Lifecell leads number porting gains in H1
UKRAINE 31 JUL

Lifecell leads number porting gains in H1

A total of 334,341 telephone numbers were transferred to other networks using mobile number porting in Ukraine in the first half of this year, according to regulator NKEK. That includes 215,725 numbers, or 64.5 percent, transferred to the Lifecell network. Lifecell has attracted the most numbers since the introduction of the MNP service in Ukraine in 2019.

Montenegro's mobile and fixed markets see growth in June
MONTENEGRO 31 JUL

Montenegro's mobile and fixed markets see growth in June

Montenegro regulator Ekip reported 1.49 million mobile users in June, up 3.55 percent month-on-month and 5.34 percent year-on-year, pushing mobile penetration to 239.05 percent. Postpaid plans account for the bulk of the market at 60.07 percent. M:tel maintains the top mobile spot with a 41.71 percent market share, followed by Crnogorski Telekom (36.08%) and One Crna Gora (22.21%).

FDI in Brazil telecom sector reaches record high in H1
BRAZIL 31 JUL

FDI in Brazil telecom sector reaches record high in H1

Data from Brazil's Central Bank, compiled by the country's Ministry of Communications, shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Brazil's telecom sector climbed to USD 3.582 billion (BRL 18.4 billion) between January and June 2026. This marks a 7.8 percent year-on-year increase over H1 2025 and represents the highest first-half total ever recorded in the Central Bank's time series.

Italy consumer and business confidence improve in July
ITALY 31 JUL

Italy consumer and business confidence improve in July

Italy's business and consumer confidence climbed in July, according to the latest report from national statistics office Istat. Overall business sentiment across the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors rose to 95.6 from 95.3 the previous month thanks to improvements in the manufacturing, market services and retail trade sectors, offsetting a shar fall in construction from 101.6 to 96.8.

Italian inflation slows to 2.8% in July
ITALY 31 JUL

Italian inflation slows to 2.8% in July

Italy's main domestic inflation rate (NIC) eased to 2.8 percent on an annual basis in July, compared to 3.0 percent in June, according to preliminary data from statistics agency Istat. Inflation inched up 0.2 percent month-over-month in July, following a flat reading in June. Istat said the annual slowdown in inflation reflected lower prices rises for unprocessed food and miscellaneous services, which offset higher energy and transport prices.

Global enterprise cloud infrastructure spending rises 43% in Q2
GLOBAL 31 JUL

Global enterprise cloud infrastructure spending rises 43% in Q2

Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services increased by over USD 43 billion from the second quarter of 2025 to USD 143 billion in Q2 2026, according to Synergy Research Group, now part of TechInsights. Over the last eleven quarters, the market has doubled in size, with GenAI as the primary driver. Amazon leads the market with a 28 percent share, followed by Microsoft with 20 percent and Google with 15 percent, but the latter two had much higher growth rates.

M.Video says Samsung phones most common trade-in
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 31 JUL

M.Video says Samsung phones most common trade-in

Russian mobile and electronics retail chain M.Video announced the most popular smartphones collected under the trade-in programme from the chain in the first half of this year. The study is based on data from M.Master, the repairs unit of M.Video. Samsung led among brands (47.1 percent of returned smartphones). Xiaomi followed with 17.7 percent, and Apple iPhones accounted for 15.3 percent of trade-ins. Realme (7.4 percent) and Honor (3.7 percent) also were in the top-5 list of brands.

One Hungary warns of heat wave strains on telecom infrastructure
HUNGARY 31 JUL

One Hungary warns of heat wave strains on telecom infrastructure

As another intense heat wave hits Hungary, telecom provider One Hungary has alerted customers on Facebook to potential service disruptions across its mobile and fixed networks, HWSW reported. The operator noted that extreme temperatures can overheat network components and trigger power grid overloads, directly impacting service reliability.

A1 Serbia tops mobile number porting gains in Q2
SERBIA 31 JUL

A1 Serbia tops mobile number porting gains in Q2

A1 Serbia led the country's mobile sector in attracting users through number porting in the second quarter of 2026, gaining 15,994 new subscribers, according to data from Serbian regulator Ratel. Telekom Srbija took second place with 10,413 net additions, while Yettel added 6,053. Telekom Srbija saw the highest churn via porting, losing 17,099 mobile customers to competitors.

Elisa Estonia reports 9% fall in smartphone sales in H1
ESTONIA 31 JUL

Elisa Estonia reports 9% fall in smartphone sales in H1

Estonian operator Elisa said that sales of smartphones declined by more than 9 percent in the first half of this year. Nevertheless, revenues grew by more than 3 percent as the average retail price of a device increased by more than 14 percent. The Apple iPhone 17 Pro was the best-seller devices among consumer customers, followed by the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, Samsung Galaxy A17 5G and Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G.   

Helios Towers expects satellite technology to complement terrestrial networks as data demand grows
AFRICA 31 JUL

Helios Towers expects satellite technology to complement terrestrial networks as data demand grows

Helios Towers has published a white paper detailing how communications infrastructure should evolve to meet surging connectivity demand across Africa and the Middle East. It says terrestrial networks will continue to provide core capacity but that satellite technologies will support them by providing backhaul service and filling coverage gaps. Over the past five years, data consumption has climbed six-fold on Helios' footprint, driving record tenancy additions in the first quarter of 2026. Driven by populat

Canadians expect reliable connectivity in remote areas for emergencies
CANADA 30 JUL

Canadians expect reliable connectivity in remote areas for emergencies

Rogers Communications has published new research showing that 8 in 10 Canadians expect connectivity when it matters; with no connectivity during an emergency causing two thirds of Canadians to abandon trips. The research was conducted to promote the Rogers Satellite service, which helps customers stay connected in areas without traditional cellular mobile coverage.

