Bechtle buys Interforce to expand in SME sector in Netherlands
NETHERLANDS 08:16

Bechtle buys Interforce to expand in SME sector in Netherlands

German IT services provider Bechtle said it has acquired managed service providers Interforce Networks and Interforce Hosted Solutions in the Netherlands to expand its presence among small and middle-sized firms in the country. Bechtle will integrate the companies into its subsidiary PQR next year.

Vodafone Spain launches EUR 5 unlimited data plan for Digi users
SPAIN 08:15

Vodafone Spain launches EUR 5 unlimited data plan for Digi users

Vodafone Spain (Zegona) has launched three new exclusive offers targeting fast-rising rival Digi, including a EUR 5 a month unlimited data plan, reports ADSL Zone. The offer includes data at 5G speeds plus unlimited calls and SMS but requires a one-year contract commitment.

NBI completes roll-out in County Tipperary
IRELAND 08:12

NBI completes roll-out in County Tipperary

National Broadband Ireland (NBI) and Ireland's Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and Tipperary County Council announced the completion of the National Broadband Plan's main infrastructure build works in County Tipperary. The publicly supported network brought FTTP to around 31,000 addresses in the county, with an investment of EUR 118 million. Over 11,700 premises are already connected to the network to date.

Dutch Consumer AI Monitor 2026Q2
NETHERLANDS 08:09

Dutch Consumer AI Monitor 2026Q2

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the familiarity of AI tools among Dutch respondents in 2026Q2. It covers six key tools — ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Claude (Anthropic), Perplexity and LeChat (Mistral). For the three leading tools — ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini — the report also examines actual use, paid subscriptions and frequency of usage, segmented by gender, age, education level and work situation (including company size).

AT&T, Ericsson claim up to 40 percent handover acceleration with 5G-A cell site optimisation
UNITED STATES 08:09

AT&T, Ericsson claim up to 40 percent handover acceleration with 5G-A cell site optimisation

AT&T has hosted North America's inaugural field trial of the Low-Latency Mobility feature in Ericsson's 5G Advanced Critical IoT subscription, the Swedish vendor said. Ericsson and the US carrier partnered with RF silicon supplier MediaTek to further strengthen Low-Latency Mobility's evidence base, following an earlier field demo with Japan's KDDI that was announced in February. Low Latency Mobility is based on a 3GPP-standardised handover optimisation introduced for 5G Advanced networks, known as the Layer

Openreach expands fibre build in Scottish villages, Havering flats
UNITED KINGDOM 08:05

Openreach expands fibre build in Scottish villages, Havering flats

UK wholesale operator Openreach announced the expansion of its FTTP network to many more locations in Scotland. New expansion areas include homes and businesses in Kippen, Fintry, Strathblane and Blanefield, Muirkirk, Kilcreggan and Cove, and Patna. This roll-out is part of the publicly funded Project Gigabit programme, where Openreach was selected to cover 65,000 hard-to-reach premises.

O2 Spain adds Disney+ to convergent offer
SPAIN 08:01

O2 Spain adds Disney+ to convergent offer

Telefonica Spain's O2 brand has introduced its first offers with access to the Disney+ pay-TV plan, including new and classic titles from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Hulu. The rates start at EUR 45 a month for a package with Disney+ standard plan plus 600 Mbps fibre, 60GB of mobile data at 5G speeds as well as the Movistar Plus OTT streaming platform.

NIS2, CER laws to take effect in Netherlands from 15 August
NETHERLANDS 07:57

NIS2, CER laws to take effect in Netherlands from 15 August

The upper house of the Dutch parliament has approved the new Cybersecurity Act and Law on resilience of critical entities, known by the Dutch abbreviations Cbw and Wwke. As a result the new legislation will take effect 15 August, introducing additional security requirements for around 8,000 businesses and organisations in the country. The lower house approved the laws, based on EU directives, back in April. 

