Today's Telecom Pulse
EE fast‑tracks UK 5G+ rollout, leveraging $51 bn BT network upgrade
EE, owned by BT, is accelerating its 5G+ deployment across the UK, using Advanced RAN Coordination to boost download speeds by up to 20% without adding new masts. The rollout will activate 5G+ at more than 25 major events and 30 tourist destinations, extending coverage to 75% of the population, and is part of BT’s roughly $51 bn network‑upgrade programme.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Optimum raises $300M in preferred equity
The Lifeline Program’s Afterlife Problem
The FCC’s Lifeline subsidy, intended to keep low‑income households connected, is plagued by fraud involving deceased subscribers. An OIG audit revealed providers collected nearly $5 million for over 116,000 dead enrollees, with about 40 % dying before ever joining. As the Universal Service Fund contribution has climbed to 37%, each fraudulent dollar raises the hidden tax on all telecom consumers. The FCC could curb this waste by mandating nationwide use of the federal verification system and adding a secondary‑consent step for enrollments.
Shentel Completes Broadband Project in Franklin County
Shentel completed a $32 million broadband expansion in Franklin County, Virginia, delivering gigabit‑capable fiber to more than 6,700 previously unserved homes. The project was co‑funded by the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) and the county, reflecting a public‑private partnership model. Shentel now...
FCC's Lifeline Overhaul Risks Cutting Millions of Low‑Income Users, Critics Say
The Federal Communications Commission adopted a February proposal to tighten identity verification for the Lifeline subsidy, potentially requiring full Social Security numbers and reclassifying the program as a federal public benefit. Stakeholders warn the changes could unintentionally exclude eligible low‑income...
Senate Bill Would Force Commerce Dept to Deploy Digital Dashboard for $42.45B BEAD Rollout
Sen. John Thune introduced the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act, compelling the Commerce Department and NTIA to build a public, online dashboard that tracks spending and deployment for the $42.45 billion BEAD broadband program. The measure, co‑sponsored by Sen. Ben Ray Luján...
Moving Beyond LLMs with NetAI and Graph Neural Networks
NetAI is replacing large language models with graph neural networks (GNNs) to diagnose network failures. By modeling routers, edges, and protocol layers as a graph, the platform delivers deterministic root‑cause analysis instead of probabilistic guesses. It creates a digital twin...
Ending the Telecom Spreadsheet Era with Lightyear
Lightyear, a telecom‑focused AI platform, replaces manual spreadsheet‑driven billing with an operating‑system‑style solution. Using large language models, it extracts data from any invoice, maps charges to a live network inventory, and automatically flags overcharges, ghost circuits, and contract‑rate variances. The...
IMS2026: The RF and Microwave Event Comes to Boston, June 7–12
The IEEE International MTT Symposia (IMS2026) will convene June 7‑12 in Boston, drawing more than 8,000 engineers, researchers and technology leaders from 55 countries. Over 500 companies, including 91 first‑time exhibitors, will showcase the latest in RF and microwave integrated circuits,...
The Lock-In Loophole that Could Derail Cellular IoT
Cellular IoT, expected to power billions of devices, is finally gaining momentum thanks to the GSMA's SGP.32 eSIM specification. However, a hidden flaw—63% of eSIM remote managers (eIMs) are non‑configurable—creates a new lock‑in risk. Non‑configurable eIMs prevent adding alternative managers,...
Verizon Uses Digital Twins to Defend Against Storm Damage
Verizon is deploying a digital‑twin system that uses high‑resolution 3D drone imagery and AI to map cell‑site damage after storms, letting engineers plan repairs without onsite visits. The carrier is also testing permanent satellite backhaul at storm‑prone macro‑cells in the...
Senators Release Details of BEAD Permitting Bill
The Senate introduced the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act of 2026, requiring the NTIA to create a public dashboard that tracks BEAD funding, service rollout, and subscriber numbers across all states and territories. The bill also mandates a permitting‑toolkit to map...
Morse Micro Selects Gateworks as the First Global Design House Partner
Morse Micro announced Gateworks as the inaugural partner in its Design House Partner Program, a global effort to fast‑track production‑ready Wi‑Fi HaLow solutions. Gateworks, known for rugged embedded hardware made in the United States, will provide M.2 cards and development...
Edge Computing Powers Real‑Time AI Performance
AI doesn’t fail because of bad models—it fails because of where it runs. Real operations need ultra-low latency and real-time decisions. With Edge Control from T-Mobile for Business, data is processed at the edge for faster, more secure performance. Managed through T-Platform, a...
Lifecell Reports 37% Higher LTE Traffic
Ukrainian mobile operator Lifecell said its LTE network delivered an average of 12 GB per user in April, a 37 percent year‑on‑year increase. VoLTE traffic surged 152 percent over the same period, and LTE now carries roughly 29 percent of all voice calls on...
Megafon Offers Free Data for Transfers From iCloud After Apple Accounts Blocked
Russian telecom operator Megafon announced a limited‑time promotion offering customers free mobile data to transfer iCloud files to local storage via its Cloud Mail app from May 13 to May 19. The move follows a government‑mandated order that, effective April 1, blocked Apple...
U.S. Space Force Picks ThinKom’s Hidden Satellite Ground Station
ThinKom Solutions won the U.S. Space Force’s 2026 Fight Tonight competition with its Containerized Digital Array, a transportable satellite ground station hidden inside a standard shipping container. The system uses concealed phased‑array antennas and supports multi‑orbit, multi‑band communications across LEO,...
Corning to Build Three New Manufacturing Plants After $500 Million NVIDIA Investment
Corning announced a partnership with NVIDIA that includes a $500 million cash investment and a $2.7 billion option to buy additional Corning stock. The deal will fund three new optical‑glass manufacturing plants in North Carolina and Texas, expanding domestic fiber capacity by...
Satellite Technology and the Legacy of the Media Pioneer
Media mogul Ted Turner died on May 6, 2026, marking the end of a career that fused broadcasting with satellite communications. In 1976 he uplinked his Atlanta UHF station to Satcom‑1, creating the first super‑station and proving that orbital capacity could replace...
Corning to Supply Passive Photonics for Inside‑Box SiPh
$GLW moving inside the box. I maintain that Corning becomes a key "co-design" partner for optical as SiPH really starts to ramp in 2028. But those conversations are happening now. "historically, we've had no inside the box content...
Oracle and AWS Partner to Expand Multi-Cloud Networking
Oracle and Amazon Web Services announced a joint effort to extend multi‑cloud networking, linking Oracle Interconnect with AWS Interconnect‑multi‑cloud. The private, high‑performance connection will let customers move data and run applications seamlessly between Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and AWS, starting in...
I Tested 5G Across Rural America During a 3-Day Roadtrip - and It Didn't Go Well
Reporter Adam Doud spent three days driving rural America with three Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra phones—each on AT&T, T‑Mobile, and Verizon—to log 5G performance. Using nPerf, he collected over 52,000 data points on network type, signal level, and strength across Iowa, Wisconsin...
New Wi-Fi 7 Network Installed at University of Florida Stadium
Extreme Networks has installed the United States' first collegiate stadium Wi‑Fi 7 network at the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The system delivers ultra‑fast gigabit speeds, sub‑10‑millisecond latency, and the capacity to handle tens of thousands of simultaneous connections. Coverage spans...
NVIDIA Takes Warrants for $500m in Corning Stock as Fibre-Optics Partnership Goes Structural
Nvidia has secured equity‑linked warrants worth roughly $500 million in fibre‑optics maker Corning. The deal gives Nvidia a traditional warrant for up to 15 million shares at $180 each and a pre‑funded warrant for an additional 3 million shares. In return, Corning will...
FCC Overhauls Satellite Spectrum‑Sharing Rules, Unlocking $2 Billion Economic Gain
The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to replace the decades‑old Equivalent Power Flux Density framework with a performance‑based spectrum‑sharing regime for non‑geostationary satellites. The new rules, effective May 1, 2026, are projected to generate more than $2 billion in economic benefits and reshape...
AI Speeds up Detection of Suspicious Call Activity
🔎 Suspicious call activity? Let AI help investigate. In this demo, we use VoipNow Calls MCP to analyze unusual call behavior linked to a specific number. 📞 Call visibility 🤖 AI-assisted investigation 📊 Faster analysis and response A practical example of AI-powered telecom operations. 🎥...
Telesat's GEO Business Falls 25%, Loss Triples
Seems like a lot. "Telesat’s Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellite business declined 25% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026" Net loss for the quarter was CA$151 million ($111 million) compared to a CA$51 million ($37 million) loss in the prior year, https://t.co/cluTNPsoHJ
Antevia, Ontix Partner to Support Hybrid 5G Networks
Antevia Networks, a UK provider of in‑building 5G solutions, has teamed up with Onix, a neutral‑host operator, to launch commercial hybrid private‑public mobile networks. The collaboration merges Onix’s Neutral Host Service Gateway, Nexus platform, and Service Enablement Model with Antevia’s...
Corning Boosts US Optical Capacity Tenfold for AI Demand
"Corning will increase its U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10x and expand its U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50% to meet the accelerating demand driven by AI factory buildouts." https://t.co/VX9jOQr1Bg
Corning's Optics Will Dominate GPU Rack Interconnects
$GLW having a presentation on optics. This slide.. Everywhere you see yellow you see Corning. "And when we add the optical scale up network to interconnect all the switches in every GPU rack, well we add a lot...
Wisycom RF Solutions Support Gravity Media’s Live Cycling and Marathon Broadcasts
Gravity Media relies on Wisycom’s RF over Fiber and wireless gear to deliver live coverage of major cycling races and international marathons, including the Tour of Italy, Tour of Denmark, and Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam marathons. The company uses...
FCC Still Bars Deceased From Lifeline Benefits?
Is it still @FCC policy that dead people are ineligible for federal Lifeline program support intended to trim the cost of monthly phone and Internet bills for low-income Americans, @BrendanCarrFCC ? https://t.co/ZulmH0tTGh
Kcell Invests in Private Networks Projects
Kazakhstan’s leading mobile operator Kcell announced that it completed more than ten private LTE and 5G network projects in 2025. The company disclosed a 2025 network investment of KZT 102.8 billion (about $219 million) and said it has installed 2,242 5G base stations...
Poland Updates Spectrum Plan for 700 MHz, Upper 6 GHz Bands
Poland’s Government Legislation Centre has released a draft regulation amending the National Spectrum Allocation Table, earmarking the 6,425‑7,125 MHz range for mobile use. The change expands the pool of frequencies available for 4G, 5G and prospective 6G networks. By formally identifying...
Samsung, Qualcomm Claim 5G FWA vRAN First
Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm Technologies validated 5G Power Class 1 (PC1) for fixed wireless access (FWA) on a virtualized RAN, claiming the first industry demonstration of high‑power device transmission combined with a fully software‑driven network. Using Samsung’s vRAN stack, 3.7 GHz massive...
SWISSto12 Contracts HPS/LSS for Deployable Antenna Reflector on HummingSat GEO Mission
Swiss satellite‑communications firm SWISSto12 has awarded German consortium HPS/LSS a contract to build a 5‑meter deployable L‑band antenna reflector for its NEASTAR‑1 mission on the HummingSat GEO platform. The reflector will unfold in orbit, enabling direct‑to‑device media broadcasting from a...
Askey and pureLiFi Take Aim at an FWA Nemesis: Windows
Askey and pureLiFi announced a two‑box solution that uses infrared LiFi to bypass the long‑standing problem of windows attenuating fixed wireless access (FWA) signals. The system pairs an indoor unit that connects to the home network with an outdoor unit...
Verizon Deploys Digital Twin Tech & Expanded Satellite Fleet for 2026 Hurricane Season
Verizon is rolling out a Digital Twin platform that pairs high‑resolution drone imagery with AI to locate storm damage to its network in real time. The carrier has also expanded its satellite fleet to 2,600 assets, adding a Multi‑Orbit Off‑Road...
Tachyon Networks Expands FWA Portfolio With $1.5M Development Partnership With Sivers Semiconductors
Semiconductor firm Sivers Semiconductors announced a $1.5 million development partnership with Tachyon Networks to create a 60 GHz millimeter‑wave transceiver for fixed wireless access (FWA). The collaboration builds on an existing 28 GHz effort, extending Tachyon’s unified platform to support both 28 GHz and...
Fraunhofer IIS Tests High Bandwidths for NTN
In April 2026 Fraunhofer IIS proved a broadband 5G non‑terrestrial network connection over the German GEO satellite Heinrich Hertz using Ka‑band frequencies. The test employed 50‑100 MHz of spectrum and achieved peak data rates of 137 Mbit/s. A seamless handover between the satellite’s north...
