Co-location data centre services provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (India) has announced the launch of STT Jaipur 1, described as the first high-performance data centre in Rajasthan.

STT Jaipur 1 is being developed with an IT design capacity of 6 MW, a total power load of 10 MVA in a three-storey building with a campus area of 5,971 square metres. The facility has been designed in line with STT GDC India’s long-term commitment to sustainable and responsible growth, with a strong focus on energy efficiency, operational resilience and ESG principles. This enables customers to scale their digital operations while advancing their sustainability goals.

STT GDC India explains that as demand rises for more compute-intensive applications across industries, organisations are seeking infrastructure that can support high-performance workloads, scalable cloud environments and increasingly data-intensive use cases.

STT Jaipur 1 has been purpose-built to address these needs, providing resilient and scalable capacity for enterprises, government institutions, cloud providers and digital-native businesses in and around the region.

The launch also expands STT GDC India’s national footprint, which recently added a fourth data centre in Chennai, to ten cities, 34 data centres and 613 MW IT load capacity, reinforcing its role in extending high-quality digital infrastructure beyond Tier 1 markets and enabling emerging technology hubs such as Jaipur to participate more fully in India’s digital economy.

Mr Bimal Khandelwal, Chief Executive Officer of STT GDC India, explains: “The launch of STT Jaipur 1 represents a strategic investment in Rajasthan’s digital future and reflects our conviction that the next wave of digital infrastructure growth will extend well beyond India’s Tier 1 cities. Rajasthan is emerging as an important destination for technology-led investment and innovation. As the state’s first enterprise-grade data centre, this facility will play a pivotal role in supporting Rajasthan’s digital economy and strengthening India’s broader AI infrastructure ecosystem.”

Contributed Article

Regional operator htp built fiber–to–the–home (FTTH) networks a decade before they became mainstream. Today, it is showing the market how early builders modernize for the future. 

The operators who moved first on fiber are now facing a second strategic decision. Speaking at the BREKO Arbeitstag in a joint session with Udo Abt, senior consultant of sales engineering at Calix, Jochen Krauss, head of network planning at Hannover-based regional operator htp, explained how an early FTTH pioneer is evolving its network for the next decade. 

htp began deploying fiber to the home more than ten years ago and today serves 123.400 residential and 9.710 business customers. Sixty-three percent of its connections are now activated fiber-to-the-home lines, a penetration level most of the German market is still working toward. Originally built on point-to-point Ethernet, the network is now evolving. Today, htp is deploying native XGS-PON for all new construction and network densification. 

A business case with real numbers 

Before committing, htp ran a full total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis spanning network build and operations. The results showed a cost reduction of more than 40 percent. According to Krauss, realized savings have exceeded the model. 

The drivers are structural. Serving 2,000 subscribers on point-to-point requires around 32 rack units of central office equipment. XGS-PON requires roughly one rack unit. Power consumption per subscriber is significantly lower. Distributed splitters also eliminate many powered and cooled street cabinets, allowing the field network to run almost entirely passive. Service activation no longer requires technicians at both ends of the line. 

Why native XGS-PON 

htp evaluated GPON and Combo-PON alternatives before committing to native XGS-PON, in what Abt described on stage as “a battle of the best arguments between the two engineering teams.” Symmetric 10 Gbps capacity supports 1:64 split ratios without compromising the subscriber experience. ONT prices for XGS-PON also fell faster than any forecast predicted, closing the historic cost gap with GPON. The choice also secures the road ahead: The step to 50G PON can run in parallel on the same infrastructure when business services and backhaul demand it. 

Just as important were htp’s procurement requirements: no lock-in on optical components, open management interfaces, and hardware available for hardened outdoor deployment. Calix met all of them. 

Simplicity as strategy 

For a 250-person operator, operational simplicity determines technology choices. Because the Calix One™ platform abstracts the access technology, htp’s team configures PON services in the same familiar terms as Ethernet, and the engineer who introduced the platform completed his first test installation within just one week. Workflows are learned once; technology generations change underneath them. As Abt put it, “That is what consumers already expect from their smartphones, where 4G became 5G without anyone relearning the device.” 

The same principle extends forward. htp’s path to 50G PON, network slicing, and AI-supported predictive operations runs on the software foundation already integrated and already mastered. 

A planned evolution, not a crisis 

htp will continue operating its point-to-point base while migrating it to PON in a structured, multi-year program aligned with equipment lifecycles. New builds are XGS-PON by default. As Krauss observed, “Technology generations turning over is simply the nature of infrastructure, and the advantage belongs to operators who plan the transition rather than react to it.” 

For the many European operators now approaching the ten-year mark on their first fiber deployments, the message from the BREKO stage was clear: The second migration is coming for everyone. htp is proof it can arrive as a plan. 

