The Connected Britain Awards winners have been announced, following a highly successful Connected Britain conference

With a record-breaking number of entries this year, the Connected Britain Awards 2026 showcased the most innovative and exciting elements of Britain’s ever-growing and rapidly evolving digital economy. This year’s shortlist included a fantastic array of diverse organisations and individuals, all of whom were highly deserving of praise. 

A big thanks to all our award presenters and to our expert panel of judges for lending us their expertise in selecting the winners.

Access Innovation Award 

For this category the judges were looking for an entry that did something special to help deliver connectivity to a previously hard-to-reach location.  

The winning entry created a system that did exactly this, drastically cutting installation time, costs, and waste, finally making broadband delivery economically viable for many rural locations in the UK. 

Emtelle – Rapid Customer Connect 

Indoor Connectivity Award  

The winner in this category pulled off a remarkable engineering feat, delivering high‑capacity 4G and 5G coverage at three locations, positively impacting millions of users. 

Wireless Infrastructure Group 

Customer Champion Award  

Combining proactive network management with outstanding local support, this entry demonstrated a true customer-first philosophy backed by exceptional satisfaction and retention scores. 

Lightning Fibre 

Highly commended: 4th utility Rise 

Barrier Removal Award 

This entry delivered a masterclass in collaboration and leadership by creating an open-access framework to simplify asset access, lower deployment costs, and accelerate fiber rollout. 

West Sussex County Council for OpenAccess West Sussex 

Startup of the Year 

ZIM Connections

Sustainability Award 

Challenging the throwaway culture of tech, the winning entry in this category sought to prevent e-waste through high-quality engineering and prioritizing ‘longevity by design’.  

FRITZ! & Zen 

Mobile Service Provider of the Year  

The winner in this category demonstrated a European first, deploying exciting new network capabilities that could reshape the approach to mobile connectivity across the UK. 

Virgin Media O2 – O2 Satellite 

Highly commended: VodafoneThree 

AI Innovation Award 

Turning back-office audits into live, real-time field support, the winning solution slashed telecom fault rates by up to 50% within 60 days and set a new benchmark for AI operational value. 

SkillsBase Forge 

Highly Commended: Zyxel One powered by Lifemote 

Data Centre Project of the Year 

This winning project delivered a resilient, sustainable data centre transformation, notably making use of waste heat to benefit a local campus. 

Advanced Power Technology and Schneider Electric 

Broadband Provider Award 

Proving that mastering the basics drives extraordinary results, this provider achieved an outstanding NPS, near-zero churn, and market differentiation through early Wi-Fi 7 rollouts. 

Connect Fibre 

Highly commended: Fibrus

Enterprise Solution Award 

This team introduced a transformational solution that addresses complex enterprise connectivity challenges while delivering clear operational flexibility. 

Antevia Networks – 5G Shift Private Network Solution 

Strategic Deal of the Year 

The winner here is potentially the landmark deal of the decade in UK connectivity, structured to unlock massive long-term investment, competitive scale, and enhanced connectivity across the nation. 

VodafoneThree 

Infrastructure Builder of the Year 

Using a holistic approach to network deployment, this specialist delivered a Project Gigabit contact ahead of schedule working in one of the UK’s most challenging environments. 

Viberoptix 

Digital Skills Award 

For this entry, the judging panel was highly impressed by a targeted, scalable digital skills initiative that directly tackles digital exclusion and builds long-term confidence across local communities.  

Norfolk County Council – Tech Skills for Life and Digital Skills Team 

Highly Commended: Kent County Council, Medway Council and East Kent College Group 

Public Sector Partner Award 

This award celebrates a private company that has done exceptional work in partnership with public sector organization.  

The winning partnership deployed IoT at scale, showing a high level of cooperation and effectively shifting property maintenance from reactive to predictive, potentially having a major impact on residents’ health.  

iOpt & ng homes 

Public Sector Trailblazer Award 

While the previous award celebrated those working with the public sector, this award goes to a public organization itself. 

This entry overcame tough engineering hurdles to add an additional layer of connectivity to services, positively impacting thousands of users every day. We hope to see similar initiatives repeated across the country. 

Scotrail for their Starlink satellite integration 

Highly commended: The Scottish Government   

Rising Star Award 

The judges were blown away by this individual’s early-career leadership, with one judge saying: ‘These achievements are exceptional for any age, and remarkable for such an early career stage.” 

The winner has already led major fibre deployment projects and delivered remarkable infrastructure impact well beyond their years. 

Cameron Moir, GoFibre 

 Highly commended: Emily Jones, TTB CircularIT & Harry Turfrey, CityFibre

OSS/BSS Innovation of the Year 

A standout story in network automation, this entry leveraged an AI-powered digital twin to deliver massive efficiency benefits, both in network deployment and ongoing operations.  

Virgin Media O2 – Challenger OSS 

Community Improvement Award 

This inspiring project stood out for tackling a major challenge facing our industry and society at large: nurturing the next generation of STEM professionals. This initiative focused not only on educating, but on empowering underserved local communities with transformative technology skills beyond the basic curriculum. 

Littlegarth MicroBotics 

Highly commended: Wessex Internet  

Huawei is positioning wearable technology as more than a consumer electronics category, increasingly using its wearable devices as platforms for health monitoring, data collection and medical research.

The strategy was on display at SHOWPALAST in Munich, Germany, where Huawei showcased the Watch D3 and its European Terve Research platform alongside its broader smartwatch portfolio. Huawei’s products captured the event’s ‘Chase the Wild’ theme as the products are designed to help users track their activities and use the data to better manage their health and lifestyle.

Watch D3 combines advances in blood pressure monitoring, while Terve is a European research platform designed to connect wearable-generated data with academic and medical research. The Watch D3 launched globally on September 2, while Terve Research is being introduced as an infrastructure layer for European medical and academic institutions.

The move comes as health tracking becomes an increasingly crucial element for smartwatch and wearable manufacturers. Market research firm Counterpoint Research now tracks features such as sleep apnea detection, ECG and blood pressure monitoring alongside shipments, revenue and average selling prices in its global smartwatch market analysis.

“From metabolic monitoring and active health management to brain activity sensing, wearables are no longer just about your wrist. We are moving toward a complete picture of your health, a full-body system that monitors, understands, and responds,” said Rico Zhang, President of Huawei’s Smart Wearable and Health Product Line.

While the technology is advancing rapidly, there have been questions raised around validation, calibration and performance of wearable health monitoring tools. In this context, Huawei’s approach is particularly notable because Watch D3 combines conventional oscillometric measurement using a miniature pump and airbag with Photoplethysmography (PPG)-based continuous trend monitoring, rather than relying exclusively on cuffless estimation.

From smartwatch to health platform

Significantly, Huawei has been building toward this position for several years. The first-generation Watch D introduced wrist-based blood pressure measurement in 2021, while the Watch D2 added 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) in 2024. The D3 takes the concept further by attempting to reduce one of the principal drawbacks of ABPM: the disruption caused by repeated cuff inflation.

The watch uses four high-precision micro-pump measurements during the day and three at night, while PPG continuously tracks blood-pressure trends between those measurements. Huawei describes this as a “precision measurement plus trend tracking” approach, intended to retain reliable measurements while reducing the frequency of disruptive inflations.

The device has received CE Medical Device certification for resting blood pressure measurement, ABPM and pre- and post-exercise blood pressure monitoring. Huawei claims it is the world’s first wrist-worn device to pass ISO standards for accurate blood-pressure measurement before and after any physical activity, to help users in building sustainable fitness habits.

Huawei’s focus on measurement methodology gives Watch D3 a differentiated position in an increasingly crowded health-wearable market. Watch D3 is 17.7% thinner and 9% lighter than its previous version, making it easier for the user to wear and benefit from the device.

Building an ecosystem around the wrist

The larger opportunity for Huawei, however, may extend beyond the device itself. Terve Research is designed as an online platform through which European academic and medical institutions can conduct wearable-based studies as well as recruit participants. Funded by Huawei but independently managed and operated by medical technology provider Thryve, the platform allows researchers to conduct closed studies with selected participants or open studies involving eligible Huawei wearable users who voluntarily opt in.

The platform is launching with two studies: one examining the health impact of social jetlag and disrupted circadian rhythms, and another investigating the relationship between exercise patterns and cardiovascular risk. Both are being led by European medical researchers and use data collected from Huawei wearable devices.

This creates a potentially valuable feedback loop: wearables generate real-world data, researchers use that data to investigate health patterns, and those findings can help in the development of future products and health services.

It is also a direction that reflects the broader evolution of the wearable market. The industry is gradually moving away from counting steps and monitoring basic fitness metrics toward continuous health monitoring, preventive care and research applications.

From consumer electronics to digital health

Huawei also announced the launch of is also expanding its smartwatch portfolio with the HUAWEI WATCH GT 7 Series, which brings upgrades across sports tracking, health management, design and battery life. The GT 7 Pro features a nano-tech ceramic bezel and titanium alloy frame, while the series adds new capabilities such as wrist-based turn and G-Force detection, ski mapping across more than 3,000 resorts, advanced cycling features and AI-powered insights. The company is also bringing the HUAWEI WATCH 6 Series back to Europe, with AI-driven workout analysis, independent calling, navigation and payment capabilities, alongside enhanced health and wellness features.

The company says its digital-health ecosystem now includes partnerships with more than 160 healthcare institutions globally and more than 10 research centres, including three sports and health science laboratories.

