Verizon continues to retool its executive leadership team, with Adam Koeppe, chief network officer for core engineering and operations, set to depart by the year-end.

Koeppe stated on LinkedIn “it’s time to move on to the next chapter” after more than 26 years with the company.

“My confidence in Verizon’s future remains high,” Koeppe stated. “The mission to build, secure, and scale the foundational networks of tomorrow matters now more than ever.”

He started his career in telecommunications as a customer service representative at Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile which was a joint venture that eventually led to the formation of Verizon.

Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner stated on LinkedIn Koeppe was one of the employees “who made Verizon Verizon almost from day one,” while congratulating him on “a terrific and highly impactful career”.

Koeppe was named to his current position in December 2025 after working in several technology and engineering roles during his career at Verizon.

Koeppe’s planned departure came after current CEO Dan Schulman took over as chief in October 2025 with a pledge to overhaul the company, including its executive team.

The company announced a plan to slash 15,000 jobs in November 2025, which was followed by laying off roughly 3,000 retail and corporate employees in July 2026.

Verizon announced in June 2026 Joe Russo, executive VP and president of global networks and technology, is retiring in Q1 of next year after 30 years at the company. He will be replaced by ex-Deutsche Telekom executive Abdu Mudesir.

In February, Verizon consumer chief Sowmyanarayan Sampath stepped down from his role as part of Schulman’s turnaround effort prior to resurfacing as CEO of Zayo on 1 September.

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VodafoneThree raised its cost-savings target to £1 billion per annum by 2032, as it set out a UK growth strategy with a new set of “bolder” financial ambitions.

During a Vodafone Group investor briefing, the company focused on its ambitions for VodafoneThree and how it will deliver significant value creation over the coming years.

Among the highlights, the company stated it was upping its cost savings goal, which was previously pegged at £700 million per annum by full year 2030, to £1 billion per annum by full year 2032, which will run to March that year.  By 2030, £800 million in annual cost savings is expected.

The upgraded target comes more than two months after Vodafone completed a full takeover of VodafoneThree, acquiring CK Hutchison’s 49% in the business for £4.3 billion.

Targets
Other financial targets set for the company include a goal of mid-to-high single digit annual growth in adjusted earnings between 2025 and 2032, and a plan to more than triple operating free cash flow during the same period.

The briefing, hosting by group CEO of European markets, Ahmed Essam and VodafoneThree CEO Max Taylor, also reiterated an £11 billion network investment plan spanning 10 years to upgrade the UK’s mobile network, accelerate leadership in the consumer market and grow its Business unit.

Margherita Della Valle, CEO of Vodafone, said VodafoneThree had been created because it saw an opportunity to transform the UK market.

“After a strong start, we now have even greater confidence in the opportunity ahead. That’s why we are upgrading our cost target to £1 billion, with VodafoneThree set to become an increasingly important contributor to Vodafone’s growth ambitions,” she said.

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Shipping company Empresa Naviera Petrolera Atlantica (ENPASA) reported various operational improvements after deploying a digital connectivity system from Viasat company Inmarsat Maritime, offering a further example of the sector’s growing connectivity needs.

The company equipped two of its tankers with Inmarsat Maritime’s NexusWave system, recording improvements in connectivity and the time taken to update electronic charts.

Inmarsat Maritime emphasised a welfare aspect as ship crews gain access to unlimited data.

It explained digital technologies are now fundamental to operating ships, pointing to requirements around real-time data and cloud services, among others.

The ENPASA vessels are now able to access “high-performance communications across entire voyages”, Inmarsat Maritime stated.

Mobile World Live delved into the connectivity needs of the global maritime industry in a panel session during our recent Unwrapped: Digital Industries event, in which experts from Shipsider, GSMA Intelligence and Kaiko Systems explained the need for, and challenges in deploying, digital systems in the shipping sector. You can view the session here.

The need for reliable connectivity was emphasised by ENPASA technical manager Sergio Iglesias, who said it is now a “critical enabler of safe, efficient and modern vessel operation”.

Iglesias concurred with our panellists on the deployment path also being important, crediting the local partner of Inmarsat Maritime which handled the task for the “speed of implementation”.

Jose Arias, global account manager at Inmarsat Maritime, said the ENPASA job is a “practical example” of how the company is meeting the “evolving needs of a modern maritime operator”.

