Eurobites: Italian government could take 20% stake in TIM deal

Telia has appointed former KPN Belgium boss Eric Hageman as its new group chief financial officer, replacing Per Christian Mørland, who is leaving the company at the end of September. Tim Pennington, who was previously appointed interim CFO, will revert to what the company calls an "advisory position" within the company. Telia could be in for a spot of turbulence generally in the coming months as its current CEO, Allison Kirkby, is off to head up BT at the start of next year, replacing Philip Jansen in the hotseat. (See BT plays it safe with naming of Allison Kirkby as next CEO.)

Senegal's communications regulator has welcomed the introduction of roaming arrangements between the West African nation's three major operators, namely Sonatel, Free Senegal and Expresso Senegal. Initial roaming trials carried out in the Diourbel region saw a 100% success rate for the transfer of calls and SMS between networks, though the regulator admitted that some technical issues relating to mobile data traffic have yet to be resolved.

Lyca Mobile, which describes itself as the world's largest mobile virtual network operator, has signed a multi-year extension to its existing, decade-long sponsorship deal with English top-flight soccer club West Ham United. Earlier this summer, West Ham won the UEFA Europa Conference League, the club's first piece of major(ish) silverware for more than 40 years.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading