The judge issued her finding yesterday (18 December) in a US federal court which stated T-Mobile’s Easy Switch programme “accessed AT&T’s protected computer systems without its authorisation”.

“T-Mobile’s unauthorised access allowed it to obtain over 100 fields of private customer data from AT&T’s servers for each affected customer and transmit that information back to T-Mobile’s servers in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act, the Comprehensive Computer DataAccess and Fraud Act, and the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act.”

The judge noted “AT&T has and will incur immediate, irreparable harm if a temporary restraining order is not issued”.

T-Mobile deployed a beta version of Easy Switch at the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix on 20 November.

Easy Switch is an AI tool which analyses current AT&T or Verizon accounts before recommending optimal T-Mobile plans.

AT&T sought a temporary restraining order to prevent T-Mobile from using the price comparison tool to access password-protected software without its permission. It implemented security measures to block the first version of Easy Access on 24 November.

After AT&T’s countermeasures, T-Mobile disabled the original Easy Switch on 26 November and replaced it with the current version.

On 5 December, T-Mobile’s counsel told AT&T it “does not intend to revert to the original version of Easy Switch”.

T-Mobile argues AT&T’s lawsuit is moot since it no longer uses the version of Easy Switch which scrapes customer data.

“The threat of harm remains despite T-Mobile’s deactivation of Easy Switch because, as T-Mobile represented on the record, it is T-Mobile’s intent to retain the ability to ‘use something very similar [to the Easy Switch tool] that does the same thing but might be tweaked a little bit differently in the future,’” the ruling stated.

The temporary restraining order will expire at the end of 28 days after it was issued unless AT&T and T-Mobile come to an agreement or by a court order.

The post Judge sides with AT&T in lawsuit against T-Mobile US appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The 40-page report stated: “The real tragedy here was the duration of the Triple Zero call outage and the failure of Optus and its contractors to deal immediately with the warning signals they received. At Optus and Nokia, the necessary processes were in place, but their requirements were not performed properly.”

Optus chair John Arthur detailed in a response to the report: “I have made it clear the Optus failures were unacceptable. The board is taking further action in relation to individual accountabilities flowing from the incident, which will extend from financial penalties through to termination in appropriate cases.”

He added sharing the report “underscores our commitment to being open” about what occurred, and it will assist the broader industry in tackling the challenges facing the sector.

The report highlighted a number of key issues. The first was “the very poor management and performance within networks [department] and its contractor Nokia. Process was not followed, and incorrect procedures were selected. Checks were inadequate, controls avoided and alerts given insufficient attention.”

It noted “there appeared to be reticence in seeking more experienced advice within networks and a focus on speed and getting the task done, rather than an emphasis on doing things properly. This behaviour must be rectified to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated.”

The second problem was at the call centre. “Instructions to operators did not recognise that they may be the first alert channel for Triple Zero difficulties.”

The review acknowledged Optus is moving part of its call centre back to Australia and operating that service locally 24/7, which it noted will improve call centre response.

The internal investigation was ordered following a failure of its emergency call network on 18 September that was linked to two deaths.

The post Optus vows accountability following outage review appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The operator noted the debentures, issued by subsidiary Vodafone Idea Telecom Infrastructure, were oversubscribed by a diverse group of investors, including non-banking financial companies, overseas portfolio investors and alternative investment funds.

CEO Abhijit Kishore stated the capital strengthens its momentum as it continues “to scale our network and enhance services”, adding the fundraising “reinforces investor confidence in our strategy and long-term vision”.

He noted it is holding discussions with banks about raising long-term debt to support capex.

The government is considering offering a moratorium on interest on its INR830 billion adjusted gross revenue (AGR) levies and reassessing its outstanding liabilities.

Vodafone Idea is the third-largest mobile player in India with 197 million subscribers at end-September, down from about 261 million in Q3 2020.

The post Vodafone Idea raises $367M to fund growth appeared first on Mobile World Live.

UPC Slovakia is one of the country’s largest providers of TV, broadband and fixed services, reaching more than 600,000 households in 80 cities. Its fibre network supports broadband speeds of up to 2.5Gbps.

The price equates to around seven times UPC Slovakia’s estimated 2025 adjusted EBITDA, Liberty Global noted in a statement on the sale.