Telenor to buy Bahnhof for SEK 6 bln to bolster Swedish broadband market share
SWEDEN 07:53

Telenor to buy Bahnhof for SEK 6 bln to bolster Swedish broadband market share

Telenor Group said it has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Swedish broadband provider Bahnhof in a transaction giving the company a SEK 6.1 billion enterprise value. This will increase Telenor's consumer subscriber market share from approximately 15 percent to about 27 percent and make it Sweden's second-largest fixed broadband provider. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and will trigger a mandatory cash buy-out offer.

Airtel Tanzania pays TZS 65 bln annual dividend to government
TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF 07:49

Airtel Tanzania pays TZS 65 bln annual dividend to government

Airtel Tanzania has delivered a TZS 65.48 billion dividend to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, bringing its total lifetime payouts to the government to TZS 350 billion, the Guardian reported. The payout corresponds to the state's 49 percent ownership stake in the mobile operator.

Play deploys 241 new base stations in H1
POLAND 07:48

Play deploys 241 new base stations in H1

Polish operator Play, controlled by Iliad, deployed 241 new base stations in January to June of this year. The operator owned 13,416 base stations across the country at the end of June. In June alone, 40 new base stations were built. The new base stations are mainly in large cities, such as Warsaw, Wroclaw and Gdansk, as well as in smaller sites.

Rain expands 5G coverage with Huawei sub-1 GHz massive MIMO
SOUTH AFRICA 07:47

Rain expands 5G coverage with Huawei sub-1 GHz massive MIMO

Rain South Africa and Huawei announced they are accelerating the joint deployment of a nationwide sub-1 GHz Massive MIMO 5G network, with plans to scale the commercial rollout across thousands of sites. Rain has already achieved large-scale deployment of this technology across major South African cities. Early commercial results demonstrate significant performance upgrades, including a 5 dB boost in uplink coverage and a 3 dB improvement in downlink coverage. According to Huawei, the network capacity has in

EUROPE 07:40

Spain's Luxquanta to lead EU quantum-safe communications project Quarternext

Barcelona-based Luxquanta is leading a new European project, Quarternext, aimed at advancing quantum-safe communications towards commercially viable and certifiable systems. The project brings together six organisations from Spain, Austria and the Netherlands to develop technologies capable of securing sensitive digital infrastructure as quantum computing capabilities expand.

UNITED STATES 07:30

Hamid Akhavan leaves Echostar

Hamid Akhavan is stepping down as CEO of Echostar Capital and satellite services provider Hughes, following a "change of strategic direction", the company announced in a SEC filing. He will remain available to consult until year-end, while chairman Charlie Ergen takes over Principal Executive Officer of Hughes.

CHINA 07:16

China Eastern Airlines extends complimentary Wi-Fi to all passengers on wide-body aircraft

China Eastern Airlines (CEAir) and its subsidiary Shanghai Airlines have announced an expansion of the in-flight connectivity service, extending complimentary Wi-Fi to all passengers on all wide-body aircraft starting from 3 July. The global rollout covers all domestic and long-haul international routes across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia.

UNITED STATES 07:12

T‑Mobile US hires former AT&T exec to lead B2B business

T‑Mobile US has named Chris Sambar its new Chief Enterprise Officer, starting by 14 October. He comes from from Public Storage, where he is Chief Operating Officer for almost two years, and previously spent over two decades at AT&T, where he worked on enterprise services, networks and the FirstNet public safety network. He replaces Chief Business & Product Officer Mike Katz, who is leaving to pursue other proffessional interests.

SPAIN 07:11

Digi Spain to continue as Real Valladolid football club sponsor until 2028

Spanish MVNO Digi Mobil, a subsidiary of Romania's Digi Communications Group, has announced a new agreement to remain as the official sponsor of La Liga Hypermotion football team Real Valladolid CF until the end of the 2027-2028 season.

GLOBAL 06:58

Viber adds ChatGPT to messaging app

ChatGPT is coming to the messaging app Viber. Thanks to a new global partnership with OpenAI, Viber users can now access ChatGPT-powered tools free, without leaving the app. Launching first on the iOS and Android apps, the new AI features will be available in Viber's desktop app soon too. 

