The operator initiated the purchase from private equity investors in October, explaining Skaylink would bring expertise in cloud deployments using Microsoft and AWS.

Vodafone stated completing the deal will speed its growth in fields spanning professional and managed services, and cloud and security.

Skaylink is based in Germany, though Vodafone noted the company’s operations span Europe as a whole.

Vodafone is keen to shore up its role in Europe’s cloud market, which figures issued by Synergy Research Group in July show is dominated by big names including Microsoft, AWS and Google.

The research company stated European cloud players’ market share had stood at around 15 per cent since 2022, with SAP and Deutsche Telekom topping the list of local providers.

Synergy Research Group estimated cloud infrastructure service revenue in the region hit €36 billion in the opening half of the year and predicted annual growth would be around 24 per cent year-on-year.

When Vodafone originally detailed its move, it noted Skaylink has a staff of around 500 and targeted a completion date of end-March 2026.

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The Vodafone Enhanced Power initiative targets critical online services and public safety sectors, and was developed to maintain mobile connectivity for vital services during any major outages. The programme involves updates to 10,000 sites across Europe.

Vodafone stated a major power outage across Portugal, Spain and parts of France earlier this year prompted an acceleration in the initiative’s timeline.

The European element is scheduled to take two years to complete.

Capital
Vodafone stated the set-up uses existing temporary backup systems and software-based approaches employing AI to “predict, control and conserve” reserve resources. The initiative tweaks power supplies depending on the severity and scale of any outage.

Outages affecting ten or fewer mobile sites will continue to be handled using Cells on Wheels alongside Vodafone’s existing emergency response network system providing free Wi-Fi and phone charging points. It has been used 28 times globally since launch in 2012.

An adaptive power reserve is on hand for larger outages: the system uses AI to adjust battery backup times, “potentially doubling it in certain scenarios”. The arrangement is in use in Greece and on trial in Turkey, with other nations to be added in 2026.

The AI is used to predict outages and optimise power consumption, an approach Vodafone stated would “help mitigate the intensive capital outlay required” to deploy additional batteries.

Vodafone’s resilience initiative is also relying on backup power supplies at 400 mobile data centres and large backbone sites throughout Europe, and ensuring network junctions have a four-hour battery backup option.

Its Vodacom business in Africa is also employing AI to overcome power problems, with approaches involving renewable energy sources and optimising the load placed on generators.

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Mohammed Alyafei, Enterprise Business Unit Director, discusses how Vodafone is transforming connectivity and digital experience and contributing to Qatar National Vision 2030.

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The companies stated the sale would position FiberPass to meet growing demand for FTTH services, boosting the quality and availability for consumer and business customers.

Proposed terms would see Telefonica retain control of FiberPass, with its stake reducing from 63 per cent to 55 per cent. Vodafone Spain’s holding would fall from 37 per cent to 5 per cent, with AXA IM Alts to then hold 40 per cent.

Telefonica noted 30 per cent of its remaining stake would be held by its Spanish division and 25 per cent its infrastructure unit.

Vodafone Spain and Telefonica launched FiberPass in March. It currently passes 3.7 million premises and is used by 1.4 million of the operators’ customers.

Financial institutions BBVA and Barclays advised Vodafone Spain and Telefonica Espana, with Rothschild & Co acting for AXA IM Alts.

Mark Gilligan, head of infrastructure at AXA IM Alts, said the company first invested in FTTH operations in 2018 and provides a service in France which passes 7 million homes.

“Fibre-to-the-home is central to our digital infrastructure strategy,” he said, highlighting demand is growing due to streaming and remote working, along with IoT uses.

He said the FiberPass deal is “a rare opportunity to scale in one of Europe’s most advanced FTTH markets and within a sector that is estimated to nearly double to $110 billion globally by 2030”.

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During our digital Unwrapped week Sasha spoke to Luke Ibbetson, Head of Group R&D, Vodafone Group, about the company’s big satellite ambitions and tieup with AST SpaceMobile.

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Ibbetson told Mobile World Live Vodafone’s aims for direct-to-device (D2D) in particular was to deliver a service that complemented its terrestrial network and give it the ability to “provide proper, full broadband to customers” wherever they are.

“We didn’t want something from the beginning that would just provide emergency messaging when somebody is stuck up a hillside. We wanted something that would be able to augment our terrestrial network assets in a very seamless way, fill in the blanks and give our customers the security of having that full fat feeling of broadband in their hands, wherever they are.”

The Vodafone executive admitted that after many years of looking at different satellite technologies, it would only be able to fulfil its mission if a company had a massive beamforming in space.

Until recently, that wasn’t something it could see happening. However, when it started to look at AST SpaceMobile’s design, architecture and a vision to put giant antenna arrays in space, it saw an opportunity.

“It wasn’t because we were picking a winner from all the number of different satellite companies that are out there now that weren’t out there. We simply saw a great opportunity to use some very, very, clever emerging technology.”

