BBC Board Deputy Chair to step down at end-June
UNITED KINGDOM 19 FEB

BBC Board Deputy Chair to step down at end-June

The BBC has announced that Sir Damon Buffini will stand down as Deputy Chair of the BBC Board, as a non-executive director (NED) and Chair of the Commercial Board at the end of his current term on 30 June 2026. He joined the BBC in January 2022, with a recruitment process for his successor now underway.

Apple to open new permanent office in Dublin, expands Cork facility
IRELAND 19 FEB

Apple to open new permanent office in Dublin, expands Cork facility

Apple will open a new office in Dublin with space for up to 300 employees, reports the Irish Times. Based at Park Place, this will be the company's first permanent office in the Irish capital. It will complement Apple's existing European headquarters in Cork, which has over 6,000 employees. An existing sales team in Dublin will move into the new office from a temporary office, with Apple now recruiting for development, engineering, marketing and legal roles in Dublin.

Videotron selects Samsung for 5G NSA, 4G LTE core upgrade
CANADA 19 FEB

Videotron selects Samsung for 5G NSA, 4G LTE core upgrade

Canadian telecoms operator Videotron has appointed Samsung to upgrade its mobile network infrastructure with 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) and 4G LTE Core Gateway technology. Samsung will provide Videotron with a turnkey solution using its cloud-native 5G and 4G Core on Dell PowerEdge servers, with AMD EPYC 9005 Server CPUs and the Red Hat OpenShift platform. Samsung has previously deployed a Radio Access Network (RAN) for Videotron through a partnership started in 2019. 

Ezee Fiber acquires DayNet; expands network in Detroit, Oregon
UNITED STATES 19 FEB

Ezee Fiber acquires DayNet; expands network in Detroit, Oregon

US fibre broadband provider Ezee Fiber has announced the acquisition of Dayton, Texas-based DayNet, provider of fibre-based residential telecoms services. Ezee Fiber has acquired DayNet's assets and network, including 76 miles of installed fibre infrastructure. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dayton is an area identified by Ezee Fiber for expansion, and the acquisition will enable it to accelerate FTTH network deployment in the Greater Houston area. 

Uniti Wholesale plans accelerated network expansion in 2026
UNITED STATES 19 FEB

Uniti Wholesale plans accelerated network expansion in 2026

Uniti Wholesale has announced an accelerated expansion plan for 2026, including upgrades on key routes, new data centre on-ramps, and the launch of FastWaves. The latter is a pre-deployed optical capacity programme designed to reduce deliver intervals for 100G/400G wavelength services from months to under three weeks on select routes. Phase 1 of FastWaves will be completed by start-March, activating 40 high-demand routes. The second phase in Q2 2026 will add 15 further routes. 

Serbia's ETV selects Rohde & Schwarz for 5G broadcast transmitter
SERBIA 19 FEB

Serbia's ETV selects Rohde & Schwarz for 5G broadcast transmitter

Rohde & Schwarz is partnering with Serbian broadcasting network operator ETV to upgrade the main transmitter site in Avala, Belgrade, by introducing Serbia's first 5G Broadcast transmitter. The upgrade involves installing four 4.5kW TH1 transmitters for DVB-T2 broadcasting and a 1kW R&STH1 transmitter specifically for 5G Broadcast services. The 5G Broadcast transmitter is expected to be operational in Q3, becoming ETV's fifth operational TH1 transmitter.

Vodafone Portugal starts pre-orders of Google Pixel 10a
PORTUGAL 19 FEB

Vodafone Portugal starts pre-orders of Google Pixel 10a

Vodafone Portugal has launched pre-orders of the new Google Pixel 10a, including a free Google case and up to EUR 270 off through the Viva Club. This latest Google smartphone, available for pre-order until 4 March, boasts new AI features powered by a Google Tensor chip and the most recycled materials in the A series to date.

Arrcus claims triple bookings in FY25 and launches new AI inferencing fabric
GLOBAL 19 FEB

Arrcus claims triple bookings in FY25 and launches new AI inferencing fabric

Arrcus has revealed FY25 bookings were up threefold across data centre, telco and enterprise deployments of its switching and routing software products, including the network operating system ArcOS and software-defined networking solution Arrcus Connected Edge (ACE). The Californian vendor is also announcing the launch of its new data fabric targeted at AI inferencing use cases. The Arrcus Inferencing Network Fabric (AINF) caters to an explosion in agentic and physical AI traffic that has been hindered by s

Orange Slovakia revenues up slightly in 2025, mobile base shrinks
SLOVAKIA 19 FEB

Orange Slovakia revenues up slightly in 2025, mobile base shrinks

Revenues of Orange Slovakia totaled EUR 581 million in 2025, up by EUR 6.7 million year-on-year, according to figures from the company provided to Zive.sk. The retail services revenue rose 3.2 percent to EUR 427.9 million, supported by expansion in broadband services. 

