Last week the European Union announced one of the biggest investment plans on digital to date. With an official statement, the European Commission unveiled its plans to spend € 1 billion on supercomputers, to boost the bloc’s competitiveness and to catch-up with other international superpowers. The plan, whose aim is to develop Europe’s own exascale […]The EU launches € 1 billion plan on supercomputers and tries to catch-up with competitors
January 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last week the European Union announced one of the biggest investment plans on digital to date. With an official statement, the European Commission unveiled its plans to spend € 1 billion on supercomputers, to boost the bloc’s competitiveness and to catch-up with other international superpowers. The plan, whose aim is to develop Europe’s own exascale […]WhatsApp to face scrutiny from EU regulators task force over data sharing with Facebook
October 31, 2017 by 2 Comments
Last week EU privacy regulators increased their pressure on one of the world’s biggest data owners as part of their longstanding dispute over digital privacy in the bloc. WhatsApp instant messaging application will face scrutiny from the European Union’s data protection regulators for the sharing of user data with parent company Facebook, a year after […]Local innovation, international impact: SMEs and the ITU Telecom World Awards
September 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Sponsored Content What connects a group of young Rwandans building an app-based platform to manage data in schools with a new Japanese technology regenerating lead-acid batteries? Or a Danish solar-powered base station solution with a content delivery network and free Wifi connectivity platform from Kenya? They are all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working with […]GSMA announces first speakers for Mobile 360 Series-Middle East and North Africa
September 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Sponsored content Mobile-Focused Event Brings Industry Leaders Together to Debate Key Issues in Region 6 September 2017, London: The GSMA today announced the first speakers for its Mobile 360 Series – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) conference taking place 9-10 October in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The two-day event, which is now in its […]Brussels Vs. Google: The €1 bn EU fine and the US response
June 21, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission is about to impose more than one billion euros fine to Google as a result of online shopping service search abuse according to the Financial Times. If the above is implemented, it would be the highest penalty in the history of anti-competitive behavior after Intel’s case in 2009. The repercussions for Google, […]Digital Single Market: New EU rules for online subscription services
February 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment
EU Regulators have found last week an agreement on new rules concerning online content portability, allowing EU citizens to access online subscription services with no restrictions while travelling within the Union. The new rules will practically end the so-called “geo-blocking tactics”, and will enable European consumers to access services such as Netflix, Sky’s Now and Spotify […]EU’s tougher privacy rules: WhatsApp and Facebook set to be soon aligned with telcos
January 17, 2017 by Leave a Comment
With an official statement, the European Commission last week published its proposal to reform the existing European online privacy rules. Companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Google will face tougher rules on the tracking of users under a wider update of the e-privacy directive, which will also impact cookies regulation. The EU says the new […]How did Facebook fool the Commission that easily during the WhatsApp acquisition?
December 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission announced yesterday that a Statement of Objections was sent to Facebook accusing the company of providing incorrect or misleading information during the investigation under Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp. The aforementioned information was that Facebook had initially reassured the EC that it was not possible to match the user accounts of Facebook and WhatsApp. However, […]Apple’s tax avoidance scheme remains as creative as their new iPhone
December 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This article was written by one of our passionate readers, Mrs Rachel Everly. The opinions expressed within reflect only the writer’s views and not The European Sting’s position on the issue. The annual report released by Apple is hinting very strongly that they are continuing to earn good profits, which are unfortunately being funneled offshore to avoid […]Competing with Apple and leading innovation: Google’s world replies to EU on android charges
November 15, 2016 by 1 Comment
It was not a surprise or an unexpected twiddle, when last week Google like a fine-tuned clockwork delivered its formal reply to the European Commission, regarding the Android antitrust case. With a blog post on Thursday, the US tech giant has officially dismissed the third set of formal charges by the European Commission, saying that […]Google strongly rejects EU antitrust charges and now gets ready for the worst to come