Tricky timescales
Ibbetson’s comments come a week after the pair’s joint venture outlined plans to form a Europe-led satellite constellation which will include a command switch to support sovereignty.

Ibbetson admitted he was somewhat surprised by how much interest there is in the concept of sovereignty, while acknowledging its growing importance.

“If you’re a European stakeholder, you want to have assurances to know who’s got their hands on the controls.”

With plans for SatCo to roll out services in 2026, Ibbetson said this was still the aim but admitted “timescales are tricky” given the complexity of satellite launches in general.

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In its results statement for the six months to end-September, the executive noted “good strategic progress” in the period, with operational improvements across the business.

Discussing its ongoing transformation she noted “Vodafone has built broad-based momentum. In the second quarter we saw service revenue accelerating, with good performances in the UK, Turkiye and Africa, and a return to top-line growth in Germany”.

Although highlighting there was more to do, Della Valle indicated it had made broad improvements, citing the expansion of customer satisfaction initiatives and a “fast start” to integrating network assets with those from 3 UK, following the completion of a merger at the end of May 2025.

“Based on our stronger performance, we are now expecting to deliver at the upper end of our [annual] guidance range for both profit and cash flow,” she added, noting the company was “introducing a new progressive dividend policy”.

For the period, revenue was up 7.3 per cent year-on-year to €19.6 billion.

Operating profit was down by 9.2 per cent to €2.2 billion. Vodafone noted growth in adjusted EBITDaL had been offset by higher depreciation and amortisation following the consolidation of 3 UK, and lower other income.

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As part of the plans, the duo have selected Germany as the location for a main Satellite Operations Centre, located near either Munich or Hannover depending on final negotiations.

The centre will be used to allocate and map satellite connectivity used by SatCo to serve operators across Europe.

In addition to commercial mobile broadband services, the planned EU constellation will support public protection and disaster relief efforts through providing connectivity from space to smartphones and other devices, “even in the most dangerous and challenging environments”.

A filing has been made with the ITU through Germany to register a new mid-band satellite constellation.

The command switch feature is designed to support all telemetry, tracking and control encryption keys for S-band, which is used to connect smartphones from space. It will also aid the Q/V band that can provide links between satellite and earth stations.

The feature allows for the modification of service encryption keys for communications across the continent and manages the activation, deactivation and direction of satellite beams in Europe.

Embedded in Europe
Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile unveiled the SatCo joint venture at MWC Barcelona 2025, a jointly owned satellite business to serve MNOs in Europe.

In June, it fleshed out plans to roll out commercial services in 2026, with operators in 21 European Member states showing interest in the proposition.

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group CEO, said by establishing a satellite constellation in the EU and a command centre in Germany, “we are ensuring the next frontier of communications infrastructure is firmly embedded in Europe”.

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Planned for commercial launch in 2026 following integration and testing, the collaboration will utilise Iridium’s 66 LEO birds, enabling Vodafone IoT customers to connect devices for data messaging, tracking and real-time monitoring.

Customers can use the service across IoT, automotive and industrial devices, which are critical for connectivity in remote areas including windfarms and oil pipelines.

The partnership aligns with broader industry trends in NTN, which are increasingly vital for sectors like telecommunications, transportation, maritime, and emergency services.

Vodafone IoT CEO Erik Brenneis stated the partnership “marks a significant step in our mission to connect everything, everywhere”.

Financial terms and the length of the partnership were not available.

Iridium was founded in 1987 and joined 3GPP in 2023.

Iridium is banking on a 3GPP-based approach for direct-to-device communications because it makes use of its existing assets and industry standard chipsets. Iridium’s network operates on globally coordinated L-band spectrum

Planned for launch next year, NTN Direct will enable smartphone companies, OEMs, chipmakers, mobile operators and IoT developers which use 3GPP standard-based technologies to connect with Iridium’s existing network of satellites.

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Rob Soni, VP of RAN technology with AT&T (pictured, second from left), and Thomas Lips, SVP of RAN disaggregation and enablement at Deutsche Telekom (pictured, far left), broadly agreed the open RAN movement is progressing to the next level and changing the game for operators.

AT&T just made a big step forward by placing a live call over the network it is deploying in conjunction with Ericsson and 1Finity, and securing additional spectrum.

The work is “causing a shift and drift with us with respect to our competitors”, Soni said, explaining AT&T is now in a position to enable “spectrum by simply changing parameters because the radios are capable of absorbing that initial bandwidth”.

Stroll
AT&T is “no longer restricted in geography over where we place our vendors”. It can begin to consider nationwide deployments rather than just localised uses.

“What we’re seeing today is we’re out walking the talk. Everything we promised to do we’re more or less doing, but that is really through the combination of great work with our partners, with Ericsson, with Dell, with 1Finity and a variety of others.”

Lips said Deutsche Telekom is also making good on its open RAN commitments and noted the industry is already changing due to the movement.

Operators are “exchanging information about what is working or what is not working”, he said before telling Soni he thought “walk the talk was ours”.

