A Deutsche Telekom plan to merge with its subsidiary T-Mobile US reportedly hit an obstacle, prompting the German operator to decide against making a formal offer for now.
Bloomberg reported Deutsche Telekom faced opposition from its works council and trade unions, which the news outlet stated account for 50% of supervisory board seats.
The news outlet reported Deutsche Telekom was interested in a merger in April. It became the majority stakeholder in T-Mobile US in 2024 and now has close to a 53% stake.
Bloomberg noted Deutsche Telekom could still bring an offer later.
Last month, Bloomberg reported activist investor Elliott Investment Management was pressing Deutsche Telekom to drop the plan, having “built a sizeable stake” in the company.
Deutsche Telekom steadily accumulated T-Mobile US shares in recent years and its former German unit chief Srini Gopalan is now CEO of the latter.
T-Mobile US CEO Srini Gopalan (pictured) shut the door on a network deal with SpaceX during a Q3 earnings call, telling analysts he sees no reason for an MVNO with the space company.
Gopalan said the operator’s MVNO philosophy has not changed: its criteria includes whether a deal opens a new addressable market, distribution channels or capabilities.
The executive and T-Mobile have long maintained satellite is a complementary product so there is no case for a satellite MVNO.
Gopalan said he does not see an MVNO adding to physical AI and edge efforts for which the operator is building out its standalone (SA) 5G capabilities and moving towards 6G.
“If we’re talking about SpaceX as a customer, or us being a customer of them, that’s a purely commercial agreement,” he said, adding: “I see no room for an MVNO with SpaceX”.
MVNO questions came in the wake of reports SpaceX is seeking access to at least 80,000 US cell sites for Starlink Mobile.
Gopalan said satellite broadband was generally inferior to T-Mobile’s fixed wireless access (FWA) service outside some remote areas, with additional limitations including beam size.
He sees little reason to combine satellite and FWA, noting two-thirds of T-Mobile’s FWA customers are in dense urban areas where it still sees substantial room to grow using fallow network capacity.
“So, we don’t really see a synergistic opportunity with satellite providers”
“I’m very happy to look at a resale arrangement…but an MVNO is a wholly different thing”.
Verizon CEO Dan Schulman also recently ruled out an MVNO with SpaceX and AT&T CEO John Stankey played down the threat SpaceX might pose.
Q3 numbers T-Mobile’s net income rose 27.3% year-on-year to $3.5 billion on revenue of $23.5 billion, up 7.4%.
Service revenue grew 6.2% to $19.3 billion and post-paid service revenue rose 9.3% to $16.2 billion.
T-Mobile no longer reports wireless customer additions as a separate metric, but stated it added 274,000 net accounts, down 30.8%.
Post-paid account churn was 1.09%, up from 0.97%, attributed to more broadband-only accounts which churn more, and the temporary effect of monthly plan changes.
It had 34,974,000 post-paid accounts compared with 33,979,000 a year earlier. Average revenue per account rose from $149.44 to $155.73.
Mike Sievert cut his last ties with T-Mobile US, resigning from the board and stepping down as vice chair a little over a year after he gave up the CEO job.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Sievert (pictured) told the board he would resign from it and from its Transaction Committee on 1 November.
T-Mobile noted the resignation is not the result of any disagreement with the company over operations, policies or practices.
Recon Analytics founder and analystRoger Entner noted on X Sievert’s exit echoes the departure of his predecessor John Legere years earlier.
The timing matches the expiry of an amendment to his employment agreement and made in September 2025 and completes a handover process begun when T-Mobile confirmed then COO Srini Gopalan would succeed Sievert as CEO.
A contract struck with Sievert in 2023 would have seen him remain CEO until 2028. He was appointed to the post in 2020 when T-Mobile closed its merger with Sprint.
He took on the vice chair post to stay involved in the management of the company and on the board.
Gopalan became T-Mobile’s COO in March 2025 after heading Deutsche Telekom’s German business.
Vodafone Group revealed its influential corporate affairs chief Joakim Reiter (pictured) is to depart at the end of the year, bringing the curtain down on a nine-year spell with the operator.
Reiter was instrumental in Vodafone’s push for fairer laws and regulations for the telecoms sector.
CEO Margherita Della Valle acknowledged Reiter’s impact, saying he argued the case for Vodafone with authorities “across Europe and Africa”.
She credited Reiter for making a “tremendous contribution” to Vodafone.