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The parent company of agentic AI specialist Manus secured more than $500 million in a funding round conducted a little more than a month after it resumed independent operations following the unwinding of an acquisition by Meta Platforms.

Butterfly Effect, which developed the AI company, did not reveal how it plans to use the money or a valuation.

However, Bloomberg reported last month a potential $500 million raise would give it a valuation of around $4 billion, double the sum Meta Platforms paid for the company in an agreement struck in December 2025, before the deal was cancelled on orders from the Chinese government.

Existing investors Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund were involved in the funding round, along with Boyu Capital and IDG Capital.

Investment rules
Manus formally resumed independent operations in September after China’s National Development and Reform Commission told all parties to cancel the deal with Meta Platforms, following an investigation which cited concerns over foreign investment rules.

Manus’ founding investors then moved to buy the company back at the same $2 billion valuation.

China’s concerns related to the fact Butterfly Effect was founded in the country in 2022 but moved its corporate base to Singapore in 2025.

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Siemens equipped a forthcoming hydrogen plant as a digital-first facility, deploying dedicated software and twinning products in what it stated is a practical example of how technology can steer the future of such sites.

The work is taking place at Galp Energia’s GalpH2Park in Portugal, a 100MW facility intended to produce up to 15,000-tonnes of renewable hydrogen each year and cut 110,000-tonnes of CO2 when it begins operating later this year.

Siemens is employing a software portfolio developed for the hydrogen sector to boost operational efficiency and increase the value of processing facilities.

The company stated a “predictive digital process twin” is a core element in the Hydrogen Performance Suite, providing real-time information intended to optimise operations and speed decision making.

Siemens explained it uses an “integrated software stack” to model processes, and handle data analytics and visualisation systems to provide “clear, actionable insights”.

It highlighted an integration of the twinning system with “external sources” including “grid operators and energy markets” as a key advantage, providing “end-to-end visibility” of facilities to plant operators.

The GalpH2Park is set to be one of the biggest renewable hydrogen plants in Europe, making it a “lighthouse” for regional energy shifts, Axel Lorenz, EVP of automation process industries with Siemens said.

“We are convinced that digital innovation is the key to making renewable hydrogen economically viable”, he added.

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Indian authorities pushed back against Elon Musk’s claims that unnamed oligarchs were blocking Starlink from launching in the country, stating all three prospective operators remain broadly at the same stage of the regulatory process.

In a post on X, Musk accused “certain oligarchs” of trying to maintain a “monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people”, adding “you can guess who they are…” without naming the parties involved. “This is a crime against the people of India!” he wrote.

In a statement, India’s Ministry of Communications rejected the allegation, explaining its satellite communications framework is “fair and non-discriminatory”. It said assessments are currently underway for all licensed operators in India, with each required to meet security conditions before it can seek spectrum.

“At present, all the three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage,” the ministry said, calling claims of discriminatory treatment “baseless and misconceived”.

The country’s telecoms sector is dominated by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel. Both operators, alongside Musk’s Starlink, have secured initial approvals for satellite services but are awaiting spectrum assignment and final clearances.

Starlink’s approval process has stretched over four years, with security requirements and spectrum access among the key issues under scrutiny. Musk has previously clashed with Ambani over India’s satellite spectrum allocation, although both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel later struck agreements with the tech mogul to distribute Starlink services in the country.

The US satellite venture’s regulatory wait has also been marred by security concerns. Local media reports stated authorities recovered illegal Starlink equipment in two separate operations in late 2024, including a drug seizure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and an army search in the northeastern state of Manipur.

This week, Musk also disputed any suggestion the equipment was connected to an active Starlink service in India, posting on X that its satellite beams were “turned off over India” and “never on in the first place”.

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Samsung Electronics forecast consolidated operating profit of KRW107.4 trillion ($80.2 billion) in preliminary Q3 figures, the first time it would surpass the KRW100 trillion milestone.

With its chip business continuing to thrive, Samsung’s projected quarterly operating profit figure is a 782% increase year-on-year.

Revenue is expected to hit around KRW195 trillion, up almost 127%.

It would be the South Korean company’s fourth straight quarter of record operating profit, fuelled by an ongoing memory chip shortage driven by rising demand for AI services.

Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for APAC at investment platform eToro, told CNBC with “AI spending driving demand for memory and supply remaining tight, the larger story of the chip sector remains intact”, pointing to the fact emerging AI agents would require more memory than chatbots.

“Memory buyers are also committing to multi-year supply agreements, giving Samsung greater visibility over demand in a business where investors have always worried about the next downturn,” CNBC reported Gilbert as saying.

Samsung posted revenue of KRW171.5 trillion and operating profit of KRW89.5 trillion in Q2.

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Widespread availability of Wi-Fi makes the technology an ideal candidate for inclusion in future 6G standards, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) argued.

The specialist Wi-Fi industry body believes the next connectivity shift will fall short without the technology and called on the wider telecoms industry to look at ways it can work alongside mobile networks to deliver ubiquitous coverage.

WBA president and CEO Tiago Rodrigues branded Wi-Fi “fundamental” to ubiquitous coverage ambitions, highlighting indoor connectivity as a prime example.

The WBA recently released a report explaining why it believes Wi-Fi should be a core element of 6G and detailing various means of incorporating it, which Rodrigues said offers a “practical framework that can reduce cost and complexity”.

Convergence is a core element of the WBA’s strategy. It argued Wi-Fi could be central to providing the “consistent user experience and deep indoor coverage” detailed in the ITU’s IMT-2030 framework for 6G because it is “already a common technology” for internal connectivity.

As such, the industry body wants to see tweaks to access models to provide agnostic set-ups which can run on Wi-Fi or mobile as required.

The WBA also argues any convergence of Wi-Fi and 6G must tackle commercial considerations including network costs; customer experience; increased automation; and fresh service opportunities.

It stated the approach would benefit operators and device makers, alike.

Keeping costs in mind would also remove barriers the WBA stated hindered uptake of previous convergence plays involving Wi-Fi, 4G and 5G.

Getting it right could have big implications for autonomous networks, industrial and emergency service connectivity and various digital logistics plays, the WBA stated.

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Aerospace and defence groups are reportedly pushing back against a SpaceX-backed effort to overhaul wireless spectrum coordination for rocket launches.

Bloomberg reported the proposed changes would replace the third-party frequency-coordination system overseeing how government agencies and commercial entities share key telemetry bands.

The FCC sought public comment on modernising launch spectrum coordination following an August 2026 Presidential Memorandum and a petition filed by the Commercial Space Federation (CSF).

According to filings highlighted by outlet Vertical Aviation International, CSF asked the FCC to replace the existing flight-test frequency coordination process with direct coordination and an automated, near-real-time database across shared telemetry bands.

A coalition representing aerospace and defence organisations, commercial aircraft manufacturers including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and flight-test operators submitted formal comments urging the FCC to proceed cautiously.

In a joint submission, the Aerospace & Defense Industry Spectrum Coalition warned the proposed coordination changes could increase the risk of harmful electromagnetic interference.

The coalition stated these shared frequencies are vital for real-time safety telemetry during prototype aircraft evaluations, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) certification flights, and defence readiness testing.

It also argued the FCC’s expedited comment schedule did not allow sufficient time for comprehensive technical studies to verify non-interference.

The clash leaves the FCC balancing faster rocket launch schedules against the need to protect aerospace and defence users of the same spectrum from harmful interference.

FCC bird approval
SpaceX notched a regulatory win after it secured Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to launch 15,000 next-gen satellites for its direct-to-device (D2D) mobile service, creating a path to compete directly with AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon.

SpaceX filed its application with the FCC in September 2025 ahead of rebranding its D2D satellite offering as Starlink Mobile earlier this year.

Elon Musk-controlled SpaceX is targeting a download speed of 150Mb/s for its D2D service compared to about 4Mb/s on the downlink for the Starlink provisioned offering by T-Mobile.

Instead of relying on a terrestrial network with cell towers, SpaceX plans to pair its satellites with ground-based femtocells to provide 5G mobile coverage, a plan many executives in the industry consider far-fetched.

“With this action, SpaceX’s planned deployments will reshape spectrum-based connectivity by improving competition, allowing more consumers more choices in more places to further the Commission’s goal to connect everyone, everywhere to modern communications services,” the agency stated on 6 October

The FCC also issued SpaceX a waiver to offer its service through satellites without entering into a leasing agreement with a terrestrial mobile operator.

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