of Manchester, allegedly responding to "popular demand" from the locals. EE claims Manchester's first Experience store, complete with gaming zone and upscale soft furnishings, resulted in a 25% boost in footfall compared to previous stores in the area. According to new research commissioned by EE to help trumpet the new store, drizzle-dodging Manchester natives – Mancunians, as they're known – own more smart devices than residents of any other major city in the UK.