US-based Kodiak AI offers an autonomous driver-as-a-service capability, using its AI-powered virtual driver for long-haul, industrial, and defence trucking applications. Its system enables continuous, driverless operations, supported by AI.

The company’s assisted autonomy capability is enabled by Verizon partner Vay Technology, a provider of automotive-grade remote driving technology.

Assisted autonomy enables remote human assistance in low-speed or clearly defined situations, with low latency across long distances in remote areas.

Use cases for the partnership include over-the-air software updates, remote fleet management and remote assistance for Kodiak’s long-haul trucking and industrial operations.

Kodiak AI is using Verizon Business’ 5G telematics and its ThingSpace IoT platform to manage the massive amount of date generated from its driverless trucks.

The collaboration also leverages Verizon’s 5G and LTE networks to provision Kodiak’s advanced data capabilities.

The post Verizon drives data for autonomous truck company appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The multi-year agreement allows Verizon to collocate on a large number of Array Digital Infrastructure’s tower sites. The operator stated the deal features a streamlined pricing structure, which is expected to deliver cost efficiency and long-term stability for Verizon.

According to Phillip French, VP of engineering at Verizon, the partnership is a key part of the company’s network tower management strategy, providing flexibility and accelerating the deployment of advanced wireless technologies for customers nationwide.

Array Digital Infrastructure was formed in November after UScellular reached a $4.4 billion deal to sell most of its wireless assets to T-Mobile US in 2025. The new entity operates 4,400 towers across 19 US states.

As of 30 September, former UScellular parent Telephone and Data Systems owned approximately 82 per cent of Array Digital Infrastructure. It claims to be the fifth-largest tower company in the US, according to its website.

The post Verizon inks tower deal with Array Digital Infrastructure 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.

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.

The study warned that spectrum costs have tripled over the past decade, now accounting for 8 per cent of operators’ recurring revenues.

This creates a “vicious cycle” that constrains network investment at a time when Europe is already lagging behind global peers including North America, the Gulf states and Greater China on next-generation connectivity. Only 2 per cent of Europeans currently use standalone (SA) 5G services, compared with 77 per cent in China and roughly a quarter in the US.

More than 500 spectrum licences are due for renewal in Europe over the next ten years. These licences underpin existing 3G and 4G networks that serve much of the continent’s 470 million mobile internet users and will be central to future coverage and capacity.

Under existing policies, operators are on track to pay about €105 billion in spectrum costs through 2035. The GSMA argued that high spectrum fees are constraining investment, with the European Union’s (EU) upcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA) offering a “timely opportunity” to act.

Operators are struggling
The industry association estimated that reforming renewal frameworks could cut costs by up to €30 billion, while even moderate changes could unlock around €20 billion.

The report said those savings could be redirected towards upgrading all existing 5G networks to SA 5G, delivering speed increases of up to 23 per cent and potentially adding as much as €75 billion to Europe’s GDP over the next decade.

“Providing high-quality connectivity to Europe’s citizens and improving the continent’s competitiveness requires a lot of investment that many operators are struggling to source or justify,” said John Giusti, chief regulatory officer at the GSMA.

“Rather than continuing to use spectrum as a windfall opportunity, policymakers should be more ambitious with their approach to renewals and allow these funds to be directed to support Europe’s ongoing digital goals,” he added.

Looking ahead, the report also highlighted that spectrum decisions today will shape the road to 6G, warning Europe will need at least 2GHz of mid-band spectrum by 2030 to avoid network congestion.

The post GSMA flags €30B opportunity through spectrum shake-up appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The company predicted adoption will be underpinned by three core technologies: 5G RedCap, designed to simplify and streamline connectivity, 5G Massive IoT and 4G LTE Cat-1bis, which supports low-cost, low-power IoT devices.

Omdia highlighted 5G RedCap as key to enabling cost-efficient connectivity as operators prepare to phase-out 4G networks after 2030. Aimed at mid-tier devices that do not require ultra-low latency or high bandwidth, RedCap began gaining traction this year following its integration into the latest Apple Watch models.

“The implementation of 5G RedCap in the latest range of Apple Watches has signalled the starting gun for RedCap adoption,” said Alexander Thompson, senior analyst for IoT at Omdia. He added that enterprises will see “a wider and wider selection of connectivity technologies” emerge, supporting a broader range of applications.

Further growth is forecasted in 2026, when enhanced RedCap (eRedCap) modules are expected to launch, expanding mid-tier connectivity options and helping to drive cellular IoT adoption through the next decade.

Automotive is set to become one of the largest cellular IoT segments over the forecast period. Omdia expects connected vehicle subscriptions to rise from around 500 million today to approximately 1.2 billion by 2035, increasing the sector’s share of total connections from 13 per cent to 21 per cent. A large portion of this growth will come from Asia and Oceania, fuelled by rising demand for intelligent, 5G-connected vehicles.

The rise of software-defined vehicles is “made possible by cellular connected vehicles, which is why we expect to see vehicles represent 1 in 5 cellular connections by 2025,” added Andrew Brown, IoT practice lead at Omdia.