Four interesting infrastructure items from around the industry: … [visit site to read more]

Interview

The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) in-depth investigation into the proposed £2 billion merger of Netomnia and nexfibre has become one of the most significant competition cases in the UK’s telecoms sector in recent years.

Last month, the regulator confirmed it would fast-track the deal directly to a Phase 2 investigation, bypassing the initial Phase 1 review. The decision reflects the scale of a transaction that could reshape the UK’s altnet market and accelerate long-awaited consolidation.

With the investigation now well underway, Netomnia CEO Jeremy Chelot insists the merger is a necessity for securing long-term viability of the UK’s fibre market.

Consolidation is inevitable

Chelot explained the transaction was driven by the realities of the UK’s increasingly challenging altnet landscape rather than by a deliberate preference for nexfibre.

“It was not so much a choice. It was the fact that the UK market clearly needs consolidation,” he said.

According to Chelot, Netomnia had spent years exploring alternative consolidation opportunities, all of which had ultimately failed.

“We looked at quite a few players and tried to acquire companies to consolidate, and unfortunately, we failed at it. We also looked at opportunities to merge or be acquired by players bigger than us. Through those processes, Nexfibre was the only viable option from a valuation, capital, and overall perspective,” he said.

Despite the increasing pressure facing the sector, Chelot said the objective has remained unchanged since the UK’s fibre challengers first emerged.

“The goal since the beginning—and I think that’s what all the altnets had as an ambition when they started, whether you talk to CityFibre, Community Fibre, or us—was always to become a challenger and beat Openreach,” he said.

Phase 2: The sooner the better

Regarding the decision to request a move directly to Phase 2 of the CMA’s investigation, Chelot said that a swift conclusion was important not only for the deal’s viability, but also to reduce market uncertainty.

“This is a landmark, important transaction for the UK that will shape the future of broadband and telecom in the country,” he said. “If you do a Phase 1 investigation and end up going into Phase 2, you’re talking about a process that could last 18 months. Whereas if you fast-track it immediately, the process is going to be a lot shorter, giving additional time for the CMA and Ofcom to investigate thoroughly and address the important issues.”

Overcoming competition concerns

The merger has faced criticism from rival altnets, most notably CityFibre, which has raised concerns about the impact on competition and re-establishing a duopoly of BT and Virgin Media O2 (VMO2).

Chelot, however, argued that CityFibre’s comments in a recent article in The Times undermine their objections around competition.

“CityFibre was saying that they would consider being acquired by nexfibre or VMO2, but they would rather get the VMO2 traffic onto their platform. If CityFibre says that, they’re basically saying that my transaction is completely fine, because they are saying that having VMO2 traffic on their network, or being acquired by Nexfibre or VMO2, is a good [competitive] outcome,” he said.

He also downplayed concerns around network overlap between Netomnia and nexfibre, saying that fibre duplication between the two networks is limited to “a low double-digit number.”

Instead, he believes the merged business presents little risk to competition because neither Netomnia, nexfibre nor VMO2 is currently a significant wholesale provider to the UK’s largest broadband retailers. He also notes that YouFibre will remain an independent brand, hence retail competition will not be reduced.

“From where I stand, I don’t really understand where the issue is,” he said. “I’m not wholesale, VMO2 is not wholesale, and Nexfibre is not wholesale – we don’t have Sky, Vodafone, or those larger players. So, we would be increasing wholesale competition. If you look at retail, YouFibre is still there, and with a new wholesale platform, retail ISPs using that platform will become more competitive, resulting in better pricing for people.”

“The main issue is that CityFibre is just not happy, and therefore, they make a lot of noise,” he added.

The CMA’s ‘what if?’

A central consideration for the CMA will be establishing the counterfactual – what would happen had if the merger does not take place?

Chelot argues that Netomnia’s options were increasingly limited.

“Could we build a lot more homes? Where is the capital for that? Would we be a successful wholesaler with Sky and Vodafone? I tried for five years and got nowhere. Would we have merged with another altnet? I’ve been trying for years and was unsuccessful,” he said.

Commenting on these failed deals, Chelot pointed to the inherent complexity of these network deals.

“As soon as you try to [merge with an altnet with] half a million, a million, or more [premises passed], you’re most likely going to have to live with the shareholder on the other side for a very long time. That brings lots of governance issues, valuation challenges, and complicated processes.”

Funding constraints have only made those challenges more acute across the sector, with many altnets being forced to slow or even halt their deployment plans as a result.

“Finding capital to build more homes and generating the right level of return on those homes is currently next to impossible,” he said.

Building a more competitive future

Indeed, Chelot believes approval of the merger is crucial unlock a wave of consolidation that is sorely needed.

“It will signal strongly that consolidation is possible in the UK. Let’s be clear, a lot of the consolidation that’s happened so far has been out of problems or stress, rather than combining two companies that actually think it’s the right path for growth,” he said.

