What’s up with… Iliad’s Scaleway, Drivenets, A1

• Iliad’s Scaleway buys an energy-efficient HPC specialist
• DriveNets boasts scale-across AI networking breakthrough
• Austria’s A1 uses its network as a ‘distributed sensing layer’

In today’s industry news roundup: European sovereign AI infrastructure specialist Scaleway is acquiring a high-performance computing specialist that has developed a way to reuse the heat its technology generates; virtualised networking vendor Drivenets has hooked up distributed AI factory stacks to help create a single logical GPU supercluster; Austria’s A1 is working with Nokia and Skyfora to turn its network into a distributed sensing layer; and much more!

Scaleway, the cloud and AI infrastructure division of pan-European operator Iliad Group, is acquiring Qarnot, a French specialist in high-performance computing (HPC) for engineering, simulation and research workloads in vertical such as aerospace, automotive, energy, manufacturing and life sciences, in a deal that “adds dedicated HPC capabilities to [Scaleway’s] Cloud & AI platform, a strategic service increasingly demanded by industrial and financial organisations.” Scaleway added that the deal, for an undisclosed sum, “further strengthens Scaleway's position as the only sovereign European cloud provider offering cloud, AI and dedicated HPC capabilities within a single platform.” For Scaleway, part of Qarnot’s appeal is its approach to the reuse of heat. Scaleway noted: “As cloud infrastructure continues to scale, Europe will inevitably consume more electricity. While the industry is already working to improve compute efficiency, one major opportunity remains under-addressed: excess heat. Qarnot has built its model around recovering and reusing the heat generated by servers. Using patented direct liquid-cooling technology, up to 95% of the heat produced by HPC servers can be recovered and redirected to district heating networks, public facilities and industrial sites, without affecting computing performance. This model is already deployed in real-world environments, including cities such as Brescia, Italy, where Qarnot partnered with A2A to connect HPC infrastructure to the city’s district heating network, and wellness and aquatic centres, where Qarnot’s server-generated heat contributes to heating waters. For Scaleway, this expertise strengthens the ambition to build European Cloud & AI infrastructure that delivers more compute while making better use of the heat it generates.” Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway, stated: “The next frontier isn't just more efficient compute. It's making sure the energy we can't avoid consuming creates value twice. Tomorrow's cloud platforms won't only be measured by the performance they deliver, but by how intelligently they use the energy they consume. Qarnot's expertise in waste heat recovery helps us move towards that future.”

Virtual routing system specialist DriveNets, which recently raised $410m to help take its software-based networking solutions into AI factories and datacentres to tackle key infrastructure efficiency challenges, has announced what it believes is the “industry’s first commercial deployment of an AI supercluster with long-distance scale-across AI networking.” The vendor noted that as part of Project Redwood, just announced by AI infrastructure services company WhiteFiber, DriveNets’ AI Fabric technology is connecting two WhiteFiber H200 GPU clusters located 52 miles apart into a single logical GPU supercluster, validated at 111.2 Tbps of bandwidth with 0.9ms of guaranteed latency. “While scale-across architecture has been widely discussed across the industry, DriveNets is the first to move from concept to a live, commercially deployed network, proven at production scale rather than in a lab,” the vendor boasted in this announcement.  

A1 (aka Telekom Austria) reports that it is “further evolving its mobile network into a data platform by adding a capability to detect interferences affecting Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).” The telco notes that in collaboration with Skyfora and Nokia, it is “using its existing mobile infrastructure as a distributed sensing layer, enabling ground-based visibility of interference affecting satellite-based positioning and timing signals,” and that the capability is “currently being tested at selected mobile network sites in Austria and Slovenia.” The new capability builds on the same technological foundation that A1 recently introduced for weather data generation: “In both cases, GNSS signals received at mobile network sites are analysed to derive additional insights – ranging from atmospheric conditions to signal anomalies,” according to A1. 

O2 Germany, part of the Telefónica empire, is set to cut 1,400 jobs as part of a restructuring plan dubbed Future Operating Model (FOM), according to a report from German site Teltarif. Staff unions say there is no need for the cuts or any clear overall plan associated with the move, though it is expected that such a headcount reduction would reduce the telco’s annual operating costs by about €100m.  

Apple has announced a new multiyear deal with Broadcom to “design and produce custom silicon components and cutting-edge wireless connectivity technologies for a wide range of Apple products”. The new agreement, expected to be worth more than $30bn and which has a decidedly sovereign spin, “will lead to the production of more than 15 billion U.S.-made chips and support hundreds of American jobs,” noted Apple, which added it has been “working with the administration and businesses across the US to help create an end-to-end silicon supply chain in America.”

Santa Clara, California-based security specialist Infoblox is acquiring Kentik, which has developed systems that provide network operators of all kinds with real-time visibility across their infrastructure, applications and cloud environments. Financial terms were not disclosed. Infoblox CEO Scott Harrell stated in this announcement: “Infoblox sits at a unique intersection. Every device, application and cloud workload on a customer’s network runs through our technology, generating unparalleled context. With Kentik, we expand and enrich that context, allowing us to provide networking, cloud and security teams the real-time hybrid cloud intelligence they need to act with confidence. Our customers need robust data and insights for their agentic operations so they can provide the increasing levels of resiliency, performance and security their businesses demand. Together with Kentik, we’re able to deliver that.” For further insight on this deal, check out this Kentik blog. 

– The staff, TelecomTV