In the second of our special podcast series focused on Digital Industries, MWL‘s Chris Donkin delves into the operational realities of deploying private networks alongside experts from Druid Software, Boldyn Networks and Vodafone Business.

0:00 Meet the Panel
3:00 What’s Taking Off
12:00 4G or 5G?
21:00 The Messy Reality
28:00 Beyond the POC
35:00 Q&A and the Future

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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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Dell’Oro Group reported worldwide telecom capex rose 5% year-on-year in the first half of the year, exceeding expectations following several years of declining investments.

Despite the promising start to the year, Dell’Oro’s long-term outlook remained largely unchanged by forecasting telecom capex growth of up to 1% CAGR through 2030.

Telecom equipment performance continued to closely mirror capex trends. Combined vendor revenue from the six telecom equipment segments monitored by Dell’Oro, comprised of Broadband Access, Microwave Transmission, Optical Transport, Mobile Core Network (MCN), Radio Access Network (RAN), and High-End Router & Aggregation, also increased by about 5% over the same timeframe.

Dell’Oro VP Stefan Pongratz explained operators have greater capacity following the 5G and fibre investment cycles and are gradually redirecting spending from coverage to capacity, modernisation, automation and efficiency.

“At the same time, improving operator revenues are helping to reduce capital intensity ratios even as network investments remain flat,” he stated.

Capital intensity, which peaked at 18% in 2022, is forecast to decline to around 14% in 2028, ahead of increasing slightly as early 6G investment starts.

Overall, telecom equipment revenue is projected to grow at a 2% to 3% CAGR between 2025 and 2030, outpacing CSP capex, partly due to incremental demand from cloud providers.

The post Worldwide telecom capex surges in first half of 2026 appeared first on Mobile World Live.

AT&T, Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are creating a fibre joint venture (JV) by combining the Forged Fiber 37 and Gigapower assets, in a boost to the operator’s goal of providing connectivity to more than 60 million locations by 2030.

The JV will operate as a wholesale fibre commercial open access company. The operator stated it will utilise AT&T’s fibre assets and investor capital to expand fibre and 5G services across 16 states, enhancing customer experience with converged connectivity. The JV is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Forged Fiber 37 is a wholly owned subsidiary created by AT&T to house the mass-markets fibre business, customer relationships, network assets, and build engine which AT&T acquired from Lumen Technologies.

Global Infrastructure Partners is a subsidiary of Black Rock. AT&T and Black Rock formed Gigapower, a wholesale open-access fibre network JV, in 2022.

AT&T will retain 50% ownership of the JV while GIP and CPP Investments will collectively hold the remaining stake.

AT&T CEO John Stankey is bullish on the convergence of fibre broadband and 5G services and has long held wherever it has fibre deployed “it wins”.

Stankey stated fibre is essential in an AI-driven world as demand for symmetrical, high-capacity and low-latency connectivity grows. He added the offering will extend reliable, high-speed fibre to more US consumers, increase AT&T’s scale and service reach and strengthen its position in converged fibre and 5G connectivity.

Last month the operator announced a multi-year fibre and cable deal valued at more than $3 billion with glass-specialist Corning to advance its converged strategy of mobile and broadband services.

The post AT&T forges fibre JV to expand reach across US appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The GSMA lined up the board which will guide the organisation through key decisions around 6G, satellite connectivity and spectrum, with six new companies represented and fresh faces at some existing members.

Its overall board remains at 26 members, though the company representation is shifted with Axiata Group; Millicom; NTT Docomo; Ooredoo Group; stc; and Telstra joining the ranks.

By contrast, Ethio Telecom; KDDI; KT; Telenor; TIM; and Veon are not among the names of the next board.

Companies remaining on board but with different representatives comprise AT&T; China Telecom; China Unicom; China Mobile; Deutsche Telekom; e&; Globe Telecom; and Telefonica.

America Movil; Bharti Airtel; BT Group, Liberty Global; MTN Group; Orange; Reliance Jio; Personal (previously Telecom Argentina); Turkcell; Verizon; and Vodafone Group continue with the same representatives.

GSMA director general Vivek Badrinath rounds the board out.

The technical developments scheduled for the next board’s tenure include setting initial 6G standards, establishing regulatory frameworks for satellite and NTN communications, and spectrum allocations. The ITU’s WRC-27 is scheduled to take place in October and November 2027.

A key focus for the GSMA’s next board is the impact of AI on the mobile sector. Current chair Gopal Vittal said the technology and “open digital platforms” are opportunities to “create significant economic and societal value”, which the organisation would work to unlock.

Vittal is keen to see a continued focus on “digital safety and trust”, along with tackling connectivity and usage gaps.

The post GSMA readies board for AI, 6G eras appeared first on Mobile World Live.