“I think it will spark more consolidation. We’ve seen recently that Community Fibre and Hyperoptic are up for sale. My view is that CityFibre will consolidate more – I think they will get to 8 million homes, maybe more, and to achieve that they’ll need to consolidate 3–6 players,” he added.

Speculating about the future of the UK market at the end of the decade, Chelot said the market will ultimately be dominated by four national fixed-network operators.

“I think we’ll likely have four players with national scale, with at least 8–10 million each or more: Openreach, VMO2, nexfibre, and CityFibre,” he said. “Depending on consolidation, there could even be a fifth player – maybe some kind of rural champion.”

Until this rebalancing of the market, Chelot says the altnet community must not lose focus of their original goal of competing with Openreach.

“People should talk more about the dominance of BT and Openreach. In the past 6–7 year have rolled out fibre to 25 million homes, which is more than everybody else. People sometimes think that, because the altnets occupy so much of the space it is like we won against Openreach. The fight is very much alive,” he said.

“All of the altnets were created out of a desire to challenge Openreach. Anything that gets us closer to that is a good thing,” he concluded.

How is the UK fibre market evolving? Join the industry in discussion at Connected Britain, the UK’s largest digital economy event

Ahead of the World AI Conference in Shanghai, 30 countries joined the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), an initiative proposed by China to facilitate global collaboration on AI governance.

WAICO will be headquartered in Shanghai and is intended to act as an independent intergovernmental organisation with the aim of encouraging cooperation between nations to ensure AI is beneficial, safe, and fair for all, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.

Among the signatories to WAICO are China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Cuba, Belarus, Serbia, and numerous other countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The organisation’s agreement enshrines the principle of open participation without conditions based on values or systems of governance, and emphasises the need to reduce the gap in access to technology between developed and emerging markets.

In an address at the World AI Conference, China’s President Xi Jinping described WAICO as a response to calls from the Global South, saying AI governance should not be a “solo performance by one country, but rather a symphony of global cooperation”. Xi framed WAICO as a forum with no barriers to entry in which members can freely collaborate on training programs, projects and governance – rather than an organisation led from the top by China.

It is significant that no major US-aligned nations were among WAICO’s founding members as this may result in a geopolitical schism in AI governance, potentially even evolving into different ecosystems of standards, infrastructure and legislation. Xi did not mention the US in his address but pointedly warned against nations “overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country’s security over that of others”.

The idea for WAICO was first proposed publicly at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, although China was pushing the concept prior to this, arguing in its Global AI Governance Initiative that legislation must give equal weight to the requirements of development and safety.

While China has made great pains to underline that it will not lead WAICO, in practice the organisation will provide Xi with a forum to influence international standards and policy around AI as well as a vehicle through which China will be able to provide technical support to developing nations, which will doubtless strengthen its standing in the Global South as the alternative to Western-led AI initiatives. Indeed, Xi detailed that China would make 5000 AI-focused training places available to applicants from developing countries, as well as establishing cooperation centres with member countries.

Four expansion products of regional interest to catch up with: … [visit site to read more]

South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA has fined B2B telecoms provider Session Telecoms ZAR6 million (US$340,000) after finding the company misused telecoms numbering resources, violating national regulations.

The sanctions follow a complaint filed by MTN in April 2023, which alleged Session used practices including disguising international calls as local ones through techniques such as SIM-boxing and caller ID manipulation. Following a two-year investigation and hearings, ICASA’s Complaints and Compliance Committee concluded that Session had breached the country’s Numbering Plan Regulations.

The regulator said Session violated two regulations governing the use of telephone numbers and imposed separate fines of ZAR3 million for each offence.

Alongside the financial penalties, ICASA ordered the company to stop the offending practices immediately, blocked the telephone numbers involved to prevent further misuse, and said they would be withdrawn where necessary. Session must also submit monthly compliance reports, including call records and international traffic data, for the next 24 months.

ICASA Chairperson of the Numbering Plan Resources Committee, Mushi Mushi, said: « ICASA regards compliance with the Numbering Plan Regulations as essential to maintaining the integrity, efficiency and security of the national numbering system. Numbering resources are a scarce national asset and must be used responsibly by licensed operators to ensure the reliable delivery of electronic communications services. »

Practices such as SIM-boxing have long been a headache for operators across Africa. They allow international calls to be routed through local SIM cards so they appear to be domestic calls, enabling fraudsters to avoid international termination fees and reducing revenues for operators and governments. ICASA said the ruling is intended to protect the integrity of South Africa’s telecoms networks, promote fair competition

This sponsored viewpoint was authored by Bryan Lamphere, Senior Vice President of Network Planning and Engineering, Fidium

Legacy networks still function. That’s exactly the problem.