The executive is set to build on his campaigning work by becoming secretary general of the European Roundtable for Industry, a group established in 1983 to promote cooperation between businesses, governments and regulators.
Companies involved in the roundtable account for a combined €3 trillion in revenue per annum and make annual investments of €120 billion.
Vodafone stated it would announce a successor to Reiter “in due course”.
The European Roundtable for Industry is yet to detail what current secretary general Anthony Gooch Galvez’ plans are.
T-Mobile US CTO John Saw revealed it is testing whether humanoid robots could respond faster and rely less on onboard computers by running some of their AI at its network edge.
In a blog, Saw explained T-Mobile is working with robotics company Figure AI to test if its systems can run on nearby computing infrastructure without slowing the machines’ responsiveness.
The systems involve controlling robots’ movement, and interpreting visual information and language instructions.
Saw wrote shifting some processing off the robots could reduce battery use, computing demands, heat, weight and cost. It could also let them run more capable AI without needing more hardware or power.
AWS T-Mobile is working with AWS on the first deployments of Kinetic Edge, the operator’s distributed computing infrastructure for physical AI.
They are using T-Mobile’s 5G-Advanced network and distributed edge along with AWS’ cloud orchestration and AI services to push “deterministic connectivity, compute and intelligence closer to where machines operate”, Saw wrote.
He explained reliable connections and localised computing could help businesses take physical AI beyond individual demonstrations, highlighting developers are putting vision and reasoning models at the network edge to make robots, cameras and sensors less dependent on a distant cloud.
“This early work is helping us explore the capabilities that could make physical AI possible at scale, while opening the door to entirely new applications and opportunities.”
Machines require consistent connectivity when moving, sufficient uplink capacity to send sensor data, low latency and wide-area coverage, Saw wrote. Wi-Fi and satellite have a role, but he argued advanced terrestrial wireless networks are better suited to meeting the needs.
Human interaction Saw noted employing people to assist robots would become challenging when thousands of machines are involved: T-Mobile is working with Serve Robotics to evaluate the feasibility of conducting monitoring at the edge to assess which problems can be solved by humans and which need more AI input.
The executive also highlighted work with Nvidia, Nokia and a growing group of developers to run physical AI applications across distributed edge networks, along with the recent completion of an AI-RAN call involving the vendors.
Saw explained T-Mobile is working with the city of San Jose in the state of California and specialist companies to develop a way to create an overview of traffic using edge AI to combine the views of separate 5G cameras.
They are testing if AI can connect occurrences at different junctions and if providing a big-picture could help people spot traffic patterns sooner.
The operator is also exploring “how AI and network workloads can share accelerated computing infrastructure” through partnerships with Nvidia, Nokia and Ericsson.
Saw said T-Mobile must develop ways to deliver “data and workloads” to “where intelligence needs to run”, whether it be on devices, the edge or cloud.
He said the direction “is becoming clearer” and T-Mobile’s network would “be the connective tissue” between the layers.
Bell Canada struck a deal to sell a minority stake in its newly formed tower business to investment group La Caisse for CAD2.5 billion ($1.8 billion), cash set to be used to cut debt and invest in growth areas.
The operator’s parent company BCE noted the investor would take a 49.9% stake in the TowerCo business with Bell retaining the remainder.
TowerCo is set to take ownership of more than 5,000 sites across Canada, making it the country’s largest dedicated tower company. It will lease capacity back to Bell, which retains full ownership and control of spectrum, active network equipment and owned land.
The transaction expected to close in Q1 2027 subject to regulatory approval.
BCE explained the sale would help strengthen its balance sheet and allow it to invest in growth areas, including AI-related solutions. Last year, the company set a target of reducing its net debt leverage ratio to 3.5 times by the end of 2027.
BCE and Bell Canada president and CEO Mirko Bibic said the transaction would “unlock the significant value embedded in our infrastructure assets” while allowing the company to continue operating its wireless network.
He added the company aims “to strengthen our balance sheet, invest in growth and deliver total returns to shareholders”.
La Caisse EVP Emmanuel Jaclot noted making telecoms tower infrastructure available to multiple service providers could help “more people access the connectivity they rely on every day”.
Deutsche Telekom invested in Tandem Health, seeking to capitalise on the Swedish technology developer’s work to digitise the healthcare sector using AI.