The findings are drawn from Omdia’s Cellular IoT Market Tracker, which analyses shipments, revenues and installed connections by region, technology and application through to 2035.

The post 5G tipped to fuel cellular IoT growth 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.

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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. 

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The bulk of Deutsche Telekom’s work last month focused on the North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Lower Saxony regions. The operator explained its 5G network is approaching the reach of its 4G infrastructure, with 99 per cent of German households covered by the next-generation technology compared with 100 per cent coverage for LTE.

Deutsche Telekom noted the expansion and upgrade project is of particular benefit to customers on a hybrid tariff combining fixed and mobile access.

The set-up switches to mobile infrastructure when it offers faster data rates than Deutsche Telekom’s fixed network, delivering 500Mb/s download and 50Mb/s up without requiring fibre access.

Deutsche Telekom ultimately plans for all mobile sites to employ low-band frequencies to deliver broad range and coverage. Mid-band will be deployed in 90 per cent of sites to ensure adequate data rates and low latency.

It explained 85 per cent of its mobile sites are also being connected to a fibre backbone delivering data rates of 10Gb/s.

The post Deutsche Telekom homes in on total 5G coverage appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The surge is fuelled by increasing adoption in both the enterprise and consumer sectors.

It expects the enterprise segment to account for 64 per cent of the total revenue by 2030, making it the largest opportunity for mobile operators.

However, in advanced economies such as North America and Europe consumer demand is expected to outpace enterprise adoption.

The fastest growth will come from so-called “carpeted verticals” such as retail, stadiums and financial services, which have simpler requirements and faster return on investment compared to mission-critical sectors like the oil and gas industry.

ABI Research senior research director Dimitris Mavrakis stated “industrial manufacturing will remain an important vertical for network slicing, albeit at a substantially slower growth rate than carpeted verticals”.

The consumer sector is predicted to account for $24.3 billion of the network slicing segment from 2025 to 2030, followed by retail ($23 billion), stadiums ($9 billion), industrial manufacturing ($7.8 billion), and financial services ($2 billion).

Currently, Asia-Pacific far and away leads the market, representing 91 per cent of global revenue in 2025, largely due to China’s aggressive standalone (SA) 5G deployments. However, Mavrakis noted the region’s share will drop to 73 per cent by 2030 as other regions catch up.

North America is expected to lag EMEA until 2029, when it is expected to take the second spot.

Among trends impacting the 5G network slicing market, the integration of SA 5G and cloud-native tools into telecommunications networks has proven more complex than anticipated.

Mobile operators, including China Mobile, T-Mobile US, and Deutsche Telekom, are starting to monetise network slicing, despite initial challenges in penetrating the business sector.

ABI Research also factors in the maturity of SA-capable smartphones, which expands the consumer addressable market.

The post ABI Research bullish on 5G network slicing surge appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The service is available to residential and business customers across the cities and towns of Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn, and Thetford.

With a population of around 940,000 across the county, the deployment will provide faster speeds, improved coverage and reduced latency.

The operator’s transformation plan also includes expanding 4G and 5G coverage, deploying small cells in urban areas and addressing network challenges in high-traffic locations.

Professor Robert Joyce, director of mobile access engineering at VMO2, stated the operator is “investing £2m every single day to improve our mobile network and provide a more reliable experience for our customers”.

The operator stated the upgrade prepares Norfolk for future technologies like smart transport, connected healthcare and advanced manufacturing

The SA 5G network expansion is part of the operator’s £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan.

The post VMO2 expands UK standalone 5G reach appeared first on Mobile World Live.

This paper looks at a solution which dramatically reduces the cost of 5G RAN deployment by reducing the number and variety of RUs required for service coverage. Offered as an open O-RU according to O-RAN specifications it could be the final piece of the puzzle that makes Open RAN the preferred deployment model for MNOs in the future.

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The research will focus on AI-based channel estimation technology; distributed MIMO transmission and reception advances; and AI-RAN-based scheduler and core network technologies, which determine when, where and how to send data.

AI-based channel estimation predicts and corrects signal transmission in real time. The intent is to improve network performance by enabling faster, more accurate data delivery in environments where radio waves are distorted by obstacles such as buildings or walls, the companies outlined in a statement.

Distributed MIMO technology allows multiple base stations or antennas to work together to transmit and receive data, supporting reliable, ultra-high-speed communication across both urban and rural areas. With traditional architecture a single base station handles data processing.

Through field-focused collaboration with SKT, Jeong Jin-guk, head of Advanced Communications Research Centre at Samsung Research, noted the partners would be able to verify the effectiveness of AI-based wireless technologies in real-world settings and secure key AI-RAN technologies at an early stage.

Yu Tak-ki, VP of SKT’s Infra Tech Office, added the convergence of AI and wireless communications will be “crucial to 6G competitiveness”.

Both companies are members of the AI-RAN Alliance.

About a year ago, the pair gathered data from 5G base stations using AI and deep learning, and developed technology to improve performance by recommending optimal parameters. SKT plans to deploy the quality optimisation technology.

The post Samsung, SKT start joint research on AI, 6G appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Thaigan Govender, GM of mobile access networks, stated customers play “a crucial role in shaping the upgrade programme” by using One Pin to let it know where they experience issues such as slow speeds or dropped calls. “When lots of people drop a pin in the same place, it becomes a priority area for us.”

The One Pin programme allows customers to drop a pin on a map to report issues or request coverage improvements.

Last month it added nine new sites and upgraded 12 to expand 5G coverage.

All mobile sites now support 4G, as One NZ prepares to shut down its 3G network at end-December.

The operator started 2025 with about 70 per cent of the population covered by 5G service, with more than half its mobile user base on 5G plans. It has not disclosed its base station or tower counts.

One NZ is the second-largest mobile player in New Zealand, with 2.3 million connections at end-September, behind market leader Spark with 2.6 million, data from GSMA Intelligence showed.

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Yet, for all its technical success, certain promises remain unfulfilled. The vision of 5G as an engine for unprecedented financial growth, particularly in the enterprise sector, has largely stalled. Annual mobile revenue growth has seen only modest improvements, and operators have struggled to charge a premium for 5G connectivity. While niche successes like Fixed Wireless Access in North America exist, the massive revenue uplift from enterprise digitalisation, once forecast to be in the trillions, has not materialised.

So, what happened to the smart cities, the autonomous vehicles, and the immersive experiences? The industry is at a crossroads, and a recent Mobile World Live webinar revealed that the key to unlocking this dormant value lies not in chasing new, speculative services, but in a fundamental transformation of the network itself through open source, AI, and automation.

The 5G promise vs. the 5G reality

At its inception, 5G was positioned as the great driver for enterprise digitalisation. Rimma Iontel, Chief Architect for Telecommunications at open source company and IBM subsidiary Red Hat, recalls the vision: “The core aspiration was an upgrade from providing consumer voice and data services to high margin enterprise services.” This justified massive upfront investment, with spectrum alone costing operators billions.

However, the reality fell short. The cost of network upgrades exceeded projections, requiring expensive new cell sites and backhaul. Core and RAN applications were slow to adopt a true cloud-native model, and the widespread adoption of the non-standalone (NSA) 5G core, chosen for its faster deployment, became an obstacle, as it lacked the capabilities like network slicing needed for advanced enterprise services.

“Businesses very pragmatically decided that they didn’t need an upgrade from good enough technologies like Wi-Fi,” Iontel explained. The anticipated revenue to fund further modernisation and new services never materialised, leaving operators with impressive networks but strained finances.

James Joiner highlighted GSMA Intelligence research that reinforces this, noting a “notable drop off in mobile Capex” as operators rethink investment. The transition to 5G Standalone (SA), seen as critical for unlocking new monetisation, has been slow, with less than a quarter of operators with live 5G networks having deployed it. Concerns about technology maturity, organisational readiness, and a clear return on investment are causing hesitation.

Efficiency as the new revenue

Faced with this monetisation challenge, the industry’s focus is shifting. GSMA Intelligence’s survey data reveals that operators’ primary goals for technologies like AI and 5G Advanced are no longer solely revenue generation.

If the promises of 5G haven’t materialised because of complexity and high operational costs, how do AI and automation fix this without just adding more complexity? “By not tackling the problem wholesale, by breaking it into manageable pieces. Harnessing that flood of information through a unified data framework is the first step for AI ops,” said Rimma Iontel, adding: “You can bring the power of machine learning to greatly reduce the complexity of uncovering network problems, and then automating the resolution.”

James Joiner added: “Building on what Rimma said, I think one of the key areas we see for applying AI is around energy efficiency. We’ve seen operators cite reductions in energy usage somewhere between 10 and 20%, where AI can have an immediate effect and show that measurable return.”

Taking a pragmatic approach to efficiency is echoed in operator priorities. Over 40% cite efficient network operations as the primary goal for AI investment, compared to only 25% who point to revenue generation. The initial use cases are clear, network planning, optimization, and predictive maintenance.

Open source as the foundational enabler

This focus on operational efficiency and intelligence is intrinsically linked to open architectures. Open RAN, for instance, is now viewed by over 50% of operators as a top-three technology for driving OPEX savings. The conversation has evolved from just openness to how it enables greater automation and intelligence.

An open source, cloud-native platform provides the essential foundation. It offers the uniform operational experience needed to manage complexity across a hybrid environment, from the customer edge to the public cloud. “By providing a foundation on which you can build services that suit your goals and the needs of your customers, open source aims at versatility, increased productivity, and efficient operations,” noted Iontel.

This approach prevents vendor lock-in and fosters a collaborative ecosystem. It allows operators to own their data and their AI models, applying them consistently across the network to reduce manual processes, increase reliability, and even optimise capital expenditure through more efficient network planning.

“Open source gives you that freedom of choice,” added Iontel. “With an open platform environment, you can deploy your AI apps anywhere from the edge to the core, you own your data, you own your models, you make decisions. You have the control of your network.”

Forging a pragmatic path to 6G

The lessons from 5G are invaluable as the industry looks toward 6G. The vision for 6G is a distributed, intelligent fabric that interacts with the physical world. To avoid past pitfalls, the approach must be grounded.