November 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday Google officially responded to the antitrust charges by the European Union relating to its shopping search and AdSense. Having been given an extra week to formally respond to allegations by the Commission, Google produced the strongest reply of its give-and-take history with European Regulators. The US technology giant this time is hitting back […]An American duel in Brussels: Salesforce against Microsoft over Linkedin deal
October 4, 2016 by 5 Comments
When earlier this year Microsoft snapped up the world’s headlines by announcing it would have acquired LinkedIn with a colossal $26.2 billion deal, everyone was already preparing for the shockwaves this move would have generated. Last week, US cloud computing company Salesforce.com openly urged European Union regulators to block the acquisition over unfair competition concerns. […]EU’s guidelines on net neutrality see the light although grey areas do remain
September 6, 2016 by 2 Comments
Last week will not only be remembered for the world-record fine imposed to Apple by the European Union and the Hutchison-VimpelCom merger in Italy. There was also space for some important news on net neutrality. The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), which is the regulating agency of the telecommunication market in the […]The EU responds to US challenges by fining Apple with €13 billion
September 1, 2016 by 1 Comment
Last Tuesday, the White House and the US Treasury in concerted actions issued farfetched statements against the EU Commission. The EU executive’s decision ordered the US giant technology company Apple Inc. to pay additional taxes of up to €13 billion in Ireland. These instant and strong reactions clearly denote that the US sees this Brussels […]Can the EU really make Google and Facebook pay publishers and media?
August 30, 2016 by 2 Comments
According to a number of media outlets of the Old Continent, the closing weeks of this summer will try to bring a major reform in the European publishing industry. As revealed last week by the Guardian and the Financial Times, the European Commission is working on a plan to give news publishers the right to demand […]EU opens a third antitrust file against Google
July 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission announced last Thursday that is taking “further steps” in investigation against Google, officially accusing the company of having restricted consumer choice by blocking rivals in online search advertising. Although it sounds like there’s absolutely nothing new about this new complaint against Google, the latest antitrust charge filed by the Commission, which is […]GSMA head urges regulators to help Europe regain leadership
June 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment
LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE 360 EUROPE: Europe has the opportunity to regain its digital leadership, although the different national regulatory and legal environments across the continent present challenges for participants, Mats Granryd, director general of GSMA, stated this morning. “We have a unique opportunity to regain the industry leadership. With 5G and IoT around the […]The EU finally seizes the opportunity to support the sharing economy?
June 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last week, the much awaited response around the fate of the so-called “sharing economy” in Europe arrived from Brussels, and big players such as Uber and Airbnb can finally take a sigh of relief. On June 2 the European Union came up with a list of guiding principles for its Member States on how to “engage […]Google once more under EU crossfire from a possible record fine and new Right to be forgotten case
May 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Many years have passed but the controversial conflict between the European Commission and Google doesn’t seem to be reaching any equilibrium. Indeed the long story is now ready to land to a new turning point. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Google may soon be hit with a 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) fine by the European Commission for market monopoly, […]The EU cuts roaming charges further while the UK weighs Brexit impact
May 3, 2016 by 1 Comment
Since April 30, using a mobile phone within the EU is significantly cheaper for European citizens. Last Saturday, 30 of April, a new interim cap on mobile roaming charges in the European Union came into effect, with cuts the bill up to nearly 75 per cent. The new cost cap is the latest move in the […]Vestager vs. Google: a fight to ensure a competitive innovation framework
April 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The EU Consumer and Competition Day took place yesterday in Amsterdam with Margrethe Vestager to reveal her will to charge Google for exploiting consumers by pre-installing Android apps on their smartphones. European Commission (EC) is showing its teeth once again, after Microsoft antitrust case a decade ago, against giant tech companies which are finding ways […]Four major resources for new European young entrepreneurs
March 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Exclusively written for the Sting by Davide Giordano, President of Junior Enterprise Torino Politecnico (J.E.To.P), member of JADE. One year ago I was organizing with my Junior Enterprise our first seminar on the digital revolution, a full immersion of three hours with a social media specialist, Umberto Macchi, free for all students inside our University. Among the […]MWC 2016: IoT experts fret over fragmentation
