Eurobites: MTN works with Meta on app call quality (2025)

(Source: Childa Santrucek/Alamy Stock Photo)

South Africa's MTN has teamed up with Meta to improve the quality and reliability of voice and video calls on real-time calling apps such as (Meta-owned) WhatsApp across 12 MTN markets by, in MTN's words, "optimising application-aware networks and network-aware applications." Nigeria is the first of MTN's territories to feel the benefit of the collaboration, says the operator, with early results showing marked improvements in key performance indicators.

Ofcom probes Primo Dialler

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has opened an investigation into hosted dialler company Primo Dialler over potential misuse of sub-allocated phone numbers. Ofcom allocates telephone numbers, usually in large blocks, to telecom firms, which can then transfer the numbers to individual customers or other businesses. It believes that the numbers it has allocated to Primo Dialler may be being used to facilitate scams.

Starlink rises in Somalia

Elon Musk's Starlink satellite connectivity company is to launch services in Somalia, Reuters reports, citing a tweet from the excitable billionaire himself. A Somali government official later confirmed that Starlink had been granted a license to operate. The war-torn state is the latest African country to grant Starlink a license following launches in Niger in February 2025 and Liberia the month before.

Finnish military goes network slicing (again)

Nordic operator Telia has been demonstrating how 5G network slicing can be used to remotely drive armored vehicles from a command center 100km away. During recent military exercises in Finland, a Patria AMV XP 8x8 armored vehicle was equipped with remote control capabilities and steered remotely over a 5G network slice. A network slice is created by reserving capacity within a 5G network for a specific service or customer. (See Eurobites: 5G slicing goes on maneuvers with Finnish military and Eurobites: Telia's 5G goes 'whoosh' at major ski meet.)

5G grabs a slice of Swedish soccer action

In other 5G network slicing news, Ericsson partnered with Three Sweden, Sony and sports photography agency Bildbyrån over the weekend to use the technology on a 5G standalone network at a major soccer game in Sweden for the first time. Despite the network traffic generated by almost 30,000 fans at the match between rivals Hammarby and Djurgården inside the 3Arena in south Stockholm, two Bildbyrån photographers had guaranteed continuous 5G SA connectivity via a dedicated slice on Three Sweden's Ericsson-powered network so were able to send high-definition photographs from pitch-side to Bildbyrån offices and other medial outlets.

Wolt joins Magenta Moments program

Deutsche Telekom has integrated e-commerce platform Wolt onto its Magenta Moments customer benefits program. Wolt began life as a fast-food delivery app but has since spread its wings to embrace other retail areas. The partnership rollout starts with Croatia and will expand gradually across Austria, Czechia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia.

UK government invests in quantum

As everyone knows, it's World Quantum Day today. The excitement is tangible: please drink responsibly. To coincide with the celebrations, the UK government has announced that it plans to invest £121 million into quantum technology research, which it hopes will help tackle fraud, prevent money laundering and drive growth. Among other specifics, £21 million of the pot will be used to further the work of the National Quantum Computing Centre. (See Telecom is already preparing for future quantum threats.)

Vodafone adopts eSIM Transfer for Pixel 9a phone

Vodafone has made its single-click eSIM Transfer service available to customers opting for the Google Pixel 9a phone in Germany. With no QR code or log-in process needed, eSIM Transfer does away with the need to download or create a new eSIM profile from scratch, says the operator, while the SIM or eSIM profile on a previous device is automatically deactivated. Vodafone claims to be the first operator to launch a Google smartphone with the new feature. (See 2025 preview: eSIMs build a new authentication foundation.)