O2 Slovakia is part of e& PPF Telecom Group. GSMA Intelligence estimated mobile connection numbers for Q3 place it as the second largest mobile operator in the market, behind Orange’s local operation.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

For Liberty Global, the move comes as it continues to review its assets. In August, CEO Mike Fries signalled the company was exploring deals, following the spin-off of Swiss operator Sunrise last year.

The post Liberty Global offloads UPC Slovakia in €95M deal appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Communications Authority approved the operator’s application to shut down its 2G network on 23 June 2026.

The company said less than 2.3 per cent of its total mobile customer base remain on its 2G network. It has started notifying affected customers to upgrade their SIM cards and, where applicable, their handsets, the operator stated.

In April, it was the first in Hong Kong to turn off its 3G service, which accounted for just 0.25 per cent of its total mobile user base.

Data from GSMA Intelligence showed the operator was the largest in Hong Kong with 8.5 million mobile connections at end-September, behind Hutchison Telephone, under the 3 Hong Kong brand, with 5.5 million, HKT with 4.8 million and SmarTone with 2.9 million.

Just over half of China Mobile HK’s mobile users are on 4G plans, with the remainder on 5G.

HKT received approval to shut down its 2G network in November 2024. SmarTone stopped its 2G offering in October 2022, while 3 Hong Kong dropped the service in September 2021.

The post China Mobile to be last in HK to end 2G service appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Chair Kim Yong-hun stated Park “is the right person to establish a foundation for sustainable growth under a new management vision”, and drive change and innovation.

Park joined the operator in 1991 and left in 2020 as an EVP.

His appointment requires approval at a regular shareholders’ meeting.

Current CEO Kim told the board in November he would not seek reappointment when his term ends.

He held the role for just more than two years.

KT established a committee to find a replacement.

The post KT names former EVP as CEO appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The connectivity infrastructure-as-a-service company stated nine of the 13 4G and 5G small cells are already active, located in busy areas of the town to boost coverage. These include the high street, historic castle and the railway station.

Freshwave emphasised the dimensions of the small cells are an important element, enabling them to be deployed swiftly using existing street furniture without ruining the town’s aesthetic.

Mobile network operator account director Neil Barnes (pictured) explained its deal with VMO2 and Surrey County Council involves providing open access infrastructure, an arrangement which “means faster rollout, less street clutter and stronger connectivity”.

“It’s a smart, efficient way to support local needs”.

The work in Guildford builds on deals which have seen Freshwave deploy 800 outdoor small cells for various operators in the UK.

VMO2 director of mobile access engineering Professor Robert Joyce said the work is part of a £700 million transformation project.

“We’re bringing faster, more reliable connectivity to busy public spaces to meet record network demand”.

Surrey County Council cabinet member Matt Furniss explained the small cell project advances a digital strategy intended to deliver “stronger local economies” and “more resilient communities”.

The post VMO2 taps Freshwave for neutral host small cells appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Through a Master Frame Agreement, stc will tap Ericsson’s latest portfolio of solutions, building on a long-standing agreement between the pair which included work to launch Saudi Arabia’s first 5G network in 2019.

The operator said it will use Ericsson’s technologies to accelerate 5G expansion and the rollout of standalone 5G, 5G-Advanced and massive MIMO.

Using standalone 5G features including network slicing, stc pointed to the potential to offer differentiated connectivity for a wide range of use cases across the consumer and enterprise segments.

Longer term, the deal is touted as being aligned to Saudi Arabia’s 2030 government vision and aims around readiness for 6G and self-optimising networks.

Stc wants to develop a “scalable, resilient and future-ready mobile network”, advancing digital inclusion and next-generation technology adoption across the Kingdom.

Abdullah Alowini, supply chain VP at stc said the agreement will help it accelerate enterprise innovation and supports an ambition to “build a globally competitive digital economy”.

Earlier this year, Ericsson deepened its commitment to Saudi Arabia by announcing Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, would be the headquarters for its Africa and Middle East operations.

The post Ericsson, stc strike deal to drive digital in Saudi Arabia appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Jung explained in a world where market conditions and the business environment are constantly changing, “inertia or sticking to old methods cannot bring about change”.

He said “management will take responsibility for failures”, referring to recent data breaches, allowing employees to “take on new challenges without fear”.

