Sprint is in talks with Comcast and Charter Communications about a potential partnership to boost the cable companies’ mobile ambitions, as the US operator put the brakes on merger talks with T-Mobile US.

The European Commission fined Google €2.42 billion after ruling that the internet giant “abused its market dominance as a search engine” by illegally promoting its own shopping comparison service.

According to Reuters, the halt comes because the companies have not provided necessary input into an investigation initiated by the European Commission earlier this month. The regulator had been scheduled to issue its ruling by 17 October; once Qualcomm and NXP supply the necessary information, the clock will be restarted and deadline adjusted.

Orange’s push into adjacent markets received a blow with news its online banking service will be delayed, as it was also reported the company decided against a smart meter acquisition.