US broadband vendor Inseego completed its deal to buy Nokia’s fixed wireless access (FWA) CPE business, in a move it expects will roughly double its revenue.

By adding indoor, outdoor and mmWave FWA technologies to its wireless broadband portfolio, Inseego stated it now has a global presence across consumer and business connectivity.

Its footprint for operators now includes Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, while also expanding its engineering capabilities.

To support its global ambition, Inseego established an international headquarters in Amsterdam, a development centre in Athens, Greece, expanded its presence in Bangalore, India, and added customer-facing sales and technical resources across its new markets.

“We now have the scale, technology, and global reach to support carriers across business, residential, and mobile use cases,” Inseego CEO Juho Sarvikas said.

The deal, announced in April, grants Nokia approximately 1.9 million common shares, representing an 11% ownership stake in Inseego

The Finnish vendor also received warrants to purchase up to 800,000 shares of common stock, at an exercise price of $4.26 per share.

Nokia will also kick in a further $10 million cash payment by 15 October to support engineering work on interoperability between Inseego’s device operating system and cloud platform and certain Nokia technology ecosystems over the coming year.

Nokia will provide transition support and refer new FWA opportunities to Inseego.

About 250 people from the acquired business will support Inseego’s engineering, product management, supply chain, sourcing and customer support operations. They include employees joining Inseego and Nokia personnel providing support under a transition services agreement.

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Infineon officially opened a $1.4 billion facility in Thailand, a move it pitched as strengthening and diversifying its manufacturing footprint while adding capacity for further growth.

The semiconductor company stated the new backend manufacturing hub was strategically located in the heart of Southeast Asia, reinforcing its ability to serve customers worldwide at a time when demand continues to grow, “driven by digitalisation, electrification and energy transition”.

It has been designed for a phased expansion, with the potential to scale up to five modules, meaning it could become one of the company’s largest backend manufacturing sites over time.  

The site will initially open with 30,000sqm of cleanroom space, which can be expanded to 150,000sqm.

Infineon has initially made an investment of $113 million into the site, while the Thailand Board of Investment stated the entire project is worth $1.4 billion.

In total, the site will create 1,000 highly skilled roles, starting with an initial 350 jobs.

The move complements a wider semiconductor drive, with the country aiming to secure around $18 billion in investment within the sector across photonics, power electronics and sensors.

Alexander Gorski, COO at Infineon, said the company was establishing a new hub in the region, which was “surrounded by a fast-growing ecosystem and with excellent access to global logistics”.

Infineon adds Thailand to its global manufacturing footprint, consisting of 13 locations across US, Europe, China and Southeast Asia.

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T-Mobile US, Verizon and AT&T sealed their joint venture (JV) to expand coverage across areas of the US that terrestrial services cannot reach, in a rare example of cooperation between the big three.

The move followed an announcement in May outlining how the operators planned to pool their spectrum resources to eliminate “dead zones” by expanding satellite coverage for customers nationwide.

Former AT&T, Cingular Wireless and Ameritech executive Paul Roth is serving as the interim CEO of the JV while a search for a permanent chief is underway. The entity will be managed by a board with representatives from each founding member.

The companies stated the JV will “nearly eliminate dead zones in the U.S. currently without mobile service, reaching previously unserved areas” to cut down on coverage gaps.

It will also be beneficial for first responders during natural disasters or other disruptions by providing connectivity when terrestrial services are down.

They claim the new service will also provide a better customer experience for direct-to-device (D2D) consumer services through the unified approach.

T-Mobile notably has launched a commercial D2D service in collaboration with SpaceX, while Verizon has rolled out a satellite messaging service with Skylo Technologies. Verizon and AT&T are also separately working with AST SpaceMobile.

AT&T Business has a partnership in place with Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Leo to provide connectivity to businesses across the US. SpaceX is also mulling a mobile service through its Starlink birds, but the industry is somewhat sceptical of its approach.

The operators stated the venture will also be a boon to additional satellite providers while also collaborating closely with rural mobile operators to expand access and simplify integration.

The service could emerge as a threat to cable operators such as Cox Communications, formerly Charter Communications, Comcast and smaller providers across rural areas which are currently losing broadband subscribers to fixed wireless access services offered by the trio.

The combined use of each operator’s spectrum will improve efficiency while enabling mobile operators to deploy new services at a faster rate.

The JV also plans to take a standards-based approach to satellite services while allowing each of the three to continue their individual efforts across the sector.

The post T-Mobile US, Verizon, AT&T satellite JV lifts off appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In the first of our special podcast series focused on digital industries, Kavit sits down with executives from Viasat, Orange Business and Ennoia Technologies to discuss the viability for satellite to become a mainstream enterprise connectivity play, exploring the economics, network challenges, and AI opportunity.

