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Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said that the investment would “cement the UK’s leadership in advanced connectivity and support projects delivering real, tangible change for people and businesses across Britain” 

This week, the UK government has announced a £23 million investment in telecoms research and development, covering a wide range of topics including 5G, quantum computing, and drone technologies.  

The new funding will impact seven technology projects led by local governments across the UK: 

• Belfast City Council – Belfast City Region 

• West Midlands Combined Authority 

• Glasgow City Council – Glasgow City Region 

• The Council of the City Of Sunderland – North East Combined Authority 

• North Ayrshire Council – Ayrshire Growth Deal Region 

• West Sussex County Council – Sussex (East and West) 

• Shropshire Council – River Severn Partnership 

Around £7 million of this funding will support projects that integrate 5G into businesses and public services, with the remaining £15 million going into AI and cloud computing research.Among the organisations set to receive new funding is the Northeast Combined Authority, which has secured an additional £1.9 million for a variety of projects. These include the further development and extraction of smart port solutions into other sectors, as well as improving transport efficiency between Nissan and the Port of Tyne.  

In the local agriculture sector, the funding will enable the deployment of wireless sensors for soil and methane monitoring, helping to boost automation and improve sustainability.  

The projects aim to establish the Northeast as a national hub for 5G innovation and deployment across multiple sectors. 

Other funding injections include £1.3 million to Belfast City Council to boost the adoption and commercialisation of advanced wireless technologies and £1 million to the West Midlands Combined Authority for Industry 4.0 technology amongst others. 

“By 2035 we could see a whole new Britain emerge, harnessing the power of technological development, from engineering biology to AI, semiconductors and cyber security, or quantum and future telecoms for a stronger economy and better lives for all in the UK,” said Peter Kyle in the announcement’s press release. 

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Intelsat and MaxIQ Space are expanding efforts to deliver Intelsat’s Africa Space STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Program to schools in four different countries across Africa.

The program, now in its fifth year, aims to increase to a total of 12 schools and expand to include in-person learning for students in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Senegal. Participants will receive in-person, in-community learning with subject matter experts on Space STEM curriculum mixed with innovative STEM kits, hands-on training, and exclusive resources to integrate space science, sustainability and IoT education into their classrooms.

The newly adapted 2025 program is focused on empowering schools and educators to build a lasting impact on African education systems, ensuring thousands of students gain the skills and inspiration needed to thrive in STEM careers. STEM skills build a future-ready workforce, advancing national development goals and boost technological capabilities.

“As a pioneer in satellite technology, Intelsat remains committed to maximizing its contribution by inspiring the next generation and connecting African students to real-world applications of space technology,” said Rhys Morgan, RVP of the EMEA region for Intelsat.

“With Africa emerging as a key frontier for space infrastructure, it is essential to equip future leaders with the knowledge and skills to drive this transformation. We are honoured to play a role in preparing the young generation for this future,” said Judi Sandrock, program manager at MaxIQ Space.

During MWC 2025 in Barcelona, IDATE held the Green All-optical Network Forum themed « AI-Centric All-Optical Network for New Growth ». More than 200 industry leaders from the European telecom regulator BEREC, the FTTH Council, carriers, and device vendors all gathered together to discuss the opportunities as well as challenges coming from all-optical networks in the AI era, from policies to markets, from services to network architecture, and from technology innovation to business models.

They reached a consensus that « F5.5G all-optical networks are the ideal choice for carriers to provide ubiquitous 10 Gbps access, deterministic user experience, and premium computing access and computing interconnection in the AI era. New opportunities are already upon us ».

Jean-Luc Lemmens, IDATE CEO, noted that fibre networks are entering a new generation driven by AI. European operators which have successfully implemented 10G PON have recorded up to 10% ARPU increase. Fiber-to-the-Room solution is peaking up in Western Europe with all size operators launching the service.

Leading carriers, such as MasOrange (Spain), Zain (Saudi Arabia), Turkcell (Türkiye), and CTM (Macao), also shared their own digital/intelligent transformation strategies. The core of these strategies lies in reinforcing computing with network connectivity, powering networks with intelligence, and exploring new services with network advantages. Topics cover all-round network innovation practices, including FTTR, 10G/50G PON, OTN to edge, E2E OXC, 400G/800G, intelligent management and control platform, as well as service innovations such as FTTR+X-based smart home and computing private lines based on 1 ms metro optical networks. At the forum, China Unicom shared its business development concept of « China Unicom, Smart Home » and launched world-leading FTTR optical broadband. It continues to expand smart services such as smart connection, control, sharing, and security, and remains committed to building an open and shared smart home ecosystem. In addition, it has been working with all parties to build a smart home ecosystem, and explore a clear roadmap for home network construction and smart home service development in all industries. The sharing met with loud applause.