The strategy according to Iontel is clear: “Focus first on building an open, AI-enabled platform. Master AI operations to make the core business profitable. Use those efficiencies and the matured skills of your workforce to then introduce strategic, high-value services for specific enterprise verticals. These successes will fund the broader, longer-term rollout of 6G capabilities,” said Red Hat’s Iontel, adding: “With 6G what we need to do is to build and bake in open interoperable interfaces into the foundational standard and that in turn might stimulate an overall healthier ecosystem.”

The journey to unlocking the massive financial potential of next-generation networks is not about a single killer application. It is about building an intelligent, automated, and fundamentally open network that operates with unprecedented efficiency today, creating the agile foundation for the profitable services of tomorrow. The vein of value is there; open source, combined with AI and automation, provides the tools to finally mine it.

Watch the full webinar on-demand here: https://www.mobileworldlive.com/mwl-unwrapped-webinar-opening-5g-deploy-applications-faster-with-ai-and-automation/

The post How open source, AI, and automation will finally monetise 5G and forge the path to 6G appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In its third year of providing connectivity at the race, Scott Jacka, senior director on T-Mobile’s network Innovation team, stated it dialled in the types of connectivity needed for the 3.8 mile-long race which snakes through the Las Vegas Strip and includes 17 corners.

He noted the operator has seven different network slices for the race and each “gets tuned for the use case that’s on top of it”.

“The settings that we have in use for broadcast are different than the settings we might have at the point-of-sale, or different than the settings that might be there for team priorities,” he explained.

He stated the operator does some tuning on the broadcast slice to generate a more consistent video experience, but it does not necessarily do it across the board on all slices.

AvidThink founder and analyst Roy Chua noted the network slices support everything from drone videography and rooftop broadcast cameras, to sports photography and point-of-sale systems, alongside private wireless with flexible edge breakout, which allows F1 production teams to process high-bandwidth video and telemetry locally.

“T-Mobile is bringing its comprehensive 5G and 5G-Advanced network services portfolio to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, combining public-network enhancements, private wireless and advanced slicing to solve operational challenges at one of the most demanding live events in the world,” Chua said.

The operator is offering its T-Priority service for the first time to keep safety teams and first responders including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department connected.

Power band
“In terms of extra spectrum, C-Band is something we brought in here for a limited basis that’s not necessarily broadly deployed in our public network,” Jacka said. “But our 5G on demand produces C-Band that gives us access to clean channels for a private network.”

Chua noted T-Mobile also layered in temporary cells on wheels (COWs) to reinforce coverage in lower-density track segments, and is using mmWave and C-Band spectrum for high-capacity performance in the grandstands and along the course.

Jacka said T-Mobile has permanent infrastructure along the Strip straight section of the track, but uses the COWs to reinforce coverage in lower-density track segments.

Chua noted T-Mobile is using its SuperMobile network slicing platform to give business users prioritised, secure service tiers.

“After several years of supporting the race, the carrier appears to have refined a playbook for capacity planning and rapid deployment, ensuring both fans and event operators benefit from a resilient, production-grade 5G network enhanced with new services like edge breakout and selective use of network slicing,” Chua said.

The post T-Mobile US throws 5G portfolio at Las Vegas GP appeared first on Mobile World Live.

In the wide-ranging biannual study, Ericsson tipped the US, Japan, South Korea, China, India and some Gulf Cooperation Council countries as those likely to make up the first tranche of commercial 6G launches.  

It indicated all of the above except India hit the button on 5G “relatively” early, so “it is expected that these countries will be among the first to roll out” commercial 6G services.

“India has been vocal in its ambition to lead in 6G technology and it is expected that the timing of the commercial 6G launch compared to other countries will happen earlier than it did for 5G,” Ericsson stated.

Europe is expected to see its first launches around a year after the leading markets due to “comparatively later deployments” of standalone (SA) 5G.

Its prediction for the upcoming mobile technology generation does not include “early uptake of AI-enabled IoT devices,” Ericsson stated, while adding the actual number of connections could “increase significantly if 6G launches earlier than previous cycles indicate”.

Commercial launches of the next-generation technology are widely expected around 2030.

Slice of the action
In terms of current technology, Ericsson stated 33 communications service providers are providing “differentiated connectivity services” using network slicing.

A total of 65 products were found to be on the market, with 53 at the proof-of-concept stage. Those commercially available are either subscription services, or add-ons for consumer or enterprise customers.

Ericsson noted around 33 per cent of the commercial offerings launched during 2025.

SA 5G is available, or had been soft launched, by more than 90 service providers, up by 20 since the previous Ericsson report published in June.

Other predictions include 6.4 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2031. This is expected to make-up two-thirds of total mobile subscriptions and compares with an expected 2.9 billion at the end of 2025.

Ericsson’s previous report predicted numbers to end-2030, when 5G subscriptions were expected to be 6.3 billion.

In an overview of the findings, Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden said operators globally want to deploy SA 5G “to offer differentiated connectivity based on value services and not just data volume packages”.

He added the network generation “is already enabling differentiated connectivity opportunities. We’ve seen many service providers go from proof-of-concept to commercial deployment in 2025 alone and we expect to see that trend continuing”.

