Japanese operators add Oppo Reno15 A to mid-range 5G smartphone line-up
JAPAN 06:05

Japanese operators add Oppo Reno15 A to mid-range 5G smartphone line-up

Japanese mobile operators are expanding their handset portfolios with the introduction of the Oppo Reno15 A, a mid-range 5G smartphone that will be available from multiple carriers later this month. KDDI and Okinawa Cellular announced that the device will be launched through the UQ mobile brand on 25 June, with reservations opening on 18 June. The operator said the handset will also support the au Starlink Direct satellite connectivity service.

NTT Docomo launches open-ear hearing assistance device
JAPAN 06:03

NTT Docomo launches open-ear hearing assistance device

NTT Docomo has begun selling the cocoe Ear open-ear hearing assistance device and the companion cocoe Link television transmitter through its retail and online sales channels, while expanding in-store demonstrations across Japan. The products, developed by NTT Sonority, went on sale on 18 June through Docomo Shops nationwide and the operator's online store. On the same date, Docomo also began offering hands-on demonstrations of cocoe Ear in 56 Docomo Shops across all 47 prefectures.

Hitachi partners OpenAI to target legacy system modernisation and cybersecurity
JAPAN 06:01

Hitachi partners OpenAI to target legacy system modernisation and cybersecurity

Hitachi is expanding its collaboration with OpenAI to develop AI-driven approaches for legacy system modernisation and cybersecurity, with an initial focus on core systems used by financial institutions and other critical industries. The companies said their respective Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) teams will work together to develop methods for analysing and modernising mission-critical legacy systems using OpenAI's AI agent, Codex. The initiative is intended to support the migration of legacy applicatio

Vodafone Australia restores services following nationwide network disruption
AUSTRALIA 05:58

Vodafone Australia restores services following nationwide network disruption

TPG Telecom's Vodafone Australia said services were being progressively restored after a network outage disrupted mobile connectivity for customers across the country on Thursday morning. The operator said the disruption was caused by an outage at one of its network hubs at around 8am AEST. Vodafone said the issue had been isolated and resolved, although some customers could continue to experience intermittent connectivity issues while devices reconnected to the network.

KDDI expands povo 2.0 offering with free data promotion and new long-term plans
JAPAN 05:56

KDDI expands povo 2.0 offering with free data promotion and new long-term plans

KDDI, Okinawa Cellular and KDDI Digital Life are introducing a new customer acquisition campaign for povo 2.0 alongside an expansion of the mobile service's permanent data add-on portfolio. From 19 June, new povo 2.0 customers will receive ten 24-hour unlimited data passes and an additional 0.1 GB of data when they activate a new SIM under a promotional programme. The offer is available for a limited period to customers who newly register for the service, including those joining through mobile number portab

Korea and Japan discuss 6G and satellite spectrum policy ahead of WRC-27
JAPAN 05:54

Korea and Japan discuss 6G and satellite spectrum policy ahead of WRC-27

South Korea's ministry of science and ICT and Japan's ministry of internal affairs and communications have held the seventh Korea-Japan Radio Policy Director-General Meeting in Seoul, focusing on spectrum policy cooperation and preparations for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27). The meeting brought together government officials and representatives from industry, academia and research organisations from both countries. 

KDDI launches Amazon Prime promotion for au and UQ Mobile customers
JAPAN 05:52

KDDI launches Amazon Prime promotion for au and UQ Mobile customers

KDDI and Okinawa Cellular will launch a promotional campaign offering discounted access to Amazon Prime through the Amazon Prime A La Carte service for au and UQ Mobile customers, alongside enhanced rewards for purchases made on Amazon.co.jp using au Pay. The campaign will run from 1 July to 31 August 2026 and will provide eligible customers who subscribe to Amazon Prime A La Carte via au or UQ Mobile with two months of Amazon Prime membership at no effective cost. The service is available through participa

Fujitsu and IBM Japan expand collaboration on legacy system modernisation
JAPAN 05:50