Greenerwave and Telespazio France Sign Strategic Agreement to Distribute Multi-Orbit, Low-Power and Sovereign SATCOM Terminals in Europe
Greenerwave and Telespazio France, a Leonardo group subsidiary, have signed a strategic agreement to distribute Greenerwave’s low‑power, multi‑orbit (GEO/LEO) satellite communications terminals across France, the broader European market and the United Kingdom. The partnership targets defense, government and security customers,...
Worth Reading 050626
A RIPE Labs analysis reveals how five leading DDoS mitigation providers use BGP scrubbing, distinguishing always‑on from on‑demand defenses. An ACM opinion argues that AI is now a prerequisite for any meaningful privacy protection in today’s hyper‑complex data landscape. Researchers...
Millimeter Wave Broadband
Ookla’s latest RootMetrics report shows that Verizon’s millimeter‑wave (mmWave) spectrum now powers 2.2% of its cellular speed tests, while AT&T registers only 0.2% and T‑Mobile is negligible. The data confirms that mmWave can deliver gigabit‑plus speeds but only within roughly...
Eurobites: GSMA Shines Spotlight on Networks 'Investment Gap'
Europe’s mobile operators face a €475 bn ($560 bn) investment need over the next decade to achieve world‑class connectivity, yet only €270 bn ($318 bn) is expected to be available, leaving a €205 bn ($241 bn) shortfall. The GSMA’s report urges EU regulators to adopt more...
Unifi Router's Ad Blocker Unreliable, Blocks Entire Pages
I love my Unifi router by ad blocking is so oddly buggy It never actually blocked any ad, then today it blocked an entire page, then I added that domain to the allow list but it keeps blocking it Interesting... https://t.co/le5qpUC87P
Switch Storm Coming: Gartner Forecasts Price Hikes, Long Lead Times for Enterprise Data Center Switches
Gartner warns that enterprise data‑center switch markets are entering a storm as vendors divert engineering talent, memory and laser resources toward high‑margin AI infrastructure. The shift will push AI‑focused network fabric spending past traditional data‑center networks by 2026 and more...
Telesat's Lightspeed Advances Amid GEO Debt Crunch
.@Telesat: Lightspeed constellation network development, inc gateways & user terminals, on track.Downward spiral of GEO business continues; how to refinance $1.7B in debt maturing this Dec remains an issue. @Intellian @MDA_space.https://t.co/n8DnGZGmlF https://t.co/Yh8RP7C7Fv
Preview: How M360 LATAM Connects a Digital Future
M360 LATAM returns to Mexico City, co‑located with the 13th Latin American Congress on Digital Transformation (CLTD). The event features GSMA’s Vivek Badrinath delivering the opening keynote and introduces the rebranded GLOMO LATAM Awards. Discussions focus on 5G use cases,...
BT Teams up with STACKIT for Sovereign Cloud Push
British telecom BT is linking its Global Fabric network‑as‑a‑service to German sovereign‑cloud provider STACKIT, initially offering internet peering and later a private connectivity option. The collaboration lets organisations outside the EU reach STACKIT’s GDPR‑compliant data centres without traversing the public...
SpaceX Adds 24 Starlink Satellites From Vandenberg, Boosting Constellation Past 10,000
SpaceX launched 24 additional Starlink broadband satellites on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, using booster B1081 on its 24th flight. The mission lifted the constellation to over 10,000 spacecraft and featured the 195th landing on the drone ship...
£15 a Month Gigabit Service From DIGI UK Surfaces in Letchworth and Hitchin
DIGI UK, the European low‑cost broadband player, has launched three fiber plans in the UK, starting at £15 (~$19) per month for 1 Gbps, £20 (~$25) for 2.5 Gbps, and £25 (~$32) for 10 Gbps. The service is currently available only in the Hitchin and Letchworth...
Telenor Forms Standalone Nordic Sovereign Cloud Unit
Telenor announced the creation of Telenor Sovereign Cloud, a standalone Norwegian cloud company housed within its Infrastructure unit. The service will run from nationally controlled data centres, keeping all data under Norwegian jurisdiction and complying with strict security legislation. Targeting...