February 26, 2016 by 1 Comment
Market fragmentation, perhaps inevitably, was a dominant theme in an MWC session titled Unleashing the Value of IoT platforms. Beecham principle analyst, Saverio Romeo, who moderated the session, reckoned there were around 300 IoT platforms in operation today. “There are so many standards and no clear winners,” remarked Angelo Corsaro, CTO of PrismTech, which focuses […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Freemium MVNO model a success, claims FreedomPop head
February 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The UK launch of its free MVNO service was a success, said FreedomPop president Nicholas Constantinopoulos. “It has been a showcase for the company and demonstrates we can break into markets other than the US. We’re in talks with other operators in Latin America, Asia and Africa to do the same.” He confirmed that the […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Gamelab founder talks Apple TV, VR and monetisation
February 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Apple TV’s “ambition is defining the standard of the next-gen home entertainment centre” in which gaming apps will play a crucial role, according to Ivan Fernandez Lobo, founder and chairman of Gamelab Conference. Developers are only just starting to understand the power of the platform, said Fernandez Lobo, who believes that thanks to “new capabilities […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Under Armour learns from “robust community of data”
February 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
In light of the controversy over the accuracy of Fitbit’s heart rate monitor, Under Armour’s (UA) chief digital officer, Robin Thurston, said his company “doesn’t claim to be more or less accurate than others on the market”. However, with more than a decade of workout tracking and food logging, he believes Under Armour has “years […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Getty chief says one in four new images from phones
February 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Dawn Airey may be the CEO of image library Getty Images, but she’s also a fan of the odd sneaky smartphone snap and argues there are moments when images from our phones have the edge over those from a professional’s camera. Speaking during the Mobile is Commerce session, Airey revealed that a surprisingly large amount […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Xiaomi looks to revive growth with flagships
February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Chinese smartphone player Xiaomi this morning unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Mi5 and Mi5 Pro, as it attempts to turnaround its fortunes after missing its handset target last year. The once fast-rising firm missed its 2015 handset target of 80 million by 12 per cent and also reportedly failed to reach its $1 billion […]MWC 2016 LIVE: 5G to embrace unlicensed bands and Wi-Fi
February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The 5G technology roadmap will include Wi-Fi and the use of unlicensed spectrum bands, said Nokia’s head of e2e mobile network solutions, Peter Merz. “Wi-Fi has become a de-facto service and needs to be integrated into 5G,” claimed Merz at a panel session on 5G technology, timelines and applications. “While the use of unlicensed spectrum […]MWC 2016 LIVE: BlackBerry acquires Encription, talks Microsoft and health
February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
BlackBerry acquired UK security firm Encription, bolstering a move into cybersecurity consulting that was announced here at MWC. The company has created a Professional CyberSecurity Services practice which will offer organisations consulting services, tools and best practice. BlackBerry was tight-lipped on the detail of the Encription deal, which closed late last week (19 February). Talking […]MWC 2016 LIVE: Stripe gives payments leg-up to startups in emerging markets
February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Patrick Collison, co-founder and chief executive of US payments company Stripe, used his keynote presentation this afternoon to speak about Atlas, a beta product designed to help entrepreneurs based in developing markets “gain access to the same business infrastructure enjoyed by tech companies here in Europe or the US”. Collison spoke of an uneven playing field, where […]MWC 2016 LIVE: T-Mobile US reveals 5G trial plans
February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
T-Mobile US followed rivals Verizon and AT&T by revealing plans to hold field trials for 5G later this year, with vendors Ericsson and Nokia announcing separate partnerships with the operator. The news does however come as somewhat of a surprise in light of comments made by T-Mobile US’ outspoken CEO John Legere just last week, who hit out at […]MWC 2016 Live: Roshan CEO opens up on Afghanistan challenges
February 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Karim Khoja, Roshan CEO, urged the global community not to forget the ongoing connectivity issues in Afghanistan, in light of recent problems in other parts of the world. Khoja founded Roshan in 2003 and is one of six providers in the country, and the company now has more than 7 million subscribers. In his ‘Mobile […]
