Apple added a US titanium supplier for the iPhone Duo, committing up to $100 million to Pennsylvania-based Perryman Company while expanding domestic production of camera technology for the iPhone 18 Pro.

As part of its American Manufacturing Program (AMP), Apple said today (20 October) the deal with Perryman is over the next three years for titanium used in its products, including the iPhone Duo, which starts at $1,999.

The announcement follows reports of tight supply for Apple’s first foldable. The phone is due in stores on 23 October, but online delivery estimates slipped to January 2027 within minutes of preorders opening on 16 October.

Apple stated Perryman will melt, forge, and roll grade 5 titanium, which it said will contain at least 80% recycled material. Titanium is used for the Duo’s enclosure, providing durability, according to the iPhone maker.

It is also expanding its partnership with Qnity Electronics, headquartered in the US state of Delaware, to produce technology for the new variable aperture in the iPhone 18 Pro camera system.

Apple said nearly 100 components used in the iPhone Duo and iPhone 18 Pro, from wireless chips to the silicon which powers key functions across the devices, are produced by US companies across more than a dozen states.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) Arizona plant will produce more than 100 million chips for Apple in 2026, while ​Corning’s Kentucky facility ​will make ⁠all cover glass for iPhones and Apple Watches sold worldwide by year end.

Apple also highlighted investments with other AMP partners, including Broadcom for US-made chips and Amkor Technology, which is building a semiconductor packaging and testing facility in Peoria, Arizona.

“We’re thrilled to expand our work with companies producing advanced materials and components for our newest iPhone lineup right here in America,” stated Apple COO Sabih Khan.

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For much of the last two decades, the digital divide has been viewed primarily as an infrastructure problem. The assumption was if networks were built, people would connect.

Across the developing Asia Pacific (APAC) region, the assumption no longer holds. A new study by GSMA Intelligence and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reveals this stark reality.

Developing APAC is home to 4.3 billion people, more than half of the world’s population, and 71% of people use mobile internet, equivalent to 3.1 billion individuals.

However, 1.1 billion people live within reach of 4G networks but do not use them. By comparison, 100 million people remain outside mobile broadband coverage altogether.

The region’s connectivity gap is therefore no longer primarily about coverage. It is increasingly about enabling people to access and use mobile internet meaningfully, in a way which improves their lives.

The shift from coverage to usage is important because mobile connectivity has become far more than a communications service. As countries accelerate their digital transformation agendas, connectivity provides the foundation for digital public infrastructure, digital services, data-driven innovation and the adoption of AI across economies.

Countries seeking to become digital nations cannot do so if large segments of their populations remain disconnected from the internet economy.

What stops people from connecting?
The study shows the primary barriers to mobile internet adoption are device affordability, and digital skills and literacy.

For example, the average cost of an entry-level internet-enabled device in the region is more than 60% of the monthly income for the poorest 40% of the population, more than three-times higher than what is considered affordable.

Survey evidence also shows safety and security, particularly scams and fraud, are becoming increasingly significant concerns. This highlights the importance of trust as a broader enabler of digital adoption. As digital services become increasingly AI-enabled, it is also becoming more important to ensure these are accessible and relevant in local languages.

The barriers to adoption remain unevenly distributed. Women across developing APAC remain 12% less likely than men to use mobile internet, while rural populations are 25% less likely than urban populations to do so. These disparities are even wider in certain regions such as the Pacific Islands and South Asia.

These gaps are as much economic issues as they are social. Every individual left offline has limited access to services or opportunities for economic participation. Closing the mobile connectivity gap by 2030 is expected to add $230 billion to the developing APAC economy. And GDP is only part of the story. Universal connectivity would also accelerate progress on poverty reduction, education, healthcare access, financial inclusion, disaster response and environmental sustainability. For many people, particularly in remote regions, connectivity increasingly determines whether essential services and economic opportunities are within reach.

What needs to be done?
The study demonstrates there is a strong economic case for closing the digital divide, but doing so requires coordinated policy reform, investment and implementation.

Countries in developing APAC have made substantial progress to bring more than half a billion people online in the past five years. By 2030, it is expected more than three quarters of adults will be using 4G or 5G mobile internet. To connect the remaining offline populations will require a total investment of $316 billion. The private sector is expected to generate $132 billion of investment, which means there is an investment gap of $184 billion.

At first glance the figure appears daunting. However, the composition of the gap tells a more encouraging story.

