Debate at FutureNet World shifted from strategy to execution, as telcos BT and Orange outlined platform-led, partner-driven models, while Telus and Rakuten pressed for faster moves into AI-led solutions and infrastructure plays like GPU as-a-service. In sum – what to …
James Blackman
James Blackman
James Blackman has been writing about the technology and telecoms sectors for over a decade. He has edited and contributed to a number of European news outlets and trade titles. He has also worked at telecoms company Huawei, leading media activity for its devices business in Western Europe. He is based in London.
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At FutureNet World, Rakuten and Telus pushed for bold AI-led reinvention, while BT and Orange argued for a measured platform-driven evolution. But beneath the contrast, a shared strategy is taking shape – programmable networks, available in flexible platforms, plus proper …
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Physical AI for robot automation in factories and plants requires lightweight maths models, not token-hungry language models, says NTT Data. It does not have to wait on expensive GPUs, when CPUs work fine. But it does need private 5G for …
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Ericsson is sticking to what it knows: 5G, public and private, and APIs, to expose 5G capabilities to developers and enterprises; it offers more coherent longer-term diversification, it implies, than a Nokia-style switch to ride the AI bandwagon on fiber …
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Ericsson saw 6% organic growth in Q1 2026, but slumped 10% in real terms with currency swings, divestment costs, and higher AI chip prices – causing it to miss targets. Network sales in EMEA and APAC made up for a …
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Industrial humanoid robots and physical AI are moving from pilot to production – as Siemens, Nvidia, and lots of private 5G providers (including Nokia) roll up to Hannover Messe. In summary – what to know: Siemens et al – demonstrate …
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Private networks are not a niche, says Ericsson; they are the route to new markets, new buyers, and a third growth engine beyond the industry’s cyclical capex grind. Åsa Tamsons, in charge of enterprise wireless, sets out the firm’s strategy …
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Amazon has agreed a $11.5 billion deal to buy satellite company Globalstar to add scale, spectrum, and services to its fledgling Leo proposition; it has also extended a satellite airtime contract with Apple, and, via Globalstar’s XCOM RAN subsidiary and …
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Lumen chief executive Kate Johnson has penned an open letter to enterprise CEOs (and the whole telecoms industry): that there is a golden opportunity to connect the AI revolution, but legacy networks are not up to scratch, and the industry …
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A new partnership between InfiniG and Nokia upgrades in-building neutral-host coverage to ‘carrier-class’ standards while quietly positioning enterprise networks for AI-driven RAN innovation – which ties to both the Finnish firm’s ‘super-cycle’ AI vision and its strange enterprise 5G strategy. …
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AT&T is positioning private 5G as a necessary enterprise capability rather than a breakout revenue engine, tying its future instead to edge AI, spectrum pragmatism, and a broader “AI grid” vision with partners like Cisco and Nvidia. In sum – …
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AT&T has clarified its emerging AI “grid” and IoT strategy, combining regional inference, cloud platforms, and private 5G to target enterprise use cases while testing where edge AI delivers most value. In sum – what to know: Regional edge – …
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Bain & Company warns that traditional industrial control systems are losing their central role as AI and smart devices redefine the economic landscape. By 2030, software, AI workflows, and intelligent field devices will capture the bulk of industry profit. In …
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Final word on this fascinating Nokia narrative, this time from the independent analyst community – about how the Finnish firm is losing a little to Ericsson in its 5G heartlands, but also switching it up with clever short- and long-term …
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Final word on this fascinating Nokia narrative, this time from the independent analyst community – about how the Finnish firm is losing a little to Ericsson in its 5G heartlands, but also switching it up with clever short- and long-term …
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Industrial giants and telecom vendors are pushing hard on private 5G – Siemens has expanded globally into North America, Nokia is continuing to land mission-critical enterprise deals, and a new UK open RAN push shows how private networks are becoming …
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Ericsson has emerged as “the primary RAN partner” to Virgin Media O2 in the UK, expanding its footprint in a major national 5G SA upgrade project that appears to come at the expense of Nokia – despite the Finnish firm …
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HPE reinforced the telco shift at MWC: the urgent mid-gen upgrade of fiber interconnect and longhaul networks for the AI era, plus the edge inference agenda just coming on-stream – as served by its PTX and MX portfolios, respectively, as …
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Aurora Networks, under rebranded parent Vistance Networks, has upgraded Vodafone’s broadband network in Germany with Remote PHY, DAA, and virtual CMTS technologies – for improved AI-friendly last-mile connectivity. In sum – what to know: Modern last-mile – Remote PHY moves …
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Coherent optics, photonic line systems, and software agents are helping cloud providers and telco companies to manage the explosive AI workload demands on fiber networks – across cutting-edge interconnect systems, upgraded longhaul infrastructure, and emerging mobile access networks. As told …
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The tech is not the story (stupid!), says Siemens; it is a part of a solution, of course – just like IoT, and just like AI. Industrial enterprises have their own problems, and don’t buy the hype anyway; but sometimes …
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The message from Nvidia chief Jensen Huang at GTC this week is that AI is no longer about models or chips alone, but about monetizing inference at scale – where tokens become the core unit of value, and data centers …
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Nvidia’s trillion-dollar AI infrastructure forecast set the tone at GTC yesterday, framing its AI-RAN partnerships with Nokia and T-Mobile (part of a $2tn industry) as a new frontier for low-latency inference at the edge. In sum – what to know: …
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‘Frontier’ telcos like Vodafone, AT&T, and Telefónica are deploying hundreds of AI agents across their operations, says Microsoft – to automate processes, accelerate sales, and drive a new kind of operational agility. It has a weeks–to-minutes use-case with Vodafone. But …
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As AI workloads splinter across the fragmented cloud-infrastructure landspace, enterprises are scrambling to keep performance, governance, and costs in check. Equinix reckons the answer is in neutral interconnection hubs that simplify last-mile access, orchestrate distributed infrastructure, and bring inference closer …