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AI Capex Race: Amazon and Google Lead

AI Capex Race: Amazon and Google Lead
Amazon and Google currently lead the AI capex race, with Microsoft and Meta not far behind, and the prize is control over scarce compute, power, and network resources that define the next decade of cloud and AI services. For telecom and infrastructure players, the opportunity is immediate: deliver power-adjacent, fiber-rich, AI-ready capacity with speed and predictable SLAs. For enterprises, the mandate is pragmatic: secure capacity, design for portability across heterogeneous silicon, and enforce cost governance as inference scales. The winners will be those who pair aggressive buildouts with disciplined execution—turning record capex into durable platforms and customer outcomes.

NGMN’s 5G Network Simplification Framework

NGMN’s 5G Network Simplification Framework
NGMN’s latest operator-led guidance frames simplification as a precondition for 5G efficiency, sustainability and service agility—not an optional clean-up exercise. NGMN’s new Framework for Network Simplification – An Operator View argues for targeted simplification across radio, core and transport to contain this sprawl while preserving the ability to launch differentiated services. The alliance places cloud‑native design, federated service exposure and AI‑driven operations at the center of that shift, supported by agile ways of working. Simplification is how operators square the circle—cut carbon and cost, while accelerating innovation. The publication offers a practical, non-prescriptive method to decide where simplification delivers the most benefit, and when complexity risk outweighs near-term gains.

Liberty Global–Google Cloud 5‑Year AI Deal

Liberty Global–Google Cloud 5‑Year AI Deal
Liberty Global and Google Cloud have signed a five-year agreement to deploy AI at scale across Liberty Global’s European footprint and to advance hybrid cloud, autonomous networks, and new go-to-market plays. The partnership spans roughly 80 million fixed and mobile connections across Liberty Global’s operating companies, including Virgin Media O2 in the UK, Telenet in Belgium, VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands, Virgin Media in Ireland, and Sunrise in Switzerland. On the network side, the companies will co-develop AI-first programs aimed at reliability, security, scalability, and cost efficiency. Commercially, the parties will target SMEs with a joint portfolio that combines connectivity with cloud, cybersecurity, and AI services.

AT&T–AWS Connectivity Deal: LEO Satellite, Fiber, and Cloud Adjacency

AT&T–AWS Connectivity Deal: LEO Satellite, Fiber, and Cloud Adjacency
AT&T is deepening ties with Amazon by pairing its national fiber assets with AWS cloud and AI tooling while adding low Earth orbit connectivity from Amazon’s satellite network to fill coverage gaps for business customers. The collaboration has two pillars: cloud modernization on AWS and satellite-enabled reach via Amazon’s LEO network, with AT&T also supplying fiber capacity into AWS data centers to bolster high-performance infrastructure. Amazon’s LEO constellation will deliver fixed broadband connectivity for AT&T Business customers in areas where terrestrial options are limited, enabling primary service in hard-to-reach sites and resilient backup for SD‑WAN architectures.

AT&T Closes Lumen Fiber Acquisition

AT&T Closes Lumen Fiber Acquisition
AT&T has closed its $5.75 billion cash deal to acquire Lumen’s consumer fiber business across 11 states, reshaping competitive dynamics in U.S. fiber-to-the-home and sharpening Lumen’s enterprise focus. The transaction moves more than 1 million fiber subscribers and over 4 million enabled fiber locations, including the Quantum Fiber brand and related consumer access networks, into AT&T’s portfolio. AT&T’s fiber home internet footprint now spans 32 states, adding major metros such as Denver, Seattle, and Salt Lake City where it can bring multi-gig services to market at scale.

AI infrastructure power shift: Vestberg joins Digipower X

Ex-Verizon/Ericsson chief Hans Vestberg joins Digipower X to scale AI with energy-first, Tier III modular data centers and a 1.5 GW development pipeline.
Digipower X positions itself as a vertically integrated AI infrastructure operator combining Tier III-certified modular data centers with owned and controlled energy assets to compress deployment cycles. The company cites more than 200 MW currently online across a combined-cycle plant and three additional operational sites, development pathways for up to 1.5 GW over the next three years, and a letter of intent tied to a 1.3 GW power plant in West Virginia that is being evaluated as a long-term AI campus anchor, with additional scale targeted in North Carolina. Its AI-Ready Modular Solution (ARMS) aims to deliver Tier III modular capacity in roughly 180 days, emphasizing redundancy, energy optimization, and liquid-cooling readiness for high-density AI clusters.