More than half of the investment gap relates to improving device affordability and digital skills. In other words, the largest barriers are not engineering challenges but rather policy, financing and development challenges. This calls for holistic multi-stakeholder strategies which look beyond network rollout and address the conditions enabling people to adopt and meaningfully use digital services.

Historically, connectivity strategies and universal service funds have often focused on infrastructure expansion. While infrastructure remains important, particularly in underserved rural areas, a more balanced approach is needed to address affordability and adoption barriers directly. Supporting device financing schemes, reducing sector-specific taxes, reforming universal service funds and investing in digital literacy programmes will generate far greater returns than traditional approaches alone. Importantly, these policies also help crowd in private investment rather than replace it.

From connected to digital nations
Over the next decade, governments across developing Asia Pacific are increasingly expected to focus on AI, digital public infrastructure and national digital transformation strategies. These ambitions are well founded, but they all rest on a common foundation: affordable, safe, meaningful and inclusive connectivity.

Without universal access and adoption, the benefits of AI and digital transformation risk being concentrated among those already connected, further widening existing inequalities.

The good news is developing APAC has already solved much of the challenge. With 98% 4G network coverage, the region has built an extraordinary platform for digital inclusion. The task now is to ensure everyone can actually use it. The next phase of digital inclusion will, therefore, not be defined by network coverage alone. It will be shaped by affordability, skills, trust, accessibility and relevance. Closing these gaps may prove to be one of the most important development challenges and opportunities of the next decade.

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.

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Chipmaker Qualcomm reportedly will cut an undetermined number of jobs following recent annual employee reviews, with impacted staff set to be alerted next month.

Reuters reported CEO ​Cristiano Amon (pictured) sent out a memo outlining the cuts were part of a plan to create “a stronger performance culture” and address areas where the company “has consistently fallen short of expectations”.

The news agency noted the memo did not disclose how many employees will lose their jobs but stated it had roughly 52,000 employees globally, most of them full time, as of September 2025.

While Amon has made a concerted effort to branch the company’s products beyond phone chips, Qualcomm has battled against the impact of a worldwide memory supply crunch.

For fiscal Q3, it posted revenue of $9.9 billion for the quarter ended 28 June, down 4% from $10.4 billion a year earlier while net income during the period was $2 billion, for a 25% year-on-year decrease.

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PHY Wireless and Ubiik teamed up to combine private LTE and 5G connectivity with device-based positioning, offering enterprise and industrial users a 3GPP standards-based alternative to proprietary location systems.

The collaboration combines Ubiik’s private LTE and 5G infrastructure with PHY Wireless’ hellaPHY technology, enabling enterprises, utilities, hospitals, and campuses to run communications and location services on a single network.

Potential applications include tracking assets, vehicles and equipment, improving worker safety and supporting physical AI deployments.

The companies explained GPS and Wi-Fi positioning can struggle in warehouses, containers and factories and may increase battery consumption. HellaPHY calculates location on the device rather than in the cloud, allowing devices to determine when an update is required.

This approach apparently reduces network traffic, data costs and power use, while enhancing privacy.

Because the system operates over standard LTE and 5G, customers could add positioning capabilities to existing private networks rather than deploy separate infrastructure, which the companies said would reduce deployment costs and simplify operations.

The pair also claimed the technology provides metre-level accuracy and can cut device power consumption by up to 10 times compared with alternative approaches. This aligns with emerging 5G-Advanced, eRedCap and 6G sensing standards.

PHY Wireless CEO Tom Horgan said organisations pursuing physical AI and automation require location technology that can scale across thousands of devices at a manageable cost. He stated location awareness is becoming a foundational capability for next-generation enterprise and industrial applications.

Ubiik CEO TH Peng added the collaboration demonstrated how the company could adapt its private LTE platform to incorporate new technology and support changing customer requirements.

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T-Mobile US is testing AI to allocate radio resources on its 5G-Advanced network, with Ericsson trial results showing the biggest gains during peak traffic.

The operator is trialling AI-Managed Beamforming on live commercial traffic at scale. Chief network officer Ankur Kapoor (pictured) outlined the results in a blog post. The work focuses on sounding reference signals (SRS), short transmissions from phones that help the network measure the path between a device and a cell site and direct beams more accurately.

Due to those resources being limited, they have traditionally been allocated under fixed rules. T-Mobile instead uses a supervised-learning model trained on its network data and running on Ericsson’s RAN compute and silicon to predict where demand is rising and redirect resources accordingly.

Kapoor explained training the model on T-Mobile’s data gives it an advantage on the operator’s network over networks which do not contribute their own tuning data.

