The European Commission and the South Korean government have signed an agreement that’ll see them working together to create a global definition of exactly what 5G mobile technology is, what it’ll do and when it’ll be available.

Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda, and Mun-Kee Choi, who’s the Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) for South Korea, also agreed to co-operate on 5G research.

The European Commission has opened three investigations to examine whether tax authorities have made appropriate decisions about corporate tax paid by Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands and Fiat Finance and Trade in Luxembourg.

It’s launched the investigation following media reports that suggest that some companies have received significant tax reductions through ‘tax rulings’ issued by national tax authorities.

UK-based satellite service operator Inmarsat plc is planning to deploy a combined satellite and air-to-ground network that’ll provide aircraft passengers with mobile broadband connectivity.

It’s ordered a new S-band satellite to work in conjunction with ground-based services.

Ericsson has published the latest version of its Mobility Report, which shows that the total number of mobile subscriptions is expected to exceed the world’s population next year.

The first quarter of 2014 saw mobile subscriptions grow by 7% year-on-year, with 120 million net additions.

The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Telefónica’s O2 Ireland business by Hutchison 3G, which operates the Three network.

However, Hutchison has been required to make commitments that’ll see it helping some competitors.