Eurobites: BT ponders the digital divide

What to do about the digital divide, which leaves so many people out of the tech loop that now pretty much governs all our lives? Well, BT has some ideas, and its policy and public affairs director, Helen Burrows, has given them an airing in her latest corporate blog. The way BT sees it, UK policymakers should refocus their attention on those households with very low incomes and consider public funding to support this group as a priority. Also, says the operator, communications regulator Ofcom should force all operators to offer a broadband "social tariff," which Ofcom defines as £20 (US$24.27) a month or less. According to research commissioned by BT over the summer, 1 million households in the UK have incomes so low they cannot afford any connectivity at all. (See Eurobites: UK think-tank, government put 'social tariffs' back in the spotlight.)

Ericsson has been signed up by UAE-based operator e& to bolster its fintech platform, drawing on the Swedish vendor's Ericsson Wallet Platform, which supports more than 400 million registered "mobile wallets" worldwide. Through this partnership, e& Money CEO Melike Kara Tanrikulu says that she hopes to usher in "a new era of fintech reliability."

Deutsche Telekom's MMS subsidiary has joined MultiversX, the decentralized blockchain network intended to enable new "Web3" applications for consumers and businesses. MMS will act as a "validator," helping to verify transactions and protect the network from cyber attacks. MultiversX already offers a number of digital tools, among them xPortal App, which allows companies to develop and integrate digital financial offerings and send/receive cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens.

It could be a tense weekend for the bosses of Italy's Serie A soccer league because, as Reuters reports, on Monday they will meet up to discuss whether to accept existing TV rights bids from DAZN and Sky – together worth around €900 million ($953 million)  – or to set up their own media platform. Last month Serie A postponed a decision on the rights sale after initial offers from DAZN, Sky Italia and MediaForEurope failed to reach the reserve price.

Satellite communications company Eutelsat has committed itself to reducing its energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 50% by 2030 compared to the 2021 baseline year. The company also plans to re-assess its Scope 3 emissions next year in the wake of its acquisition of OneWeb last month. (See OneWeb, Eutelsat merge to form integrated GEO-LEO satellite firm.)

The EU has given Meta and TikTok a week to respond to a formal demand for more information about how they are dealing with the problem of their platforms being used to spread violent content and hate speech relating to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. As the BBC reports, the EU could open an official investigation into the companies if it is not satisfied with the responses it receives.

Out of all UK wage slaves, fully remote workers are the least satisfied with their jobs. That's the feelgood-Friday headline finding of a new survey from jobs website Indeed covered in a City A.M. report. It could be related to the "you're on mute!" shortcomings of digital-only engagement, but it's more likely the thought of all those winter heating bills on the horizon and the soaring price of coffee that are chiefly to blame for crushing the souls of the disgruntled electro-hermits.