The results came from newly activated sites in New York City, but the blog did not say how many were included or give a baseline for the trial.

T-Mobile reported the biggest gains during peak hours, including about a 50% increase in advanced beamforming using full-band SRS, a 16% improvement in downlink user throughput, 12% better spectral efficiency and a 10% increase in downlink data volume.

In May, the companies reported close to 10% better spectral efficiency from a separate AI-native scheduler with link adaptation on live traffic.

Kapoor said the technology suits T-Mobile’s network because beamforming works particularly well in TDD spectrum, where uplink and downlink share the same band, and the operator has a leading position in midband TDD.

He linked the trial to rising network demand, citing Ericsson’s June 2026 Mobility Report, which reported global mobile data traffic growth of 22% year-on-year. Video accounted for about 75% of traffic and 5G subscriptions topped 3.1 billion.

Jaco du Plooy, SVP and head of the T-Mobile customer unit at Ericsson Americas, stated the trial marked another step toward networks which respond more intelligently to demand, enabled by Ericsson’s silicon.

Kapoor said 6G networks will need to sense, learn and respond to support applications such as distributed AI, robotics, vision AI and other forms of physical AI, describing T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G-Advanced network as its proving ground.

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Veon agreed a deal to acquire Uzbekistan mobile operator Perfectum for around $207 million, in a move designed to boost its spectrum holdings and accelerate 5G deployment in the country.

The group stated it had reached an agreement to buy 100% of Rubicon Wireless, which operates under the Perfectum brand. The deal includes around $93 million in existing Perfectum debt. Completion is expected by the end of the month, with regulatory approvals already secured.

The acquisition brings fresh spectrum and network infrastructure into Veon’s regional telecoms business, Beeline Uzbekistan. Perfectum holds 115MHz of spectrum across the 850MHz and 3,800MHz bands, alongside network equipment and a standalone 5G network deployed using Nokia technology.

Veon said the acquisition would increase Beeline Uzbekistan’s spectrum holdings by around 50%, giving the operator additional resources to expand network capacity and support future 5G and fixed wireless access services.

The companies also anticipate expenditure savings and improved “efficiency of future network investment” from integrating Perfectum’s network with Beeline Uzbekistan’s existing infrastructure.

The deal adds to Veon’s investments in Uzbekistan, a market of nearly 40 million people where demand for connectivity and digital services is apparently booming. The group said the combined assets would enable broader access to broadband to support mounting demand for financial services, digital applications and sovereign AI across the country.

“Uzbekistan is one of Veon’s core growth markets, and this acquisition reflects our confidence in its digital future,” noted Veon group CEO Kaan Terzioglu, adding the company aims to turn the deal into “stronger customer experiences, more efficient network investment and sustainable growth”.

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Nokia agreed a deal with SoftBank Corp to conduct an AI-RAN field trial in commercial traffic conditions in 2027, progressing efforts to validate the technology.

The Finnish vendor stated the trial in Japan would be an important step in SoftBank’s AI-RAN ambitions by assessing the approach in a live network environment.

For Nokia, the trial also advances its AI-RAN commercialisation roadmap by shifting the technology from laboratory development to real-world deployment.

Nokia explained it will combine its AI-native anyRAN cloud RAN software on SoftBank’s core AI-RAN platform AITRAS, along with Nvidia’s ARC platform.

Through a combination of the platforms, Nokia stated AI-RAN would bring radio and AI workloads on to a common platform, helping operators “improve infrastructure utilisation, acceleration innovation and unlock new revenue opportunities”.

Nokia and SoftBank already have an AI-RAN deal in place, backed by an Nvidia accelerated computing node.

SoftBank SVP and CTO Ryuji Wakikawa said the trial is a significant milestone in the transition of AI-RAN from concept to execution.

“We are excited to begin this next phase of validation with Nokia, paving the way for a new era of networks that can deliver both connectivity and AI services.”

Pallavi Mahajan, chief technology and AI officer at Nokia, pointed to the potential for AI-RAN to “unlock new levels of spectral efficiency while providing the distributed intelligence needed to support physical AI”.

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Ericsson unveiled extended partnerships with Singtel and Telstra in two of several announcements made this week based on developing advanced network technologies and automation.

Its latest move with Singtel is a five-year pact based around advancing 5G capabilities in Singapore and accelerating adoption of AI-native applications, expanding a collaboration announced in March.

The vendor explained the latest deal establishes a longer roadmap on scaling 5G-Advanced and enabling new AI capabilities for industries.

