Askey Picks pureLiFi to Bring LiFi to the Mass Market
Askey announced a partnership with pureLiFi to embed the company’s proprietary LiFi bridge directly into its 5G fixed‑wireless access (FWA) customer premises equipment. The all‑in‑one solution combines a high‑performance 5G modem with through‑window wireless power, delivering gigabit‑class indoor broadband without drilling, cabling or technician visits. By integrating the bridge, Askey claims up to a six‑fold increase in network capacity and a drastic reduction in truck‑roll costs. Demonstration units will be available to carriers worldwide in the first half of 2026.
7 MHz Brings Much Needed Flexibility to 5G NR
3GPP Release 19 introduces a native 7 MHz channel bandwidth for 5G NR in FR1, addressing the long‑standing mismatch between standardized 5 MHz steps and operators’ fragmented spectrum holdings. The new bandwidth targets low‑band carriers such as n5 and n26 and retains a...
D2D: Niche or Mainstream Opportunity?
The post explores the emerging D2D standard that lets smartphones communicate directly with satellites, questioning whether it will stay a niche technology or become mainstream. While current adoption is limited to extreme‑environment IoT and adventure use cases, the author argues...
Google Hits 50% IPv6
Google announced that half of its global traffic now arrives over IPv6, marking a symbolic milestone for the next‑generation Internet protocol. The 50 % figure reflects rapid growth but does not instantly resolve lingering technical and operational gaps. Industry observers note...
Globe Uses Grab Driver Insights to Boost Mobile Network Performance Across Metro Manila
Globe Telecom has partnered with ride‑hailing platform Grab to turn its driver‑partners into mobile network auditors across Metro Manila. By embedding a lightweight data‑capture tool in drivers’ smartphones, Globe gathers real‑time metrics on signal strength, latency and coverage during everyday...
Emirates Becomes First Airline to Deploy Ultra-Fast Starlink Inflight Wi-Fi on the Iconic Airbus A380 Superjumbo
Emirates has become the first airline to install ultra‑fast Starlink broadband on an Airbus A380, boosting onboard capacity by roughly 2,000‑fold. The 13‑year‑old superjumbo (registration A6‑EEA) was ferried to Newquay, Cornwall, where three Starlink antennas were fitted, delivering over two...
Henna Virkkunen Visited University of Oulu to Discuss 6G Research and Tech Sovereignty
On 23 April 2026 EU Executive Vice‑President Henna Virkkunen visited the University of Oulu to review Finland’s 6G Flagship programme and discuss Europe’s tech‑sovereignty agenda. The flagship now mobilises about 600 researchers, has delivered more than 60 EU‑funded projects and authored fifteen...
Vodafone UK Donates SIMs to British Gas Energy Trust Charity
Vodafone UK is providing 5,000 prepaid SIM cards to the British Gas Energy Trust, each offering 40 GB of data and unlimited calls and texts for six months. The donation is part of Vodafone’s “everyone.connected” corporate social responsibility programme and leverages...
The Push for Permitting Reform
Congress is reviewing H.R. 2289, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2025, which would overhaul permitting for wireless and wired infrastructure. The bill imposes a 60‑to‑150‑day "shot clock" for state and local authorities to approve or deny permits, automatically granting...
Vodafone Installs Temporary Mobile Mast at London Marathon Start Line
Vodafone UK forecasts a 15% jump in mobile data traffic at the 2026 London Marathon compared with the 2025 race. To accommodate the surge, the carrier has deployed a temporary Cell‑on‑Wheels (COW) mast at the start line near Greenwich Park. The...
R&S Partners Gatehouse Satcom to Develop 5G NTN Test Cases
Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) has teamed up with 5G non‑terrestrial network (NTN) software developer Gatehouse Satcom to create lab‑based test cases for 5G NTN connectivity. The collaboration responds to a market shift from early specification work toward live 5G NTN...
Ofcom Writes to Broadband Providers Following Anthropic Mythos AI Concerns
Ofcom’s Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity, Natalie Black, has written to UK broadband providers warning of the rapid escalation in AI capability, specifically citing Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview model. The AI Security Institute flagged Mythos as markedly more adept...
