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
AirBaltic Partners with InterLnkd to Launch Dynamic Inflight Shopping Experience
Latvian carrier airBaltic has teamed with InterLnkd to embed the AirMall digital marketplace into its Starlink‑powered Skynet Wi‑Fi portal, creating the first global, dynamic inflight shopping experience. The platform gives passengers access to more than 20,000 brands on their personal devices, with personalized recommendations, loyalty point accrual, and home‑delivery options, all without any onboard inventory or crew involvement. AirMall’s provider‑agnostic design plugs into any airline’s captive portal, allowing rapid rollout across fleets. The partnership also positions the retail solution as a revenue‑generating offset for the cost of high‑speed connectivity.
Are Broadcasters About to Be Handed a Much-Needed Investment to Upgrade Their Distribution Infrastructure?
The FCC is considering repurposing the upper C‑band, currently used for broadcast distribution, in a move similar to the 2020 lower‑C‑band auction that generated roughly $81 billion. If reallocated, the agency could provide government funding to help broadcasters replace aging satellite...
Port of Gioia Tauro Secures Funding for 5G Network Development
The Port Authority of the Southern Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas secured roughly €2 million (about $2.2 million) from Italy’s Fund for Technological Innovation and Digitalization to build a private 5G network at the Port of Gioia Tauro. The project, which earned a top‑score...
Fidium Expands Presence in Flexential’s Texas and Minnesota Data Centers
Fidium announced an expanded on‑net presence at Flexential’s data centers in Dallas, Plano and Minneapolis‑St. Paul, adding high‑capacity fiber connectivity to its portfolio. The deal unlocks 100 G and 800 G wavelength services, Ethernet, dark fiber, and Construction‑as‑a‑Service offerings for enterprise and hyperscaler...
INWIT Slashes Outlook on Towers Conflict with TIM and Fastweb+Vodafone
Italian tower owner INWIT slashed its 2026 revenue outlook after TIM, Fastweb and Vodafone announced a 50:50 joint venture to build 6,000 new 5G towers, a move that conflicts with existing master services agreements. The announcement sent INWIT shares down...
SpaceX’s Starlink Hits 10,000 Active Satellites, Sparks Astronomy Backlash
SpaceX launched 25 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, taking the constellation past 10,000 active units. The company’s filing for up to one million orbital data‑center satellites has ignited a fresh wave of opposition from astronomers worried about light pollution and atmospheric...
Japanese Operators Join Forces to Launch Emergency Roaming
Japan’s five major mobile carriers—NTT Docomo, KDDI, SoftBank, Rakuten and Okinawa Cellular—are launching a nationwide emergency roaming service called “Japan Roaming” on April 1, 2026. The service lets subscribers temporarily use another carrier’s 4G LTE network if their primary network is disrupted...
ThinKom Showcases Modular MILSATCOM Architecture for Contested Environments
At the 2026 Satellite Show in Washington, D.C., ThinKom Solutions unveiled a modular, high‑mobility ground architecture designed to replace static satellite command centers. The system, built around the Variable Inclination Continuous Transverse Stub (VICTS) phased‑array antenna, can connect to GEO,...
Legend Internet Is Merging with Spectranet in a Broadband Consolidation Play
Legend Internet Plc, Nigeria’s first listed ISP, announced a merger with market‑leader Spectranet, targeting completion in Q2 2026 pending FCCPC and NCC approval. The deal combines Legend’s listed status and fibre footprint with Spectranet’s strong wireless brand, aiming to boost network...
MIB Cancels Registrations of 114 MSOs in Compliance Crackdown
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cancelled the registrations of 114 multi‑system operators, bringing the total number of active cable operators in India down to 756 after 1,159 exits since early 2025. The move is part of a year‑long crackdown...
You Can Get a Free iPhone 17e at Visible with This Deal - Here's How
Apple’s budget iPhone 17e is now available through a Visible promotion that effectively makes the device free. New customers who sign up for the Visible+ Pro plan at $45 per month receive a $25 monthly service credit for 24 months, which reimburses...