Kim Jin, Vice President of Huawei Optical Business Product Line, released Huawei’s four innovative solutions at the forum. « Facing the historical opportunities and challenges brought by AI, Huawei continues to innovate together with operators, launching a series of 50G PON OLT products, single-wavelength 2T solution for metro, DC-oriented OTN platform for backbone, and AI-based intelligent management and control system, » Kim Jin said in his speech. He went on to say, « These innovations will help operators build an AI-centric F5.5G all-optical network and embrace a win-win intelligent era. »

There are four types of awards for this forum: home broadband service, all-optical network architecture, intelligent service innovation, and sustainable development. These awards were presented to leading carriers from Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa to recognize their excellent practices and outstanding contributions in green all-optical network technology innovation, home broadband, and computing network services.

The Green All-Optical Network Forum has been successfully held by IDATE for four sessions. It has been exploring the industry’s future development based on industry consensus and technology innovation, with an aim to help industry members worldwide to embrace new opportunities. AI is becoming increasingly popular. Building an AI-centric.5G all-optical network will lay a solid foundation for AI growth and prosperity.

Three regional projects and one international: … [visit site to read more]

WALTHAM, MA and RIYADH, KSA   — March 4, 2025 — Zain KSA announced today that it has completed a large-scale digital transformation program with Netcracker Technology. The complex BSS/OSS transformation across all lines of business was successfully achieved in less than three years.

With the new cloud-based BSS/OSS in place, Zain KSA will further enhance customer experiences and scale up its business ecosystem and expansion across adjacent markets, including fintech, IoT and cloud computing services. The transformation also supports enhanced operational efficiencies, demonstrated through a 50 percent decrease in product development time and customer line activation time.

Zain KSA partnered with Netcracker on a comprehensive, full-stack, AI-driven IT transformation based on Netcracker Digital Platform, the foundation for a cloud-native digital BSS and OSS, as well as Netcracker’s comprehensive suite of managed services. The project included replacing Zain KSA’s existing IT stack and migrating customers to the new cloud-based systems.

Executive VP of Information Technology at Zain KSA, Eng. Maha Al Qernas, stated: “Transitioning into a cloud-based BSS/OSS is a new milestone for Zain KSA’s advanced digital ecosystem. This transformation, achieved through our strategic partnership with Netcracker, aligns with Zain KSA’s goal to create fully digital journeys for our individual and enterprise customers. We are proud that we have leveraged the market’s demand for 5G standalone technology. Our cloud-based systems support a broad range of innovative use cases, enriching our capabilities in 5G, and setting a new benchmark in connectivity and enabling transformative experiences for customers across the Kingdom and beyond to continue to empower a tech-enhanced quality of life in Saudi Arabia.”

“We are extremely honored to play a role in this significant transformation program with a leader in the 5G space and a disruptor in the market,” said Benedetto Spaziani, GM at Netcracker. “Zain KSA has been at the forefront of adopting new technologies and bringing innovative services to customers, and we look forward to being part of its ongoing success.”

Zain KSA started updating its BSS/OSS systems in late 2021. The initiative aims to enhance customer experiences and improve cybersecurity, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030 and the nationwide digital transformation.

About Netcracker Technology
Netcracker Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has the expertise, culture and resources to help service providers around the world transform their businesses to thrive in the digital economy. Our innovative solutions, value-driven services and unbroken delivery track record have enabled our customers to grow and succeed for more than three decades. With the latest technological advancements in key areas including 5G monetization, AI, automation and vertical industries, we help service providers to reach their transformation goals, advance their telco to techco evolution and realize business growth and profitability. To learn more, visit www.netcracker.com.

Media Contact

Anita Karvé
Netcracker Technology
MediaGroup@Netcracker.com    

Turkcell (NYSE: TKC) (BIST: TCELL), Türkiye’s leading telecommunications and technology company, in collaboration with Huawei, has successfully implemented autonomous network functions within its IP Backbone Network. This milestone marks a significant advancement in the evolution of telecom infrastructure, enhancing the automation, efficiency, and intelligence of Turkcell’s network management systems.