Fujitsu and IBM Japan expand collaboration on legacy system modernisation

Fujitsu and IBM Japan have expanded their collaboration on enterprise system modernisation, focusing on the migration and transformation of legacy business applications as organisations prepare for digital transformation initiatives and the retirement of older infrastructure platforms. The companies said they will combine Fujitsu's automated source code conversion technology, Fujitsu Progression, with IBM Japan's AI-enabled development platform, IBM Bob, to support the rewriting and refactoring of business

StarHub's giga! launches youth-focused plan with AI and regional bundle
SINGAPORE 05:48

StarHub's giga! launches youth-focused plan with AI and regional bundle

giga!, StarHub's digital mobile brand, has launched gigaFLEX+, a mobile plan aimed at customers aged 15 to 29, combining mobile connectivity, roaming allowances and access to artificial intelligence tools within a single subscription. The plan is priced at SGD 19.90 per month and includes 800 GB of 5G data that can be used across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with unused data eligible for monthly rollover. Customers also receive 22 GB of monthly roaming data, comprising 12 GB for Asia roaming

Australia finalises new wholesale and network reporting rules
AUSTRALIA 05:46

Australia finalises new wholesale and network reporting rules

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has finalised new record keeping requirements that will expand the telecommunications market information collected from operators. The new Wholesale and Networks Record Keeping Rules will take effect on 1 January 2027 and require specified operators providers to maintain and report records relating to wholesale telecommunications services and network usage.

SK Hynix ships 12-layer HBM4E samples to customers
GLOBAL 05:44

SK Hynix ships 12-layer HBM4E samples to customers

SK Hynix has shipped samples of its 12-layer HBM4E high-bandwidth memory product to major customers, marking the latest step in the development of next-generation memory technology for AI infrastructure. The company said the HBM4E samples were delivered on schedule and that it is working with partners to prepare for mass production. HBM4E is designed for AI training and inference workloads and offers a maximum data transfer speed of 16 Gbps per pin. According to SK Hynix, the product delivers more than 20 p

GCash Parent Mynt greenlights filing for IPO on Philippine Stock Exchange
PHILIPPINES 03:05

GCash Parent Mynt greenlights filing for IPO on Philippine Stock Exchange

Mynt, the fintech arm of Philippines operator Globe Telecom, has announced that its board of directors and shareholders have authorized the company's filing of a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a listing application with the Philippine Stock Exchange, in connection with a potential initial public offering (IPO). Founded in 2015, Mynt is a joint venture between Globe Telecom, Ayala Corporation, and Ant Group (an affiliate of Alibaba).

INDIA 02:50

Airtel partners with Indian Army to expand mobile network in Arunachal Pradesh

Indian operator Bharti Airtel has completed the first phase of a strategic initiative in partnership with 4 Corps of Indian Army headquartered at Tezpur. In cooperation with the Army, Airtel expanded mobile connectivity to remote regions in Arunachal Pradesh. Airtel says it can now deliver mobile connectivity in this mountainous, high-altitude, and difficult-to-access region.

MALAYSIA 02:41

RisingJoy inks distribution deals with Astro, IDN App in Southeast Asia

Micro-entertainment company RisingJoy has launched its direct-to-consumer streaming service, RJOY, in Southeast Asia through new partnerships with Astro's Sooka platform in Malaysia and the IDN App in Indonesia. This expansion increases RJOY's global footprint to four markets, building on its recent debuts on TikTok Minis in Japan and the US.

MALAYSIA 02:27

Astro Group CEO Smith steps down, Tan returns as interim head

Astro Malaysia has announced that Euan Smith has stepped down from his role of group CEO, marking the end of a 6-year tenure with the media and entertainment group. Astro's board of directors has appointed former corporate chief Henry Tan as the interim Group CEO, effective 16 June, while a formal search for a permanent successor is underway.

UNITED STATES 17 JUN

DeepL acquires Mixhalo; establishes San Francisco office

DeepL, global Language AI specialist, has announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based Mixhalo, which has developed a platform for real-time, ultra-low latency audio. The acquisition will boost the capabilities of the DeepL Voice real-time AI voice translation solution to support live, large-scale environments such as conferences and major events.

UNITED KINGDOM 17 JUN

Google Cloud supports UK local government digital planning tool projects

Google has marked the Google Cloud summit in London with major updates on two projects with the UK government - the national roll-out of the Extract tool, and the Augmented Planning Decisions prototype project with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Both projects use Google Cloud technology and are designed to support a digital planning system. 

