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Sources have revealed that national network operator Openreach (BT) are preparing to launch a new 100G variant of their wholesale Ethernet Backhaul Direct (EBD) product before the end of this month (tentative). The service is designed for broadband ISPs and other network operators who need to move massive amounts of data efficiently across the UK (between Openreach’s nodes). (more…)
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Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning announced that they’ve switched-on their next-generation 5G Standalone (5G+) mobile broadband network in the Cumbria area, which is said to reach up to 219,000 people in Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Workington and Ulverston etc. – delivering “faster speeds, better coverage and lower latency at no extra cost.” (more…)
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The backbench Scottish National Party (SNP) MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, Graham Leadbitter, has tabled a new Private Members Bill (PMB) that seeks to make it mandatory for energy, broadband, and mobile providers to offer cheaper Social Tariffs to consumers in receipt of certain state benefits (e.g. Universal Credit). (more…)
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A criminal gang has caused a significant broadband and phone outage for thousands of customers on Openreach’s UK network around the large South Yorkshire (England) village of Thurnscoe. The problems occurred after the thieves damaged the local network while they were dragging the operator’s copper telecoms cables out of the ground. (more…)
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Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone have announced the signing of a letter of intent to explore a potential joint bid for the future allocation of spectrum for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in Europe.
The move would see the group build key ground network infrastructure required to support a satellite network. The satellites themselves, however, would be owned and operated by an as-yet-unselected partner.
When combined, the operators would be able to offer customers open and non-discriminatory access to offer Direct-to-Device (D2D) services, as well as enhancing European network resiliency.
The decision relates to spectrum in the 2 GHz band, frequencies ideal for the delivery of D2D services. This band is currently occupied by Viasat and EchoStar, but their licences expire in May 2027.
In May, European policy makers proposed dividing the band into three, with one third reserved for governmental use, another for commercial EU operators entering the market, and one for EU and non-EU satellite operators. This, the European Commission said, would “strengthen the EU’s competitiveness and critical communications capabilities”.
“Satellite connectivity is a key piece of our technological sovereignty, our security, and our defence. technological sovereignty, our security, and our defence,” said the Commission in a statement.
While the proposal received support in Europe, it was lambasted in the US, with representatives threatening retaliation for what they claim would be unfair discrimination against US companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The news comes at a time when Europe is growing increasingly wary of handing control of critical infrastructure to US companies that may be compelled to follow the whims of President Donald Trump.
Last week, Ukraine reported that SpaceX had introduced restrictions affecting military satellite connectivity without advance warning, impacting both battlefield communications and early warning of incoming Russian attack.
Sources speaking to Reuters subsequently indicated that the order to reduce Starlink service to Ukraine came from the White House. President Trump denies these claims.
The incident caused a major diplomatic rift between Washington and Kyiv, with Germany – which pays for Ukraine’s Starlink service – also notably angered.
Ukraine has been using Starlink-supported drone and missile strikes to hit oil infrastructure deep inside Russia, a move which has contributed to the rise of global energy prices.
President Trump – whose approval rating has fallen to a record low ahead of the Midterms, largely due to the surge in household energy costs because of the war in Iran – has decried Ukraine’s targeted attacks as ‘a disgrace’.
It is unclear whether the Starlink and Starshield services have now been fully restored in Ukraine; reports from October 16 suggested they had largely improved but denied a return to previous service quality.
Against the background of this furore, it should come as little surprise that Europe’s biggest telcos are looking for alternatives to Starlink. In fact, Europe has long aspired to create its own satellite communications system in the form of IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite), a LEO platform designed to support defence and government users across the bloc.
IRIS²’s delivery, however, has been slow. The constellations first satellites are currently targeted for launch in 2029, with full operation via 348 satellites expected in 2032.
The proposed mobile satellite partnership could therefore offer Europe a more immediate route to sovereign D2D connectivity while IRIS² remains years from full deployment, reducing reliance on US-controlled satellite infrastructure.
How is the UK’s satellite landscape evolving? Join the discussion at Satellite Live 2027, co-located with Connected Britain 2027
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Having entered the UK market in 2020 with just two people, NETS has grown to approximately 180 employees, contributing to the expansion of fibre networks and the creation of jobs across the industry. With operations now spanning the UK, Germany, and the United States, the company is applying its infrastructure expertise to new markets while expanding into data centres, 5G, and energy infrastructure.
In this interview, Jahangir discusses the company’s journey so far and how it has adapted to a maturing UK telecom market where customer installations, network maintenance, operational efficiency, and long-term value are becoming increasingly important.
Check out our full interview with Jahangir below!
How is the UK’s digital economy evolving? Join the connctivity industry in discussion at Connected Britain 2026
The post NETS International talks expansion and new verticals at Connected Britain 2026 appeared first on Total Telecom.