The operator pumped an undisclosed sum into a Series B funding round by Tandem Health through its T.Capital investment arm, apparently seeing potential in a medical records assistant which is already used in more than 10,000 healthcare facilities throughout Europe.
Tandem Health’s platform provides access to clinical documents, coding and decision-making tools. It is integrated into around 130 electronic health record systems and meets stringent European Union regulations governing the sector and the bloc’s sovereignty needs.
T.Capital MD Karine Peters said Tandem Health’s platform “noticeably reduces the administrative burden on healthcare professionals” without compromising on “quality, safety and compliance” standards.
The company expects AI to “play a key role in addressing the challenges facing healthcare”, Peters added.
Tandem Health found administration tasks take up a sizeable chunk of clinicians’ working day when it quizzed professionals and patients late in 2025.
Most healthcare staff told the company they would prefer to spend more time with patients than on paperwork and more than half expressed concern over the quality of the interactions they do have.
Patients are worried about distracted doctors and inaccurate information, Tandem Health reported.
Deutsche Telekom reasons AI could provide some relief from the administrative burdens, in turn improving efficiency at healthcare facilities.
But SVP of Health Industry and head of Public Sector at T-Systems Gottfried Ludewig emphasised any AI systems employed must be trustworthy and secure.
Mo Katibeh posted on LinkedIn he has left his roles of EVP and CMO for T-Mobile US Business after nearly three years.
Katibeh (pictured) stated former VP of business marketing and strategy Michael Lubunski would take on the T-Mobile for business product, marketing and operations leadership role.
A T-Mobile representative told Mobile World Live Labunski’s new role is SVP, business marketing and product for T-Mobile for Business.
Katibeh joined the operator in April 2024 following a 20-year career across various executive roles at rival AT&T. He was also COO and president of cloud platform company RingCentral for nearly two years.
Labunski was RingCentral’s chief data officer during Katibeh’s stint.
“I can honestly say it’s been some of the best and happiest years in my professional life” Katibeh wrote. “I’m incredibly proud of what our T-Mobile for Business team has accomplished.”
Telefonica spotted an opportunity in growing industrial demand for process optimisation services which it hopes to cash in on through an investment by its domestic unit in Spanish specialist OGA.
The operator paid an undisclosed amount for a 10% stake in OGA, a so-called deep tech company specialising in using AI and operational information to optimise processes in sectors including logistics, retail, energy, health and defence.
Javier Lopez Gutierrez, director of Telefonica Espana’s Defence and Security unit, said the operator hopes to strengthen its industrial AI offer, “with a special focus on the defence sector”.
OGA employs AI, modelling and simulations to work out optimal processes for businesses providing vital services. CEO Juan Carlos Rubio hopes Telefonica’s backing will help it grow its capabilities to the benefit of Spanish and European defence and security sectors.
Telefonica explained it is adding OGA’s services to its range for businesses and public administrations, but noted it is not taking a seat on the company’s board to preserve its independence.
The operator made its investment after working with OGA for the past two years.
Business focus Telefonica separately noted B2B is proving a lucrative sector after attracting more than 800 domestic organisations to Titan Connect, a marketplace of connectivity services it launched in January for businesses and the public sector.
The set-up pools standalone 5G, fibre and satellite connectivity with a host of systems spanning cloud and edge computing, observation services using AI and power supplies.
Telefonica pitches the service on a greater ability to keep businesses and public sector organisations connected during disruptions.
UK operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) flagged an around 20% improvement in spectral efficiency by using AI technology in the RAN during a test with Nokia at a busy transport hub, in what it described as first of its kind in the nation.
The test used AI to predict and optimise 5G radio resources during changing network conditions and levels of demand on a site serving customers around London Paddington rail station.
VMO2 noted use of the technology meant it could carry a greater amount of data using existing spectrum resources and deliver “significant throughput gains” during periods of high demand.
It asserted the results showcase how it can use AI to support growing traffic volumes, faster downloads and higher quality streaming, while reducing buffering in busy locations.
VMO2 CTO Jeanie York said as demand for data keeps growing “we need smarter ways to make the most of the spectrum and infrastructure we already have”.
“This live trial with Nokia showed how AI can improve network efficiency and help us respond more effectively to changing customer demand. By making better use of existing network resources, we can deliver a better experience for customers while supporting future traffic growth.”
Nokia president of mobile networks Emma Falck added the test “demonstrates how AI is moving from experimentation to delivering measurable benefits in live mobile networks”.