On the latter, Singtel CEO Ng Tian Chong noted “as AI becomes more embedded in how we live and work, networks will need to support far more complex applications, from autonomous machines and real-time analytics to the AI tools people use every day”.

The Singtel agreement announced today (20 October) comes a day after Ericsson hosted the signing of a “trusted technology” declaration by officials at its headquarters during a Singaporean state visit to Sweden.

To coincide with the state visit, the vendor revealed researchers from Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore would be part of a 6G research group being co-ordinated by Ericsson.

The project is set to kick off next month to explore how new positioning technologies using AI and 6G can “catalyse safe, secure and reliable autonomous systems” with an eye to delivering applications in sectors including healthcare, transport, manufacturing, logistics and emergency services.

Telstra
Ericsson announced an extended collaboration with Telstra on autonomous networks, building on an agreement inked in October 2025.

The vendor noted initial work by the pair covered establishing a framework for exploring “business-driven use cases” while the next phase will focus on “the knowledge, trust and governance foundations needed to support the next stages of network autonomy”.

As part of this, the two will lead a working group with the aim of publishing outcomes and supporting “wider industry influence and adoption”.

Telstra chief architect Mark Sanders said “autonomous networks require more than the automation of individual tasks. They depend on a shared understanding of what the network is, what it is expected to do and how much confidence can be placed in the knowledge supporting each decision”.

“By working with Ericsson on common approaches to knowledge and trusted agency, we can help address these foundational challenges and contribute to the industry’s progress towards more interoperable and dependable network autonomy.”

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Telefonica demonstrated the military capabilities of its 5G infrastructure during an unmanned drone and vehicle exercise, one of the first moves it is making in a collaboration with Portuguese telecoms player NOS Comunicacoes.

The companies combined their 5G technologies during the Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems demonstration. Telefonica stated the work proved the ability to provide fresh services and uses of the pair’s infrastructure.

Telefonica and NOS Comunicacoes formalised their partnership during the event with the signing of a memorandum of understanding covering joint development of future connectivity set-ups, secure communications and digital services.

Defence and security uses are foremost in the companies’ focus. NOS Comunicacoes board member Joao Ricardo Moreira said a changing security and defence “landscape requires digital infrastructure capable of operating in a coordinated manner across national borders”.

As such, network interoperability is one of the key areas the companies agreed to explore.

Also on the table is work involving edge computing, AI, 5G and fresh architectures. Telefonica stated there would also be a focus on how the technologies integrate with “command-and-control systems, autonomous platforms and other emerging technologies”.

It took the companies a year to hammer out the details of their collaboration.

Telefonica Espana director of defence and security Javier Lopez Gutierrez said the work holds the potential to boost European sovereignty and thanked the Spanish and Portuguese navies for providing the “operational environment” to test and evaluate the technologies involved.

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Globalstar secured US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for its next-generation C-3 satellite system as Amazon prepares to acquire the company.

The FCC granted nationwide authority to operate the system, which is designed to connect hundreds of millions of mobile devices in the US, including through direct-to-device (D2D) links to smartphones. The order also covers ground station antennas in Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

The approval strengthens the regulatory position of an asset central to Amazon’s effort to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink for D2D services.

C-3 will comprise 48 low Earth orbit birds at an altitude of 1,414 kilometres, along with six in-orbit spares and about 90 six-metre ground antennas worldwide. MDA Space is building the satellites in Canada, while control centres in Toulouse, France and at Globalstar’s Louisiana headquarters will oversee operations. France filed the system’s notification with the ITU.

CEO Paul Jacobs described the approval as a key step in improving the capacity, performance and flexibility of Globalstar’s services. Regulatory affairs chief Barbee Ponder said it concluded a multi-year licensing process with the FCC’s Space Bureau.

In April, Amazon agreed to acquire the satellite company for $11.6 billion as part of a push to add D2D services to its Amazon Leo constellation. The deal is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approval and Globalstar meeting specified satellite milestones.

In July, Amazon Leo applied to the FCC in July for permission to deploy up to 5,105 satellites for direct-to-device services.

As of October, Amazon communications manager Zack Brown said the company had 396 LEO satellites in orbit and had built more than 1,000 at its 172,000-square-foot production facility in Kirkland, Washington.

Apple is a long-term Globalstar partner and has invested more than $1 billion in the company. Globalstar’s existing fleet supports iPhone satellite features including emergency texting, messaging, roadside assistance and location sharing.

Amazon also signed a separate agreement to provide satellite connectivity for current and future iPhones and Apple Watches, and committed to maintaining those services.

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