With the integration of autonomous network functions, Turkcell delivers a green network with autonomous energy-saving capabilities. This innovation not only optimizes network performance, but it also significantly reduces energy consumption, which contributes to reaching Turkcell’s sustainability goals. Through intelligently managing power usage across the network, Turkcell ensures that its operations are environmentally friendly while maintaining the high performance that its users expect. This movement is an essential part of Turkcell’s broader green energy initiatives, which aim to minimize the environmental footprint of their network infrastructure.

Turkcell’s green network initiatives are further enhanced by the dynamic energy-saving capabilities, which make significant reductions in energy consumption without compromising network reliability. By dynamically adjusting energy use based on real-time traffic demands with Huawei NetEngine 8000 X backbone router and Network Digital Map, Turkcell is able to provide faster, more efficient services while minimizing operational costs. The 400GE backbone router supports a smooth upgrade to possess AI capabilities, and Network Digital Map provides energy-saving visualization. Green network is particularly important in the face of growing demand for 5G-A and next-generation digital services, ensuring that Turkcell remains at the cutting edge of sustainability in telecom.

“We are excited to announce the successful application of autonomous network functions in our IP Backbone Network, a key step in our journey towards a fully autonomous, intelligent, and sustainable network,” said Prof. Dr. Vehbi Çağrı Güngör, Chief Technology Officer of Turkcell. “This technology enables us to reduce energy consumption and better meet the growing demand for 5G-A and next-generation of digital services.” 

“We are proud to be partner with Turkcell in this pioneering project,” said ZuoMeng, President of Data Communication Product Line Router Domain at Huawei. “The implementation of autonomous network functions is a game-changer for the telecommunications industry, allowing Turkcell to leverage Net5.5G’s technologies to offer a more efficient, sustainable, and scalable network. This collaboration demonstrates our commitment to driving innovation and advancing telecom infrastructure in Türkiye and beyond.” In the future, Turkcell will innovatively cooperate with Huawei on the newly launched AI WAN at MWC, opening up new business opportunities.

ABOUT TURKCELL:

Turkcell is a technology and telecommunications company headquartered in Türkiye, offering a unique portfolio of voice, data and IPTV services over its mobile and fixed networks along with digital consumer, enterprise and techfin services. Turkcell Group operates in three countries: Türkiye, Belarus and Northern Cyprus. Listed on both the NYSE and BIST since July 2000, Turkcell remains the only dual-listed company on these exchanges. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr.

News

Fuelled by a newly refreshed Board of Directors, Telefonica’s incoming chairman Marc Murtra is wasting no time in reshaping the company from the top down.

Telefonica has this week announced a major executive reshuffle, marking the start of a new strategic direction with chairman Marc Murtra at the helm.

The first and most significant change is the promotion of Telefonica Spain CEO Emilio Gayo to the role of Group COO and executive director. In this role, he will oversee the Group’s operations in in Spain, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as the B2B, Telefónica Tech, Telefónica Infra and gCTIO business units.

Gayo, who has worked at Telefonica in various roles for the past two decades, replaces outgoing COO Ángel Vilá.

Vilá will remain on the board of Virgin Media O2 in the UK and is being proposed for a board position at Telefonica Germany.

In addition to the new COO, Murtra is also leaning on ex-colleagues from his previous employer, defence firm Indra, to fill strategic positions.

Borja Ochoa, previously general director of defence and security at Indra, will replace Gayo at the head of Telefonica Spain, while the CEO of Telefonica Tech, José Cerdán, will also be replaced by an Indra alumnus, Sofía Collado.

Finally, there will also be a change of chief digital officer, with Sebas Muriel replacing Chema Alonso, who has held the role for the past 13 years.

The scale and speed of this reshuffle is worth noting. New chairman Murtra took over the position from José María Álvarez-Pallete after the latter’s surprise ousting in January. Murtra’s appointment was largely seen as relating to the Spanish government’s increasing sensitivity over Telefonica’s future, with the state having grown its stake in the business to counterbalance foreign investment from the likes of the UAE’s e&.