BRAZIL 30 JUL

Brazil becomes Starlink's second-largest global market - Ookla

Starlink has established Brazil as its second-largest global market, reaching 791,000 fixed broadband subscriptions (a 1.4% national market share) by May, according to Ookla research. Starlink has captured significant market share in both rural regions, where it holds nearly 10 percent of the market due to low fibre availability, and major urban hubs like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

LATVIA 30 JUL

Latvian smartphone sales down 10% in H1

Smartphone unit sales in Latvia dropped by 10 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026, according to figures from the operator Tele2 Latvia. Sales revenues grew by 1 percent. The operator noted the biggest changes in demand in the entry-leve segment, which makes up more than a third of the entire handset market in Latvia.

UNITED KINGDOM 30 JUL

VMO2 urges parents to monitor their smartphone use over summer

Virgin Media O2 is calling UK parents to assess their Digital Intentionality Score, helping them to better understand their digital habits and develop a healthier relationship with technology. New research from the company shows that almost half (43%) of parents of under-18s struggle to only use their smartphone intentionally; with the average unintended scrolling time set to reach 88 hours over the summer. Parents of under-18s spend on average more than 3 hours a day on their phones unintentionally. 

GLOBAL 30 JUL

Samsung, Apple strengthen lead as global smartphone market contracts 6% in Q2

Omdia has downgraded its estimate for global smartphone shipments in the second quarter, putting the market drop at 6 percent year-on-year compared to an estimated 4 percent decline announced earlier this month. In total 272.0 million units were shipped in Q2 2026, according to the market researcher. Demand seen in Q1 in anticipation of memory price hikes has disappeared, and the impact of the higher chip costs is now flowing through the market. Samsung and Apple have done best at withstanding the market ef

ITALY 30 JUL

Italy's jobless rate stable at 5.1% in June

Italy's official unemployment rate remained at 5.1 percent in June, unchanged compared with the previous month's figure, according to the latest provisional data from Istat. June saw a 131,000 monthly rise in the number of employed people, offsetting a 97,000 fall in the number of unemployed people.

ITALY 30 JUL

Italy's GDP up 0.2% in Q2, 1.0% year on year

Italy's gross domestic product climbed by a better-than-expected 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter and by 1.0 percent on an annual basis, according to preliminary data from state statistics agency Istat. The sequential growth was above all due to an increase of value added in services, offsetting a contraction in industry and agriculture.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 30 JUL

Du and Huawei publish guide to boost UAE SME digital maturity

Du and Huawei UAE have brought out a guide for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the title 'From Set Up to Set for Growth'. It offers practical strategies to help start-ups and SMEs maximize the value of their existing digital tools and drive sustainable growth. It is based on a study after face-to-face interviews with 648 SMEs in all seven emirates and five key industry sectors. It found that 81 percent of respondents use laptop or desktop computers, 77 percent use point-of-sale systems and 63

GLOBAL 30 JUL

Broadband access equipment market to grow little through 2030 on higher component costs - Dell'Oro

The worldwide market for broadband access equipment will achieve annual sales growth of about 0.5 percent on average from 2026 to 2030, according to Dell'Oro Group forecasts. The estimate has been upgraded slightly since the January forecast to factor in higher prices for access equipment in the coming year due to component cost inflation. Global revenues will peak in 2028 amid ongoing Docsis 4.0 spends in the cable broadband segment, as well as fibre infrastructure builds by both cable and fibre ISPs.

CHILE 30 JUL

Movistar tops Chile 5G speed ranking in H1 2026

Movistar (Telefonica) once again led Ookla's ranking of 5G mobile networks in Chile in the first half of 2026, based on tests conducted over the Speedtest service. Ookla said Movistar achieved an overall Speed Score of 50.1 thanks to average download speeds of 172.4 Mbps, followed by Entel with 139.4 Mbps, Claro with 122.7 Mbps and Wom with 120.4 Mbps. Entel had the lowest average latency in the market, at 636.0 ms, closely followed by Movistar with 646.1 Mbps.

NETHERLANDS 30 JUL

Simpel loses market share but keeps crown as largest VO on Dutch market

Simpel remains the largest virtual mobile operator on the Dutch market, but the market share of the Odido brand has shrunk in the past year, research by Telecompaper shows. It accounted for 17.5 percent of VO Sims at the end of March, down from 18.1 percent a year earlier. Lebara and Hollandsnieuwe maintained their shares better, while the other two VOs in the top 5, Lyca Mobile and Ben, also lost market share. 

SPAIN 30 JUL

GSMA urges Spain to apply 2026 World Cup connectivity lessons to 2030

A new report from GSMA Intelligence outlines the extent to which connectivity has emerged as a critical factor in the success of major sporting events, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico serving as a testing ground for telecommunications networks. The study, dubbed 'World Cup 2026: are operators the game-changers?', examines the role played by mobile operators during the tournament and draws lessons that the GSMA said could be especially relevant for Spain as it prepares to co-host th

INDIA 30 JUL

India adds nearly 5 million phone lines in June

Indian operators added 4.98 million telephone subscribers in June, ending the month with 1.34 billion fixed and mobile users nationwide, according to the latest figures from market regulator Trai. This represents an increase of 0.37 percent from May. India ended June with a mobile penetration rate of 90.96 percent and fixed penetration at 3.35 percent.

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