O2 has switched on its 5G standalone network in Norfolk, covering areas like Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford.

Norfolk has population of around 940,000, and O2 promises at least 90% outdoor coverage as part of the upgrades, offering “reliable, faster mobile coverage and stronger signal in more places, meaning a smoother experience for residents, commuters and visitors.”

The new infrastructure will improve services and prepare the region for future technologies like smart transport, connected healthcare, and advanced manufacturing, we’re told.

The future of the network slicing market is so bright as to be incandescent, if ABI Research's latest forecast is anything to go by.

Analyst firm ABI reckons the global network slicing market will grow from $6.1 billion in 2025 to $67.52 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 70%. That is quite the departure compared to its last slicing forecast, back in 2023, which predicted the market would be worth $19.5 billion by 2028.

• Network faults remain one of the biggest and most costly challenges facing telcos
• Root cause analysis (RCA) processes still require innovation
• Major industry bodies are supporting the AI Telco Troubleshooting Challenge, which aims to ultimately improve RCA
• AT&T believes the challenge can help deliver positive outcomes

A broad group of telco and network technology industry organisations, including ETSI,  GSMA, IEEE GenAINet, ITU and TM Forum, have jointly announced and are su

Virgin Media O2 has extended its high-speed broadband and mobile coverage to half of the population of Scotland.

The operator shared a series of data points on its Scottish prowess as part of a visit from First Minister John Swinney to its new Maxim Park office in Lanarkshire, which houses 350 VMO2 staff and opened earlier this year.

There are some interesting snippets in there, but also a lot of hype, and the odd question mark over the accuracy of the data.

The Leo Ultra antenna promises download speeds from satellites of up to 1 Gbps.

Earlier this month, Amazon understandably rebranded its slow-burning LEO satellite operation previously known as Project Kuiper to Leo. The rebrand seems designed to signify that the project’s incubation phase was finally at an end and it’s ready to start operating on a commercial basis.

Some AI and 5G trials at a stadium in Milton Keynes promise to improve signal for sporting events.

The trials were developed through Project ARANA, a collaboration between the University of Bristol’s Smart Internet Lab, AI operation Madevo, as well as some other industry partners, led by Weaver Labs.

They took place at the 30,400-seat MK Dons football stadium in Milton Keynes, and were about improving connectivity in such congested settings as thousands of people try to get online at once.

UK altnets are still struggling to make ends meet and mounting losses mean the only alternative for the sector is consolidation...as soon as possible.

This is not a new concern; we have been debating the plight of the altnet for some time. But new figures from Enders Analysis show that altnets' overall accounting net losses widened to £1.5 billion in 2024 from £1.3 billion a year earlier. Things are getting worse.

The market for mobile radio access network equipment was essentially flat in the third quarter of this year, but growth continues at the core, according to new analyst data published this week.

A flat RAN market is more noteworthy than it might seem, coming as it does after two years of steep declines. There are significant regional variations at play, Dell'Oro's latest data shows, but overall the analyst firm is pointing to stabilisation, and that can only be a good thing for the vendor community.

Five UK-led European satellite projects will get a bit of public money to help them, while promising to incubate ‘promising’ UK AI startups.

The European Space Agency has a programme called Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems. It seems the Brexit punishment queues at European borders don’t apply to satellite R&D because the UK is a significant contributor to this collective effort. Accordingly, the UK Space Agency is chucking £6.9 million at five UK-led ARTES projects.

As 2025 approaches the rearview mirror, a survey of over 200 telecom professionals places security at the forefront of 2026.