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Nokia today announced an agreement with SoftBank Corp. to conduct a commercial AI-RAN field trial in Japan in 2027. The planned deployment will use Nokia’s anyRAN software on SoftBank’s AITRAS, its core platform for AI-RAN, with NVIDIA Aerial RAN Computer (ARC), in conjunction with the AITRAS Orchestrator. The companies plan to validate AI-RAN technology in a commercial network environment under commercial traffic conditions.
The upcoming field trial will assess key AI-RAN capabilities in a live commercial network environment and represents an important step in SoftBank’s efforts to commercialize AI-RAN. It will also advance Nokia’s AI-RAN commercialization roadmap by moving the technology from laboratory development toward real-world deployment.
The planned trial will combine Nokia’s AI-native anyRAN Cloud RAN software on a SoftBank AITRAS platform with NVIDIA’s ARC platform and the AITRAS Orchestrator. The accelerated computing platform incorporates an NVIDIA Grace CPU, NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 GPU and NVIDIA ConnectX-8 networking, providing the computing and high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity needed to run commercial RAN workloads on cloud-native infrastructure. The AITRAS Orchestrator will support the orchestration of AI and RAN workloads within the trial environment, while NVIDIA’s programmable accelerated computing platform and NVIDIA CUDA ecosystem provide a software-defined foundation for continued AI-RAN innovation and an evolution path toward AI-native 6G. The trial will also demonstrate how Nokia’s AI-native anyRAN software can operate within the SoftBank AITRAS platform architecture, highlighting deployment flexibility beyond traditional RAN implementations.
As demand for generative, agentic and physical AI applications continues to grow, operators require networks that can efficiently support increasing data volumes while enabling new AI-driven services closer to the end user. By combining Nokia’s AI-native RAN software with NVIDIA accelerated computing, AI-RAN brings radio and AI workloads onto a common platform, helping operators improve infrastructure utilization, accelerate innovation and unlock new revenue opportunities.
“Our agreement with SoftBank marks an important step toward the future of AI-native networks. By bringing AI and RAN workloads onto common, programmable infrastructure, AI-RAN has the potential to unlock new levels of spectral efficiency while providing the distributed intelligence needed to support physical AI. As the boundaries between network and compute continue to blur, this distributed infrastructure can become a powerful platform for both connectivity and AI. Together with SoftBank and its AITRAS platform, we are laying the foundation for networks that go beyond connectivity to enable real-time AI services and accelerate the evolution toward AI-native 6G,” said Pallavi Mahajan, Chief Technology and AI Officer, Nokia.
“Our planned field trial with Nokia will mark a significant milestone in AI-RAN’s transition from concept to execution. We will integrate Nokia’s AI-native anyRAN into our AITRAS platform as its RAN component, with the AITRAS Orchestrator working in coordination with Nokia’s RAN and MantaRay. We are excited to begin this next phase of validation with Nokia, paving the way for a new era of networks that deliver both connectivity and AI services,” said Ryuji Wakikawa, Senior Vice President and CTO, SoftBank Corp.
The agreement builds on Nokia and SoftBank’s ongoing collaboration in AI-RAN, supported by NVIDIA’s accelerated computing node. The planned field trial will bring together Nokia’s AI-native RAN software with SoftBank’s AITRAS platform including the AITRAS Orchestrator to test AI-RAN under commercial traffic conditions. The collaboration will explore how AI and RAN workloads can be orchestrated on a common platform while preserving carrier-grade RAN operational requirements. Integration between Nokia MantaRay and the AITRAS Orchestrator will help enable coordinated management of AI and RAN resources, creating a foundation for future AI-native network architectures.
The trial will contribute to the broader industry transition toward AI-native network architectures and explore how operators can introduce new capabilities faster while supporting emerging AI applications at the network edge.
The planned trial will also explore AI-RAN’s potential to support richer AI-driven experiences, lower-latency services and new applications powered by real-time intelligence. Future use cases could include physical AI, immersive digital experiences, robotics and autonomous systems that require close interaction between AI and connectivity.
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Also in the news
Shared Rural Network rollout extends to UK national parks with over 150 4G masts live
Vodafone touts latest attempt to bridge the UK’s digital divide
Virgin Media O2 cuts 5,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
The post Nokia and SoftBank test AI-RAN in Japan appeared first on Total Telecom.
Original article ISPreview UK:Read More
The telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has published an additional investigation into another alternative full fibre broadband network (altnet) – Grayshott Gigabit (currently known as Gigabit IQ) – after they found “reasonable grounds to believe” that they may not be meeting their duties to show they have secured funds for meeting their liabilities. (more…)
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Software consultancy firm Zentive Group, which previously helped some of the UK’s largest communication providers implement consumer switching solutions, has today revealed that their related SureSwitch platform now supports Switching for Business (SforB) – extending the switching process to the business connectivity market. (more…)
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Network operator Openreach (BT) has today published the first update to their national roll-out plan for Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology since March 2026, which reflects all the recent changes and progress with their existing deployment locations up to October 2026 (i.e. changes in status, removals and any small additions). (more…)