Lumen to implement OSS AI agents in new deal with Ciena's Blue Planet
UNITED STATES 19 FEB

Lumen to implement OSS AI agents in new deal with Ciena's Blue Planet

Lumen Technologies will implement AI agents across its network operations after agreeing a partnership with Ciena's Blue Planet division. The partnership allows Lumen to implement AI agents directly into operating support system (OSS) workflows, leveraging Blue Planet AI Studio's low-code, OSS-native environment. Lumen will additionally leverage agentic AI to enhance its digital network twin operations model, providing real-time insights across its global telecoms backbone, data centres, and on-net faciliti

Lithuanian telecom revenues up 5% in 2025, capex at 5-year low
LITHUANIA 19 FEB

Lithuanian telecom revenues up 5% in 2025, capex at 5-year low

Revenues on the Lithuanian telecommunications market totaled EUR 921.3 million in 2025, up by 5.1 percent year-on-year, according to a study from the national telecommunications regulator RRT. Telia Lithuania led the market with a 39.0 percent share of revenues, followed by Tele2 Lithuania (28.4 percent) and Bite Lithuania (21.1 percent). 

Uztelecom signs cooperation memorandum with insurer Alskom
UZBEKISTAN 19 FEB

Uztelecom signs cooperation memorandum with insurer Alskom

Uzbekistan national operator Uztelecom has signed a cooperation memorandum with the insurance company Alskom to bring together their offerings in telecommunications and insurance services. A special focus will be made on development of digital sales channels, carrying out of joint marketing initiatives and expanding access to insurance services across the country.

KYRGYZSTAN 19 FEB

Mega appoints new CEO

Kyrgyzstan state-owned operator Alfa Telecom, trading under the Mega brand, has appointed Mederbek Kurmanbekov the CEO of the company. Kurmanbekov worked at Uztelecom from 2006 to 2012 already and was deputy minister of digital development in 2021 to 2022 and deputy minister of transport and communications in 2022 to 2023. From October 2023 to August of 2024, he was first deputy CEO of Alfa Telecom.

HUNGARY 19 FEB

Yettel, One Hungary owners to swap stakes in network companies

4iG Group and E& PPF Telecom Group have agreed to work more closely in the infrastructure market. Through a cashless share swap, 4iG Telecommunications Holding aims to acquire up to a 49 percent stake in the wholesale infrastructure company Cetin Hungary. In return, E& PPF Telecom Group would receive a stake of up to 38 percent in 2Connect, the wholesale network arm owned by 4iG. These transactions remain subject to due diligence, final agreements, and regulatory approvals, with completion targeted by early

GLOBAL 19 FEB

Ubigi taps Tripsora to expand distribution of eSIM travel connectivity

Ubigi, a brand of NTT Group subsidiary Transatel, has launched a dedicated offer for users of Tripsora, an AI-powered travel planning platform developed by UK-based start-up Tripsora Capitals. The two partners have created a co-branded affiliate portal that is currently promoting an exclusive welcome bonus on Ubigi's eSIM prepaid plans for customers who make a travel booking via Tripsora. The bonus consists of 500 MB of data available in over 200 international destinations. In addition, the first purchase v

GLOBAL 19 FEB

Vonage boosts API access for global developers

Ericsson subsidiary Vonage is launching new initiatives to expand its developer community and help accelerate enterprise digital transformation worldwide. This includes the launch of Verified Workspace on the Postman API Network, giving over 40 million developers using Postman access to Vonage network APIs, communications APIs and developer tools. 