Lips said Deutsche Telekom has the challenge of operating in multiple countries, but added an RFQ process covering 30,000 sites it intends to commence in January 2026 is likely to result in “change in the operating model” and the way it manages its networks.

Bernard Bureau, VP of wireless strategy and services at Telus (pictured, second from right) said the operator is already besting the KPIs of traditional RAN and is turning attention to how to employ RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) for tasks including “energy savings, load balancing” and other optimisation efforts.

Vodafone Group head of open RAN and Telecom Infra Project president Francisco Martin Pignatelli (pictured, far right) offered assurances the maturing of the open RAN movement does not spell the end of fresh approaches.

He explained Vodafone has not “selected all the suppliers for the radios yet” because it wants the flexibility to bring in new suppliers to cover fresh innovations, something more traditional RAN deals would not allow due to the time taken to deploy the infrastructure.

The post Deutsche Telekom, AT&T detail open RAN evolution appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The agreement covers around 3,000 sites across the Netherlands and will support the operator’s rollout of newly acquired 3.5GHz spectrum, upgrade existing infrastructure, deploy new radio equipment and enhance network performance management.

The network overhaul will handle rising data demand across the country and support new consumer, enterprise and IoT applications as the operator aims to boost capacity while hitting sustainability targets.

As part of the deal, Ericsson will supply its latest ultralight AIR 3255 Massive MIMO radio, which the vendor claims cuts energy use by up to 63 per cent and weighs 58 per cent less than its predecessor. Additional energy-saving solutions will also be deployed to streamline installation and ensure uninterrupted network performance.

Work on the project is set to begin this year and run through 2028, covering complete build and deployment services across VodafoneZiggo’s all-Ericsson network footprint.

VodafoneZiggo CTO Thomas Helbo said the agreement “marks another milestone in our mission to deliver world-class connectivity across the Netherlands,” noting the partnership will “improve performance, efficiency and capacity to support the country’s digital future”.

The post VodafoneZiggo taps Ericsson for 5G boost appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The cloud service provider is currently owned by funds managed by private equity player Waterland. It operates in Germany and other European markets.

Vodafone highlighted Skaylink’s specialisms also include digital transformation and security.

The operator explained the acquisition would boost the digital services it can provide to public sector and business customers.

Acquiring Skaylink advances Vodafone’s goals to “accelerate growth in key areas” including “security, managed services and cloud”, it stated.

Skaylink’s staff of 500 are experts in managing cloud deployments on Microsoft and AWS. Vodafone also noted capabilities in AI implementation.

In its own statement, Skaylink noted it is expanding in the private and sovereign cloud segment with bespoke offers. AI is another key focus area.

Waterland managing partner Gregor Hengst said Skaylink showed an “impressive trajectory” over the past five years, offering a “comprehensive service” in a market which was previously fragmented.

Skaylink CEO Frank Strecker backed Vodafone to maintain and expand a company he said “continuously pushes the boundaries of cloud and security technologies”.

Vodafone aims to complete the deal by end-March 2026, subject to obtaining all required regulatory approvals.

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The operator is expanding its open RAN footprint to create one of the largest networks of its type across Europe.

As part of the programme, Dell is supplying its PowerEdge XR8000 series servers, including its XR8620t and XR8720t powered by Intel Xeon 6 SoC, to support consolidated and cost-effective network infrastructure.

Vodafone will also tap into the Dell Telecom Infrastructure Automation Suite (DTIAS) to enable infrastructure management service within its open RAN architecture.

The vendor stated DTIAS is key is for automating infrastructure lifecycle management at scale, optimising performance, simplifying operations and speeding up the deployment of cloud-native, programmable networks.

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The operator warned scams are becoming more sophisticated and stated spoof calls are now part of the everyday reality for most consumers. Vodafone highlighted low international call costs and advances in IP technology as factors fuelling automated calls, which are employed in the old-fashioned pursuit of money or sensitive information including passwords.

Vodafone argued the so-called robocalls are increasingly impersonating banks or employing spoof numbers which appear legitimate but mask the origin of the call.

The operator explained AI is broadening the attack plane, bringing scams into social media and websites, making them more convincing and increasing the sophistication.

But it stated phone calls remain one of the most “financially damaging methods” scammers use.

Vodafone explained robocalls “represent a global threat to consumer trust, financial security and our collective digital wellbeing”, pointing to an estimate by Juniper Research indicating related losses could top $80 billion this year.

The operator used its warning to highlight a protection system it developed which validates incoming calls and automatically blocks suspect traffic.

Vodafone’s Global CLI Trust platform analyses inbound calls against known fraud patterns using a database of numbers from more than 100 countries. The set-up has blocked more than 300 million calls in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Romania and is set to be extended to other markets.

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The two companies are building Rapid RIC, which is a central platform for improving mobile service quality, network energy efficiency and performance for the operator’s European customers. The platform is expected to be fully operational by early 2026.

Vodafone CNO Alberto Ripepi stated the platform allows it “to focus on delivering a stronger, more reliable signal and greater network capacity while meeting our sustainability goals”.

A RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) plays a key role in open RAN by enabling third-party developers and vendors to develop new services and applications, which operators can then select as needed.

Vodafone noted rApps can be launched in weeks instead of months, cutting development time by 60 per cent to 70 per cent.

The rApps Apps will also improve signal quality, detect and fix faults automatically and reduce energy usage.

The platform will use the operator’s existing data infrastructure, primarily on Vodafone’s own dedicated and secure Google Cloud Platform (GCP) data ocean.

Vodafone stated it will use a genAI simulator to validate applications before use, “eliminating the need for a more complex digital twin or central data repository”.  

Its engineers can build apps without needing deep AI or ML expertise, thanks to a visual interface and code-generating AI.

The mobile operator plans to offer the platform and its validation tools to other telecom players.

Last week Vodafone picked Ericsson as its exclusive RAN partner across Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal.

The five-year deal included the operator using the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform to deploy a number of AI-powered rApps.

The post Vodafone rolls out rApps across Europe with Zinkworks appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In what is rapidly becoming a PR spin-war between the vendor and rival Ericsson to claim the most significant slice of Vodafone’s big Spring 6 tender, Samsung’s announcement coincided with an Ericsson statement today (14 October) that it had signed a five-year deal to be the operator’s exclusive RAN partner in three markets and maintained “major vendor” status in Germany, Romania and Egypt.

Nokia too got in on the action, stating it had “maintained” its role as a strategic Vodafone and Vodacom partner in Europe and Africa.

For Samsung, the major update was providing details on its deal with Vodafone in Germany, where it said it would serve as the operator’s “primary partner”. This arrangement also extends to other European markets, which were undisclosed. It had already announced its open RAN deal with Vodafone at the start of the month, without naming individual markets.

It added Germany was the first market to implement its open RAN offering to become one of the largest deployments in Europe. The first site is already live in Hannover, and Wismar will become the second city fully equipped with open RAN in early 2026.   

Across a five-year programme, Samsung said it would with work with Vodafone to add thousands of open RAN sites across Europe. Samsung reiterated plans to provide its vRAN offering, supporting 2G, 4G and 5G and deliver O-RAN compliant radios including massive MIMO radios.

Alberto Ripepi, chief network officer at Vodafone, said open RAN was a key pillar in its network evolution and “the next step in our journey is to extend open RAN to reach many more countries”.

The post Samsung claims primary Vodafone vendor deal in Germany appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The five-year deal also includes terms to maintain Ericsson’s major vendor status for Vodafone’s operations in Germany, Romania and Egypt.

Vodafone stated the modernisation of its RAN infrastructure and management will lay the foundation for widespread deployment of standalone 5G, as well deploying Ericsson’s open RAN compatible Massive MIMO radios and RAN compute solutions. The vendor will also use 5G-Advanced RAN software capabilities across networks in the markets.

The pan-European deal further introduces Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform and a number of AI-powered rApps, which will be deployed market-by-market to deliver automated RAN optimisation, energy efficiency and multi-vendor network management capabilities.

Germany will be the first to benefit from rApps and multi-vendor RAN management, with work beginning at the end of 2025.

Deal spree
As well as modernising network infrastructure with the latest equipment and 5G-Advanced capabilities, Alberto Ripepi, chief network officer at Vodafone said the partnership with Ericsson would lay the groundwork to capitalise on the emerging market for network APIs through venture Aduna.

“This powerful combination will allow us to expose our network capabilities to developers, spurring a wave of innovation in applications and services,” he said.

Vodafone’s deal with Ericsson follows an open RAN partnership with Samsung covering multiple European countries, announced earlier this month.

VodafoneThree also handed a large network upgrade contract to Ericsson and Nokia last month, with the Swedish vendor claiming the bulk of the deal.

The post Vodafone hands Ericsson 5-year Europe RAN deal appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In its latest pitch, Vodafone noted a network test of 6GHz spectrum on a commercial MediaTek M90 Modem fitted in a standard smartphone conducted last month moved the mobile industry closer to being able to employ the band.

Vodafone achieved peak downlink data rates of 2.5Gb/s using the 6GHz band and 5G carrier aggregation, on a smartphone operating with 200MHz bandwidth.

The configuration offered up to two-times more mobile data throughput than a 100MHz channel, with testing covering indoor and outdoor use cases. Vodafone emphasised power requirements were unchanged, a nod to concerns over increased energy usage.

European regulators face pressure from the mobile industry and Wi-Fi players over the upper 6GHz band, which each group separately covets.

Vodafone reiterated the mobile side’s argument the band is essential to future networks and European digital ambitions, estimating the 200MHz channels used deliver a more than 40 per cent cost improvement over 100MHz options “due to radio efficiencies”.

The operator flipped the script by arguing the lower 6GHz band was already allocated to the Wi-Fi sector “and remains largely unused”.

This offers regulators the option to advance a host of digital services without allocating further spectrum for Wi-Fi, Vodafone argued.