She added the collaboration “shows the significant potential of AI-native networks to enhance customer experiences while improving operational efficiency”.
The news is the latest in what is a hot mobile industry topic of use of AI in the RAN and comes a week after a spate of partner releases involving Nokia’s work in the segment alongside Nvidia.
SpaceX is reportedly in talks with tower companies to secure access to at least 80,000 US sites, as it presses ahead with plans to build a nationwide mobile network to rival incumbents AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile US.
According to Bloomberg, major US tower operator Crown Castle is among the companies discussing leases with SpaceX, with potential deals worth billions of dollars.
On an earnings call earlier this week, Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said the company was holding talks across the satellite telecommunications sector but declined to discuss specific customers, noting: “You can assume that we’re talking to all parties.”
The tower agreements would form a key part of SpaceX’s plan to combine satellite connectivity with ground-based infrastructure to establish a nationwide mobile network.
It is targeting early 2028 for a launch for its own direct-to-device (D2D) service, following the deployment of its second generation Starlink Mobile constellation expected next year.
Earlier this month, the company agreed to acquire up to 14MHz of paired spectrum in the 800MHz band from Grain Management, in a move chief Elon Musk said was “the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America”.
It also secured Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to launch 15,000 next-generation satellites for D2D services.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said on the company’s Q3 earnings call the spectrum deal and satellite approval “pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US”.
Rivals SpaceX’s approach has drawn scepticism from some parties over whether it can match the coverage and performance of established networks.
AT&T CEO John Stankey argued earlier this week building a network capable of matching incumbent performance would take time. “I think it takes a lot of years and a huge level of investment to get to the kind of performance levels that customers have become accustomed to in scaled networks,” he said.
Stankey also highlighted AT&T’s extensive low-band spectrum holdings and existing infrastructure, arguing the operator already serves customers across established coverage areas.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan told the Financial Times in August that the threat from satellite providers had been exaggerated, questioning what consumer problems a new service would solve.
Mobile World Live (MWL) brings you our top three picks of the week, as Microsoft backed out of its UK data centre deal with Nscale, four European telco heavyweights confirmed plans to explore a joint satellite spectrum bid and SpaceX targeted a launch in 2028 for its direct-to-device (D2D) service.
Microsoft pulls out of Nscale UK data centre deal
What happened: Microsoft reportedly pulled out of an agreement to lease capacity at Nscale’s planned AI data centre in Loughton, Essex, after delays to its electricity connection pushed expected supply into the 2030s.
Why it matters: The 50MW facility was announced in 2025 as part of Nscale’s £2.5 billion UK investment commitment. Microsoft planned to occupy the entire site and deploy a supercomputer containing around 23,000 Nvidia GB300 chips. According to Reuters, Nscale said it remained “committed to both the Loughton project and the UK” and was exploring alternative power sources. It added its wider relationship with Microsoft remained strong, with the companies continuing to work together in Norway, Portugal and the US.
In February, an investigation by The Guardian found the Loughton site was still operating as a scaffolding yard, exposing a widening gap between the UK’s AI investment announcements and its ability to deliver the infrastructure required. Roderick Beck, a subsea and network capacity specialist, and VP of business development at UCC Hudson Bore, said “the big and growing order backlogs in the AI data centre sector reflect not just strong demand, but the difficulty of building these data centres and equipping them”. He added: “The construction, power, and GPU supply chains are extremely stressed.” Meanwhile, David Johnson, CEO of Greater London Industrial, noted “this is not an isolated case”, pointing to research from Roadnight Taylor which found half of UK data centre developers expected grid connections within one to two years, while many faced waits of three to eight years. He concluded: “Grid capacity is now as important to growth as planning consent. We need to treat it that way.”
European operators confirm satellite spectrum move
What happened: Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone Group signed a letter of intent to explore a joint bid for spectrum earmarked for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), as operators look to expand D2D connectivity.
Why it matters: The quartet stated a joint approach would support open, non-discriminatory access to satellite connectivity, while reducing market fragmentation and boosting consumer choice. They plan to establish ground infrastructure, coordination and monitoring functions without investing directly in a satellite constellation. A satellite partner has yet to be selected.
