What’s up with… MásOrange, e& and Ericsson, Nexperia

• MásOrange forms new digital services unit
• Ericsson to upgrade e&’s 5G core
• Dutch government takes control of chip firm Nexperia

In today’s industry news roundup: MásOrange has the Spanish B2B sector in its sights; e& is updating its 5G core with Ericsson and will no doubt announce plenty more during Gitex Global; the Dutch government has taken control of Nexperia over concerns that its Chinese owner is funnelling European tech expertise to China; and much more!

Spanish telco MásOrange has created a new “innovation hub” unit, dubbed Digital+O, that will “offer the most advanced digital solutions for all businesses and public administrations”. The unit will provide “a comprehensive and differentiated catalogue of solutions based on seven strategic areas – AI, cybersecurity, cloud, IoT, business apps, workplaces, and open APIs – combining innovation, industry expertise and partnerships with technology leaders,” noted the operator in a press release (in Spanish). “This initiative marks a decisive step in the company’s strategic commitment to investment and innovation in networks and services and to establishing itself as the leading technology partner in the business and public administration market, combining its innovative capacity, experience and a solid network of strategic alliances to support all types of organisations in their technological evolution,” noted the telco. “Digital+O was founded with the mission of supporting each client in adopting a new digital operating model, offering solutions tailored to their size, sector and level of technological maturity,” it added. 

As this week marks the opening of the Gitex Global 2025 tech show at the Dubai Trade Centre, expect to hear a lot about developments at the Middle East’s main telco groups. One of those telcos is the network operations and digital services giant e&, which has struck a multi-year deal with Ericsson for the upgrade of its 5G core platform in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will see e& deploy multiple core applications from the Swedish vendor, including Unified Data Management (UDM), IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), User Data Consolidation (UDC) and Ericsson Secure Entitlement Server (SES). The core systems will run on a combination of Ericsson Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution and e&’s own cloud platform. The core applications “will allow e& UAE to leverage cutting-edge 5G capabilities while ensuring robust platform stability through automation, continuous software updates and optimisations,” noted the operator in this announcement. 

The Dutch government has effectively seized control of Nijmegen-based, Chinese-owned chip vendor Nexperia over concerns that “crucial technological knowledge” is being lost to China. “The loss of these capabilities could pose a risk to Dutch and European economic security,” noted the Dutch government, which now has the power to reverse or block management decisions it considers harmful, reports Reuters. Nexperia’s owner, Wingtech, described the move as “excessive interference driven by geopolitical bias” and said it is consulting its lawyers. Nexperia is a name that has previously cropped up in TelecomTV’s world, as it was previously forced to sell the UK’s largest semiconductor production plant, Newport Wafer Fab, after the UK government ruled its ownership of the Welsh firm was a “risk to national security”: Newport Wafer Fab is now owned by US firm Vishay Intertechnology.

To mark the start of the Gitex show, Nokia has published the latest edition of its Mobile Broadband Index Report 2025, which provides analysis of the mobile broadband ecosystem across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. According to the report, by 2030, 82% of connections in MEA will be on 4G or 5G networks, “reflecting the shift towards data-centric usage and smartphones becoming more accessible”, according to the report’s authors. Read more. 

– The staff, TelecomTV