Jung was appointed CEO at end-October and noted the company is changing its core management indicator from EBITDA to return on investment capital, a measure of capital efficiency and value creation which he noted is useful for clarifying mid- to long-term competitiveness and investment priorities.

“This is a will to change the management paradigm to focus on real productivity, which goes beyond quantitative growth and determines how effectively capital has been used.”

He emphasised “we must select and focus on areas where we excel and compete at the pace of global big tech”.

Regarding a leak of SIM data earlier this year, Jung vowed to “rapidly restore customer trust” and focus on fundamental principles including quality, security and safety.

Jung unveiled a major restructure last month, dividing operations into the MNO and AI groups, with up to 30 per cent of top executives reportedly cut.

In September, the company consolidated all AI units into a single entity.

The post SKT CEO calls for bold steps to spur change appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The operator explained in a statement the Agentic Callbot is a phone response service that uses AI technology to handle even complex queries naturally by understanding customer intentions and conversation context in real time. It added agentic callbots can understand various expressions and situations and control the system on their own without prior learning through large-scale language models and knowledge retrieval.

Jung Young-hoon, head of its enterprise AI business, noted it plan to introduce additional agentic AI call centre services by using various technologies.

An upgraded version, the Agentic Callbot Pro, is scheduled to be released next year with the stated aim of accelerating enterprise customers’ digital transformation.

Going forward, LG Uplus plans to introduce an agent service that links multiple LLMs and a speech-to-speech function that processes text-to-speech, voice recognition and reasoning through real-time APIs based on OpenAI’s multimodal LLM.

Last July, the company laid out an AI growth strategy for its enterprise business, with a focus on AI data centres and on-device AI; AI platforms using smaller large language models; and AI-powered services for B2B customers.

The post LG Uplus uses OpenAI models to automate customer support appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Under the deal, Orange Money customers can generate a virtual Visa card directly through the operator’s Max it app. The card can be funded at any time from an Orange Money account and used for secure online payments on local and international websites. A physical card option is expected to follow at authorised Orange Money outlets.

The tie-up builds on existing deployments of the service in Botswana, Madagascar and Jordan, where the partnership has now been renewed. It also follows a successful new launch of the Orange Money Visa virtual card in the West African country of Cote d’Ivoire.

The partners now plan to expand the service into additional markets including Guinea, Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Orange Money CEO Thierry Millet said the tie-up “will help make Orange Money a widely accepted payment method” across the continent.

Ismahill Diaby, VP and general manager for Western and Central Francophone and Lusophone Africa at Visa noted the partnership will help “bring the advantages of the digital economy to millions of people across Africa”.

“By combining Visa’s trusted technology with Orange Money’s local reach, this partnership offers a simple, secure way for more people and small businesses to pay online – helping them participate confidently in everyday commerce,” he added.

Orange serves more than 173 million customers across 17 African countries, with 45 million active Orange Money accounts.

The post Orange Money, Visa team on Africa payments push appeared first on Mobile World Live.

CEO Mark Callander explained in a statement it has reached out to all impacted customers about the need to upgrade older devices, adding the impact on users still relying on 3G in Rural Connectivity Group network areas is likely to be minimal as 3G usage on its sites is limited.

“By retiring this legacy technology, we can focus on strengthening and expanding our 4G and 5G networks which carry the vast majority of today’s mobile traffic,” he stated.

In early 2023, 2degrees and Spark New Zealand revealed plans to turn off their 3G networks by end-2025.

But in June Spark pushed the shutdown back to end-March 2026.

More than a year ago, One New Zealand delayed the switch off of its 3G network, first scheduled for mid-2024, to coincide with the termination of 2G services at end-2025.

Data from GSMA Intelligence showed the country had just 56,400 3G connections at end-September, less than 1 per cent the total 4.5 million mobile connections.

The post 2degrees starts 3G shutdown appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The government is looking to offer a four- or five-year moratorium on the debt-laden operator’s interest on its INR830 billion ($9.2 billion) adjusted gross revenue (AGR) levies.

A committee reviewing the matter will seek input from the Department of Telecommunications and Vodafone Idea before finalising the amount due, the newspaper wrote, noting the reduction could be as much as 50 per cent.

In September, the country’s Supreme Court gave the government a green light to again review the operator’s AGR liabilities.