Vodafone maintained the opinion the region faces a capacity crunch if mobile operators are denied access to the upper 6GHz band, noting network processing power and capacity hikes are key to delivering smart transport, remote healthcare and other critical future services which will rely on solid WANs.

The post Vodafone makes fresh 6GHz plea appeared first on Mobile World Live.

On a panel which also featured representatives from Google Cloud, AWS and event host Ericsson, Vodafone digital and OSS engineering director Simon Norton (pictured, third from left) highlighted its first agentic AI use case was for energy cost recovery.

This application he described as “quite mundane”, but added it is “super valuable, it’s relatively straightforward to implement and it acts as one of those lighthouse projects that shows that we can do it: we can deliver value” with agentic AI, “it’s not vague promises about productivity”.

He explained “energy is a huge operational expense for our industry and it is very complex, especially when you’re working in a multi-market environment”.

The agent is able to compare bills line-by-line, and identify anomalies on tariffs and general errors.

BT senior leader AI Data and Automation in Mobile Girish Mahajan (pictured, second from left) said “success comes from well defined, well scoped use cases with clear boundaries defined. The failure often came from the overestimating of autonomous AI without having a clear role”.

He noted the outcomes from agentic AI systems can be “unpredictable”, adding in his experience “we need a reflection-based architecture and better AI-human collaboration”.

“AI agents should learn from their actions and work along with humans”.

Mahajan also argued the need for a focus on “data management and governance”, along with core automation.

Ericsson head of Product Domain Data and Analytics Hassan Iftikhar (pictured, third from right) recommended operators “focus on low risk, high impact use cases”, which he said build confidence with business owners along with “people who are actually using it”.

However, he emphasised there is also a need to prepare for a “multi-agent environment” covering policies for governance, protections, sovereignty and data itself.

On top of this, Iftikhar pointed to an interoperability requirement, stating “you can’t have a BSS agent pushing a promotion and an OSS agent pulling the network in another direction”.

Big picture
Unsurprisingly, representatives from hyperscale companies were bullish on the prospects of agentic AI.

Aeneas Dodd-Noble, field CTO and telco cloud architect at Google Cloud (pictured, second from right), pointed to the work being done on complex multi-agent systems solving “really hard problems”, but emphasised a need for flexibility.

“Have something really big to get inspired but don’t die on that hill,” he said, adding if a project “is not going to make it, learn from it”.

Dodd-Noble said there is a need to make employees “culturally aware of how to use these agents as they are going to be our new way of working and the more people get used to it the better”.

The requirement for cultural changes to embrace the emerging technology was also raised by AWS head of Operations Simplified Antonello Arpino (pictured, far right).

Experience of the technology at AWS suggests it should not “be the problem”, with a more likely challenge the cultural shift within organisation and a requirement for “champions” and the “right vision” to build success.

The post Operators, vendors reflect on early agentic AI moves appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Vodafone names Samsung as open RAN supplier

What happened: Vodafone selected Samsung as a key supplier for its large-scale open RAN deployment across multiple European markets, with the South Korean vendor set to provide its virtualised RAN (vRAN) and O-RAN-compliant radio units, with support for 2G, 4G and 5G technologies.

Why it matters: Samsung stated its latest radios will enable wide-scale open RAN adoption in European regions. By supporting diverse spectrum bands and high transmit power, their equipment will help reduce hardware costs and energy consumption while delivering high-performing shared networks. The announcement comes after Samsung was excluded from £2 billion contracts awarded by the recently merged VodafoneThree to Ericsson and Nokia last month to help support its 5G network rollout across the UK. At the time, the South Korean vendor told Mobile World Live it respected VodafoneThree’s decision to “consolidate their existing vendor relationships”. According to Sam Jackman, chief development officer at infrastructure company Shared Access, Samsung’s exclusion could have signalled “a cut back to more traditional vendors from the open-RAN model Vodafone seemed to be pursuing”. However, the latest move cements Samsung’s role in the Open-RAN rollout led by Vodafone, which, according to Justin Jwa, head of account management EMEA at Samsung Electronics, is one of the vendor’s “most strategic partners in Europe”.

Qualcomm declares full victory in Arm legal battle

What happened: Qualcomm secured a full legal victory in its long-running licensing dispute with Arm after a US district court dismissed the final remaining claim in the case.

Why it matters: The lawsuit, filed by Arm in 2022, alleged that Qualcomm and its subsidiary Nuvia breached an architecture license agreement related to CPU technology following Qualcomm’s $1.4 billion acquisition of Nuvia in 2021. The final ruling concluded Nuvia did not breach the agreement, closing the door on Arm’s request for a retrial. Qualcomm general counsel Ann Chaplin stated the ruling marks a “full and final judgment”, however Arm declared that it will file an appeal, despite the court’s position that the case is closed. Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research told Bloomberg the win clears Qualcomm to “deploy Nuvia technology across a much broader spectrum”, including PC, automotive, robotics and AI applications. However, Richard Windsor, founder of Radio Free Mobile, warned the fight is far from over as Qualcomm’s separate lawsuit accusing Arm of anti-competitive behaviour is expected to go to trial in 2026. Yet, in Windsor’s view, the biggest unintended winner of the dispute is competitor Intel, “which remains in deep trouble but is being given more breathing space as a result of two of its biggest rivals fighting each other”.