The post Ericsson tips usual suspects, India as 6G pioneers appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The operator secured an experimental licence for the 7GHz band and started an outdoor verification trial in Tokyo’s Ginza area in June. The test used three experimental base stations supporting Massive MIMO alongside commercial 3.9GHz 5G sites, and test equipment from Nokia to evaluate the continuity of coverage, communication quality and radiowave propagation characteristics, it noted in a statement.

Using a measurement vehicle, it found strong received signal power in line-of-sight areas such as main streets, while signal reception was also achieved in non-line-of-sight areas such as narrow alleys.

It credited the results to the propagation characteristics of the 7GHz band. While diffraction into non-line-of-sight areas was limited, interference between adjacent base stations was less likely to occur, resulting in stable communication quality with minimal degradation, the statement explained.

Overall, the experiment demonstrated that 7GHz signals can provide wide-area coverage with high-quality connections when deployed as high-power macro base stations in urban commercial areas.

Akihiro Nakao, professor at the Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, and co-chair of XG Mobile Promotion Forum, added the evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of 6G network design using the 7GHz band. “Building on the insights gained from this verification, we will continue to promote the formation of a global 7GHz band ecosystem and its social implementation through co-creation among industry, academia, government and international partners.”

The post SoftBank 7GHz trial shows promise for 6G appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Research director Dave Bolan stated abnormally high growth in China during Q3 2024 led to a 39 per cent decline this year.

Other regions posted gains of between 9 per cent and 17 per cent, led by EMEA and Asia Pacific. Globally, MCN revenue fell 2 per cent, but excluding China the market remains on an upward trajectory, Bolan said.

Bolan noted the transition to standalone (SA) 5G continues at pace, with 72 mobile operators advancing deployments “to take advantage of monetisation opportunities”.

“Of note is Reliance Jio, which announced ten network slices with guaranteed service level agreements at scale,” Bolan stated.

He highlighted the launch of a private network service for enterprises by T-Mobile US last month as a “response to the challenges of implementing” SA 5G on “shared CBRS spectrum”.

In addition, 12 operators had commercially launched 5G-Advanced by the close of Q3, including China Mobile, Singtel, Telstra, T-Mobile, du, e& and Zain.

Vendor dynamics remain concentrated, with Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and ZTE holding a more than 5 per cent market share.

The post Mobile core surges as 5G-A gains momentum appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Simultaneously, innovative applications of 5G-A and AI are expanding commercial opportunities across multiple sectors. Emerging high-growth scenarios include autonomous driving operations, large-scale drone logistics, high-reliability enterprise leased lines, and immersive live commerce experiences. Together, 5G-A and AI are redefining value creation in consumer, enterprise, and industrial domains, ushering in a new era of monetization and digital innovation.

The post WEBINAR: 2030 Mobile Network Revolution – Powered by 5G-A × SA × AI appeared first on Mobile World Live.

5G standalone (5G SA) and 5G-Advanced
After a slow start, operators are accelerating 5G SA deployments. As of September 2025, 78 operators had launched 5G SA in 42 countries and 96 had expressed intent to launch. This means a total of 174 operators in 72 countries. Meanwhile, 5G-Advanced is being deployed in pioneer markets such as China, the US, and a few markets in the GCC and Asia Pacific. Enhancements in network performance, management and efficiency are core 5G-Advanced value propositions, enabling a faster shift to more autonomous networks, which in turn enables embedded network intelligence. Equally interesting are IoT-related innovations such as added positioning accuracy, RedCap and tighter non-terrestrial network (NTN) integration.

For the mobile core, this means new service types (including AI services) and new device types (including AI devices) to manage. Beyond an obvious focus on extending 5G’s push into B2B services, enhanced network and AI capabilities (highly interrelated) open the door to new, immersive communications services. AI calling is a notable example, as AI allows operators and vendors to take the New Calling service to a higher level of engagement across multiple features such as real-time translation, fun calling and voice-driven avatars, and interactive menus powered by personal digital agents. The mobile core will need to adapt to these new device and service types, addressing added capacity demands as well as different service types (high versus low bandwidth, high versus low latency, voice versus video versus data) in a deterministic manner.

Artificial Intelligence
AI for networks is a growing focus for operators (and will be a key topic at the 5G Core Summit), with use cases spanning network optimisation, troubleshooting, security support, energy efficiency, and network management. In many ways, this can be seen as an extension of the 5G SA and 5G-Advanced dynamics. The speeds and uplink capacity of 5G-Advanced support AI traffic loads. Low-cost IoT, in turn, sets the stage for AI data collection efforts. The result is a new set of devices carrying diverse service and traffic types. Again, traffic requirements and determinism will come into play – particularly as AI becomes part of mission-critical business processes. And, if AI is touching high-value data, security will take on a greater importance.

AI’s impacts on the mobile core could be particularly disruptive in terms of distribution. To deal with security, latency and resilience demands, many AI use cases could require distribution of core assets out to the network edge. Of course, combining a broad set of distributed nodes with new traffic demands implies a new set of O&M requirements for the mobile core as well.