Marshall Islands Advances Pacific Connect Cable Project
The National Telecommunications Authority of the Marshall Islands signed an agreement to join the Pacific Connect initiative, adding the Iokwe subsea fiber‑optic cable that will connect Majuro directly to Google’s Halaihai system. Backed by U.S. Trade and Development Agency funding,...
Fortifying Campus Infrastructure: Why Reliable In-Building Communications Is Now a Facility Priority
Universities are recognizing in‑building wireless systems as a critical facility priority to eliminate communication dead zones that jeopardize safety and daily operations. Facility managers now oversee Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) that boost both public‑safety radio and cellular signals across diverse...
This New Mobile Provider Lets You Build a Plan That Actually Fits Your Life — Starting at $6/Mo.
Parrot Mobile, a new MVNO, launched with fully customizable, prepaid plans starting at $6 per month. The service offers instant eSIM activation, no‑contract flexibility, and an AI voicemail assistant named Polly. Plans range from basic talk‑only options to a $25...
Kymeta™ Unveils a Paradigm Shift With a KuKa Multi Band Terminal
Kymeta Corporation announced the KuKa 8 Series, a single‑aperture antenna that operates on both Ku and Ka bands and across GEO, MEO, LEO and HEO constellations. The flat‑panel terminal delivers roughly 44 percent less footprint and a low‑SWaP profile of 41 lb (18.6 kg)....
Eurobites: Poste Italiane Proffers €10.8B Bid for Telecom Italia
Poste Italiane has submitted a €10.8 billion offer to acquire Telecom Italia, Italy’s largest fixed‑line operator. The postal group already controls 27.3% of TIM after buying shares from former major shareholder Vivendi. TIM’s fixed‑line network has already been sold to a...
FCC Bars 7 Individuals After $14 Million E-Rate Fraud
The Federal Communications Commission announced on March 24 that seven criminally convicted individuals who siphoned more than $14 million from the E‑Rate program will be barred from all Universal Service Fund (USF) initiatives for three years. The fraud, spanning 2010‑2016, involved...
Digi to Launch Fibre Broadband in the UK
Romanian telecoms operator Digi Communications, through its UK subsidiary Fiber One, has acquired a 51% stake in the non‑operational fibre builder Whyfibre. The purchase gives Digi control of a nascent fibre network spanning Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, with pilot broadband services...
Contrivian Launches New Product Bundling Amazon Leo & Starlink
Contrivian, a California‑based managed connectivity provider, unveiled Contrivian Constellation, a bundled service that merges Amazon Leo and Starlink satellite networks under a single data plan, contract, and IP address. The system leverages the company’s Lighthouse technology to continuously evaluate both...
Arcep Opens Consultation on Future of French DTT Wholesale Market
French regulator Arcep has opened a public consultation on the future of the wholesale digital terrestrial television (DTT) market as broadband delivery gains ground. The review examines DTT’s competitive position, minimum coverage obligations and the impact of rising IPTV and...
CML Micro Debuts Satellite RF and mmWave Semiconductor Portfolio to US Market at SATShow 2026
CML Micro debuted its satellite communications semiconductor portfolio at SATShow 2026 in Washington, D.C., showcasing GaAs and GaN RF and mmWave devices for Ku, K, and Ka‑band applications. The exhibit, held with distribution partner RFMW at Booth 1658, featured power amplifiers...
Apple C1X RF Modem Approaches Qualcomm X80 Levels
Apple’s C1X RF modem has reached performance parity with Qualcomm’s X80, according to Ookla data covering Q4 2025. The new modem delivers comparable median download speeds, latency, and edge‑cell throughput across most markets, narrowing the gap that previously favored Qualcomm. Tests...
Ericsson Bets on Steady Growth in India Following 5G Rollout
Ericsson anticipates steady, incremental growth in India as the country moves from rapid 5G rollout to ongoing network upgrades. While coverage now exceeds 90% of the population, the vendor’s share of regional sales fell from 20% in 2023 to 12%...
One New Zealand Completes 2G, 3G Shutdown
One New Zealand completed the shutdown of its 2G and 3G networks on March 23, 2026, after delaying the 3G phase-out from an original 2024 target. The freed spectrum will be repurposed to strengthen the carrier’s 4G and 5G services. Over the...