Counterpoint Research senior analyst Subhadip Roy noted the move comes ahead of the expiry of existing 2GHz spectrum authorisations held by Viasat and EchoStar in May 2027, with a new allocation framework being developed by the European Commission. He added the move takes D2D beyond satellite partnerships to the question of “who controls spectrum and how satellite connectivity becomes part of mobile networks”. Meanwhile, PP Foresight’s Paolo Pescatore said success depends on making satellite coverage “a seamless extension of mobile connectivity”. He added execution, device compatibility and pricing must give customers “a compelling reason to pay, along with reassurance they can stay connected in more places”.
SpaceX targets early 2028 for own D2D service launch
What happened: SpaceX revealed plans to launch its own D2D service in early 2028, following deployment of its second-generation Starlink Mobile satellites in 2027 and integration of additional spectrum.
Why it matters: On the company’s Q3 earnings call, president Gwynne Shotwell said its spectrum acquisition and the Federal Communications Commission’s approval to launch 15,000 next-generation V2 satellites would “pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US”. Earlier this month, SpaceX agreed to buy up to 14MHz of paired spectrum in the 800MHz band from Grain Management. The company also plans to use ground-based femtocells to complement satellite coverage.
Ananth Theivendrapoopathy, global head of pricing, product and commercial strategy at Lycamobile Group, said SpaceX could compete “without having to replicate the entire physical infrastructure of traditional mobile operators”, adding this could provide “a significant advantage through a different network cost structure”, although urban capacity and indoor coverage challenges remain. He argued the move also raises regulatory questions over whether satellite providers competing directly with mobile operators should face comparable regulatory obligations. He noted Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone Group’s joint approach to satellite connectivity, alongside mounting calls for European sovereignty, become “important considerations”.
Separately this week, Elon Musk revealed plans to explore a potential merger between SpaceX and Tesla in a combination that could bring satellite connectivity, vehicles and AI infrastructure under one umbrella.
LG Uplus and Ericsson boosted fronthaul coverage, addressing what the operator stated is a key element in the broader AI-RAN landscape and indicating a complete overhaul of equipment may not be necessary.
The companies conducted verification tests of Ericsson fronthaul equipment and network automation systems LG Uplus stated increased the reach of base station equipment by up to three-times over current methods without compromising quality.
LG Uplus clarified the effort focused on the connection between the Radio Unit and the Data Unit.
The operator emphasised there is more at play than expanding the distance connections can be maintained over: it argued the demonstration with Ericsson shows current equipment can be configured for AI-RAN uses, a benefit with obvious implications regarding infrastructure costs.
Lee Sang-heon, head of network advanced development with LG Uplus, said the operator intends to build on the fronthaul work by exploring other fresh technologies needed for “the next-generation network era”.
LG Uplus stated the effort would explore automation technologies and focus validation work on real-world network set-ups.
The operator stated the work would feed into a push towards autonomous networks employing AI.
Middle Eastern operators Zain Group and Ooredoo Group officially launched a joint venture tower platform after closing the first phase of the transaction by combining portfolios in their home markets.
The operators stated they have brought together the assets of Zain Kuwait and Ooredoo Qatar, comprising 4,000 towers in total.
They each own a 50% stake in the platform.
Announced in 2023, the tower company was pitched as the largest of its kind in the MENA region, with a combined value of $2.2 billion.
At the time, the companies and UAE-based TASC Towers stated the entity would comprise nearly 30,000 towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Iraq and Algeria.
In the latest statement, the companies highlighted how the transaction is expected to create significant value through greater scale, capital efficiencies and a dedicated operating model focused on passive telecoms infrastructure.
Additional towers are expected “to be integrated progressively into the platform”, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
They further pointed to opportunities for operators to access infrastructure in a more capital-efficient manner while supporting the region’s digital infrastructure.
Zain CEO Bader Al-Kharafi said the first closing of the tower platform “reflects our shared strategy of creating focused, scalable and sustainable platforms”.
Ooredoo counterpart Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo added it is “now executing across every digital infrastructure segment identified in our strategy as we continue building a leading regional portfolio”.
Bell Canada flagged cybersecurity credentials as increasingly important in consumers’ choice of businesses after research found almost 40% would shun a company if its protections were doubtful.
A survey of 1,523 adults conducted by the telecoms player’s Cyber division found nearly 60% would stop using a business if personal data was exposed and just shy of 80% reported being the target of an attack in the past 12 months.
Bell Cyber conducted its survey across seven days, beginning on 29 July. The research revealed growing public concern over the role AI is playing in cyberattacks, with 76% believing the technology is contributing to an increase in the sophistication of swindles.
Canadians believe companies are struggling to keep pace with the cyber scams AI is contributing to.