Agentic AI
The promise of agentic AI is straightforward; agents that plan, reason and act independently can coordinate complex tasks and processes, even engaging other agents where end-to-end, cross-domain orchestration is required. In practice, this represents an extension of today’s automation tools – an extension necessary for addressing the added network and service complexity ushered in by 5G SA/5G-Advanced and AI workloads. Core operations and maintenance systems have embraced intelligence and AI capabilities to deal with complexity and efficiency demands. The agentic core takes this further – hence, AI-native core. GSMA Intelligence’s annual global survey of operators shows that two in three operators have either started to deploy agentic AI technology in their core networks or are currently testing it. That means core networks are a major focus for agentic AI. I look forward to seeing discussions on this at the 5G Core Summit.

Monetisation
The 5G monetisation imperative can only grow, as operators invest in 5G SA and 5G-Advanced. An increasing number of operators are focusing on experience-based consumer propositions (i.e. monetising user experience through differentiated services, including experience/service assurance). Operators in China, AIS Thailand, Singtel in Singapore, Elisa in Finland and some of the Middle Eastern operators are notable examples. It will be interesting to see new examples at the 5G Core Summit. Core network intelligence is key to achieving experience-based monetisation; this involves leveraging AI, 5G SA and 5G-Advanced to optimise network performance and deliver the desired user experience while providing effective service assurance.

B2B will be a focus too. GSMA Intelligence research, based on a new global survey of 5,320 enterprises across 10 vertical sectors and 32 countries, shows that enterprises will spend 10% of their revenues on digital transformation during 2025–2030, with AI and 5G the top areas of investment. This represents an opportunity for the mobile industry to help enterprises advance their digital transformation while growing B2B revenues.

Putting it all together
While I’ll be looking to see how these dynamics are addressed at the 5G Core Summit, it would be a mistake to think of them as standalone themes. They are all linked, and those linkages drive other core network priorities I’ll be watching out for. AI, for example, empowers 5G-Advanced, enabling new services and use cases. Core networks will play a critical role in making that happen but will also need to make use of AI if they want to do it efficiently and resiliently. The interplay between 5G-Advanced and AI represents the near-term focus for operators, extended by the power of agents in support of network and service automation. However, it also points to the central role of openness in core network evolution. If new services and devices are to communicate their requirements, and agents are to coordinate among themselves, closed systems will only hold back progress.

If you’ll be joining us in Bangkok, reach out – it would be great to connect. If you’re in the region but don’t have it on your agenda yet, consider making the trip. I’m expecting it to be an incredibly valuable event.

– Pablo Iacopino – Head of Research and Commercial Content, GSMA Intelligence

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

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Working with NTT, Nokia Bell Labs and SK Telecom, the operator claimed the outdoor demonstration at three locations in Yokosuka City, Japan, was a world first.

It added the results, which effectively doubled the transmission speed, marked a significant step towards practical 6G systems that combine high wireless transmission efficiency with low-power consumption.

Docomo noted the trials aimed to verify the technology can maintain stable performance in outdoor environments, where radio conditions vary greatly due to temperature, weather and obstacles.

To address fluctuations in the radio propagation environment, which can cause unstable connection quality, the companies developed and tested a technology that uses AI on the transmitting and receiving sides of a wireless interface to optimise modulation and demodulation schemes. They verified the effectiveness of the technology in indoor environments in November 2024.

Docomo said following the outdoor tests it will refine the AI technology under diverse conditions, while collaborating with partners to advance 6G standardisation and implementation.

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The syndicated financing is provided by CIMB, Maybank, AmBank and UOB Malaysia. In a statement, the operator said the facility is one of the largest syndicated ringgit financing raised by an unlisted company in the country.

U Mobile CEO Wong Heang Tuck noted the ten-year facility will “further accelerate our rollout ambitions and reinforce our commitment to drive Malaysia’s digital economy”. Wong stated it is ahead of its network rollout targets and is confident it will reach 80 per cent coverage of populated areas by H2 2026.

The operator, the Malaysia’s the third-largest mobile operator by connections, launched the country’s under the Ultra 5G brand in August. It was awarded the controversial 5G network contract by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission in November 2024.

U Mobile ended September with 9.6 million mobile connections, behind CelcomDigi with 19.3 million and Maxis with 11.5 million at end-September, data from GSMA Intelligence showed.

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Validation of CAF’s CBTC system Optio with 5G was undertaken with both lab and field tests and adds to the platform’s other connectivity options of LTE and Wi-Fi.

Cellnex said the use of 5G meant access to fast transmission, low latency “convergence of applications and cyber-secure communications”.

The Optio system is intended to up safety, punctuality, capacity and efficiency for railway operators. Cellnex added it was one of the first of its kind to be validated with private 5G.

Cellnex noted with the system on 5G “railway signalling enters a new era, laying the foundations for safer, more automated and sustainable railway operations, aligned with the demands of 21st century smart cities”.

CEO of Cellnex Spain Alfonso Alvarez explained “the fundamental objective of the project has been to promote R&D to integrate ultra-low latency and high-capacity 5G connectivity in critical railway systems, including tunnels, thus improving the safety, efficiency and reliability of operations and preparing the infrastructure for the challenges of future smart mobility”.

