Infrastructure

A simple guide to mobile telecoms masts

Covering everything that local authorities, consumers and citizens may want to know about mobile telecoms masts: what they are for, the different types of masts, their component parts and why we need them

SoftBank has developed a six-cell-capable HAPS payload and used it to deliver 5G connectivity from the sky in a field trial that will help pave the way for a service launch next year.

The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace according to a new research report from specialist IoT analyst firm Berg Insight. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 5.8 million in 2024.

• US President Donald Trump is visiting the UK
• Digital infrastructure investments are among the related business announcements made to coincide with the occasion
• Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and more are to provide the technology that enables the UK’s sovereign cloud and AI services

• New campus in Oulu, Finland – the “Home of Radio” – will deliver high-performance, resilient and trusted radio networks. 
• It is the world’s most advanced hub for the entire lifecycle of 5G and 6G radio innovation, ensuring that secure 5G and 6G networks are designed, tested and built in Europe. 

New rules designed to protect submarine cables from security threats and stimulate investment in new systems have been adopted by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Mobile phone blackspots will be eliminated on several major railway lines and train tunnels by 2028, the body which runs Britain's railway infrastructure has pledged.

Nvidia and Deutsche Telekom will team up to build what they term as the world's first industrial AI cloud for European manufacturers on German soil.

Hello, my name is Megan Lawless, and I work for the Manchester Digital Strategy at Manchester City Council. I am also involved in the Greater Manchester 5G Smart Decarbonisation Network project. 

Nokia has been selected to lead PROACTIF, an EU project involving 42 European tech firms from 13 countries with the aim of boosting drone and robotics autonomy on the continent.

Following Three’s installation of 18 Open RAN small cell sites in Glasgow City Centre, the project will now expand that to 34, says Mavenir.

EE and Ontix have installed 80 small cells across the City of Westminster, which support both 4G and 5G traffic for EE customers in central London.

Nokia and Blackned signed an MoU to provide deployable mobile communication systems for military battlefield operation, designed for Germany’s defence requirements.

According to a recently published report from Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the telecommunications, security, networks, and data center industries, the Optical Transport equipment market declined 1 percent year-over-year in 1Q 2025.

Netomnia leverages Adtran’s next-generation SDX 6400 Series to deliver ultra-high-speed service. 

The  project marks UK’s first commercial deployment of 50G PON over existing infrastructure.

The FCC has voted to look at the possibility of opening up more than 20,000 MHz of underused spectrum for satellite, a move that could prove something of a boon for companies operating from space.

Three UK has successfully completed the first stage of a landmark trial – the UK’s first deployment of Open RAN technology in a dense urban environment. The trial was designed to test the viability of deploying Open RAN in a complex city setting.

New criteria to give certainty to world-class research organisations, helping to attract greater private investment and grow the UK economy.

• The major hyperscalers have reported their first-quarter 2025 financials
• Synergy Research Group has collected all the data
• AI workloads have fuelled a 23% year-on-year increase in the value of the global cloud infrastructure services sector to almost $94bn

While

Vodafone’s pioneering ‘Network as a Sensor’ technology is being used to forecast rainfall and other weather conditions at a micro-climate level to alert people and first responders of flooding, and other natural and man-made dangers.

Commercial space infrastructure firm Axiom Space will launch its first two Orbital Data Centre (ODC) nodes to low-Earth orbit (LEO) by the end of this year.

• CityFibre has grown to become a major fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) wholesale network operator in the UK
• It has long been expected to play a major role in the consolidation of the UK’s still over-crowded FTTP sector
• It has announced the acquisition of the infrastructure assets of regi

DSIT and UKTIN hosted Connected Reflections Live at The Minster Building on Wednesday the 19th of March. The exclusive showcase celebrated groundbreaking innovations, ecosystems, and market-shaping insights from the Future Network Programmes.

• Ofcom plans to maintain pro-competition regulation to bring faster, more reliable connections to businesses and communities across the UK to boost economic growth
• Full-fibre broadband projected to reach almost all homes and businesses by 2027 with right support

Full-fibre broadband is on