Nokia

France’s three other mobile network operators—Bouygues Telecom, Free-iliad and Orange—have reopened negotiations with Altice to carve up most of SFR, reviving a complex deal that could reshape competition, capex and customer experience across the market. The operators confirmed they are conducting due diligence with Altice after re-engaging in early January 2026, stressing that legal and financial terms remain undecided and that there is no assurance of a transaction. A successful transaction would compress the French market from four to three MNOs, with material consequences for pricing power, 5G/fiber investment, vendor ecosystems and enterprise buyers. Consolidation momentum is building across Europe, evidenced by recent approvals of large transactions with stringent remedies. Altice has been under sustained pressure to reduce debt following restructurings and asset sales.
CEO Börje Ekholm indicated the company will keep trimming headcount after cutting roughly 5,000 positions over the last year. In Sweden, Ericsson has notified authorities and begun union talks that could affect about 1,600 roles, part of a multi‑year restructuring program. The move follows a 2023 plan to remove around 8,500 jobs worldwide—about 8% of its workforce—with further reductions last year in markets such as Spain and Canada. The rationale remains consistent: reset the cost base, protect profitability, and keep investment firepower for strategic bets amid a slower operator capex cycle.
Ericsson is signaling a strategic shift toward defence, mission-critical, and AI-era network architectures as traditional RAN spending stays flat. Management expects the global RAN market to remain flat in 2026, sustaining a multi-year trend that now pegs annual spend at roughly the low-$30 billions. Ericsson is building for a traffic mix shift where AI applications push uplink throughput and latency to the forefront. Defence, utilities, transport, and public safety are moving from proprietary systems to standards-based 3GPP networks.
Enterprises are moving fast to private 5G to digitize operations, but the payoff only materializes if security scales with the new connectivity footprint. Private 5G brings deterministic wireless to factories, hospitals, ports, and energy sites, connecting robots, AGVs, cameras, and critical control systems. Security must follow identities and workloads, not subnets. Adopt a Zero‑Trust approach aligned to NIST SP 800‑207 with a single source of truth for identity and policy. Shift from perimeter controls to context-driven segmentation. Build on open standards and APIs to avoid lock‑in and simplify operations. Security must be foundational, measurable, and auditable from day one.
AI-driven experiences are flipping the traffic mix, pulling more capacity demand toward the uplink than U.S. mobile networks have historically planned for. Generative and vision-based AI are shifting usage from predominantly downloads to more continuous and bandwidth-heavy uploads. Recent benchmarking shows U.S. 5G networks prioritize downlink KPIs more than peers in Asia, even as uplink usage climbs. RootMetrics’ drive testing in late 2025 found all three U.S. carriers set roughly one-fifth of their midband Time Division Duplex (TDD) frame resources for uplink. That gap becomes material as AI, livestreaming, and enterprise camera workloads expand. U.S. carriers continued to win experience awards in early 2026, even as their uplink allocations trailed global leaders.
Salinas Gold has launched a private LTE network in partnership with Nokia, Ávato, and Venko to enable secure, real-time connectivity across its remote mining operations in Mato Grosso, Brazil. This is one of the first high-availability LTE deployments in Brazil’s mining sector and a winner of the “Private Network Excellence in Mining” award. The network improves safety, logistics, and operational efficiency by supporting telemetry, fleet tracking, and real-time communications—even in areas previously without any cellular coverage.
Private Mobile Networks (PMNs), powered by LTE and 5G, are driving enterprise digital transformation across manufacturing, logistics, utilities, and public safety. With nearly 1,850 deployments worldwide as of mid-2025, and data from GSA showing rapid adoption, PMNs offer secure, low-latency, and high-performance connectivity. This article explores technical architectures, deployment trends, spectrum policies, and vendor strategies shaping the future of private networks.
Welcome to the TeckNexus Private Networks: Energy & Utilities Edition. Across energy and utility operations, connectivity has evolved from a supporting tool into a strategic foundation. As utilities modernize critical infrastructure, integrate distributed energy resources, and strengthen cybersecurity and grid resilience, communications must deliver determinism, security, and operational control. Private LTE and 5G networks are increasingly fulfilling that role.

This edition highlights real-world private network deployments from organizations such as Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), GMR Energy, and major European utility operators. These initiatives—delivered in collaboration with ecosystem leaders including Nokia, Anterix, Hubbell Power Systems, Niral Networks, Druid Software, TDF, and members of the broader private wireless ecosystem—show how utilities are moving from pilots to production-grade networks supporting grid modernization, worker safety, and mission-critical operations.

We proudly feature the 2025 TeckNexus Private Networks Award winners, recognizing utilities, technology providers, and partners setting new benchmarks for execution in energy and utility environments. Through deployment stories, executive perspectives, and partner insights, this magazine underscores the power of collaboration across utilities, vendors, integrators, and industry organizations.

Readers will also find the Smart Utilities Connectivity Blueprint—a practical framework distilled from global deployments. It illustrates why visibility must come before automation, how ownership and control models shape outcomes, and how utilities can scale digital transformation without compromising reliability or safety.

A clear message runs through every story in this edition: utilities don’t invest in private networks for technology alone—they invest for outcomes. The leaders featured here show what’s possible when connectivity is aligned with operational realities and long-term grid strategy.
MLGW, the largest three-service municipal utility in the U.S., partners with Nokia to launch the nation’s first private 5G network for utilities. Covering nearly all of Shelby County, the network boosts real-time operations across electric, gas, and water systems. This grid modernization supports clean energy, IoT integration, and storm resilience—setting a national benchmark for utility digital transformation.
This article highlights the top 10 private 5G and LTE deployments transforming energy and utility operations globally. From U.S. electric utilities to offshore rigs and oilfields in Africa and Asia, these real-world examples show how private networks deliver secure, resilient communications that improve reliability, safety, and operational intelligence—laying the foundation for scalable grid modernization, edge analytics, and automation.
Winner – Private Network Excellence in Airports: NTT DATA, in partnership with Fraport AG, designed and implemented a large-scale private 5G network covering more than 20 km² at Frankfurt Airport. The 5G campus network provides secure, low-latency connectivity across the apron and perimeter where Wi-Fi is limited, enabling real-time data transfer, autonomous and remote operations, and a foundation for future airport digitalization. Nokia supported with private 5G RAN alongside NTT DATA’s architecture, deployment, and integration services.
Private Mobile Networks (PMNs), powered by LTE and 5G, are driving enterprise digital transformation across manufacturing, logistics, utilities, and public safety. With nearly 1,850 deployments worldwide as of mid-2025, and data from GSA showing rapid adoption, PMNs offer secure, low-latency, and high-performance connectivity. This article explores technical architectures, deployment trends, spectrum policies, and vendor strategies shaping the future of private networks.

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