The government boosted its stake in the operator from 26.4 per cent to 49 per cent in April, converting INR369.5 billion of its outstanding spectrum auction liabilities to equity.

Vodafone Idea is the third-largest mobile player in India with 197 million subscribers at end-September, down from about 261 million in Q3 2020.

The post Vodafone Idea edges closer to AGR liability relief appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The operator stated Visa Pay adds swift, secure disbursement options to VNPT Money. It is initially offering a set-up using QR codes, but plans to add tap-to-pay and e-commerce in 2026.

Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos Dung Dang said the payment service “is a catalyst” for the nation’s “digital and financial inclusion journey”.

The options provided will help “uplift the economy, empower small businesses and create new opportunities for innovation”, she said.

VNPT explained its money customers benefit from greater security and a reduction in the steps needed to complete transactions. It emphasised no additional apps are required to use Visa Pay.

The service works when users are abroad, employing what VNPT stated are “competitive exchange rates and costs”.

It added the launch of Visa Pay demonstrates both companies’ commitment to “expanding access to digital financial services”, international tourism and more.

VNPT FinTech Centre director Nguyen Dang Thang said launching Visa Pay “is an important milestone” for the operator’s mobile money service, one which delivers solid progress in its trajectory “toward becoming a comprehensive digital payment platform”.

The post VNPT adds Visa Pay to mobile money service appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The network revamp included more than 2,400 wireless access points to boost coverage across the 76,125-seat stadium. Verizon Business stated the upgrade significantly enhances connectivity for fans and stadium operations.

Fans benefit from fast, reliable public Wi-Fi throughout the stadium, supporting an improved game-day experience.

Verizon Business noted the new network backbone, using a dedicated 6GHz frequency band and WPA3 security, boosts speed, reliability and security for both public and private Wi-Fi.

The network powers point-of-sale systems, surveillance, crowd management, ticketing, and sustainability initiatives.

Ahead of the 2023–2024 season, Verizon also installed 965 antennas for LTE and mmWave 5G coverage, ensuring robust connectivity for fans and staff anywhere in the stadium and parking lot tailgating areas.

It also operates the stadium’s neutral host distributed antenna system (DAS).

Verizon Business CRO Massimo Peselli stated the holistic approach “uses a mix of 5G and advanced technologies to tailor a high-performance connectivity ecosystem,  transforming both front-end and back-office functions”.

The operator has deployed mmWave, CBRS, Wi-Fi, managed private wireless, and 5G across numerous NFL stadiums.

The post Verizon boosts NFL stadium coverage with Wi-Fi 6E appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The AI-powered technology verified in the tests automatically applies optimal configurations for each user rather than for the network as a whole based on real-time wireless conditions, the companies stated.

By proactively preventing disruptions, the technology helps users avoid connectivity issues experienced in the past.

Head of KT’s Future Network Laboratory Lee Jong-Sik noted the achievement indicates AI can transform network operations around the user.

Jeong Jin-Guk, head of Samsung’s Advanced Communications Research Centre, said the demonstration is a major milestone which shows how AI can improve user experience on real-world commercial networks.

The AI-RAN technology was applied to users experiencing service disruptions in a field trial with about 18,000 participants, allowing the teams to identify recurring issue patterns and develop user-specific network configurations. The companies then compared the number of disconnections before and after applying the configurations on the commercial network, finding a significant drop in connection failures among users who had faced frequent disruptions.

Samsung is a founding member of the AI-RAN Alliance. KT is also a member.

The post KT, Samsung advance AI-RAN optimisation appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Freier previously served as the operator’s consumer group president since 2021, but he has a long history with T-Mobile.

He started his career in the telecommunications industry in 1994 with Western Wireless, which became T-Mobile in 2021, according to a recent SEC filing announcing his promotion.

Gopalan mentioned Freier’s new role during an investor conference yesterday (9 December) as part of a plan to align “the organisation behind the strategy”. He assumed the role on 5 December.

A representative for T-Mobile told Mobile World Live the restructuring also included naming Mike Katz as the company’s chief business and product officer,  leading the company’s long-term strategy and planning. His prior role was president of marketing, strategy and product.

Gopalan took over as COO on 1 March after previously serving as a member of T-Mobile’s board of directors since 2022. He replaced Mike Sievert as CEO.