UNITED KINGDOM 19 FEB

Live viewing accounts for 45% of UK TV set viewing in 2025 - Barb

Live viewing accounted for 45 percent of total identified viewing on TV sets in the UK in December 2025, according to the latest report from TV ratings agency Barb. The 'What People Watched in 2025' report shows that on-demand streaming - through broadcaster VoD services, streaming platforms or video-sharing sites - accounted for 38 percent viewing in 2025. A large proportion of viewing on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ (the UK's three biggest streaming platforms) in 2025 was of content available f

QATAR 19 FEB

Ooredoo Qatar teams up with Dell on AI-as-a-service

Dell Technologies and Ooredoo Qatar have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to make AI-as-a-Service available through Ooredoo's Sovereign AI Cloud. Powered by Dell, this service will offer organisations secure and scalable AI capabilities, hosted within a locally governed cloud infrastructure, to enable innovation and improve operational efficiency across industries.

UNITED KINGDOM 19 FEB

Improved mobile coverage could add GBP 6.6 bln to UK economy - VodafoneThree

New research from VodafoneThree shows that improved mobile connectivity could deliver an annual GBP 6.6 billion boost to the UK economy after 10 years by supporting the creation of 49,000 new businesses. Just over three fifths (62%) of would-be start-up business founders say unreliable mobile connectivity has stopped from starting a new business in their local area. One third (33%) believe that improved mobile coverage would make their local area a more attractive place to set up a business; with one quarte

SAUDI ARABIA 19 FEB

Humain backs xAI with USD 3 bln series E investment ahead of SpaceX merger

Saudi AI firm Humain has announced a USD 3 billion investment in xAI as part of its series E financing round, which preceded xAI's acquisition by SpaceX in early February. XAI announced the completion of its series E round on 06 January, saying it had exceeded the USD 15 billion targeted round size and raised USD 20 billion. As a result of the Series E transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI, with its holdings subsequently converted into shares in SpaceX, according to Humain,

UNITED KINGDOM 19 FEB

O2 UK launches new McAfee Protect Advanced package for families

Virgin Media O2 has announced the launch of McAfee Protect Advanced for O2 mobile customers, a family protection and security product for up to 10 devices. It has been developed exclusively for O2 customers and available through O2 Extras. It provides advanced features such as enhanced parental control, social privacy manager, anti-virus software and McAfee's Text Scam Detector.

SAUDI ARABIA 19 FEB

IOCO expands cloud operations to Saudi Arabia with AWS

Specialist technology services provider iOCO, formerly EOH Holdings,has expanded its operations in Saudi Arabia, growing its cloud practice in the region through a partnership with Amazon Web Services.

KENYA 19 FEB

iXAfrica and Zenlayer offer cloud services to support East African market operations

IXAfrica Data Centre (iXAfrica) has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zenlayer to offer digital infrastructure to customers operating in or expanding into East Africa. They will leverage iXAfrica's NBOX1 campus in Nairobi alongside Zenlayer's global edge cloud and connectivity platform to offer enterprises, cloud providers and digital infrastructure customers better interconnection options, deployment flexibility and optimised performance for latency-sensitive workloads. Focus areas of the

AFRICA 19 FEB

Comesa watchdog probes Meta over WhatsApp AI terms

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCC) has formally launched an investigation into Meta Platforms Ireland over claims that the company is abusing its dominant position in the bloc. In its notice of investigation, the Comesa watchdog targets changes Meta made to the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms in October 2025 that block third party AI providers from using the WhatsApp Business API. CCCC says Meta amended its terms on 15 October 2025 without

Just In

19 FEB 16:41

BBC Board Deputy Chair to step down at end-June

19 FEB 16:31

Apple to open new permanent office in Dublin, expands Cork facility

19 FEB 16:20

Videotron selects Samsung for 5G NSA, 4G LTE core upgrade

19 FEB 16:12

Ezee Fiber acquires DayNet; expands network in Detroit, Oregon

Commentary

11 FEB 12:29

Odido shareholders face tricky exit after abandoned IPO

2 FEB 13:49

KPN results show little bother from the competition

2 JAN 13:21

Open Dutch Fiber's new management team takes up turnaround challenge

15 DEC 2025 13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

Background

16 FEB 00:17

The week in telecoms: Cisco rides AI investment wave and European telcos invest in South America

9 FEB 01:54

The week in telecoms: hyperscalers vie for capex crown, Telenor and Vodafone profit from smaller footprints

2 FEB 00:45

The week in telecoms: Verizon sparks fears of US price war, Apple beats Samsung in Q4, Telekom ramps up fibre marketing

26 JAN 00:31

The week in telecoms: Netflix and Ericsson all about cash, EU sketches out rip-and-replace and copper transition plans