ITALY 06:54

Sky Italia signs up Kimi Antonelli for latest campaign

Sky Italia announced that it has signed up the current leader of the Formula 1 World Championship, Kimi Antonelli, to feature in a forthcoming communications campaign alongside footballer Alessandro Del Piero. The Bologna-born driver, still only 19, has won five Grands Prix this season.

PHILIPPINES 06:51

Smart expands Home WiFi Postpaid availability to 100 stores, intros 50% discount offer

Philippines operator Smart Communications has expanded the availability of its Smart Home WiFi Postpaid service to over 100 Smart Stores nationwide. The Smart Home WiFi fixed wireless access postpaid service is now available in Smart Stores across North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, National Capital Region (NCR), Visayas, and Mindanao.

FRANCE 06:49

Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ challenge new French streaming investment rule in court

Three leading SVoD platforms have decided to challenge a new rule enacted from January by the French government with regard to investment quotas in local content productions, reports Franceinfo. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ are individually seeking the invalidation of this rule, under which they must earmark 20 percent of their contribution to the so-called 'Smad' fund for three specific content genres, namely animation, documentaries and live performances. The challenge was brought at the Frenc

GERMANY 06:48

German mobile gaming revenues increase to EUR 2.7 bln in 2025

Revenue generated in Germany from the use of gaming apps on smartphones and tablets rose by 3 percent in 2025 to around EUR 2.7 billion, according to figures published by the Association of the German Games Industry, based on data from market research firms YouGov and Sensor Tower. Since 2021, revenues generated by the mobile gaming industry have grown by a total of 25 percent. The largest amount of revenues is generated through in-app purchases.

JAPAN 06:42

Japan delays rollout of 060 mobile numbers

Japan's five mobile network operators have postponed the planned introduction of mobile phone numbers beginning with the 060 prefix, delaying a nationwide numbering expansion that had been scheduled to begin progressively from July 2026. NTT Docomo, KDDI, Okinawa Cellular Telephone, SoftBank and Rakuten Mobile said they would announce a revised launch date once it had been determined, but did not provide a reason for the delay. The introduction of the 060 prefix was announced in December 2024 as part of Jap

MALAYSIA 06:36

U Mobile appoints Advisory Panel for upcoming Enterprise Innovation Platform

Malaysian telecommunications operator U Mobile has established an Advisory Panel for its upcoming Enterprise Innovation Platform (EIP), ahead of its official launch later this month. The EIP is designed as a collaborative environment where businesses, tech providers, startups, academia, and ecosystem partners can use U Mobile's Ultra5G network to develop and test digital services for practical business challenges. The newly appointed panel will offer strategic guidance on innovation trends, enterprise requi

Just In

08:16

Bechtle buys Interforce to expand in SME sector in Netherlands

08:15

Vodafone Spain launches EUR 5 unlimited data plan for Digi users

08:12

NBI completes roll-out in County Tipperary

08:09

AT&T, Ericsson claim up to 40 percent handover acceleration with 5G-A cell site optimisation

Commentary

2 JUL 11:26

Canal Plus misses chance to strengthen Dutch business, time for exit?

23 JUN 09:56

ACM blocks Delta/Glaspoort deal - what can KPN do?

5 MEI 10:55

KPN: the art of making one-offs structural

4 MEI 14:25

Open Dutch Fiber outlook: time to restart roll-out?

Background

5 JUL 23:03

The week in telecom: Comcast gives up on vertical integration, BT and Verizon agree global alliance

3 JUL 07:46

TP:Talks - Billogram cuts customer service billing tickets by 40 percent with automated invoicing

28 JUN 23:51

The week in telecoms: Apple raises prices, Qualcomm tries server market and Jio going public

21 JUN 22:52

The week in telecom: sovereignty debate comes to VivaTech, Ericsson succession and Fox buys Roku