NETHERLANDS 17 JUN

Dutch NPS Monitor - Mobile Providers 2026Q1

The Dutch NPS Monitor tracks customer loyalty across the Dutch mobile market on a quarterly basis. The Q1 2026 edition covers eleven operators — KPN, Vodafone, Odido, Simyo, hollandsnieuwe, Simpel, Ben, Youfone, Budget Mobile, Lebara and 50+ Mobiel, and maps NPS developments over five consecutive quarters, from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026.

IRELAND 17 JUN

NTT Data opens new office in Dublin

NTT Data, global AI, digital and technology services provider, has opened a new office in Dublin, Ireland, to support its customers across the country. This is part of a EUR 16.5 million local investment in AI and digital services R&D and job creation. The expansion is supported by the Irish government through IDA Ireland. 

IRELAND 17 JUN

Irish hosting provider Blacknight acquired by Your.Online

Blacknight, Irish hosting provider and domain registrar, is being acquired by Netherlands-based European digital services group Your.Online. This will provide Blacknight with the long-term investment needed for expansion. Carlow-based Blacknight was established in 2023 and currently serves more than 90,000 customers in Ireland and overseas. 

UNITED STATES 17 JUN

Great Plains Communications, Ritter Communications to merge

Grain Management, digital infrastructure investment group, has announced plans to merge two of its portfolio businesses - Blair, Nebraska-based Great Plains Communications and Jonesboro, Arkanas-based Ritter Communications. They will be combined to create a new telecoms brand called Rightfiber. Heath Simpson, currently CEO of Ritter Communications, will be CEO of the merged group; with Great Plains CEO Todd Foje becoming Executive Chairman.

UNITED KINGDOM 17 JUN

3 UK marks Father's Day with new loyalty member offers

3 UK has announced a new Father's Day promotion for Three+ loyalty members. It has partnered with the 'Coupon King' Jordan Cox to offer 'Dad Dates' rewards - such as weekend Cineworld cinema tickets from GBP 3; Barista-made drinks from GBP 1; GBP 5 off Papa Johns; thousands of free IMO car washes; GBP 5 pasta or pizza at Frankie & Benny's; and GBP 5 fajitas at Las Iguanas. 

GLOBAL 17 JUN

Global XR headwear shipments to fall 12 percent in 2026 - Omdia

Worldwide shipments of XR headwear are forecast to drop by 12 percent in 2026 to 6.2 million units, before growing by 4.8 percent to 6.5 million units in 2027, according to the latest research from Omdia. The recovery in sales will be driven by growth of XR glasses, which will offset a drop in headset shipments. 

LATVIA 17 JUN

Tele2 Latvia blocks over 205,000 fraudulent calls in May

Tele2 Latvia said that it blocked over 205,000 fraudulent calls on its network in May. The monthly amount of blocked calls dropped from 570,000 calls earlier this January after a call firewall solution was implemented by the operators LMT, Bite Latvia, Tele2 Latvia and Tet. As a part of this cooperation, information is exchanged between the operators to help combat known sources of fraud and nuisance calls.

Just In

06:05

Japanese operators add Oppo Reno15 A to mid-range 5G smartphone line-up

06:03

NTT Docomo launches open-ear hearing assistance device

06:01

Hitachi partners OpenAI to target legacy system modernisation and cybersecurity

05:58

Vodafone Australia restores services following nationwide network disruption

Commentary

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KPN: the art of making one-offs structural

4 MEI 14:25

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

20 APR 10:36

Netflix back to organic growth and doing just fine

11 FEB 12:29

Odido shareholders face tricky exit after abandoned IPO

Background

1 JUN 00:13

The week in telecom: EU telcos push sovereign services as governments question foreign tech investors

23 MEI 23:42

The week in telecom: Starlink ready to go public, Singapore telco M&A and Google courts AI subscribers at I/O

18 MEI 00:31

The week in telecom: US operators mount rural satellite challenge, Cisco cashes in on AI boom

11 MEI 00:53

The week in telecom: Lumen, NTT turn to data centre market to revive growth, Hutchison exits UK