Korean giants join OpenAI Stargate effort

What happened: South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Group joined OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate initiative, securing a major role in AI infrastructure development.

Why it matters: Under the agreements, Samsung and SK Hynix will scale production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 DRAM wafers every month, which marks more than double current HBM capacity. These chips are crucial for powering the ChatGPT-maker’s advanced AI models. The companies will also explore AI data centre development in Korea, including sites outside Seoul, and deploy ChatGPT Enterprise and API capabilities internally. Market reaction to the deals was favourable as, according to Euro News, SK Hynix shares jumped by around 10 per cent and Samsung Electronics climbed more than 3 per cent, reflecting strong investor optimism. The deals also mark a significant step for Korea in establishing itself as a global AI hub. Indeed, Oliver Jay, OpenAI International MD, highlighted that with its “world-class talent, infrastructure and forward-looking government support,” the country “has all the ingredients to lead globally in AI and shape what’s next’.

The post Vodafone taps Samsung; Qualcomm scores legal win appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Unplugged campaign by Vodafone Foundation is using TikTok, YouTube and, in some nations, Instagram to connect with teenagers and provide educational content in the form of short videos, memes, background information and tips.

Recent research by Vodafone Foundation in Germany found 69 per cent of young people spend more than two hours per day on social media, playing in to broader concerns over the impact of screen time on children.

Vodafone Foundation’s research also found 29 per cent of younger users experience social media-related stress, with just more than a quarter experiencing guilt.

Lisa Felton, MD of Vodafone Foundation, said it wants to encourage European youth to “reflect on their digital habits, find balance and take care of their wellbeing”.

“Only when we use technology consciously can it truly serve our growth and potential.”

Vodafone Foundation stated the latest programme forms part of a broader youth skills initiative and digital inclusion goals. It noted a campaign conducted in 2024 reached more than 13 million.

Unplugged is set to feature local content creators and form part of Vodafone Foundation’s pan-European Kliick online support initiative.

Child safety is a growing concern across the world, with Australia working to implement a blanket ban on accessing social media, the European Union exploring the potential of an age verification app and US authorities probing the protections offered by big-name social media players.

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In a statement, the South Korean vendor noted it will deliver its virtualised RAN (vRAN) and open RAN equipment, with support across 2G, 4G and 5G, as well as O-RAN-compliant radios.

The vendor argued vRAN serves as “an optimal foundation for AI”, enabling operators to seamlessly integrate AI capabilities into their networks.

The upgraded radios and software capabilities improve energy efficiency and performance, and support RAN sharing, Samsung said.

Last month, VodafoneThree awarded eight-year contracts valued at more than £2 billion to Ericsson and Nokia to build out the newly formed UK operator’s mobile network, with Samsung not included in the 5G deployment.

Vodafone Group head of open RAN Paco Martin said last November it was in the process of finalising its open RAN tender, stating at the time the technology is already commercial and delivering for the company.

The post Vodafone names Samsung as open RAN supplier appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Nikles takes on the role immediately and will report to Vodafone IoT CEO Erik Brenneis. He is charged with scaling the unit’s operations across North, Central and South America, a region Vodafone said is central to a long-term global growth strategy.

In a statement, Brenneis highlighted Nikles’ “proven ability to build and scale international business”. He joins Vodafone six months after leaving Deutsche Telekom IoT, after serving as CEO for four years. During his time at the German operator, he led its involvement in Bridge Alliance, a global consortium focused on cross-border IoT services.

Commenting on his new role, Nikles said, “IoT is no longer just about connecting devices – it is about enabling businesses to be more competitive, innovative, and sustainable.” He added that Vodafone IoT’s “global scale, local expertise and commitment to customer success” will enable him to “unlock new opportunities and deliver real business value”.

Vodafone IoT, spun out as a standalone business from Vodafone Group in 2024, connects over 215 million devices across the world and maintains partnerships with 760 networks across 180 countries. The company has offices in the US, Germany, UK, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.

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Together, Telenor Procurement Company and Vodafone Procurement Company’s annual spend amounts to more than €26 billion and the duo stated they plan to use this budget to unlock savings by combining purchasing power and expertise across complementary geographies.

The partnership will aim to further deepen supplier and partner engagement, while boosting supply chains “amid a rapidly changing geopolitical global landscape”, read Vodafone’s statement.

There is also a shared commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices and continued promotion of high standards of environmental and social responsibility within respective supply chains.

Ninian Wilson, Vodafone’s supply chain management director and CEO of its Procure and Connect division, said the deal will “drive sustainable efficiencies and greater innovation for our customers”.