Since taking over the role six weeks ago, Spanish media has reported that Murtra has been dissatisfied with Vilá, with his replacement seen as the first step in a major restructure that will likely include changes to several more leadership positions.

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New York – March 4, 2025, Lightpath, an all fiber, infrastructure based connectivity provider revolutionizing how organizations connect to their digital destinations, announced the company has completed the acquisition of WANRack’s network assets and customers in the Phoenix metropolitan market. This acquisition adds 133 route miles of fiber, including diverse paths between the Goodyear data center ecosystem and metro Phoenix carrier hotel facilities, accelerating Lightpath’s service readiness and expansion in the region.

 In conjunction with Lightpath’s recent Phoenix market entry announcement, the integration of WANRack’s assets increases Lightpath’s total network footprint in the market to 363 route miles. Upon construction completion, this infrastructure will connect 10 key data centers via underground, multi-duct conduit systems, linking emerging data center hubs in Goodyear, Buckeye, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, and Tempe to Phoenix’s primary carrier exchange ecosystems.

Beyond the 10 planned connected data centers, the network will be strategically positioned near more than 30 additional single and multi-tenant data center campuses. While Lightpath is already service ready on 133 miles of acquired fiber, additional high priority network segments will be constructed in Q2 2025, with full network completion targeted by the end of 2026.

View a Map of Lightpath’s Phoenix Network

“WANRack’s Phoenix business is a perfect fit with Lightpath’s recent market entry and provided a solution for solving our strategic customer’s near-term requirements,” explained Rachel Stack, CFO, Lightpath. “This transaction demonstrates our creative problem solving and commitment to innovative solutions in response to customer challenges.” 

“Phoenix represents a strategic and growing market for Lightpath as we look to provide critical fiber infrastructure to customers with intensive bandwidth requirements”, stated Tim Haverkate, EVP, Major Infrastructure Solutions, Lightpath. “We look forward to partnering with WANRack’s customers to serve their growing connectivity needs and expanding Lightpath’s fiber infrastructure and customer relationships across Phoenix.”

About Lightpath:

Lightpath is revolutionizing how customers connect to their digital destinations by combining our next-generation network with our next-generation customer service. Lightpath’s advanced fiber-optic network offers a comprehensive portfolio of custom-engineered connectivity solutions with unparalleled performance, reliability, and security. Our consultative customer service means we work with you to design, deliver, and support the solution for your unique needs, faster and more easily than ever before. For over 30 years, thousands of enterprises, governments, and educators have trusted Lightpath to power their organization’s innovation. Lightpath is jointly owned by Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.

Follow Lightpath on LinkedIn. For more information, please visit lightpathfiber.com.

For Lightpath Media Inquiries:

JSA for Lightpath

1-866-695-3629 

jsa_lightpath@jsa.net

Subsea cable provider Seacom tapped satellite firm Q-KON to enhance its LEO satellite services, and bolster the resiliency of its network across its footprint in Africa.

The companies explained, LEO satellite solutions provide an alternative connectivity layer by routing data via satellite to teleport facilities before reaching network centres and endpoints. This has already been deployed in South Africa since early 2024.

The partnership with Q-KON will enable SEACOM customers to incorporate LEO connectivity into their digital infrastructure, particularly in industries requiring low-latency, high-reliability networks such as mining, retail, and financial services.

SEACOM Group Digital Services MD, Sajid Khan, said: « LEO connectivity allows South African enterprises to reinforce their digital ecosystems and invest in heightened network resilience and business continuity.

“The partnership showcases the co-creation between the two companies, whose synergistic relationship has allowed us to combine our in-depth understanding of terrestrial infrastructure with their specialised expertise in satellite-based networks, resulting in innovative solutions tailored to modern business challenges, » added Khan.

Dr Dawie de Wet, Group CEO of Q-KON and its African satellite service, Twoobii, commented: “The recent accelerated growth of satellite services in general for Africa, and LEO services specifically, provides Q-KON with a unique opportunity to develop Africa-centric solutions leveraging the global constellations and our in-depth system engineering capabilities.”

On Day 3 of MWC2025, James Chen, President of Carrier Business, Huawei, gave a speech focused on how AI innovation will drive value creation.

With the rapid development of 5G, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, consumers and enterprises are demanding new digital and intelligent services. The traditional business models of the telecom industry are facing profound changes, and Chen underlined three main aspects that should be reshaped.