Virgin Media Extends Smart Broadband Support to Full Customer Base
Virgin Media is extending its smart‑support broadband service to its entire customer base at no additional charge. The 24/7 diagnostics platform continuously monitors speed and connectivity, enabling the company to identify and often resolve issues before they affect users. In...
Zayo to Plug in New AI and Cloud Data Centre in UK
Zayo Europe will supply Tier‑1 fibre connectivity to QTS’s new AI‑focused data centre in Cambois, Northumberland. The campus will host up to 720 MW of AI‑ready infrastructure and integrate with Zayo’s pan‑UK network linking major cities and trans‑Atlantic routes. A £110 million...
Claro Ecuador Launches 5G in Cuenca and Salinas
Claro Ecuador, part of América Móvil, has extended its 5G network to the cities of Cuenca and Salinas, following earlier launches in Guayaquil, Quito, Puerto Ayora and Coca at the end of 2025. The expansion is a key step toward the carrier’s...
Megafon Adds Automatic Top-Up Option for Multiple Lines
Russian telecom operator Megafon launched an automatic top‑up service that lets users replenish the credit of up to five mobile lines in a single, recurring transaction. The feature works across Megafon’s own network and other Russian operators, with no commission...
T-Mobile US Tees up Private 5G for MLB In-Game Calls
Major League Baseball will use T‑Mobile’s private 5G networks to power its Automated Ball‑Strike (ABS) challenge system for the 2024 season. The operator has deployed the network across all 30 stadiums, enabling high‑speed transmission of Hawk‑Eye camera data to verify...
5GAA Renews Pact with EU 6G Industry Body
The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) has extended its partnership with the EU’s 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G‑IA) by renewing a 5G‑focused memorandum of understanding first signed in August 2022. The renewed MoU emphasizes policy coordination in vehicle‑to‑everything (V2X)...
Orange Extends 5G to 7 in 10 Small Towns in Extremadura
Orange Spain announced that its 5G network now covers 286 municipalities in the Extremadura region, giving high‑speed mobile connectivity to seven out of ten small towns by early 2026. The rollout includes 71 villages with fewer than 500 residents, underscoring...
Yas Togo and Moov Togo Top nPerf's WAEMU Mobile Internet Rankings in 2025
Yas Togo and Moov Africa Togo have secured the first and second spots in nPerf’s 2025 mobile‑internet quality rankings for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The rankings, released by Togo’s telecom regulator ARCEP, confirm Togo as the...
Movistar’s Anti-Piracy Measures Blocking Legit Streams
Spain’s anti‑piracy crackdown, led by LaLiga, relies on IP‑blocking to stop illegal football streams. Movistar’s implementation on March 22 blocked about 145 IP addresses, including those of major cloud providers, causing widespread service outages that persisted into the following morning. The...
Vodafone Italia Ups Price of Selected Prepay Plans by up to EUR 4/Mth
Vodafone Italia announced that, beginning 30 April, selected prepaid mobile plans will see monthly price increases ranging from €0.95 to €3.99. The adjustments affect a subset of its prepaid portfolio and are presented as necessary to sustain network quality and service...
Huawei's Ban Highlights Power of Technological Influence
The real reason Huawei got banned? It wasn’t weakness. It was strength. I’ve been following this space for years, and what struck me is how quickly the narrative shifted. Huawei didn’t rise quietly. It built some of the most advanced telecom infrastructure and 5G...
Telecom Networks Transform Into Real‑time Adaptive Intelligence
As 5G, IoT, and Agentic AI converge, telecom networks are no longer passive infrastructure, they’re becoming adaptive, self-optimizing systems that sense, decide, and act in real time. How connectivity is evolving from moving data to orchestrating intelligence ⬇️ Read: ➡️ https://t.co/uwh6kF4fVy #AI...
Singtel Says Network ‘Operating as Expected’ After Latest Internet Service Disruption
Singtel experienced a fresh Internet service disruption on March 23, with over 9,700 user reports logged on Downdetector within a few hours. Roughly half of the complaints involved broadband connections and about a third concerned mobile Internet. The company identified...