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As a partner of the Las Vegas Grand Prix Formula 1 (LVGP) race the operator is providing 5G network slicing to first responders, such as the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), through its T-Priority service to support critical operations.

Using its standalone (SA) 5G network, T-Mobile stated T-Priority allocates up to five times more network resources even in the most congested areas to enable essential voice and data communications.

It is also providing LVMPD with a 5G-connected drone which will give first responders a real-time aerial overview and HD video streaming to identify and respond to incidents across the race circuit. 

The operator is also providing race staff with 5G networking through its SuperMobile platform to help keep racing teams connected and for use by photographers to speedily upload images.

For the first time, T-Mobile’s 5G network will power a 360-degree camera and live drone feeds, offering fans immersive broadcast views from both the track and the sky above the Las Vegas Strip.

The race events are scheduled to start 20 November and conclude two days later.

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Klein said Nokia’s role in deploying the first cellular network on the lunar surface earlier this year marked “a big leap” in proving that cellular mobile technologies can power the next phase of space exploration.

“We will have sustained human presence on the lunar surface,” he explained. To support that, Nokia envisions a web of lunar and orbital systems that form a foundation for interplanetary communications.

Klein said the next challenge lies in interlinking the “pockets of surface communication” in space, enabling data transfer between lunar surface sites, orbiting satellites and spacecrafts travelling between the Earth and Moon. “You need to connect all of it in a dynamic fashion,” he said. This is where the company aims to sharpen its focus “as we reach deeper and deeper into space”.

Earlier this year, Nokia successfully deployed a 4G network on the Moon as part of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, marking a major step in proving terrestrial cellular technology can operate in the harsh conditions of space. Despite a difficult landing where Nokia was unable to place a call due to significant power constraints, Klein confirmed the network was switched on and functioning. “We have real evidence that the network was operational,” he noted.

While the current lunar system runs on 4G, Klein expects the next decade to bring a 5G leap for space connectivity, although deliberately behind Earth’s timelines. “Our recommendation is really for the space industry to be about one generation behind what we see on terrestrial networks,” he said, stating that technical maturity, ecosystem readiness and deployment experience are essential before pushing new technology beyond Earth.

 “When we’re moving to 6G for terrestrial networks in the, say 2028 to 2030 timeframe, that’s probably the right timeframe to move to 5G for space exploration.”

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Speaking to Mobile World Live on the second day of Unwrapped, Kapoor stated the operator’s early leadership across standalone (SA) 5G and 5G-Advanced are key for 6G.

Kapoor explained T-Mobile got the early SA 5G jump on rivals AT&T and Verizon by rolling it out in 2020, which led to a nationwide launch of 5G-Advanced earlier this year.

5G-Advanced enables network slicing for first responders and for businesses through a new plan called SuperMobile. T-Mobile also introduced six-carrier aggregation (6CA) on its SA 5G network earlier this year.

In July, the operator unveiled a large-scale deployment of low latency, low loss and scalable (L4S) technology across its network, which Kapoor said is ideal for gamers.

Lastly, he highlighted 5G-Advanced enabling 5G reduced capability (RedCap) features on the latest Apple smartwatches.

“We’re one of the only two carriers globally that actually have a 5G-Advanced rollout nationwide,” he explained. “And a big part of that was kind of what we did four or five years ago when we started rolling out 5G.”

6G
Kapoor explained 5G-Advanced sets the stage for AI-native and intent-driven networks, which are key elements of 6G.

T-Mobile is collaborating with Nokia and Nvidia to embed AI and machine learning into a network fabric, to enable autonomous optimisation, predictive maintenance and seamless adaptation to user needs.

“If 5G-Advanced is the foundation of this, 6G is the horizon,” he said. “[We’re] very confident we will be leaders in 6G and extremely optimistic that we’ll be the first ones to roll out 6G in the United States as well.”

Kapoor pointed to the formation of the operator’s AI-RAN Innovation Centre last year with partners Ericsson, Nokia and Nvidia as the starting point for intent-driven networks.

“The progress has been fantastic,” he said. “This is a technology that I think we will innovate in the United States and the rest of the world will follow.”

While it is not yet 6G, Kapoor said T-Mobile is in early trials for intent-based networking, including real-time optimisation of the network during weather-related emergencies.

“That’s where we are optimising our network on a minute-by-minute basis through our self-organising networks,” he said. “That’s a start of this intent-based network journey.”

He continued: “If you think of the networks, they’re a little bit of a dumb pipe. We’re going to take them into the 6G era from a dump pipe that just carried bits and bytes to an era where actually it’s token-based and it’s intent-based.”

Kapoor stated he is optimistic T-Mobile will utilise AI-RAN functionalities on its network starting with possible field trials next year, but he noted the vendor ecosystem needs further development.

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Tenorio explained one of the pitfalls for deploying 5G was developing non-standalone (NSA) and standalone architectures (SA.)

“There are many things that we learned with 5G that we need to take as lessons to not repeat in the 6G world,” he said. “One of them was NSA and SA. We needed a 5G standard that you could deploy at that point in time and quickly, and the only way to do that was through NSA. In hindsight, it was probably the lesser evil.