It’s worth noting Sievert served as COO prior to replacing former CEO John Legere in 2020 as part of a planned succession.

The post T-Mobile US boosts Freier to COO appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The operator filed its response in a federal court on 8 December. T-Mobile stated the challenge to Easy Switch is irrelevant because it removed a function scraping AT&T customer data four days before the rival initiated its legal action.

AT&T had argued the data was being accessed to encourage customers to switch providers.

T-Mobile stated since ending the scraping, “Easy Switch has only allowed AT&T customers to upload a copy of their wireless bill or manually enter their wireless plan information”.

“AT&T does not allege that this current version of Easy Switch is unlawful or harms it, let alone irreparably so.”

T-Mobile deployed a beta version of Easy Switch at the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix on 20 November.

Easy Switch is an AI tool which analyses current AT&T or Verizon accounts before recommending optimal T-Mobile plans. It went live on 1 December.

AT&T sought a temporary restraining order to prevent T-Mobile using a price comparison tool to access secure software without permission.

It implemented security measures to block the access on 24 November.

After AT&T’s countermeasures, T-Mobile disabled the original Easy Switch for its customers on 26 November and replaced it with the current version.

On 5 December, T-Mobile’s counsel told AT&T it “does not intend to revert to the original version of Easy Switch”.

Backed down
T-Mobile’s lawyers stated it dropped the original version because of “AT&T’s dogged efforts to technologically block its customers from taking advantage of the feature and thereby impede their ability to compare the companies’ offerings”.

“These facts resolve the motion.”

“The conduct AT&T challenges is not occurring and AT&T has not objected to the operation of Easy Switch in its current form.”

An AT&T representative told Mobile World Live it appreciates T-Mobile saying it “will stop recklessly scraping customer data for now”.

“We ask that they commit, on the record, to never employing these unlawful tactics that put customers and intellectual property rights at risk again.”

The lawsuit is scheduled to move to an in-person hearing on 16 December in a US district court in the state of Texas.

The post T-Mobile US rejects AT&T switching app claims appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In a LinkedIn post, Viettel noted all sites support standalone (SA)and non-standalone 5G, with both the core and access layers entirely 5G, delivering speeds of up to 10Gb/s.

The 5G network, deployed with Ericsson, includes Viettel-developed technologies, such as 5G gNodeB base stations and the vOCS 4.0 charging system, the operator stated. Its R&D unit Viettel High Tech also developed a 5G chipset.

In a separate post, Ericsson Vietnam VP Trung Phan added Viettel is the first operator in the country to commercially deploy end-to-end SA 5G, supported by its radio system for the nationwide RAN rollout and full SA core network.

Viettel is the largest mobile player in Vietnam with nearly 79.1 million mobile connections at end-September, data from GSMA Intelligence showed. It is estimated to have 8.4 million 5G users.

It started testing 5G in parts of the country’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, using trial licences in 2019 and officially introduced the service in late 2024 along with rival VNPT.

The post Viettel 5G coverage tops 90% appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The company stated Rogers Satellite is the first D2D service offering coast-to-coast coverage of Canada and explained it would provide IoT connectivity alongside a range of consumer services.

Rogers Communications CEO Tony Staffieri said the service extends a “legacy of innovative firsts” and the company is “proud to be the first” to offer the connectivity option in Canada.

The company explained Rogers Satellite is compatible with WhatsApp, Google Maps, X, mapping service CalTopo and AccuWeather. Services can be accessed on “most modern smartphones” and it expects more apps to come as developers update their wares for non-terrestrial networks. The operator also intends to add voice and data services.

Staffieri said there was a “terrific response” from users of a beta messaging service launched in July, with more than 1 million texts sent.

Promotions mean existing customers can access Rogers Satellite for no additional cost, with non-subscribers offered a CAD15 ($10.83) per month option and some reductions on offer to those involved in the beta test.

Rogers Communications stated the IoT service also launched today (9 December), providing connectivity for services “in some of the most remote regions” of Canada.

It listed fleet and asset tracking, and automated sensors among the list of uses for the satellite IoT service.

The post Rogers commences Canadian D2D service appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Rogers Communications stated it installed 34 fresh towers in eastern Ontario since late April to boost 5G access, details released within days of Bell Canada revealing it deployed mid-band spectrum to improve access and data rates in southern areas of the region.