Oman TRA Plans 69 Field Visits to Check Telecoms Quality
Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) unveiled its 2026 field‑survey plan, scheduling 69 on‑site visits to assess telecom service quality nationwide. The inspections will span multiple governorates and focus on high‑traffic locations such as town centres, major roads, malls and event...
Adtran, GLDS Partner to Drive Zero-Touch Automation for Subscriber Lifecycle Management
Adtran and GLDS have expanded their partnership to deliver a billing‑driven, zero‑touch automation solution for subscriber lifecycle management. The integration links Adtran’s Intellifi managed Wi‑Fi platform with GLDS’s BroadHub system, enabling automatic provisioning, activation, and updates across access and in‑home...
ECSite, VIAVI Partner to Drive Hyperscale Data Center Fiber Testing
ECSite has integrated its end‑to‑end automation platform with VIAVI’s SmartClass Fiber MPOLx test sets, creating a streamlined workflow for hyperscale data‑center fiber testing. The combined solution automates test execution, validation, and cloud‑based reporting, cutting manual error rates from 10% to...
APNIC and PITA Renew MoU to Strengthen Cooperation in the Pacific
APNIC and the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA) have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding, updating a partnership first signed in 2002. The refreshed agreement, signed at PITA 30 in the Cook Islands, emphasizes joint training, capacity building, and the launch of...
How to Build an AI-Native Telco (And Why 99% of Operators Will Fail)
The article argues that telecom operators must transform from fragmented, human‑driven processes to AI‑native, closed‑loop operating systems. By converting every meeting, workflow and manual task into searchable data, operators can create a "queryable company" that continuously learns and optimizes. This...
The FCC Just Said ‘No’ to SpaceX for Now
The Federal Communications Commission rejected SpaceX's petition to use Mobile Satellite Service spectrum for direct‑to‑device connectivity on April 23, 2024. The denial blocks SpaceX from expanding its Starlink Mobile service, which launched in July 2025 with messaging and later broadband....
"Telco Convergence Is an Elevated Name for Discounts"
AT&T’s Q1 2026 earnings reveal its new OneConnect bundle, pairing fiber broadband with wireless service under a single price. Verizon and T-Mobile are accelerating Fixed Wireless Access deployments to rival the bundled offering. Industry commentator Craig Moffett argues that convergence...
JEF Developing Capabilities to Protect Sea Infrastructure
The ten‑nation Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is shaping operational concepts to safeguard undersea cables and pipelines across the Atlantic and North Sea. Its approach blends maritime domain awareness, intelligence sharing and rapid‑deployment capabilities. After a major Baltic Sea cable was...
Sekhar Pemmasani Calls for Deeper Industry Role to Shape 6G Future
The COAI DigiCom Summit 2026 brought together government officials, regulators and telecom leaders to chart India’s next digital phase. Minister Sekhar Pemmasani called for a deeper industry role in shaping 6G, emphasizing design‑led manufacturing, export‑grade testing and joint‑venture R&D. He...
Weekly Brief – 24th April 2026
BT repaired the subsea fiber linking Evie and Westray in the Orkney Islands, restoring broadband service after an abrasion‑induced break. The fix involved replacing 8 km of cable and rerouting the line to a less rocky seabed to mitigate future damage....
Cybersecurity Meets Geopolitics at Top EU Court
Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta issued a non‑binding advisory opinion in the Elisa Eesti v Estonia case, concluding that EU law permits member states to exclude hardware and software from telecom networks when the supplier is deemed a national‑security risk. The opinion validates...
Nigerian Telecoms Identity Risk Management System Launches
On April 24, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria unveiled a joint Telecoms Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) portal. The platform gives banks and other financial institutions real‑time visibility to monitor and flag suspicious telephone numbers...
MTN Nigeria to Begin Compensating Subscribers for Poor Service Between November and January
MTN Nigeria announced it will begin compensating subscribers for poor network quality experienced in November, December and January, following a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The compensation will be delivered as airtime credit, with the rollout starting on...