Confidence in companies’ ability to fend off attacks is low: 31% believe businesses can protect personal information from incidents involving AI.
Bell’s research highlighted worries over workplace cybersecurity training, with many staff saying they have taken the initiative by seeking information themselves.
Localisation is one confidence-boosting method the company suggests businesses adopt, with the research indicating trust is greater when information is stored on domestic servers and security overseen by Canadian companies.
The former may be a welcome statistic given Bell is investing heavily in domestic data centre capacity.
AT&T CEO John Stankey (pictured) outlined the advantages he sees over the potential threat of a direct-to-device (D2D) service by SpaceX during a Q3 earnings call, which included much more low-band spectrum, a scaled network and the ability to penetrate buildings with its mobile service.
During yesterday’s (20 October) SpaceX earnings call, president Gwynne Shotwell said the low-band spectrum her company agreed to buy earlier this month can be paired with Wi-Fi for mobile connectivity indoors, along with devices in towers and Starlink installs across businesses and consumers’ homes.
Shotwell said Wi-Fi accounts for the vast majority of mobile connectivity, estimating its share at between 85% and 93% without providing details on how portals and passwords will be used.
“There are significant loads, even with robust Wi-Fi networks, that are out there,” AT&T’s Stankey countered on the operator’s own financial call today (21 October). “I think it takes a lot of years and a huge level of investment to get to the kind of performance levels that customers have become accustomed to in scaled networks that are running on the infrastructure that most of the incumbent providers have today.”
SpaceX has touted the nationwide low-band spectrum portfolio it bought from Grain Management as the means to enable in-building penetration for its D2D service, which Musk said yesterday will generate billions of dollars in revenue on a yearly basis.
“I wouldn’t over-rotate on what I would call one carrier of low-band spectrum,” Stankey said. “Let’s put this in perspective.”
By contrast, Stankey said AT&T operates six to eight carriers of low-band spectrum, deploying it not only at macro sites but also across every indoor building system in high-rises, hospitals and stadiums.
“We’ve got the scale where the scale matters,” he said. “98% of the traffic is where we’ve already built and where we already have capabilities and customers have become accustomed to a level of service that is pretty high.”
He added: “I feel really good about where we’re at.”
Q3 metrics AT&T revenue grew 5.3% to $32.3 billion in the quarter ended 30 September, up from $30.7 billion a year ago.
Total service revenue increased 3.8%, its best consolidated growth in more than four years, reaching $26.3 billion. Wireless, fibre and the Lumen mass markets fibre business all contributed. Equipment revenue rose 12.1% year-on-year to $6 billion.
Income from continuing operations came in at $1.3 billion compared with $9.7 billion in the year-ago quarter, which benefited from the DirecTV transaction gain.
Post-paid phone net adds were 379,000, down 6.4% from 405,000 a year ago, with churn flat. The post-paid phone base now stands at 75.283 million, up 2%. Prepaid phone lost 21,000 customers.
Consumer and business internet net additions rose 25.4% to a record 769,000 from 613,000 a year earlier. Fibre net additions increased to 442,000 from 309,000, while fixed wireless access additions climbed to 327,000 from 304,000.
Total internet connections increased 29.3% to 16.2 million. Combined with phone additions, this pushed AT&T’s Advanced Connectivity net additions above 1 million for the second consecutive quarter. Advanced Connectivity service revenue reached $23.9 billion, up 6.1%.
AT&T added approximately 350,000 converged customers, with 42.8% of households using its fibre or Internet Air service also taking its mobile service.
Jio Platforms’ $3.2 billion IPO was reportedly fully subscribed within around 100 minutes of opening on Wednesday (21 October), as investors rushed to take part in India’s largest share sale.
Sources told Reuters institutional investors covered their allocated portion within 10 minutes of bidding opening, although demand from retail investors was slower. Around a third of the shares are reserved for retail buyers.
“It’s the fastest in the history of India,” a source said.
Reliance Industries’ telecoms unit is offering 270 million shares priced at between INR1,065 ($11.28) and INR1,119 apiece, with the offer closing on Friday (23 October). The IPO values the business at up to $108.3 billion and marks the first public offering from billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance conglomerate in two decades.
The company plans to use most of the IPO proceeds to repay or prepay borrowings at Reliance Jio Infocomm, its telecoms subsidiary, with the remainder earmarked for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditure.