“But we need to also acknowledge that it created a divide in the capacity that we rolled out for 4G was not something that you could aggregate when you moved to 5G standalone.”

Speaking during Unwrapped: The 5G Evolution, Tenorio pointed to the US operator’s recent launch of its 6G Innovation Forum as the starting point for 6G. He said the bottom-up initiative focuses on developing foundational 6G technologies, exploring new use cases and ensuring global alignment in standards and interoperability.

“There is a huge hype about AI, and of course, AI embedded in the network, but also a network that enables AI,” he said, “I think that’s a good example, and maybe that’s the killer [6G] application that we need to think of.”

He explained AI embedded in networks, AI wearables and the “massive enablement of AI for society” are areas 6G should start to map out now instead of building general purpose technology and “wait for someone to come use it”.

In addition to deciding what 6G will be, Tenorio said it is also key for operators and vendors to contribute to and follow 3GPP’s 6G standards.

“We don’t plan to deviate at all from that,” he noted. “If we have a view that there is a need to do something that’s not addressed properly or not covered, what we will do is to drive that input into the 3GPP to try to make the standard better.”

Tenorio stated the global telecoms industry “lives on a huge economy of scale,” but fragmenting 6G standards will make it more difficult for all parties.

“From a chipset to the device manufacturer to the network equipment manufacturer, they will no longer be able to aggregate on volumes,” he explained. This industry needs volumes to survive.

“Deviating from a single global standard for everybody may not be a wise thing to do for anyone involved.”

Lastly, Tenorio said 6G should be built on the shoulders of virtualised RAN or open RAN to upgrade 5G networks to 6G by using software.

 “There are many things that we learned with 5G that we need to take as lessons to not repeat in the 6G world,” he said. “We need to take that learning to 6G and make sure that the core is a software upgrade to 6G based on the 5G core that we just rolled out today.”

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He explained Singtel began building out SA 5G sometime in 2021, with work completed in 2022, “three years before regulatory requirements – we were ahead of time”.

Backed by a forward looking government that invests in future technology, Tian Chong said from 2022 it was able to use its SA network to support the public sector in homeland defence, public security and over time extend this out to other sectors, citing examples in the EV sector, and digital twin and AI robotics deployments with Hyundai Group.

Putting the focus on network slicing, Tian Chong opened up on a collaboration with vendor Ericsson to develop different kinds of network slicing at big events, to support manufacturing at campuses and most recently application-based slicing.

He explained there is strategic importance to offering differentiated services in Singapore given the competitive landscape, with a population of just over 6 million served by four operators, along with multiple MVNOs.

Take-off
Putting its “know-how” in standalone 5G to action, Tian Chong said the operator applied it to the consumer side of 5G by using examples from the airline industry to offer services similar to economy, business and first class.

“On the same 5G network, we can have the lower ARPU customers, and yet we want to be able to add differentiation for business class and first class, meaning the higher ARPU customers.”

To do this, the CEO said it acquired four lots of 700MHz, being the first operator to do so and deploy it for 5G only.

“Straight away, 5G became the main airline and 4G the budget airline. On top of that we unlocked slicing capability to high ARPU customers, and we offered business and first class ARPU customers priority access and four times faster speeds.”

Enhancing the offering further, it worked with Palo Alto Networks on security features inside the slice.

“To do this like an airline, it is not just about the product in the aircraft. It’s about the loyalty programme, it’s about the service,” he concluded.

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Starting with BT, Reza Rahnama, MD of Mobile Networks (pictured) discussed the UK operator’s target to deploy SA 5G across 99 per cent of the population by the end 2030, with the figure currently at 60 per cent.

On the consumer side, Rahnama said the key differentiator with SA 5G was the ability to offer service differentiation and programmability of the network. He pointed to gamers and remote workers as examples, giving users a better experience as more of its network moves to standalone and it is able to create a larger ecosystem.

By ultimately cracking the streaming market, Rahnama believes the network then has excellent potential for potential future AI workloads, essential for the enterprise.

“The consumer market will drive some of it, but I think the true promise of 5G standalone comes from the enterprise. Not only from SMEs but very large enterprises”

He pointed to automation, autonomous vehicle and manufacturing use cases, as well as providing dedicated slicing for companies.

Dynamic slicing
Telstra executive, technology development and innovation, Channa Seneviratne, agreed with Rahnama on the importance of SA 5G, stating the company was aiming to have all of Australia’s major cities covered with the technology by the end of 2025.

For Seneviratne, one of the main benefits of SA 5G lies in slicing, again with enterprise a major focus. He explained the operator rolled out its first product in the area in June, aimed at providing a priority slice for enterprises in congested environments. This will be extended to allow for two slices, with one for priority traffic.

Moving forward, Seneviratne said the company has a clear focus to move towards handset slicing, offering the capabilities in stadiums, arenas and campuses.

“When we think about slicing, we want this to be a dynamic product. We think about dynamic slicing as opposed to a static slice somewhere. To do that, it’s not just about the network, it’s about the orchestration that goes with being able to create a dynamic slice in real time if necessary.”

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