The move toward fiber-first infrastructure is already underway and accelerating. Still, some assume that because legacy networks continue to function, there is no urgency to move away from them. From an operator’s perspective, that assumption is getting harder to defend. … [visit site to read more]

Viasat has demonstrated what it claims is the first satellite voice call fully integrated into a BMW Group vehicle, highlighting how non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) could extend connected car services beyond the reach of terrestrial mobile coverage.

Showcased at this week’s 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) Meeting Week in Munich, the demonstration enabled a voice call to be initiated directly from a BMW iX3’s infotainment system using Viasat’s L-band satellite network and the NB-IoT protocol.

The proof of concept combined Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2 platform with an AI voice codec from Fraunhofer IIS, allowing compressed voice traffic to be transmitted over a geostationary satellite. The demonstration also builds on Viasat’s collaboration with software-defined vehicle connectivity provider Cubic3, whose eSIM technology enables vehicles to seamlessly switch between terrestrial and satellite connectivity.

Damian Lewis, Market Development Director at Viasat, said demand for always-on connectivity is growing as vehicles become increasingly software defined and reliant on cloud-based services.

“Vehicles are designed to be connected, and terrestrial coverage takes that quite far, but there are gaps,” Lewis said. “Using satellites to bridge those gaps and cover areas that aren’t served by terrestrial mobile connectivity is a really effective way of doing it.”

Lewis said the system uses existing NTN infrastructure, meaning automotive OEMs could deploy the technology without waiting for new satellite networks. While the current demonstration focuses on emergency voice calls, he added that future developments could support higher-bandwidth services as 5G NTN standards evolve.

BMW said satellite connectivity is becoming increasingly important as more vehicle functions move to the cloud.

“The car needs to be connected,” said Olaf Eckart, senior expert for R&D Cooperation and Partner Management at BMW Group. “Our customers want ubiquitous connectivity, and we wanted to move away from proprietary systems to interoperable and scalable solutions.”

Eckart added that narrowband IoT provides an immediate path for emergency messaging and voice services, while future 5G New Radio NTN capabilities are expected to enable higher-data-rate applications in areas without terrestrial coverage.

Thai telco True Corp announced on Thursday it has partnered with the Ministry of Public Health to launch True SkyBridge, an autonomous air logistics management platform designed to support medical drones delivering medical supplies to remote areas.

The prototype SkyBridge platform, designed and developed by True’s Research and Innovation Center, connects hospitals, medical service units, public health personnel and the public to the autonomous air logistics system underlying the drone service.

True SkyBridge supports multi-brand drones and carries full-function AI-driven flight data and safety systems over True’s network, said Ekaraj Panjavinin, head of research and innovation at True Corp.

“True SkyBridge provides end-to-end management of medical transport missions, covering route planning, medical payload quality monitoring, real-time flight tracking, fleet management and control, drone readiness and safety systems, as well as automated documentation that records the time and coordinates throughout each flight,” Ekaraj said in a statement.

True kicked off the launch of True SkyBridge with two live drone flights along different routes in the Pua District of Nan Province, which features mountainous terrain, winding roads along mountainsides and cliffs, and scattered communities, all of which are prone to heavy rainfall, landslides, or flash floods that can disrupt ground transportation routes.

For one route, a drone delivered medicine for patients with non-communicable diseases from Phaya Pha Nong Stadium to Ban Rong Ngae Community Square, then returned with medical samples. The flight covered a round-trip distance of 4 km and took approximately 3.5 minutes, 50% faster than transportation by road which takes around seven minutes.

The second route – which demonstrated the delivery of medicines to a remote area where land transport routes had been cut off – ran across steep mountains, cliffs, and dense forests from Phaya Pha Nong Stadium to Ban Nam Pua School. The round-trip distance was 46 km and took approximately 35 minutes – 70% faster than transportation by road that usually take more than two hours.

“The platform enables the fast and seamless delivery of medicines, medical supplies, and medical samples on every mission. It is also designed to provide high levels of safety and full traceability, with the potential to scale into a nationwide network in the future,” Ekaraj said.

True SkyBridge has regulatory support from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AEROTHAI, which provides air traffic control and aeronautical communications services) and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

Narin Kalayanamit, an adviser to the public health minister, said True SkyBridge will support Thailand’s medical and public health services by ensuring that everyone has thorough, equitable, and quality access to healthcare services, particularly people in frontier, remote, and underserved areas facing medical access restrictions.

“In the past, flight trials were successfully conducted in coastal areas, which demonstrated a significant reduction in both time and constraints of maritime transportation,” he said. “Therefore, medical drones serve as another approach to elevate public access to healthcare services, while effectively enhancing readiness in handling emergency and disaster situations.”

Narin said the service will be expanded to ten additional remote areas, and further integrated into the healthcare service system.