AT&T fiber‑5G convergence strategy realigns telecom

AT&T fiber‑5G convergence strategy realigns telecom
The operators that control both dense fiber and performant 5G, and that package them coherently, will set the pace for the next telecom cycle. AT&T’s targets—more fiber passings, higher bundle attach, and measured wireless growth—put it squarely in the camp that sees integrated networks as the winning model. If the company executes on build cadence and cross-sell while keeping experience clean, expect continued share gains in fiber markets and a tougher environment for single-asset competitors. For buyers, the practical takeaway is to lean into converged sourcing now to lock in economics and resiliency as these footprints expand.

Nvidia OpenAI investment: Huang rejects $100B stall

Nvidia OpenAI investment: Huang rejects $100B stall
Nvidia’s CEO is publicly reaffirming confidence in OpenAI even as reports suggest the companies may narrow the scope of an ambitious, nonbinding plan announced last fall. During a visit to Taipei, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed talk of friction with OpenAI and said Nvidia will participate in OpenAI’s next funding round. Recent reporting suggested Nvidia has emphasized the nonbinding nature of its plan to invest up to $100 billion and build roughly 10 GW of compute for OpenAI, and that both parties are re-examining scope and terms.

Union Budget: COAI seeks telecom spectrum and levy reform

Union Budget: COAI seeks telecom spectrum and levy reform
With the Union Budget around the corner, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is asking for a structural fix to spectrum pricing, statutory levies, and GST that is designed to restore sector health and accelerate digital infrastructure build-out. COAI’s agenda centers on spectrum affordability, regulatory levy rationalization, and GST reform to unlock liquidity frozen as input tax credit. COAI argues for spending the sizable unused corpus first, holding the DBN levy in abeyance, and trimming license fees to roughly 0.5–1% to cover administrative costs. Cutting GST on regulatory payments from 18% to 5% would reduce the pace of new ITC build-up and meaningfully ease liquidity pressure.

India’s Zero-Tax AI and Cloud Exports Through 2047

India’s Zero-Tax AI and Cloud Exports Through 2047
New Delhi has unveiled a sweeping tax holiday to capture the next wave of AI and cloud build-outs, positioning India as a long-term base for exporting compute. Foreign providers that deliver cloud and data center services to customers outside India will pay zero corporate tax on those revenues through 2047, provided workloads run from facilities in India. The budget also introduces a 15% cost-plus safe harbor for Indian data center units serving related foreign parties, simplifying transfer pricing for global delivery hubs. For cloud providers, it strengthens the business case to place GPU clusters, storage, and interconnect in India to serve overseas demand, not just local workloads.

Verizon 5G capex cuts as Q4 subscribers surge

Verizon One: What a $70 Converged Bundle Tells Us About Where Consumer Connectivity Is Heading
Verizon exits 2025 with standout subscriber growth and a leaner 2026 investment plan that shifts dollars from network build to integration, efficiency and customer retention. Verizon posted more than 1 million net additions in the fourth quarter, including 616,000 postpaid phone net adds—the best showing since 2019—and 372,000 broadband net adds driven by 319,000 fixed wireless access (FWA) additions and the strongest Fios Internet quarter since 2020. After years of 5G coverage build, Verizon is pivoting to densification, fiber integration and operating efficiency, allowing capex to step down without undermining network competitiveness. Capital will concentrate on fiber-led convergence, FWA capacity, and experience-centric technologies that reduce churn and support revenue quality.

Telenor Sells True Stake for $3.9B in Thailand

Telenor Sells True Stake for $3.9B in Thailand
Telenor is monetizing its 25-year run in Thailand by selling its entire stake in True Corporation, signaling a strategic refocus and a maturing Asian portfolio. Telenor agreed to sell 24.95% of True Corporation to Arise Digital Technology Company Limited at THB 11.70 per share, with a mutual put/call option to transfer the remaining 5.35% two years after closing. The agreed valuation implies proceeds of roughly NOK 39 billion (about US$3.9 billion) and represents a notable premium—around 36% over True’s first post-merger trading day close and about 4% over the recent three-month VWAP. The sale aligns with a broader pivot toward capital discipline, structural simplification, and a tighter Nordic focus.
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