Various counties in eastern Ontario are covered by Rogers Communications’ expansion, which forms part of a CAD300 million ($217 million) public-private partnership to improve access in rural areas.

Rogers Communications explained it was selected to fulfil the EORN Cell Gap Project’s plan in a competitive bidding process. National and local governments, wardens and mayoral groups are to contribute CAD152 million of the total investment, with the remainder coming from the operator.

The contract involves Rogers Communications adding a total of 332 fresh cell towers in the region, comprising new builds and collocated sites. It said 222 of these are now operational.

It also upgraded 311 existing sites to be 5G-capable.

Politicians highlighted potential economic benefits from improved 5G access along with the importance of the 34 additional towers to the goal of closing coverage gaps.

Rogers Communications explained EORN’s broader mission involves fuelling economic development in eastern Ontario, with a key focus of its mobile coverage initiative on connecting Indigenous communities.

Previous EORN programmes enhanced broadband access for close to 90 per cent of the region, Rogers Communications stated.

The post Rogers improves Ontario 5G access appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Fitch Solution’s BMI unit pegged the operator’s spending on 5G infrastructure between 2022 and 2024 at PHP224.5 billion ($3.8 billion), with nationwide rollout 95 per cent completed by end-2024.

Its capital spending as a percentage of service revenue dropped to 26 per cent in the January to September period, which compares to 33 per cent a year earlier.

Meanwhile, rival PLDT also slashed capex this year to PHP60 billion from PHP78.2 billion in 2024. Its spending in 2023 fell to PHP85.1 billion from PHP96.8 billion the previous year.

Despite the reduction in network spend, Globe’s net profit for the first nine months of 2025 fell 14 per cent year-on-year to PHP17.7 billion. Return on equity slipped to 12.5 per cent at end-September compared with 15.6 per cent in the same period of 2024.

Its mobile revenue declined 2 per cent to PHP86.7 billion, with prepaid ARPU dropping 8 per cent to PHP138, down from a peak of PHP160 in late 2023.

BMI attributed the ARPU decline to subscriber base normalisation following the 2022 SIM registration requirement that removed inactive accounts.

Aggressive forecast
It believes Globe is positioned to capture growth from the Philippines’ expanding 5G subscriber base, which it predicts will jump from 31 million in 2024 to 97.2 million by 2034, while ARPU will increase 82.6 per cent over that period.

Globe ended September with 12.5 million 5G subs, behind PLDT’s mobile unit Smart Communications with 14.5 million. Dito Telecommunity had 4.3 million. Collectively, that represents just 23 per cent of the country’s mobile subscribers, with plenty of room for growth as customers replace their handsets.

Matthew Iji, director of data modelling and forecasting at GSMA Intelligence, said the SIM registration push resulted in nearly 30 million SIMs being cut from the books and increased ARPU sharply. Since then, ARPU has been slowly falling.

Iji suggested BMI’s 83 per cent ARPU growth target “seems optimistic”, while data revenue is increasing and allowing for inflation. “It’s hard to believe people will be willing and able to spend that much more on mobile services,” he added.  

Since the forecast is based on mobile, he noted Philippines operators’ focus on 5G FWA should help offset flat mobile revenue growth.

BMI stated translating user growth into revenue gains will depend on competitive pricing discipline with rivals. It argued to sustain ARPU growth, Globe will need to offer more sophisticated financial services to differentiate from new competitors in that sector.

Balancing act
Jensen Ooi, principal analyst for APAC service provider markets at Omdia, told Mobile World Live the Philippines remains a highly price-sensitive market and service providers face a balancing act as they need to stabilise ARPU without sparking a price war, which could erode profitability. 

While 5G has been available for a few years, Ooi said it still lacks compelling use cases operators can rely on to significantly boost service revenue. “As such, they will need to focus on other avenues such as converged bundles, roaming and device sales to drive growth.”

He said it is crucial to avoid entering a race to the bottom on pricing, especially when all three major players, Globe, Smart and Dito, have had to rely on external financing to support infrastructure upgrades. 

Mobile service revenue in the Philippines is still rising, with Omdia projecting it to grow at a CAGR of 2.5 per cent from 2025 to 2030.

With such modest growth, BMI’s aggressive ARPU projection will certainly be a challenge. GSMA Intelligence predicts ARPU will rise just 33.5 per cent to $3.91 from 2025 to 2031.