Jio Platforms reported a profit of around $3.2 billion on revenue of $15.5 billion in the year to March.
The offering also comes despite a weak domestic equity market, after the country’s Nifty 50 benchmark index of 50 leading Indian companies slumped this year.
However, Indian wealth management firm SMIFS Limited noted “the long-term outlook for Jio Platforms Limited remains highly favourable, driven by sustained growth in India’s digital economy”.
According to the company, Jio Platforms will “benefit from rising 5G adoption, increasing smartphone penetration, accelerating broadband penetration, growing enterprise digitalisation and expanding demand for cloud and AI-enabled services”.
Jio’s telecoms business has more than 500 million subscribers, making it the world’s second largest telecoms operator in a single country after China Mobile. It disrupted India’s telecoms market after launching in 2016 with low-cost data plans, putting pressure on rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
However, the company continues to face regulatory uncertainty and growing competition in satellite connectivity, as billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink prepares to enter India’s market.
Veon agreed a deal to acquire Uzbekistan mobile operator Perfectum for around $207 million, in a move designed to boost its spectrum holdings and accelerate 5G deployment in the country.
The group stated it had reached an agreement to buy 100% of Rubicon Wireless, which operates under the Perfectum brand. The deal includes around $93 million in existing Perfectum debt. Completion is expected by the end of the month, with regulatory approvals already secured.
The acquisition brings fresh spectrum and network infrastructure into Veon’s regional telecoms business, Beeline Uzbekistan. Perfectum holds 115MHz of spectrum across the 850MHz and 3,800MHz bands, alongside network equipment and a standalone 5G network deployed using Nokia technology.
Veon said the acquisition would increase Beeline Uzbekistan’s spectrum holdings by around 50%, giving the operator additional resources to expand network capacity and support future 5G and fixed wireless access services.
The companies also anticipate expenditure savings and improved “efficiency of future network investment” from integrating Perfectum’s network with Beeline Uzbekistan’s existing infrastructure.
The deal adds to Veon’s investments in Uzbekistan, a market of nearly 40 million people where demand for connectivity and digital services is apparently booming. The group said the combined assets would enable broader access to broadband to support mounting demand for financial services, digital applications and sovereign AI across the country.
“Uzbekistan is one of Veon’s core growth markets, and this acquisition reflects our confidence in its digital future,” noted Veon group CEO Kaan Terzioglu, adding the company aims to turn the deal into “stronger customer experiences, more efficient network investment and sustainable growth”.
stc Group seized the initiative on AI-native networking, setting a target of employing the technology directly in its core infrastructure by 2030.
The operator believes placing the technology at the heart of its infrastructure is essential to keep pace with growing demand for AI services and the resulting changes to connectivity requirements.
stc detailed its ambitions and approach in a white paper released during the Network X event in Austria last week in which it argued AI is essential to handle the complexity of modern telecoms networks.
In a statement publicising the white paper, stc explained the evolution to 5G-Advanced is a principal driver of increased operational complexity. It also pointed to “AI-enabled calling and immersive communications” as factors necessitating the technology.
stc argued operators are set to become essential providers of connectivity as AI services take-off, stating agents and automated systems “need networks to coordinate communications and computing resources”.
It believes an AI-native network is essential in this regard because of the greater levels of automated decision making and resource allocation the technology should afford.
stc is also seeking to improve network maintenance and reliability.
Telecom Italia appointed new enterprise and technology chiefs effective today (19 October), with both executives being replaced set to depart the company at the end of the year.
The operator’s new chief enterprise and innovative solutions officer is Mirko Mischiatti. He replaces Elio Schiavo, who held the role for more than four years.
Mischiatti joins from Poste Italiane, which has a controlling stake in the operator after a shareholder buyout offer executed earlier this year. He held various positions at the postal service provider, most recently as head of the digital, technology and operations.
Telecom Italia’s new CTO is Claudio Ongaro, who was previously chief strategy, business development and wholebuy officer at the operator.
He takes over from Leonardo de Carvalho Capdeville, who spent just over two years heading the operator’s technology office and spent a decade in the equivalent role at its operation in Brazil.
Ongaro’s former responsibilities have been handed to Telecom Italia’s CEO Pietro Labriola on an interim basis.
In a short statement on the moves, the operator noted the two departing employees were leaving voluntarily to “pursue new professional challenges”, adding the company “expresses its gratitude” for “their significant professional and managerial contributions”.
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