He continued: “At the same time, we will simplify engagement for our partners, reducing the administrative burden and duplication in an increasingly complex environment.”

CEO of Telenor Procurement company Thomas Skjelbred added the collaboration will enable it to expand its reach, address common challenges and “navigate a reshaped global supplier landscape driven by ongoing geopolitical and technological shifts”.

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The operator stated its modern mission-critical (MCx) system offers priority access on mobile networks, enabling communications between emergency services, public safety bodies and transportation sectors.

Vodafone emphasised police, fire brigade, medical and rescue teams can access the MCx set up on standard mobile devices. It stated it is working on adding satellite connectivity options.

A roaming capability opens the door to cross-border communications, so Vodafone showcased the system during an incident simulation event for European Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) agencies run in the Republic of Ireland.

Vodafone stated the event involved teaching PPDR groups from the UK, Iceland, Norway and Sweden how to use the latest communication techniques, along with putting interoperability and operational procedures through their paces.

European Commission departments joined the PPDR agencies in observing the simulation as part of wider goals to deliver a regional mission-critical platform.

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OpenAI scores $100B investment from Nvidia

What happened: Nvidia unveiled plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, enabling the ChatGPT-maker to build and deploy at least 10 gigawatts of AI data centres using millions of Nvidia GPUs.

Why it matters: The companies will act as preferred strategic partners, optimising hardware, software and infrastructure, while continuing to team on other projects including Stargate AI. OpenAI, one of Nvidia’s largest customers, runs most of its frontier models on the chipmaker’s GPUs, noted analyst Jack Gold. Speaking to Mobile World Live, he also flagged the lack of detail around cost and timelines of the partnership. Indeed, the scale of the deal has sparked scrutiny over market dynamics and regulatory risk. “The action will clearly fuel ‘circular’ concerns,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon told Bloomberg, referring to Nvidia’s pattern of investing in AI companies who then buy its GPUs. While she noted that Nvidia insisted the funding won’t be used for direct purchases, the move will “fuel these worries” and “raise concerns over the rationale behind the action”, adding that the OpenAI investment “appears to dwarf all the others”. Antitrust concerns are also being brought to the fore. As Nvidia controls more than half of the GPU market, becoming OpenAI’s preferred partner could lead it to potentially prioritising the ChatGPT-maker over rivals in chip access or pricing, Vanderbilt law professor Rebecca Haw Allensworth told Reuters.

VodafoneThree hands Ericsson, Nokia £2B UK contracts

What happened: VodafoneThree awarded contracts worth more than £2 billion to Ericsson and Nokia to build out the newly merged operator’s UK mobile network.

Why it matters: The eight-year long deals mark one of the UK’s largest privately funded network projects. Ericsson claimed the larger share, winning a £1 billion agreement to supply its core network and radio systems, including standalone 5G hardware. Nokia secured a “significant” slice, modernising parts of VodafoneThree’s voice core and supplying RAN equipment to roughly 7,000 sites, marking its return as a supplier for Vodafone and Three in the UK. Max Taylor, VodafoneThree CEO, said the contracts reflect a commitment to “deliver at pace,” adding that the trio are “laying the foundations for the UK’s digital future”. The deals, which follow VodafoneThree’s blockbuster merger in June, mark a blow to rival Samsung Networks. Despite previous backing from Vodafone Group, the Korean vendor was left out of the latest deal, which forms part of a wider £11 billion infrastructure push. It will instead focus on Vodafone’s upcoming Spring 6 tender covering 15 markets in Europe and Africa. The contracts come at a time when operators have largely held back on costly upgrades, Bloomberg noted. For Ericsson and Nokia, the agreements could offer a critical boost in a sluggish mobile infrastructure market.

Optus fined $66M, endures tough week

What happened: After a critical failure in its emergency call system that led to multiple deaths earlier this week, Optus was hit with a AUD100 million ($66 million) penalty for deceptive sales practices over a four-year period.

Why it matters: Optus CEO Stephen Rue stated a network upgrade caused a failure in its emergency call service after standard procedures were not followed, with no system alerts raised during the outage. Following investigation, an Australian federal court hit Optus with the record penalty over “unconscionable conduct” in selling mobile plans and devices to over 400 vulnerable customers. The case also resulted in a five-year court-enforceable undertaking requiring the operator to compensate customers and overhaul internal systems. “This wasn’t simple incompetence — it was reckless, culpable negligence,” said Phil Watt, CTO of data infrastructure and analytics company DataJPS. This is the third crisis in two years for Australia’s second-largest operator, following a mass outage in November 2023 and a major cyberattack in 2022. Former CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned in the wake of last year’s service collapse, while Rue now faces rising pressure to restore trust.

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In a short post on LinkedIn, TIP said Pignatelli (pictured, below) had been “a valued member of TIP’s board, bringing deep expertise and passion for open and disaggregated networks”.

“His leadership will help guide our community as we continue to accelerate innovation, scale deployments and shape the future of connectivity,” added TIP.