Looking to other markets in Asia, such as China, profit and revenue growth have rarely seen significant increases following a drop in capex after a new technology is deployed.

The post Feature: Will lower capex drive Globe Telecom growth? appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The operator, the second-largest in India by subscribers, previously declined to introduce RCS due to concerns over spam.

The newspaper wrote Google recently agreed to integrate RCS with Airtel’s AI-enabled spam filter.

A source told ET the country’s operators now need to work out interoperability, which could result in an interconnect usage charge.

In August, Apple sealed its first RCS deal in India, working with Reliance Jio to enable the messaging on iPhones.

The GSMA, Google and a number of operators created an initiative covering implementation of RCS on Android devices in 2016.

Compared with SMS or MMS, the GSMA claims RCS enables better features across payments, chatbots, location sharing, high-resolution images and videos, and group chats.

The post Airtel prepares to launch RCS with Google appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The US regulator stated the $1 billion deal announced in November 2024 would enhance “AT&T’s network coverage, capacity and performance, resulting in a better customer experience”.

It added the likelihood of “competitive harm” as a result of the deal is low.

President Donald Trump’s administration has required telecoms operators to drop DEI programmes to gain regulatory approval for deals.

Rival operators T-Mobile US and Verizon have both had deals pushed through shortly after dropping their own DEI initiatives.

AT&T is buying 1,250 million MHz-POPs of 3.45GHz and 331 million MHz-POPs of 700MHZ B/C block bands from UScellular.

When it announced the deal, it said the spectrum would bolster 5G network capacity in more than 100 markets.

However, lobby group Rural Wireless Association released a statement slamming the FCC’s decision to push the deal through, stating it continues a trend of consolidation which harms competition and disserves the public interest.

It believes the deal will lead to increased prices and result in roaming challenges for consumers.

The post FCC approves AT&T, UScellular spectrum deal appeared first on Mobile World Live.

A deployment of 3800MHz spectrum provides greater data rates and supplements work on deploying 5G-Advanced, Bell stated.

Users with compatible smartphones from Apple, Samsung and Google stand to experience a 65 per cent hike in data rates compared with the performance of Bell’s network before the spectrum was deployed.

Bell pointed to peak rates of 3.6Gb/s in the downlink and emphasised the increased capacity the mid-band move brings.

EVP and CTO Mark McDonald said the move in Ontario “complements our ongoing investments in a 5G-Advanced” infrastructure.

The pay-off will be felt in improved services spanning entertainment and cloud gaming, enterprise AI services and real-time AR collaboration, McDonald predicted.

Bell’s update covers parts of southern Ontario including the cities of Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton.

It stated the rollout builds on a test deployment of 3800MHz spectrum in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo in 2024, while making use of frequencies it paid CAD2.8 billion ($2 billion) for in an auction in 2023.

The post Bell bumps Ontario 5G capabilities appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Selma Avdagic Tisljar, General Manager, outlines the role of the alliance and success so far.

The post Partner Interview: Freemove appeared first on Mobile World Live.

For mobile operators, cloud-based solutions will help accelerate network transformation initiatives, enable data-driven operational excellence and lay the foundation for AI-driven workloads and network automation to increase service agility. 

This whitepaper discusses how differences between legacy public or distributed clouds can have a significant impact on an operator’s path to success by impacting on the day-to-day use and scalability of trained AI models, on the insights (inferences) that can be generated and the business efficiency benefits that can be realised. 

We, GSMA Advisory Services Ltd., will be the controller of your personal data. We will use your data to organise the online or on-site event you sign up for. We will share your data with our partners Akamai to facilitate the organisation of the event, for communications related to that event as well as invitations to stay in touch with the partner. Please read our Privacy Policy

The post WHITEPAPER: Cloud computing and 5G – finding the right path appeared first on Mobile World Live.

During a media roundtable hosted in London to launch the 7^th edition of its annual Security Navigator 2026 report, Charl van der Walt, head of security research at Orange Cyberdefence, said today’s online environment marks a “society wide crisis” as more organisations suffer cyberattacks that “impact critical infrastructure, telecommunications, defence contractors, satellite systems and more”.