0:00 Intro
3:00 Economics of adopting satellite
6:00 Satellite business case
15:00 Enterprise network connectivity
22:00 Working with MNOs
28:00 The AI question
35:00 Audience Q&A
40:00 Five-year outlook

The post Podcast: How will satellite shake-up enterprise? appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Emergency services in Europe could soon gain access to a dedicated, universal communications system under plans lodged by the European Commission (EC).

The proposed European Union (EU) Critical Communication System would tackle concerns about limitations in current set-ups and provide resilience when terrestrial services are not available.

Police, firefighters, medical and civil protection services would be able to communicate throughout the EU. The EC proposes this element cover voice, photos and video, and would be achieved by member states shifting from narrowband systems to broadband technologies including 5G.

EU satellites would provide back-up for the land-based equipment.

There may be call for a specific device to be produced to connect to the system: the EC stated real-time communication would be provided “through a single, secure” product.

The EC explained change is needed to help emergency services tackle natural disasters, the threats drones pose to critical infrastructure and terrorist attacks.

Emergency service staff would have priority access to communications “even when the mobile network is saturated or disrupted” and the EC committed to ensure security against “cyber and hybrid attacks” by employing “encryption and a strong protocol”.

Local
An EU Network Monitoring centre is planned, offering “a secure and resilient” fibre network to connect member states, with another facility to oversee the tracking and assessment of cyber threats.

It is envisaged all elements of the EU Critical Communication System would be provided by local companies.

The EC believes the set-up could also encourage investment in critical communications at national level.

It emphasised member states would retain “full control over national networks” and offered assurances they would play a role in governing the set-up.

If approved by the European Parliament and Council, the EC would seek to begin implementing the EU Critical Communication System in 2030.

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Wilson Connectivity launched weBoost Sky, a signal booster designed to help standard smartphones connect to low Earth orbit satellites from inside moving vehicles.

The company’s CEO Bruce Lancaster told Mobile World Live it ramped up work on the product after T-Mobile US and SpaceX unveiled the T-Satellite service around the 2025 Super Bowl.

“It’s time to productise that,” he recalled telling the weBoost general manager, adding the project drew on Wilson’s earlier research into Starlink and rural connectivity.

The problem weBoost Sky is addressing is that a vehicle’s body can weaken the link between a handset and satellites hundreds of miles overhead.

It supports PCS Band-25, currently used by T-Mobile for its Starlink service. Lancaster said Wilson prioritised the band because T-Mobile and Starlink were furthest into commercial satellite deployment.

Lancaster noted compatible phones can switch between nearby terrestrial Band-25 towers and satellite coverage as needed.

weBoost Sky houses the amplifier and external antenna in a roof-mounted unit roughly the size of a double stack of playing cards. A coaxial cable connects it to a small interior antenna, while power comes through USB-C or a vehicle’s cigarette-lighter socket. The device attaches magnetically, or with an adhesive plate available for aluminium or composite roofs.

“The issue really here is an uplink,” Lancaster said. “It’s not the downlink that’s usually the limiter; it’s the uplink connectivity that’s the problem.”

Its product raises uplink power from about 200 milliwatts to 1 watt, the maximum allowed by the Federal Communications Commission for consumer signal boosters. Mounting the antenna outside the vehicle also limits interference from the roof and low-emissivity glass.

Wilson sees it appealing to forestry crews, field workers and fleets which regularly travel beyond terrestrial coverage explaining he expects the stronger uplink to make satellite messaging more reliable.

Sky went on sale on 28 September for $149.99 through weBoost’s online store, major US retail stores and specialist radio-frequency dealers.

Privately-held Wilson Connectivity, formerly Wilson Electronics, makes its hardware in St George, Utah, and operates an R&D centre in Dallas, Texas and has a location in Cambridge, UK.

The post Wilson targets D2D connectivity boost in vehicles appeared first on Mobile World Live.

AT&T agreed a multi-year fibre and cable deal valued at more than $3 billion with glass-specialist Corning to advance its converged strategy of mobile and broadband services.

AT&T CEO John Stankey has long been a proponent of fibre as the basis for the company reaching 60 million consumer and business locations by 2030.

The mobile operator achieved its goal of passing more than 30 million locations in June 2026, six months ahead of schedule.

In its most recent Q2 results, AT&T recorded 646,000 total consumer and business internet net adds, comprised of 367,000 fibre and 279,000 fixed wireless access connections, which marked a record quarter for combined fibre and fixed wireless additions.

The two companies signed a multi-year fibre agreement two years ago worth $1 billion. AT&T was also a core investor with Corning in 2022 on a new cable manufacturing facility in the state of Arizona.

Based on Ookla Speedtest data from almost 1,700 fixed internet providers in the US in the first half of 2026, lead industry analyst Mike Dano estimated AT&T and Verizon made up about 60% of the fibre Speedtest samples to lead the fibre charge.

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