Partnerships

AST SpaceMobile is signaling a pivotal year ahead as it moves from demonstrations to commercial direct-to-device coverage with major operators and an aggressive launch schedule. The companyโ€™s plan to begin โ€œintermittent nationwideโ€ service in early 2026, followed by continuous coverage later in the year, is also a forcing function for device vendors, standards work, and MNO network integration. As AST scales to 45โ€“60 BlueBird satellites by end-2026, pass frequency and overlap increase to support โ€œcontinuousโ€ service across the U.S., Europe, Japan, and other priority markets. AST reports over $3.2 billion in cash and liquidity.
A new pilot in Spain shows that the upper 6 GHz band can deliver 5G-class coverage with far higher capacity, positioning it as a prime spectrum option for 5G-Advanced and 6G. The 6.425โ€“7.125 GHz range (3GPP Band n104) is the last sizable mid-band window that is not tied to legacy mobile use in Europe. The trial found that with higher-order massive MIMO and active antennas, the upper 6 GHz layer can match the practical coverage of 3.5 GHz from existing macro sites. European regulatory clarity, device support and refined coexistence rules are the next critical catalysts for scale.
Anthropic will spend $50 billion on U.S.-based AI data centers, signaling a rapid new phase for domestic compute capacity with direct consequences for power, fiber, and cloud interconnects. Anthropic plans a multi-year, $50 billion program to develop custom data center campuses in the United States, beginning with Texas and New York and with additional sites to follow. The initial wave targets 2026 go-lives, with an estimated 800 permanent jobs and roughly 2,400 construction roles tied to the program.
Nokia and Latviaโ€™s LMT are aligning 5G radio and defense capabilities to deliver a field-ready, private tactical communications system for Baltic and coalition forces. Nokia will integrate its 5G radio portfolio with LMTโ€™s defense solutions to build a secure, high-capacity, and resilient tactical network tailored to Baltic military needs. The joint system is designed for dedicated use cases, enabling real-time data exchange across uncrewed platforms, sensors, and dismounted teams. The goal is improved situational awareness, faster decision cycles, and assured interoperability for collective defense.
Reports indicate SK Group will reduce executive ranks by up to 30%, a move that would reshape decision-making across affiliates including SK Telecom (SKT). For SKT, which sits at the nexus of the groupโ€™s AI, cloud, and connectivity ambitions, executive trims would concentrate authority and compress approval chains at a sensitive time for 5G monetization and AI platform bets. Executive consolidation at a Tier-1 operator tends to reset priorities, procurement rhythms, and partner engagement models.
A new joint plan from Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile aims to deliver satellite broadband directly to standard smartphones across Europe under a sovereign operational model. AST SpaceMobile has submitted plans through Germany for a space-based network designed to provide broadband directly to devices across Europe. Operations would run through SatCo, a Luxembourg-based joint venture with Vodafone announced earlier this year. The timing aligns with looming European spectrum decisions and intensifying competition in direct-to-device (D2D). S-band at 2 GHz is up for renewal across the region in 2027, and 700 MHz public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) frequencies are central to resilient communications strategy.
Telus is in active talks to bring partners into its data-centre and AI business, signaling a capital-light approach to scale sovereign AI compute in Canada. Partner capital can accelerate GPU procurement, facility buildouts, and interconnect investments while aligning with customers that require sovereign environments distinct from hyperscale public clouds. Management addressed investor concerns about potential AI compute oversupply by emphasizing a modular build strategy, adding capacity in phases as demand materializes. The timing aligns with tightening data-residency requirements, heightened AI adoption, and demand for local alternatives to U.S.-centric infrastructure. This reduces stranded capital risk in a market with volatile GPU supply, rapid chip roadmaps, and evolving workload profiles.
Singtel has sold another slice of its Bharti Airtel holding, freeing up capital to fund growth while continuing to rebalance a long-standing strategic investment. Singapore-based Singtel monetised roughly 0.8% of Airtel for about S$1.5 billion (approximately US$1.2 billion), recording an estimated net gain of S$1.1 billion. The sale is part of a multi-year capital management programme launched in 2021. Management has framed the initiative as a way to strengthen the balance sheet and redeploy capital into higher-growth digital infrastructure and digital services, while progressively equalising its Airtel ownership with Bharti Enterprises over time.
Telefรณnica has launched a 2026โ€“2030 plan to accelerate growth, simplify operations, and unlock up to โ‚ฌ3 billion in savings while doubling down on its core markets and technology investments. Revenue is guided to a 1.5%โ€“2.5% CAGR from 2025โ€“2028, accelerating to 2.5%โ€“3.5% in 2028โ€“2030; adjusted EBITDA is guided to the same ranges across the two periods. Telefรณnica targets a gross impact of up to โ‚ฌ2.3 billion in 2028 and โ‚ฌ3 billion by 2030, driven by technology and operational excellence, process simplification, digital transformation, and monetization of legacy network assets as shutdowns progress.
OECD data shows fixed and mobile broadband have shifted from build-out to scale-up, with fibre and 5G underpinning a new phase of digital infrastructure. Fixed broadband penetration across the OECD rose to 36.5 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants by end-2024, up from 32 in 2019, while the fibre share of fixed lines jumped from 28 percent to 47 percent over the same period. Gigabit-tier offers (โ‰ฅ1 Gbps) moved from 4 percent of subscriptions in 2019 to 19 percent in 2024, signaling both wider availability and growing appetite for very high throughput. On mobile, average monthly data consumption per subscription increased 2.5xโ€”from 6 GB at end-2019 to 15 GB in 2024, aligned with more video, cloud, and AI-assisted applications shifting to handhelds and connected devices.
A coordinated launch in the Netherlands brings standardized, network-powered security APIs to market at national scale. KPN, Odido, and Vodafone Netherlands have jointly introduced a set of security services based on CAMARA, the open-source API framework hosted by the Linux Foundation and aligned with the GSMA Open Gateway program. Working with the Dutch COIN association, the operators are exposing harmonized, privacy-aware network signals that enterprises can use to strengthen authentication and reduce online fraud. The Dutch launch prioritizes identity-centric use cases. Number Verification allows apps to confirm that a userโ€™s device and mobile number match the current sessionโ€”often silently in the backgroundโ€”reducing one-time password SMS dependency.
Hyundai Motor Group and NVIDIA are expanding their partnership to build a large-scale โ€œphysical AIโ€ stack that fuses autonomous driving, smart factories, and robotics with national-scale infrastructure in Korea. The companies plan to stand up an AI factory built on 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs to unify model training, validation, and deployment across vehicles and plants. Backed by an approximately $3 billion publicโ€“private investment, the effort includes a Physical AI Application Center, an NVIDIA AI Technology Center, and regional data centers developed in concert with Koreaโ€™s Ministry of Science and ICT.

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