Fastweb Partners with Luna Rossa on 5G for America's Cup
Fastweb, operating under the Fastweb + Vodafone brand, has become the official sponsor and technical partner of Italy’s Luna Rossa sailing team. The telecom will deploy a dedicated 5G network slice in the Gulf of Cagliari and extend coverage to Naples, the...
Weekly Wrap: Starlink–Amazon Leo Clash Highlights Shortcomings of Satellite Filing Rules
Amazon’s Gen‑1 low‑Earth‑orbit constellation, approved for 3,232 satellites, has placed only 241 in orbit, far short of the FCC‑mandated 50 percent (1,616) operational by 30 July 2026. The company asked the FCC for a 24‑month extension, but Starlink filed a formal objection, urging...
Customer Reactions to Outages
On January 14, Verizon suffered a ten‑hour cellular network outage that affected more than 1.5 million wireless users. Recon Analytics surveyed 1,702 Verizon business customers across small, medium and large firms to gauge reactions. The outage impacted 44% of large enterprises,...
AstaZero Test Ground in Sweden Hosts 5GAA Connected Mobility Service Demonstrations
At the AstaZero proving ground near Gothenburg, the 5G Automotive Association conducted live demonstrations of connected mobility services. The showcases featured satellite‑based vehicle connectivity, safe‑road applications, and cooperative perception technologies operating in real traffic conditions. By testing across borders, the...
Chile Court Rules in Favour of Wom in Competition Lawsuit Against Claro
Chile's 24th Civil Court of Santiago has again ruled in favor of mobile operator Wom in its unfair competition lawsuit against rival Claro VTR, owned by América Móvil. The court upheld a November decision that found Claro engaged in practices intended...
Mozambique Launches National Roaming Pilot to Improve Coverage
Mozambique’s communications regulator, INCM, has launched a pilot national roaming scheme that allows subscribers of Tmcel, Vodacom and Movitel to access each other’s network infrastructure. The program targets the country’s persistent “shadow zones,” where existing operators provide little or no...
Sierratel to Start MVNO on Africell Infrastructure
The Sierra Leone government approved a partnership that lets state‑owned Sierratel launch as a mobile‑virtual network operator (MVNO) using Africell’s existing tower infrastructure. The deal keeps Sierratel 100 percent government‑controlled while tapping Africell’s network to deliver mobile and digital services nationwide....
MTN Nigeria Deploys Massive MIMO in Low Bands with Huawei Set-Up
MTN Nigeria and Huawei have launched a commercial massive MIMO solution on sub‑1 GHz spectrum. The upgrade lifted low‑band LTE traffic by 104 percent and boosted average user download speeds 28 percent. Physical resource block utilization fell 8 percent, indicating higher network efficiency. The...
Grameenphone's Q1 Revenue Dips 2% Amid Macroeconomic Pressure
Grameenphone reported first‑quarter 2026 revenue of BDT 37.6 billion (about $350 million), a 2 percent year‑on‑year decline. The dip reflects a tougher macro‑economic backdrop in Bangladesh, including high inflation and currency pressure. Voice service revenues fell, while data usage continued to grow, partially offsetting...
WindTre Reactivates Sub-EUR 5 Unlimited Data Offer
Italian carrier WindTre has re‑launched its Go Unlimited XXS 5G Digital plan, targeting customers who port their numbers from rival operators. The offering provides unlimited voice minutes, 100 SMS and truly unlimited 5G data for €4.99 per month (about $5.40). It is positioned as...
Zong Launches Shop-in-Shop, Trade-In Offers with Samsung
Pakistani mobile operator Zong has sealed a partnership with Samsung to roll out a shop‑in‑shop concept and a dedicated trade‑in scheme. The initiative will showcase Samsung’s 5G‑enabled smartphones within Zong’s Customer Service Centers, beginning with locations in Islamabad and Lahore....
Multi-Tbps Quad Band Starlink Satellite Gateway
SpaceX has filed FCC application SES‑LIC‑20260306‑00745 for a next‑generation quad‑band gateway, dubbed “First of Its Name,” at its Starlink factory in Bastrop, Texas. The earth station will use 40 × 1.99‑meter parabolic antennas covering Ka, V, E, and W bands, vastly expanding...