Airlines Can Own Cabin Connectivity with Quvia's Grid & Sync
Airlines have an opportunity to rethink who controls the cabin connectivity layer, putting themselves in the driver’s seat. We sit down with Quvia to learn how it's 'Grid' and 'Sync' solutions can help airlines follow the cruise industry and take...
US‑Japan Partnership Advances Secure Next‑gen Network Rollout
Honored to host Japan’s Vice Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, Dr. Imagawa Takuo, at the FCC. Enjoyed collaborating on the work our countries are doing to promote the build out of secure, next-gen networks. https://t.co/Scbq2TNAm3
Orkney Broadband Outage Declared ‘Major Incident’
A subsea cable fault between Evie and Westray has been declared a major incident, cutting broadband for several hundred residents and businesses across Westray, Sanday, Stronsay and other northern Orkney islands. Openreach says repairs will require a specialist cable ship...
Why Auction-Led Spectrum Policy Has Failed India
India’s telecom regulator TRAI has proposed cutting spectrum reserve prices by up to 40 % for the upcoming auction, setting a total reserve price of 2.1 trillion rupees for more than 11,700 MHz across nine bands. Past auctions have left most spectrum unsold...
Airtel Adds 2,750+ New 5G Sites in Gujarat Users to See Faster Speeds and Better Coverage
Airtel has added more than 2,750 new 5G sites across Gujarat over the past year, expanding its footprint to 36 districts and reaching over 41 million users. The rollout, averaging eight sites per day, targets both urban hubs like Ahmedabad and...
From Steppe to Speed: Freedom Telecom’s FWA Strategy for a Connected Kazakhstan
Freedom Telecom Kazakhstan is accelerating broadband rollout by deploying fixed wireless access (FWA) across the steppe, leveraging rare n79 spectrum to deliver up to 3 Gbps speeds. The company’s initial ROI horizon has shrunk from a seven‑year payback to roughly six‑and‑a‑half...
NBN Co Trials Simultaneous Optical Tech Co-Existing on Full Fibre
NBN Co, together with Nokia, successfully trialled three generations of optical technology—GPON, XG‑SPON and 50‑GPON—on its FTTP network, achieving more than 230 Gbps and demonstrating a path toward terabit‑scale rates. The trial coincides with a 13‑14% year‑on‑year rise in average monthly...
The 5 Best VoIP Routers (Wired, Wireless, and Mesh) in 2026
TechRepublic’s 2026 guide ranks the top VoIP routers for businesses, highlighting the Asus RT‑AX88U Pro as the overall winner and the TP‑Link ER605 as the budget‑friendly small‑business option. The list also features the Nighthawk Tri‑Band Wi‑Fi 6E for large offices, the...
This Week: Of Fiber Castles, Cable Forts, FWA Camps, and Satellite Warbands
In this episode Roger Antner and Don Kellogg examine how network infrastructure shapes competition, coining metaphors like fiber "castles," cable "forts," FWA "camps," and satellite "warbands." They show that carriers with dense fiber footprints—AT&T and Verizon in the Northeast—gain customers,...
SalamAir Partners with Arcube to Launch eSIM and E-Visa Services
Omani low‑cost carrier SalamAir has teamed up with UK travel‑tech firm Arcube to embed eSIM and e‑Visa services into its booking platform. The eSIM solution gives travelers access to more than 5,000 data packages in over 213 countries, while the...
Samsung Enables Quick Share to Transfer Files to iPhone via AirDrop on Galaxy S26
Samsung announced that its Quick Share feature will support Apple’s AirDrop on the newly launched Galaxy S26 series, beginning in South Korea on March 23 and rolling out to the United States later that week. The move follows Google’s earlier...
Poste Italiane Bids €10.8bn for Telecom Italia
The re-Post Officication of telecoms was not something I expected to read this morning: Poste Italiane launches €10.8bn bid for Telecom Italia via @FT https://t.co/gR3vmnrlkX
Ulysses Management Dumps Cogent Shares as Stock Plummets 74%
Ulysses Management disclosed a full exit from Cogent Communications, selling 335,982 shares and realizing a $12.88 million loss. The move comes as Cogent’s share price has fallen 74% over the past twelve months, underscoring growing investor skepticism toward telecom‑infrastructure equities.