Telecoms

A three year research project, called VICTOR6G, is being led by Ericsson and will look into real-time virtualisation in industrial 6G networks.

• Free Call Defence service uses AI to analyse unknown calls in real time and labels suspected nuisance calls before customers answer the phone.
• More than 70m suspected scam and spam calls flagged every month, with the business recently announced it has blocked more than 1 billion scam texts
• New analysis from Virgin Media O2 a

• Nokia and Deutsche Telekom deepen collaboration to accelerate AI‑native and Open RAN innovation
• Expanded program strengthens joint work on Cloud RAN, open interfaces and multivendor network flexibility
• Partnership to drive next‑generation autonomous RAN capabilities through real‑world AI validation and co‑creation

• Companies aim to help the industry move from 6G research to commercial reality
• AI-native network innovation collaboration to span compute, connectivity, cloud and standards leadership across the core network, RAN and Edge
• The effort is designed to help make the path to 6G more open, efficient and cost-effective for operators

By Ian Smith, Head of UKTIN

As the UKTIN programme draws to a close, I’d like to use this opportunity to reflect with pride on the significant progress achieved and the lasting impact delivered across the UK telecoms ecosystem.

Just as bats rely on echolocation to hone in on moths, Vodafone wants to apply the same principle to mobile networks.

Virgin Media O2 has launched O2 Satellite, extending mobile coverage for customers willing to pay £3 per month for the privilege.

Working with Starlink, the operator becomes the first in Europe to offer a satellite-based direct-to-device service that also includes some data.

• Japanese operator KDDI wants to protect its datacentre traffic against quantum-savvy hackers
• It has turned to Nokia for the optical and security management systems that can help

Telcos around the world are becoming more vocal about their

• The South Korean partners are preparing for the 6G era
• They have achieved 3 Gbit/s downstream data rates in a field test over 7GHz spectrum

Ahead of the expected ramp up in 6G activity at the upcoming MWC26 show in Barcelona, Samsung Electronics and South Korean telco KT Corp, in partner

IoT services provider Wireless Logic has bought UK-based IoT connectivity specialist Comms365, continuing its years-long shopping spree.

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, TIM, and Vodafone have federated their edge environments, which they say enables deployment of applications across their combined European footprint.

They call it the European Edge Continuum, and its described as “a federated edge spanning the five largest operators in Europe.” 

• Transaction unlocks £3.5 billion in international investment, creating scaled wholesale competition

• Netomnia’s 3 million-premises network to form part of an 8 million-premises Full Fibre platform by 2027

• YouFibre brand to remain post-close, ensuring continued service excellence for 460,000 customers

Ofcom has made the Regulations to exempt mobile handsets and other SIM-enabled devices from the requirement to be licensed under section 8(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 when such devices are established, installed or used for Direct to Device (“D2D”) satellite services that meet the criteria set out in the Regulations.

A new study by Ookla claims the 5G “coverage gap” between major economic blocs is increasingly shrinking, but a significant "capability gap" is widening instead and Europe stands out.

Hello, I’m Ola Wassvik, a Chief Commercial Officer and Co-founder at Lightbringer in Malmö. I’m probably best described as a ‘serial deep-tech founder’. 

• Deutsche Telekom is world’s first network operator to offer IoT connectivity via both GEO and LEO satellites
• Seamless, reliable NB-IoT coverage across terrestrial mobile and satellite networks
• Innovative applications realised on standard hardware

Deutsche Telekom has reached another milestone in global connectivi

On February 12, 2026 at 1:45 p.m. local time (4:45 p.m. UTC, 5:45 p.m. CET), Arianespace successfully launched 32 Amazon Leo satellites with Ariane 64 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The satellites were delivered to a low Earth orbit, at an altitude of approximately 465 km.

The UK government wants full standalone 5G coverage by 2030 and opened a call for input on what it can do to help bring that about.

Virgin Media O2 is working with Zinkworks to deploy AI-driven automation designed to minimise downtime across its mobile network.

After a slow start, the private cellular networking market has reached an important inflection point.

So says Berg Insight, which totted up the number of live deployments – excluding proof-of-concept projects – and came up with 6,500 by the end of last year, valuing the market for private LTE/5G network solutions at $2.4 billion.

According to Verified Market Research, the telecom cloud market is expected to generate a revenue of US$258.99 billion by 2032, in part due to high hybrid cloud adoption, continued demand for AI-driven network automation and edge computing.

A new study by the GSMA offers a ‘modernised framework’ to facilitate growth and broader consumer benefits across many European sectors.

BT has completed the sale of its Radianz business to Transaction Network Services (TNS).

• Liberty Global has struck a five-year deal with Google Cloud
• The move will help the international operator ‘embed AI at scale’ in its European operations

Liberty Global and Google Cloud have