State of Network Automation with Urs Baumann
Urs Baumann, guest on Software Gone Wild Episode 206, bluntly noted that the core slides he uses to discuss network automation are unchanged from a decade ago, underscoring the sector’s slow evolution. While the conversation highlighted the persistent reliance on...
New Zealand MVNOs Call for Investigation Into Satellite Texting Access
New Zealand’s Internet Service Providers Association (ISPANZ) has filed a formal complaint with the Commerce Commission alleging that One NZ is restricting mobile virtual network operators’ (MVNOs) access to satellite‑based text‑messaging services delivered via low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) constellations. The complaint claims this...
LG Uplus Surpasses One Million USIM Updates and Replacements
South Korean telecom LG Uplus reported completing over one million USIM updates and free replacements within ten days of launching a nationwide security programme. The effort, which began on April 13, saw 427,385 updates and 581,094 replacements by April 22,...
KDDI Selected for Japan Government Project to Test Satellite-Connected Drones
KDDI has been chosen by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for a fiscal‑2026 digital transformation initiative that will pilot satellite‑direct communication to control drones in regions lacking mobile coverage. The program, part of the government’s regional DX promotion...
SK Telecom Expands Roaming Promotions Ahead of Holidays
SK Telecom announced an expanded roaming promotion running from April 23 to August 21, targeting the early‑May holidays and summer travel surge. Subscribers of selected “baro” roaming plans will receive up to an extra 16 GB of data at no additional charge. Once...
United Airlines CEO Says Passengers Will Have to Be Patient As He Rules Out Free Wi-Fi On Non-Starlink Planes
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby confirmed that free in‑flight Wi‑Fi will remain exclusive to aircraft equipped with Starlink, dismissing plans to extend it to the rest of the fleet. United has already installed Starlink on regional jets and is rapidly...
Project Gigabit Contract Upate April 2026 – Updated
British Digital Infrastructure (BDUK) released its April 2026 Project Gigabit tracking, showing that 23.8% of the 1.05 million contracted premises – roughly 250,000 homes and businesses – now have fibre installed. The data, dated 22 April, reflects month‑to‑month changes, with Openreach adding 14,460 builds...
Indoor Cellular Coverage
Cellular coverage indoors is deteriorating as carriers migrate to higher‑frequency bands that struggle to penetrate modern building materials. New construction uses low‑E glass and insulated panels that reflect or absorb signals, leaving pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and grocery stores with spotty...
Planters Broadband Selects Ribbon to Launch New 400G/800G- Ready Optical Route
Ribbon Communications announced that Planters Broadband will deploy its Apollo 9608 optical platform together with the Muse automation suite to launch a new 400G/800G‑ready route across Georgia. The solution provides high‑density, coherent optics and centralized orchestration, enabling rapid capacity expansion...
GSA Unveils New State of the Market Report
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) released its 2026 State of the Market report, showing that 5G is moving from rapid rollout to a phase focused on network quality and service differentiation. The report notes 392 operators have launched 5G,...
Afghanistan’s Telecom Market Between Stability and Control
Afghanistan’s telecom sector, built during two decades of conflict, retained broad coverage after the 2021 government collapse, reaching roughly 90% of the population. By the end of 2025 the market held 22.4 million mobile connections—about 50.7% of the population—but growth slowed...
Analysis: AT&T 1Q-2026 Results: Increased Fiber Penetration, FWA Momentum, D2D Deals, and Mobile/Home Internet Bundles
AT&T posted $31.5 billion in Q1 2026 revenue, driven by a record surge in advanced connectivity net additions and strong fiber and Fixed Wireless Access growth. The company added 292,000 fiber subscribers, bringing its total to 12.5 million, and expanded Internet Air...
The Last Mile Is a Paper Trail: Why Broadband Gets Stuck
Broadband providers face steep transaction costs, especially permitting, that delay upgrades needed for AI, AR and VR applications. The American Broadband Deployment Act (H.R. 2289) would impose shot‑clock deadlines, cost‑based fees, and streamline federal environmental and historic‑preservation reviews. The House...