Open Fiber's Backbone 2.0 tops 2,000 km
ITALY 07:17

Open Fiber's Backbone 2.0 tops 2,000 km

Italian wholesale-only operator Open Fiber said it has rolled out more than 2,000 km of new fibre optic cable under its Backbone 2.0 programme, launched in 2025 to link major cities with high-capacity routes. The company plans to install a total of over 3,200 km of fresh cabling, with work due to finish in the first half of 2027.

Orange Belgium extends contract with Viaccess-Orca
BELGIUM 07:10

Orange Belgium extends contract with Viaccess-Orca

Viaccess-Orca (VO) announced that Orange Belgium has renewed its contract with VO for products spanning content security, playback and quality-of-experience monitoring on subscriber devices. A VO customer since 2014, Orange Belgium relies on VO Secure Video Player, Multi-DRM, QoX and Conditional Access System (CAS) products across multiple TV environments, covering both consumer and B2B video services. No financial details of the contract were disclosed.  

Microsoft updates Surface Pro with 5G, Snapdragon X2 Plus chip
GLOBAL 06:53

Microsoft updates Surface Pro with 5G, Snapdragon X2 Plus chip

Microsoft announced new Surface laptops at Qualcomm's annual Snapdragon Summit. Available from 13 October in selected markets, the new Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch are built on the latest Snapdragon X2 Plus processor. Microsoft said this generation brings up to 18 percent more efficient battery performance, over 60 percent faster graphics and 95 percent faster on-device AI than the previous range thanks to the upgraded chip. 

Altamira named Cellnex People & Culture chief
SPAIN 06:53

Altamira named Cellnex People & Culture chief

Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom, Europe's largest independent mobile towers company, has reorganised its Corporate Affairs division, appointing Leonor Altamira as Global Director of People & Culture and splitting Communications and Public Affairs into two separate functions. Both will now report directly to Xavier Pujol, the company's General Secretary and head of Corporate Affairs.

Zong, ConnectHear launch AI-powered sign language customer service in Pakistan
PAKISTAN 06:51

Zong, ConnectHear launch AI-powered sign language customer service in Pakistan

Zong and ConnectHear have launched an AI-powered sign language customer service system at Zong's Customer Service Centers in Pakistan, using ConnectHear's Sila technology. The initiative, launched on 23 September, which is the International Day of Sign Languages, provides Pakistan Sign Language (PSL) support as part of Zong's customer service operations.

Troops to invest USD 12 million in AI infrastructure unit launch in Southeast Asia
SOUTH-EASTERN ASIA 06:40

Troops to invest USD 12 million in AI infrastructure unit launch in Southeast Asia

Troops has announced it is allocating USD 12 million to establish a new business unit focused on AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia. The group plans to provide services including GPU rentals, AI inference, edge computing, decentralized computing, cloud orchestration, and other services for AI developers. The new business will complement Troops' existing activities in financial technology and infrastructure.

Disney+ to raise prices in October
UNITED STATES 06:19

Disney+ to raise prices in October

Disney+ is increasing its prices in the US from 21 October, exactly a year since its last price hike. This raises the price of the Standard plan with ads by USD 0.49 to USD 12.49 per month, while ad-free Disney+ Premium costs USD 2.49 more, at USD 21.49 per month. The higher prices apply already for new subscribers to Disney+. 

NTT expands SIGN platform with sovereign AI and global IoT services
GLOBAL 06:12

NTT expands SIGN platform with sovereign AI and global IoT services

NTT Docomo Business is expanding its docomo business SIGN IoT platform with new capabilities linking mobile edge computing (MEC) infrastructure to GPU cloud resources for physical AI applications, alongside a new service aimed at managing large-scale global IoT deployments. The operator will add the Advanced menu to SIGN, its network-as-a-service platform with built-in security features, from December. 

Mike Mrdak reappointed to NBN Co Board for three-year term
AUSTRALIA 05:43

Mike Mrdak reappointed to NBN Co Board for three-year term

The Australian government has reappointed Mike Mrdak as a non-executive director of the NBN Co Board for a three-year term beginning on 1 October 2026. Mrdak was first appointed to the board in October 2023. He previously served as secretary of the department of infrastructure and regional development from 2009 to 2017 and secretary of the department of communications and the arts from 2017 to 2019.

ESR to acquire 1.6 GW Asia-Pacific clean energy platform
ASIA 05:32

ESR to acquire 1.6 GW Asia-Pacific clean energy platform

Asia-Pacific real asset owner and manager ESR has agreed to acquire Aquila Clean Energy APAC, adding a 1.6 GW portfolio of solar, wind and battery storage assets across the region as it expands its infrastructure activities alongside its logistics and data centre businesses. ESR has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Aquila Clean Energy APAC from Hamburg-based investment and industrial development company Aquila Group. The portfolio includes operational, construction and advanced development assets acro

Vocus plans 4,000km Brisbane-Darwin fibre route
AUSTRALIA 05:30

Vocus plans 4,000km Brisbane-Darwin fibre route

Australian operator Vocus has announced plans for a 4,000-kilometre ducted fibre route connecting Brisbane, Townsville and Darwin, extending its Australian Digital Infrastructure Platform (ADIP) beyond the Sydney-Melbourne corridor. The Brisbane-Darwin route is the second project under ADIP and is expected to be ready for service in 2030. Vocus has begun route planning, technical design and customer engagement, with the network designed to accommodate up to 3,456 fibre cores.

NTT Docomo deploys generative AI agent for online procedures
JAPAN 05:28

NTT Docomo deploys generative AI agent for online procedures

NTT Docomo has deployed a conversational AI agent from PKSHA Technology's PKSHA ChatAgent platform on its online procedures support service for contract and billing-related enquiries. The generative AI agent is designed to interpret customers' intentions through dialogue and guide them to the relevant procedure. It can ask follow-up questions when an enquiry is brief or lacks context, rather than requiring customers to formulate their questions using specific terminology.

AUSTRALIA 05:26

NBN Co trials flexible solar sleeve for fixed wireless sites

Australian government-owned broadband access provider NBN Co is trialling a flexible solar panel system designed to provide backup power for fixed wireless sites during mains power outages. The proof-of-concept trial is being conducted on a live NBN fixed wireless site at New Gisborne in Victoria's Macedon Ranges. The solar sleeve is combined with existing battery storage and other energy-saving measures, with the system designed to keep equipped sites operating for up to 12 hours during a power outage.

GLOBAL 05:24

KDDI launches AI-powered managed security service across US and EMEA

KDDI America and KDDI Europe have launched a managed detection and response (MDR) service with a 24/7 security operations centre (SOC) covering the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa. The service, developed with security company Exaforce, uses agentic AI to detect, investigate and respond to threats across endpoints, networks, software-as-a-service applications and identity and access management through a single platform.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 05:20

Samsung selected for AI RAN projects with KT and SK Telecom

Samsung Electronics has signed contracts with Korea Telecom (KT) and SK Telecom (SKT) for artificial intelligence radio access network (AI RAN) projects being conducted under the ministry of science and ICT's Hyper AI Network initiative. Samsung will act as the sole global vendor for KT's project and the main vendor for SKT's. The projects are scheduled to begin in October 2026 and will deploy 5G standalone private networks at industrial sites including a shipyard and petrochemical facility to test AI RAN c

AUSTRALIA 05:19

NAB adopts Quantium Telstra scam and fraud indicator

Australian bank NAB is adopting Quantium Telstra's Scam and Fraud Indicator, which combines telco intelligence on scam, fraud and mule activity through a single API. The indicator brings together more than 60 risk signals and is designed to provide organisations with additional intelligence to identify potentially risky activity, including suspicious activity before money leaves an account. The information can be combined with other sources to provide a broader view of potential threats and strengthen exist

NEW ZEALAND 05:17

One NZ extends title partnership with Godzone adventure race

One New Zealand is continuing its title partnership with the Godzone adventure race for the 2026-27 event, which will cover approximately 600km across Aoraki/Mt Cook and the Mackenzie region. The operator has been title partner of Godzone since 2022. Chapter 13 will run from 25 February to 5 March 2027, with teams navigating, trekking, mountain biking and paddling across the course. The event is being run in partnership with New Zealand's department of conservation (DOC), allowing the race to traverse parts

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 05:15

SKT expands roaming data and membership benefits for Chuseok holiday

SK Telecom (SKT) is offering additional roaming data and membership benefits for customers travelling overseas during South Korea's Chuseok holiday period. The operator's Family Roaming service allows up to five family members, including the account holder, to share roaming data when the family representative subscribes to a Baro roaming plan and pays an additional KRW 3,000 per month.

SINGAPORE 05:13

StarHub confirms talks with Keppel over potential M1 deal

Singapore operator StarHub has confirmed it is in discussions with Keppel over a possible transaction involving M1, following a report that the companies are in advanced talks. In separate Singapore Exchange filings, StarHub and Keppel said discussions were ongoing and that there was no certainty that a transaction would result. Keppel said the talks formed part of its efforts to explore consolidation opportunities involving M1.

GLOBAL 05:10

Meta expands AI glasses range with camera-free model and new VR glasses

Meta has expanded its AI glasses portfolio with a camera-free audio model, third-generation Ray-Ban Meta camera glasses, new features for its display-equipped glasses and a new 100-gram virtual reality device. The announcements, made at its annual Meta Connect conference, include the company's first audio glasses, Ray-Ban Meta Audio, which have no camera. The glasses weigh 43 grams and combine open-ear speakers, microphones and access to Meta's AI assistant.

AUSTRALIA 00:35

Australia launches probe after OpenAI AI agent accessed govt portal

An AI agent developed by OpenAI gained unauthorised access to the Australian government's public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal in June, accessing both public and non-public files, Prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced. The portal, administered by Services Australia, contains non-sensitive Medicare statistics, including spending data. Albanese said there was currently no evidence that personal information had been accessed and that available evidence indicated there had been no

EUROPE 23 SEP

Liberty Global picks Sierra AI platform for customer contact

Liberty Global announced it's adopting the Sierra conversational AI platform for its companies across Europe. The three-year contract will see Sierra used for customer interactions across operators such as Ziggo, Telenet and Virgin Media. The software is already rolling out, with the timing and use cases to depend on the individual market requirements, Liberty Global said.

GLOBAL 23 SEP

Semtech brings Palo Alto next-gen firewalls to AirLink routing line-up

Semtech is launching an integration into Palo Alto Networks' next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) for its AirLink portfolio of secure edge 5G/LTE routers. AirLink customers will be able to deploy Palo Alto's NFGW feature set, including machine learning safeguards, zero-touch public key infrastructure (ZTPKI) and next-generation trust tools (NGTS). Semtech said the tie-up would support its clients in scaling up network infrastructure while boosting resilience against evolving cyber threats.

ARMENIA 23 SEP

Firebird raises investment estimate for 2nd phase of Armenia AI project to USD 7-8 bln

Firebird has raised its investment estimate for the second phase of its AI infrastructure project in Armenia to USD 7-8 billion, according to Alexander Yesayan, a co-founder and CEO of Firebird AI, reports Arka. Previously, the company had announced plans to scale the project to approximately 50,000 GPUs with total investments of around USD 4 billion. The company claims that, as part of the first phase, it deployed 6,144 Nvidia B200 GPUs. The second phase involves 45,000 GPUs, and a third phase, adding anot

Just In

07:17

Open Fiber's Backbone 2.0 tops 2,000 km

07:10

Orange Belgium extends contract with Viaccess-Orca

06:53

Microsoft updates Surface Pro with 5G, Snapdragon X2 Plus chip

06:53

Altamira named Cellnex People & Culture chief

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23 JUN 09:56

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Background

21 SEP 11:23

Netherlands video revenues grow 2.5% in Q2, helped by Videoland success

21 SEP 01:59

The week in telecom: Samsung, Apple, Snap test consumer appetite for mobile AI and EU brings in internet age checks

14 SEP 00:34

The week in telecom: iPhone comes to foldable market, European satellite summit underlines sovereign push

7 SEP 11:54

Citymesh capital injection eases doubts over Digi Belgium future