Firstly, operators can – and indeed should – reshape their business models around value creation, expanding proactively from connectivity into more digital and intelligent services. They also need to reshape operations and maintenance, utilizing AI and Big Data to optimize them, and reshape infrastructure by advancing the integration of multi-element synergetic networks to provide strong support for innovative services.

One example is different models for differentiated experience monetization. With consumer services evolving, businesses can be impacted by 5G network congestion – for example, a livestreamer selling products during their stream. If this becomes an issue, the network can automatically send a VIP package recommendation to the user, and once they accept the offer their livestreaming business is guaranteed immediately, with ‘VIP Assurance’ displayed on the device. This is a case of operators monetizing experience.

To achieve this business model, operators firstly need to apply AI technologies to recommend the right package for the users, and then they can dynamically adjust users’ bandwidth. The differentiated experience monetization enables operators to find more opportunities in more scenarios, such as gaming, business traveling and hotspot areas.

Moving onto intelligent homes, Chen detailed how operators in Korea and China are establishing a unified intelligent home entry with an AI agent inside. The agent serves as a gateway for accessing different intelligent home devices and AI-based services, interpreting the intentions of each family member and invoking the right applications in the cloud. For example, in the instance that an elderly relative falls, the home Wi-Fi router can automatically detect it, recognize that they need help, and alert family members. Operators can use different services to meet different needs; in this way, by bundling a high-speed fiber network with an AI Agent that can invoke various cloud services, operators can begin to shift from being home broadband providers to AI services providers.

Chen explained that while AI provides opportunities in toC and toH business, it also supports digital transformation for other industries. For example, An operator from North Africa has used its existing mobile money service as an entry point for SMEs, and is utilizing its cloud as a platform to support digital transformation of vertical industries – this was the key to developing B2B business. Its cloud was built to meet the needs of local industry and integrates both local and global partners into a unified one-stop digitization platform. It provides developers with a low code environment featuring 1-click onboarding of new applications. In this way, operators can expand from connectivity into a broad range of cloud services to help local industries bridge the digital intelligence gap.

Traditional operations and maintenance also need AI-based innovation to support techco transformation. Interruption to a wireless service can be identified in under three minutes, with an AI agent assisting the field engineer throughout the repair process. The whole process is automatic, thanks to the telecom foundation model. Without it, network troubleshooting involves entire network elements and many engineers, but with the model, the troubleshooting is fully automated with an AI agent, and the Field Maintenance Engineer carrying out the repairs is fully supported by an AI copilot.  This improves the user experience, reducing the provisioning time and troubleshooting time, and helping to optimize resource allocation efficiency.

Outlining how operators can adopt this capability, Chen explained that the first step is for operators to build a digital twin of their network and its services, then integrate this with a large telecom model. Finally, they should construct and implement knowledge-based automatic O&M operations into their daily activities.

Chen explained some major changes that will be required in the sphere of infrastructure, noting that data centers will need to be upgraded to support both high-performance training and fast inference. The traditionally north-south traffic flow is being joined by an east-west flow, and network capabilities are evolving from best effort to deterministic experience. Chen outlined how a future-oriented architecture should consider the various layers of these changes:

Intelligent connections: the network should evolve to support deterministic experience and lossless connection.

Intelligent clouds: build distributed and diversified computing power to provide cloud-based services and intelligent computing services.

All elements collaboration, from planning to operation: the operators should consider collaborative construction and resource scheduling between cloud and network, and between network and computing power.

The development of AI will accelerate techco transformation, and Chen explained how Huawei can help operators from three perspectives.

Firstly, it provides AI-boosted business, which can help operators to enrich their service offerings such as connectivity + X to SMEs, Cloud platform for large industries, and a mobile money Super-app.

Next, it supports AI-enabled operation. With Huawei’s telecom foundation model operators can enable existing NOC and SOC with AI Agents and Copilots.

Finally, it helps evolve to AI-centric Infrastructure. Operators can leverage Huawei’s technology leadership to help build a synergetic infrastructure with flexible resource scheduling to meet future service requirements.

The AI era has arrived, and the best time to act is now. Chen stated Huawei’s belief that transformation is not the goal – value creation is the essence. Huawei is willing to work together with operators and partners to accelerate the transformation to techco through joint innovation and efforts, continuously creating greater value.