A key driver of this shift is the growing “balkanisation” of cyberspace, where technology ecosystems are fragmenting along geopolitical lines. “Almost everything that we do in security, in some way, goes back to the US,” he said, referring to vulnerability disclosure, threat intelligence, law enforcement action and standards.

He added that only a handful of nations, primarily the US and China, can build full sovereign technology stacks, increasing Europe and smaller countries’ “dependency to this supply chain”. While Europe is attempting to rebalance through initiatives such as releasing its own vulnerability databases, Van der Walt said the “asymmetry is huge”.

Orange Cyberdeference CTO Vivien Mura added that AI is another pain point, stating the technology “is an opportunity, but it also introduces new risks”. Attackers “use AI to speed up the coding development of malwares,” shortening the time between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation. The report also found misuse risks linked to the rapid adoption of chatbots across organisations, which Mura said is expanding the attack surface.

Web of interdependence
Van der Walt noted attackers now operate within a “dense web of interdependence where a single weakness can enable mass compromise”. He said the dataset from the report reflects direct engagement with real-world attacks and defences. “One of the aspects in which we can truly be unique is that we are we are on the ground with clients… and this year, more than ever, to surface their voices.”

The latest Security Navigator threat detection research was based on analysis of 139,373 detected security incidents recorded over an 11-month period between October 2024 and August 2025.

The report found that the number of distinct cybercrime groups has nearly tripled from 33 to 89 since 2020, driven in part by the commoditisation of cybercrime “as a service”, which has lowered the barrier to entry for attackers.

The company also recorded a 45 per cent surge in cyber extortion victims between October 2024 and September 2025 compared to the previous research period, with two-thirds of victims now small and medium-sized businesses. Cyber extortion was heavily concentrated in sectors central to supply chains and essential services. Manufacturing and professional industries alongside scientific and technical services together accounted for nearly 40 per cent of observed cases, followed by wholesale trade, construction and healthcare.

For the first time, the report also included a law enforcement dataset covering activity between 2021 and mid-2025, showing global cooperation on the rise. Orange Cyberdefense chief Hugues Foulon called for accelerated collaborative efforts, stating “the fight against organised cybercrime requires a global alliance, both public and private, to confront a threat that knows no borders”.

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South Africa-based Vodacom stated it entered into an agreement with the government of Kenya to take a 15 per cent stake in Safaricom, in addition to a 5 per cent stake from its majority owner Vodafone Group.

In total, Vodacom will pay $2.1 billion for the stake and an additional $310 million upfront to receive Safaricom dividends previously earmarked for the Kenyan government.

Vodacom’s holding in the operator will increase from around 35 per cent per cent to 55 per cent, should the transaction be cleared by regulators.

The operator explained it sees Safaricom as one of Africa’s most attractive assets, pointing to its flagship mobile money platform m-Pesa along with a range of communications and technology offerings, and a growing suite of cloud, IoT and enterprise services.

Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said acquiring a controlling stake in Safaricom strengthens its position as a market leader while unlocking opportunities to drive digital and financial inclusion in Kenya and Ethiopia.

He added Safaricom’s position complements the company’s Vision 2030 ambitions, a plan to deepen its leadership in Africa’s high-growth markets and scale its diversified portfolio.

John Mbadi, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning said the transaction is one of the first steps by President William Ruto to unlock capital without increasing taxes or its debt burden.

“Safaricom has been, and continues to be, a key strategic investment for us, as we are retaining a 20 per cent stake as well as board representation.”

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Few details of the acquisition were provided beyond the deal to acquire SDK Tek Services being completed, though Bell noted it would offer various AI-related benefits including those involving data sovereignty.

It stated SDK’s “proven ability to transform raw data into actionable intelligence complements Ateko’s” AI workflow automation expertise.

Bell expects a boost to its AI capabilities because Ateko is set to bolster its position in data sovereignty and systems integration. It backed SDK’s teams to contribute to the development and deployment of systems based on the technology, and provide the scale necessary to meet enterprise and government requirements.

Ateko CEO Guillaume Bazinet said SDK’s specialists advance domestic AI goals and strengthen “our nation’s ability to compete and win on the global stage”.

SDK chief David Keith said the acquisition brings the company’s “technical excellence” and abilities in solving “complex data challenges” into a “larger mission”.

He said the move “will deliver more comprehensive AI and data solutions”.

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