Eurobites: Inwit hits the heights in H1 | Light Reading

31 Jul Eurobites: Inwit hits the heights in H1 | Light Reading

Also in today’s EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom and SAP join forces on COVID-19 app; T-Systems gets robotic; BT converges on micro-businesses; meet TIM Green.

Inwit, the Italian tower infrastructure company that since March has been jointly owned by Telecom Italia and Vodafone, has seen H1 EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) rise 51.1% year-on-year, to 259.6 million (US$307.2 million), on revenues that rose 46.7% to 287.4 million ($340.1 million). During the period, Inwit said it has increased the number of hostings on its own sites by 250 units and met the demand for new sites by starting the construction of approximately 70 new sites. CEO Giovanni Ferigo called the first set of post-merger results a “solid starting point on which to build progressive, organic growth of our business.”

Deutsche Telekom and German software giant SAP are close to finalizing a deal to create a platform that would allow the various coronavirus-tracing apps developed by individual European Union member states to talk to each other. So says a Reuters report, citing Wirtschaftswoche magazine. A number of EU countries, Ireland and Italy among them, have launched coronavirus apps based on the “decentralized” platform developed jointly by Google and Apple. (See France unveils project team for StopCovid app, Eurobites: Germany at odds with Apple over coronavirus-tracing app and Eurobites: Row grows over COVID-19 contact-tracing apps.)

T-Systems, the IT services arm of Deutsche Telekom, has teamed up with robotics specialist KUKA to develop “digital solution packages” for small and midsized companies. The products, which seek to integrate robots into IT infrastructure, will be aimed at a range of applications, from small production cells to entire manufacturing lines.

BT, which announced its fiscal first-quarter results today, has launched BT Halo for Business, a fiber broadband, mobile and digital phone line bundle aimed at “micro-businesses.” The launch also coincides with today’s announcement of BT’s Small Business Support Scheme, a package of measures intended to help the UK’s 5.8 million small businesses build their recovery following the ravages of the coronavirus – and prepare for the potential chill winds of the post-Brexit era.

Telecom Italia is launching TIM Green, a new line of environmentally aware products and services that includes refurbished smartphones and a “green SIM” that is half the size of a conventional SIM card and manufactured with 60% recycled plastic – the operator reckons that this measure alone will reduce plastic consumption by around 13 tonnes a year.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading