Sony increases Playstation Plus subscription prices
GLOBAL 06:14

Sony increases Playstation Plus subscription prices

Sony is increasing prices for its PlayStation Plus gaming subscriptions by USD 1 per month. Blaming "ongoing market conditions", the company said the new prices will start at USD 10.99/EUR 9.99/GBP 7.99 GBP for 1-month subscriptions and USD 27.99/EUR 27.99/GBP 21.99 GBP for 3-month plans. The change applies only to new subscriptions; existing customers still in a contract are not affected. 

Korea cracks down on operators tied to spoofed bank and govt scam calls
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 05:58

Korea cracks down on operators tied to spoofed bank and govt scam calls

Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they have helped identify and prosecute telecom operators accused of repeatedly sending voice phishing calls and illegal spam messages using spoofed phone numbers belonging to financial institutions and public agencies. KISA said it detected suspicious activity while analysing reports of falsified caller IDs and spam complaints. Investigators found that calls impersonating trusted organisations such as post offices, card i

NTT Docomo Ventures invests in Pixie Dust to expand healthcare applications
JAPAN 05:56

NTT Docomo Ventures invests in Pixie Dust to expand healthcare applications

NTT Docomo Ventures (NDV) has invested in Pixie Dust Technologies through one of its managed funds, backing the Japanese startup's wave-control technologies for healthcare and digital transformation applications. Pixie Dust Technologies, founded in 2017, develops products based on proprietary technologies that manipulate sound, light and other waveforms using computer science. The company has worked on more than 108 R&D themes to date, with 16 already commercialised.

Korean regulators open public nominations for dispute mediation committee
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 05:55

Korean regulators open public nominations for dispute mediation committee

South Korea's broadcasting, media and telecommunications regulator (KCC) and the ministry of personnel management will allow the public to directly recommend candidates for four standing commissioner roles on the Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee, marking the first use of a public nomination system for the body. The two said nominations will be accepted through May via the government's public recommendation platform. Candidates with expertise in academia, accounting, law, administration or tele

NTT Data to build shared AI platform for financial institutions
JAPAN 05:53

NTT Data to build shared AI platform for financial institutions

NTT Data will build a shared AI platform for financial institutions in Japan, aiming to help banks and other financial firms scale AI adoption while addressing governance, data integration and vendor lock-in concerns. The operator said the platform is scheduled to launch by the end of fiscal 2026 and will allow multiple financial institutions to jointly use AI infrastructure and operational resources.

Rakuten Mobile and Science Arts link AI and voice platform for workflow automation
JAPAN 05:51

Rakuten Mobile and Science Arts link AI and voice platform for workflow automation

Rakuten Mobile and Science Arts have started work to integrate the enterprise generative AI service "Rakuten AI for Business" with the live communication platform Buddycom, aiming to help businesses better use frontline voice data and improve operational efficiency. The companies said the initiative will combine AI capabilities with real-time workplace audio communications to support digital transformation in frontline industries. The service is currently in development, with phased commercial rollout plann

Japanese operators sign disaster support deal with mobile battery suppliers
JAPAN 05:49

Japanese operators sign disaster support deal with mobile battery suppliers

NTT, KDDI, SoftBank and Rakuten Mobile have signed an agreement with several mobile battery manufacturers to support power supply provision in disaster-hit areas during large-scale emergencies. The agreement will come into effect on 1 June 2026 and is intended to support power availability at evacuation centres and other affected locations following natural disasters. Under the arrangement, battery manufacturers including Anker Japan, Inforich, EcoFlow Technology Japan, Elecom, Owltech, CIO and Ugreen Japan

Tokushima University demonstrates 112 Gbps wireless transmission above 420 GHz
JAPAN 05:47

Tokushima University demonstrates 112 Gbps wireless transmission above 420 GHz

Japan's Tokushima University and research partners have demonstrated single-channel wireless transmission at 112 Gbps in the 560 GHz band, marking what the researchers described as the first demonstration of 100 Gbps-class wireless communications above 420 GHz. The research focused on technologies intended to support future 6G mobile backhaul and integrated optical-wireless networks using terahertz spectrum above 300 GHz. 

Activeport appoints Michael Glynn as chief operating and commercial officer
AUSTRALIA 05:45

Activeport appoints Michael Glynn as chief operating and commercial officer

Australian network orchestration software company Activeport has appointed Michael Glynn as chief operating and commercial officer, with responsibility for business operations including revenue growth, product development, strategy and team expansion. The company said Glynn brings more than 25 years of telecommunications industry experience, including roles at Intertouch, Pacnet, Vocus, Megaport, Superloop and Console Connect.

SMBC Group, Fujitsu and SoftBank form alliance to deliver healthcare platform
JAPAN 05:44

SMBC Group, Fujitsu and SoftBank form alliance to deliver healthcare platform

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Fujitsu and SoftBank have agreed to form a business alliance to develop a domestically operated healthcare platform aimed at supporting Japan's healthcare system and expanding the use of health and medical data services. The companies said the agreement will focus on building a Japan-based data platform capable of securely managing and using medical and personal health data with user consent. The platform will be hosted in domestic data centres and is intended to support ser

NTT West tests AI-based disaster route inspections in Suzu City
JAPAN 05:42

NTT West tests AI-based disaster route inspections in Suzu City

NTT West said a disaster prevention digital transformation trial in Suzu City reduced municipal staff workload by around 60 percent through the use of AI-based inspection technology for evacuation routes and guidance signs. The field trial was conducted by the Hokuriku branch of NTT West in partnership with Suzu City under a disaster recovery and reconstruction cooperation agreement signed in November 2025 following the Noto Peninsula earthquake and heavy rainfall disasters in 2024.

New Zealand port deploys private 5G network with Spark and Ericsson
NEW ZEALAND 05:41

New Zealand port deploys private 5G network with Spark and Ericsson

Port Nelson has deployed a private 5G network across its warehousing operations in partnership with Spark New Zealand and Ericsson, with the companies positioning the project as a move to improve operational connectivity, safety and workflow management. The deployment covers approximately 30,000 square metres across three warehouses in Nelson and Blenheim. According to the companies, the network uses Spark's 5G+ Private Network solution based on Ericsson Private 5G technology, with a high-availability core

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 05:39

KT to deploy post-quantum cryptography across South Korean defence systems

Korea Telecom (KT) said it will apply post-quantum cryptography (PQC) technology to key defence systems under a 2026 pilot migration programme led by the ministry of science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). The "2026 Post-Quantum Cryptography Pilot Transition Support Project" is intended to address emerging security risks linked to advances in quantum computing. The programme aims to test and validate quantum-resistant encryption technologies for use in national critical infrastructu

JAPAN 05:37

NTT updates tsuzumi 2 LLM with business document and chart processing

NTT has updated its tsuzumi 2 large language model (LLM) with enhanced capabilities for processing Japanese business documents containing charts, graphs and tables, targeting enterprise and government use cases involving sensitive information. The operator said the updated model combines visual document understanding with strengthened logical reasoning and numerical processing capabilities, while maintaining a lightweight design intended to support deployment in on-premise and private cloud environments.

GLOBAL 05:36

NFC Forum launches healthcare group to support standardisation and interoperability

The NFC Forum has launched a Healthcare Special Interest Group aimed at supporting the use of near field communication technologies across healthcare and pharmaceutical applications. The organisation said the group would focus on promoting secure, interoperable and regulatory-compliant NFC implementations in areas including medical devices, pharmaceutical packaging and healthcare delivery systems. According to forum, the initiative will address areas including cybersecurity, regulatory alignment, interopera

JAPAN 05:34

Amazon opens new Tokyo hub at Azabudai Hills

Amazon Japan and AWS Japan have opened a new Tokyo office hub in Azabudai Hills, expanding their footprint in Japan. AWS Japan teams began moving into the new office on May 19, with additional Amazon Japan teams set to relocate later in 2026. The expansion comes as Amazon marks 26 years in Japan and AWS marks 15 years since launching its Tokyo cloud region.

JAPAN 05:32

Naver Cloud steps up Japan public sector push with AI care-call platform

South Korea's Naver Cloud is accelerating its expansion into Japan's public-sector market after showcasing its AI-powered elderly care service Naver CareCall at Japan's largest government and public DX exhibition in Tokyo. The company participated in "Government & Public Sector Week Japan 2026", a major smart city and public digital transformation event backed by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, where it demonstrated the CareCall service to local government officials from across the

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 05:30

SK Telecom completes long-term customer events at Everland forest site

SK Telecom (SKT) said it has completed a series of customer engagement events for subscribers with more than 10 years of service, held between 3 and 18 May at Everland's Forest Camp site. The company said the "T Long-term Customer Forest Day" programme was held across six sessions and invited around 1,800 long-term customers and their family members or acquaintances. The venue, described by SK Telecom as one of South Korea's largest gingko tree colonies, is normally closed to the public.

CHINA 04:51

Baidu's AI revenue jumps 49% in Q1, becomes core business driver

Baidu posted revenue of CNY 32.1 billion (approximately USD 4.65 billion) for the first quarter ended 31 March 2026, which represents a decline of 2 percent quarter-on-quarter. Revenue from Baidu General Business was flat sequentially at CNY 26 billion, while revenue from the iQiyi unit was CNY 6.2 billion, down 8 percent quarter-on-quarter.

GERMANY 18 MEI

Telefonica Germany migrates first mobile customers to Mavenir IMS on AWS

Telefonica Germany has migrated the first 100,000 mobile customers to Mavenir's cloud-native IMS built on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. Mavenir said it expects to migrate a few million mobile customers to the new solution running on AWS Cloud this year, and complete migration next year. Mavenir and Telefonica Germany extended their contract in February, before moving to migrate the operator's 4G/5G voice services from Mavenir's virtualized IMS (vIMS) to Mavenir's cloud‑native IMS platform.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 18 MEI

MTS launches marketplace for industrial IoT solutions

Russian operator MTS launched its own marketplace of business digitisation solutions. All the products are available with integrated billing and support, so customers do not need to do any of their integration. The marketplace includes IoT solutions targeting several applications, such as environmental control, digital water management and others. All solutions are offered turnkey-ready, with a free annual subscription to the IoT platform.

ESTONIA 18 MEI

Everbridge expands Estonian SMS public warning system

Everbridge announced the next phase of Estonia's nationwide public warning modernisation initiative, adding end-to-end cell broadcast capabilities across government agencies and all three mobile network operators in the country. The project represents the first planned deployment of a new microservices-based cell broadcast platform from Everbridge, designed to support scalable and resilient national public warning operations. The enhancement includes hybrid functionality combining Location-Based SMS (LB-SMS

GEORGIA 18 MEI

Georgian mobile operators book 9% higher sales in Q1

Revenues at the three Georgian mobile operators, Magticom, Sliknet and Cellfie, totaled GEL 230.6 million in the first quarter of this year, reports Apny.ge. Their combined turnover grew by 9 percent year-on-year. Magticom led by revenues (GEL 109.2 million), followed by Silknet (GEL 79.4 million) and Cellfie (GEL 41.4 million). The subscriber base of Magticom was 2.4 million, Silknet totaled 2.1 million, and Cellfie followed with 1.3 million.  

ARMENIA 18 MEI

Viva Armenia reports mobile service revenues of AMD 14.6 bln in Q1

Viva Armenia said it generated revenues from mobile services of AMD 14.58 billion in the first quarter of this year. Voice contributed AMD 2.537 billion, while data services were worth AMD 8.001 billion in turnover. OIBDA from the services reached AMD 7.874 billion, while Viva's capital expenditure amounted to AMD 2.601 billion. 

Just In

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05:58

Korea cracks down on operators tied to spoofed bank and govt scam calls

05:56

NTT Docomo Ventures invests in Pixie Dust to expand healthcare applications

05:55

Korean regulators open public nominations for dispute mediation committee

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