Telecoms

UKTIN recently hosted a free webinar uncovering critical industry trends and insights for 2025, including new technological solutions such as AI, quantum computing and cyber security. The session highlighted opportunities and tips for overcoming barriers in the multifaceted telecom sector.

The EU has signed off on IRIS², a multi-orbital constellation of 290 satellites aimed at taking on Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The 5G Innovation Region (5GIR) programme has seen 10 regions throughout the UK receive a share of £36m of funding as part of our wider programme to drive 5G adoption.

To ensure that SMEs have a front-row seat to telecoms standards making, our Standards Champion, Andy Reid, attends key standards meetings to observe, participate in conversations and report back on key themes and discussion points.

Here, Reid shares his reflections on the recent LFN meeting in San Jose.

Hello, I’m Paul Rhodes, an independent consultant at Evolved Network Solutions. I have over 30 years of global experience in the wireless industry, working with telecom giants Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, CityFibre, and World Wide Technology.

Japan's NTT claims to have made a breakthrough that could herald a new era in high-capacity backbone networking.

About the Course: Roughly every 10 years, a new generation of mobile wireless technology emerges to upgrade and enhance the current system, while also addressing existing challenges and issues.

One of SpaceMobile's bigger financial backers Vodafone has agreed a 10-year deal to use its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

SpaceX notched a big milestone with a launch of its Starlink internet satellites on Wednesday night (Dec. 4).

The UK’s telecoms market is thriving, but understanding how the ecosystem is innovating can be difficult, especially considering the rapid advancements in academia.

Nordic operator Telia and the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority have launched a pilot which involves using hydrogen to help keep mobile sites operating in power outages.

US connectivity cloud provider Cloudflare has published its annual review of Internet trends and it shows a small decline in the proportion of total internet traffic accounted for by mobile devices.

What is Linux Foundation Networking (LNF)?

Telecoms functionality is increasingly now implemented purely in software, yet the development life cycles and commercial models for software functionality are quite different to hardware functionality on which traditional standards processes have been based.

• Sateliot is a Spanish startup building a network of over 100 small satellites with global reach that will connect devices in remote, previously unserved areas.
• This is the EIB’s first venture debt operation with a Spanish space company and in the segment of satellite communications.

The Commission has signed 21 grant agreements for €142 million with backbone cable projects, bringing total funding to €420 million under the first CEF Digital Work Programme, reinforcing the EU's commitment to a connected and secure digital future.

According to Ofcom’s latest annual report on the nation’s broadband and mobile networks, 20.7 million UK homes can now access full-fibre broadband.

That figure is up from 57%, or17.1 million homes, in September 2023. Northern Ireland tops the charts with 93% of homes able to access full fibre.

After weeks of drip-feeding information, the US has finally offered a more comprehensive account of the China-led hack of its telecoms networks, as well as measures aimed to prevent its repeat.

Passengers and businesses are set to benefit from enhanced broadband connectivity along the soon to be reopened passenger railway line between Bicester Village and Bletchley.

Ericsson has inked a multi-billion-dollar deal to roll out 4G and 5G RAN equipment for Bharti Airtel, mirroring a similar announcement from arch-rival Nokia a fortnight ago.

• Telcos around the world are looking to exploit the potential of network APIs and encourage new application development
• The GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative is helping to coordinate efforts

UKTIN hosted the International and Horizon Engagement Conference at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London on Wednesday the 4th of December.

The latest IDC forecasts say the global smartphone market will grow 6.2% in 2024, driven largely by ‘robust’ Android growth in emerging markets and China.

That will bring total shipments up to 1.24 billion units, according IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, following two years of ‘steep declines.’