Box Broadband customer base increases to 14,300 in 2025
UNITED KINGDOM 15:30

Box Broadband customer base increases to 14,300 in 2025

Box Broadband, UK fibre broadband provider owned by Community Fibre, increased its customer base to 14,300 in the year to 31 December 2025, up from 10,800 a year earlier; with the number of residential premises passed by its full-fibre network remaining constant at 67,000. Box Broadband provides full-fibre broadband services with speeds of up to 5 Gbps for consumers and up to 10 Gbps for businesses.

Nvidia to acquire Hugging Face for USD 12.9 billion
GLOBAL 15:20

Nvidia to acquire Hugging Face for USD 12.9 billion

Nvidia has signed an agreement to acquire open-source AI platform Hugging Face for USD 12.93 billion. Hugging Face is used by over 18 million developers, creators and researchers to share more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets and one million applications. The open-source platform is also used by over 200,000 companies to discover, customise and deploy AI. 

Ask5 revenue grows 14.4 percent to GBP 38.1 million in FY25
UNITED KINGDOM 15:09

Ask5 revenue grows 14.4 percent to GBP 38.1 million in FY25

Ask4, UK-based provider of managed connectivity and smart building services to multi-tenant buildings, has reported group revenue of GBP 38.1 million for the year to 31 October 2025, up by 14.4 percent from GBP 33.3 million million a year earlier. New acquisitions during the year accounted for GBP 1.9 million of turnover; with revenue growth driven by strong momentum in the internet business, especially in the student and BTR sectors. 

MTS Exolve starts IP phone, gateway rentals for business clients
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 15:09

MTS Exolve starts IP phone, gateway rentals for business clients

Russian company MTS Exolve, a subsidiary of the operator MTS developing business communication solutions, is launching an equipment rental service for corporate customers. This new offering enables companies to obtain comprehensive, turnkey telecom solutions integrated with MTS Exolve's Virtual PBX, Voicebot, and Call Centre products. The rental service primarily covers IP phones and IP gateways and targets companies looking to rapidly deploy or scale their communications infrastructure without significant

Beeline Cloud implements AI cloud infrastructure for Alfa-Bank
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 15:08

Beeline Cloud implements AI cloud infrastructure for Alfa-Bank

Russian operator Beeline said that its unit Beeline Cloud and the Russian bank Alfa-Bank carried out a comprehensive project to deploy a secure hybrid infrastructure designed to support artificial intelligence models. Under the agreement, Beeline Cloud provided the bank with dedicated high-performance computing clusters and integrated advanced information security management tools.

TiVo upgrades OS, appoints new General Manager for TiVo OS
GLOBAL 15:00

TiVo upgrades OS, appoints new General Manager for TiVo OS

TiVo Platform Technologies announced a major upgrade for the TiVo OS at IFA 2026. The enhancements include new GenAI-powered content discovery features, more free streaming content, improved sports experiences and interactive commerce features. The company also announced the appointment of Tal Bone as SVP and General Manager of TiVo OS.

Beltelecom adds Ivi subscriptions
BELARUS 14:51

Beltelecom adds Ivi subscriptions

Belarusian national operator Beltelecom has added subscriptions to the Russian online video service Ivi to its video offering. The service offers more than 180,000 films and series and is available to subscribers of all fixed internet plans, as well as Yasna and Family packages. New customers are offered a 99 percent discount the first 30 days, and then a monthly rate of BYN 9.99.

Safaricom Ethiopia Foundation signs on for 3-year disability inclusion initiative
ETHIOPIA 14:49

Safaricom Ethiopia Foundation signs on for 3-year disability inclusion initiative

Safaricom Ethiopia Foundation and the Federation of Ethiopian Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FEAPD) signed a three-year memorandum of understanding to advance disability inclusion and expand opportunities for persons with disabilities nationwide. The partnership establishes a framework for joint initiatives focused on identifying opportunities and dismantling systemic barriers that limit the full participation of persons with disabilities in society. The partnership prioritizes digital inclusion

Spitfire mobile connectivity powers connected farming machinery
UNITED KINGDOM 14:49

Spitfire mobile connectivity powers connected farming machinery

Spitfire Network Services, UK connectivity services provider, has been selected by LH Agro, precision technology specialist, to provide mobile connectivity to support precision tractor/combine steering on UK farms. Spitfire has delivered SIMs to provide the mobile connection to carry the GPS correction signal, bringing data back from fixed base stations across the farms and then sending it out to the machines in the field. 

Play deploys 47 new base stations in August
POLAND 14:48

Play deploys 47 new base stations in August

Polish operator Play, controlled by Iliad, said that it deployed 47 new base stations acxross the country in August. Since the beginning of this year, the operator has deployed 331 base stations, taking its network to over 13,500 base stations in total.

Elisa Estonia gets new head of B2B customer unit
ESTONIA 14:47

Elisa Estonia gets new head of B2B customer unit

Estonian operator Elisa has announced that Martin Link started working in the position of the head of B2B customers unit, effective from 01 September. For the past eight years, Link worked at the technology company Cybernetica, where he headed the surveillance systems division; prior to that, he was involved in sales and business development in the fields of communications, monitoring, and navigation systems.

Great Plains Communications, Ritter Communications complete merger
UNITED STATES 14:41

Great Plains Communications, Ritter Communications complete merger

Grain Management, digital infrastructure investment company has completed the merger of Great Plains Communications and Ritter Communications to form a new company called Rightfiber. The merger was announced earlier in 2026. To support the merger, Rightfiber has agreed a USD 1.6 billion credit facility to support organic growth and potential mergers/acquisitions. 