Chan was named as president in September 2024, after becoming the longest-serving member of the open RAN group’s board which she joined in 2017.

At the same time, AT&T VP of RAN technolog Rob Soni was named the successor to Santiago Tenorio as chair of the group.

Pignatelli’s most recent stint at Vodafone has lasted 13 years. He joined from Verizon, where he worked as the US operator’s technology collaboration manager for close to three years.

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The GSMA CAMARA APIs standardise access to mobile network capabilities, giving developers secure tools to build safe and compliant digital services. BT and EE, CK Hutchison Group Telecom, Virgin Media O2, and Vodafone Group launched the Age Verify and KYC Tenure APIs, offering developers secure access to mobile network data to support identity checks and regulatory compliance. A more advanced KYC Match API to cross-check customer information is also due to rollout by the end of the year.

Speaking at global API conference API Days held in London this week, operators positioned the new offerings as key tools in the fight against fraud, which cost UK consumers £11.4 billion last year. The APIs allow platforms to confirm user age and phone number history without sharing personal data, reducing friction while meeting legal requirements.

The move comes weeks after the UK’s controversial Online Safety Act came into force, ordering age verification for user-generated content across digital platforms. According to the Age Verification Providers Association, five million additional age checks are now taking place daily.

Henry Calvert, head of networks at the GSMA, noted that age assurance is just one application of mobile networks’ capabilities. “By giving developers easier, secure access to the rich network functionality of mobile networks, we can also use network intelligence in the fight against fraud and scams,” he said.

Looking ahead, the operators plan to expand their network API offerings in 2026 with a focus on identity, fraud protection and enhanced network performance using 5G infrastructure. The GSMA stated the Open Gateway programme now includes 79 operator groups representing nearly 80 per cent of global mobile connections.

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In a statement, VodafoneThree explained it had selected partners to deliver one of the UK’s largest privately funded infrastructure projects, with deals totalling more than £2 billion, as part of a wider £11 billion network investment plan.

It said Ericsson and Nokia made up the majority, but not the entirety of VodafoneThree’s network build, “which will culminate in a greater number of sites”.

In response to the news, rival vendor Samsung Networks told Mobile World Live it respected VodafoneThree’s decision to “consolidate their existing vendor relationships”.

A spokesperson added that despite missing out in the UK, it will be named as a “major” vendor in Vodafone’s Spring 6 tender, when the operator names partners for a network infrastructure upgrade covering 15 countries across Europe and Africa “sometime in October”.

“This development allows us to support Vodafone’s Open RAN deployment at scale across Europe,” added Samsung.

Majority and Significant
Ericsson released its own announcement stating it would power “the majority of VodafoneThree’s next-generation UK network,” in an SEK12.5 billion deal (£1 billion).

As part of an eight-year agreement, Ericsson will be tasked with supplying its entire core network, as well as radio system products and software solutions to power a significant majority of the operator’s enhanced radio network.

Ericsson added it had secured a primary vendor partnership status, allowing it to deploy 5G standalone network hardware and its technology would exclusively cover four UK capitals: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

Nokia meanwhile described its share of the award as “significant”, in a move which marks its return as a supplier for Vodafone and Three in the UK.

The Finnish vendor also secured an eight-year deal, supplying equipment from its RAN portfolio to approximately 7,000 sites in the UK and modernise a part of VodafoneThree’s voice core.

VodafoneThree CEO Max Taylor said the company is making good on a promise to “deliver at pace” just a few months into its merger, completed in June.

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The operator estimates switching off the legacy network and reallocating the low-band spectrum it uses will lead to capacity gains of around 10 per cent for 4G and 5G.

Rival Deutsche Telekom was the first in the market to announce its 2G sunset and is working to a target of June 2028.

In its statement, Vodafone positioned the move as a positive for users, emphasising it would ensure rural areas currently only covered by 2G would have access to newer technologies by its switch-off date.

The stay of execution for IoT was primarily implemented for “critical” applications reliant on the network to “ensure smooth transition”.

It added there are “many new technologies on the market that support older IoT devices”, citing energy meters as an example.

“By 2030, the share of such solutions using machine networks such as CAT-M and NB-IoT will grow sharply”, Vodafone stated, adding the technologies are “predestined for IoT services because they have more power and capacity than older technologies”.

“With 5G RedCap, a new, particularly energy-efficient IoT technology based on 5G is also in the starting blocks.”

Vehicle calling
Alongside announcing the 2G sunset timeline, Vodafone detailed a plan to launch Next Generation Emergency Call (NG eCall) for vehicles in January 2026.

It is the successor to a system reliant on 2G and uses 4G to make a voice call in the event of an accident.

The system is set to become mandatory for new vehicles in Europe from 2027, with operator networks and emergency call centres required to support it in 2026.

Vodafone Germany CTO Tanja Richter said the system could allow emergency services to “receive a comprehensive overview of the accident situation more quickly than before” to “initiate rescue measures in an even more targeted manner”.

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