UNITED KINGDOM 14:34

Digital Catapult to lead Assured 5G Technical Authority programme

Innovate UK has appointed Digital Catapult, UK deep tech organisation, to deliver the Assured 5G Technical Authority (A5G-TA), supporting the deployment of secure, private 5G networks across critical sectors of the UK economy. Digital Catapult will also deliver a new assurance and auditing framework for AI-native telecoms networks. Combined with Innovate UK's SNPN 5G Assured Integration CR&D competition, this makes up Innovate UK's Assured 5G programme. 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 14:33

NetIX expands MSK-IX links to all major regional hubs in Russia

NetIX expanded its partnership with the Moscow traffic exchange MSK-IX by establishing connectivity to all of the major MKS-IX's locations across the whole of Russia. Through this expansion, NetIX is connected to MSK-IX's network in key metropolitan areas: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov, Samara, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok, providing broader access to Russian networks and end users.

KOSOVO 14:31

Kosovo telecom revenue rises in Q2, driven by mobile sector

Kosovo's telecommunications market generated EUR 48.6 million in revenue during the second quarter of 2026, a 9.8 percent increase quarter-on-quarter and 7.4 percent more year-on-year data from the Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications (Arkep) shows. Mobile services were the primary source of revenues, growing 10.3 percent annually to EUR 35.8 million, while internet services added EUR 12.2 million, up 1.5 percent annually.

AFRICA 14:27

Digicloud recruits African partners for Google SecOps push

Digicloud Africa, Google's enablement partner and exclusive Google Security Operations distributor across the continent, is actively recruiting, training and onboarding managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) to distribute the platform. According to Chris Richardson, head of cloud strategy at Digicloud Africa, Google has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for partners looking to establish and scale a dedicated security practice.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 14:25

MTS launches tax-free shopping at retail chain

Russian operator MTS announced the launch of a tax-free service in its own retail shops. Foreign nationals who are not residents of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will be able to claim a partial VAT refund on purchases exceeding RUB 10,000 in a single transaction at MTS shops.

POLAND 14:24

Plus starts sales of new Huawei smartwatches

Polish operator Polkomtel, trading under the Plus brand, has started sales of the most recent Huawei Watch GT 7 and Huawei Watch GT 7 Pro smartwatches in its shops. The operator has also introduced a special offer with lower prices for the launch.

AZERBAIJAN 14:05

Azercell expands Crisis Management Group project across regions

Azerbaijan operator Azercell is expanding its Crisis Management Group (BİQ) project as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure and maintain reliable connectivity during emergencies. As part of the latest phase, employees at the operator Aztelekom's North-Eastern Regional Branch completed specialised crisis response training. The training covered key aspects of crisis response, including maintaining network continuity, rapid decision-making, managing emer

OMAN 14:03

Omantel Innovation Labs and Riyada foster AI entrepreneurship at 2026 Salalah hackathon

Omantel Innovation Labs, in partnership with the SME Development Authority (Riyada), have held the Salalah AI Hackathon 2026 at the Sultan Qaboos youth complex for culture and entertainment. Held from 23-26 August, the event brought together 60 participants in 22 teams, comprising innovators, aspiring entrepreneurs, start-up founders, students developers, designers and industry professionals. Attendees collaborated with mentors and experts to translate real-world challenges into artificial intelligence-enab

POLAND 14:01

Orange Poland starts back-to-school promos

Orange Poland has launched a series of back-to-school promotions. The operator extended the Unlimited offer, featuring unlimited services for 30 days and a total of 9,900 GB over the year, until the end of February 2027. The offer also includes unlimited calls and SMS/MMS.

SERBIA 13:59

Serbia's mobile market grows in Q2

Serbia's mobile market grew to 7.91 million lines in the second quarter of 2026, up from 7.89 million in the previous quarter, according to data published by the regulatory agency Ratel. This subscriber base comprises 5.46 million postpaid users and 2.45 million prepaid accounts. Telekom Srbija retained its leadership position with a 41.48 percent market share, followed by Yettel (32.16%) and A1 (26.36%), with 32,489 numbers ported during the quarter.

MEXICO 13:58

Telxius opens Cancun landing point and edge data centre

Telefonica-owned wholesale fibre operator Telxius has opened a carrier-neutral landing gateway and edge data centre in Cancun, Mexico, designed to boost the country's role as a connectivity hub linking the Caribbean, the US and Latin America. The facility provides direct access to Tikal, the submarine cable linking Puerto Barrios in Guatemala and Boca Raton in the US that is set to launch in the first half of 2027.

NORTH AMERICA 13:54

HTC brings Vive Eagle smart glasses to Europe, North America

HTC announced its Vive Eagle smart glasses are now available for purchase in Europe, North America and Australia. Promising advanced features with a privacy-centric approach, the glasses come with AI-driven live translation of speech and text and can connect to a smartphone for additional AI actions. Priced at USD 499 / GBP 429 / EUR 469, the Vive Eagle glasses ship from 21 September and come with a two-year subscription to the Vive AI Plus service with cloud storage and extra AI and location functions. 

Just In

15:30

Box Broadband customer base increases to 14,300 in 2025

15:20

Nvidia to acquire Hugging Face for USD 12.9 billion

15:09

MTS Exolve starts IP phone, gateway rentals for business clients

15:09

Ask5 revenue grows 14.4 percent to GBP 38.1 million in FY25

Commentary

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Background

30 AUG 23:50

The week in telecom: Meta pays up, SKT and MTN monetise data centres, and mobile network-sharing in demand

27 AUG 10:09

Viaplay sports content to help Videoland towards goal of becoming largest streamer in Netherlands

16 AUG 23:57

The week in telecom: Lenovo and Cisco profit from AI-driven demand in Q2, Google updates Pixels and reaches 1 bln Gemini users

9 AUG 23:44

The week in telecom: Starlink's mobile ambitions and LEO challengers, plus Hollywood studios try streaming shorts and sports