Zhou Hong, President of Huawei Research Institute, Europe, said the broader value of wearables lies in their ability to gather health information outside traditional settings. “Wearable devices enable fast, convenient and reliable multimodal measurements anytime and anywhere, providing actionable insights to personalize interventions and support more effective behaviour management. That is why the health sector is so promising: the potential for discovery is enormous, and the need has never been greater.”

Huawei is not just adding another health feature to a smartwatch. It is attempting to build an ecosystem spanning sensors, devices, software, research platforms and healthcare partnerships.

Significantly, Huawei also announced the launch of HUAWEI Mate XT 2 in Guangzhou, China. First smartphone to feature the LogicFolding Tau chip, Huawei Mate XT 2 comes with the new Kirin 9050 Pro chip and several upgrades in durability, AI, privacy and photography. More importantly, the device also brings health features including ECG analysis.

As basic fitness tracking becomes increasingly commoditised, differentiation is likely to come from the quality of health measurements, validation, longitudinal data and the ability to turn that information into useful insights. Huawei is taking a lead in this by developing a range of devices that are designed not just to give reliable measurements but also to contribute to the wider health ecosystem.

Interview

We caught up with Steven Offerein, VP of Product, Device Intelligence and Protection Services at CUJO AI, to discuss changes to the EU’s cybersecurity rules for connected products and what that will mean for operators

From 11 September, the first major obligations under the EU’s new cybersecurity rules for connected products take effect, with mandatory reporting of actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe security incidents. While much of that responsibility falls on manufacturers, operators have good reason to pay attention: they supply and manage millions of gateways and other connected products, and in some cases may themselves fall within the CRA’s definition of a manufacturer. 

The regulation may put manufacturers on the clock, but operators are often the ones left dealing with the consequences on the network. That raises a bigger question: as Europe redraws the rules around connected-device security, where does the manufacturer’s responsibility end, and the operator’s begin? 

Steven Offerein looks at what happens next, from identifying affected devices to protecting customers when a patch is no longer an option. 

On paper, the CRA is a manufacturer’s law. Why is it an operator’s problem?  

Two reasons. The first is that operators are not always just customers under the CRA; they can also be subject to it. If you put your brand on a gateway or substantially modify a product in a way that affects its cybersecurity, you may find yourself in the manufacturer’s seat, with the manufacturer’s obligations. Plenty of operators haven’t worked out yet which side of that line their CPE portfolio sits on.  

The second is scale. An operator with tens of millions of gateways in the field is, in practical terms, one of the parties closest to the problem when a vulnerability is being actively exploited. The manufacturer may have the reporting obligation, but the exploit traffic runs across the operator’s network and into its customers’ homes. The CRA formalises the reporting, but it doesn’t change who must deal with the consequences. 

Most of the industry is treating the CRA as a December 2027 problem. What are they missing?  

The date. Most of the attention has gone to the full conformity requirements, CE marking, essential security requirements and support periods, which apply from December 2027. But the reporting obligations arrive first, on 11 September 2026, and crucially they apply to products already on the market, not just new ones.  

The other misconception is that this is purely a paperwork exercise. A 24-hour reporting window puts pressure on the entire vulnerability-response process. For operators that also qualify as manufacturers, that means having the processes in place to establish what has happened and respond quickly. More broadly, operators need to understand whether a disclosed vulnerability affects devices across their installed base. 

So, what concretely changes on 11 September, and who is actually on the clock?  

For anyone who qualifies as a manufacturer, the mechanics are specific: an early warning within 24 hours of becoming aware of an actively exploited vulnerability or a severe incident, a fuller notification within 72 hours, and a final report once the issue is resolved. Reports go through the CRA’s single reporting platform, with the relevant national CSIRT and ENISA involved in the process.  

For operators that don’t hold the manufacturer’s role, the change is more indirect but still important. Their vendors will have new legal reporting obligations when they become aware of active exploitation or severe incidents affecting their products. That should mean information about problems in the installed base moves more quickly.  

But knowing a vulnerability exists is only step one. Knowing which subscribers actually have the affected device, whether it can be updated, and what you’re going to do about it is a different challenge. 

You talk a lot about visibility. How can an operator managing 20 million gateways not know what’s connected to its own network?  

Because the gateway fleet and the device population behind it are two completely different problems. Operators know what they’ve shipped. What’s much harder is maintaining a reliable, current view of what is actually connected behind those gateways — not what’s in a procurement database, but what’s present in customers’ homes.  

Behind 20 million gateways, you’ll typically find several hundred million connected devices. Those devices arrive without registration, identify themselves inconsistently or not at all, and the mix changes every day.  

Real visibility means identifying those devices by type, model and, where possible, software or firmware version, continuously and at population scale. When a vulnerability disclosure lands, the difference is being able to say, “We have 340,000 potentially affected devices across these markets,” rather than, “We genuinely don’t know.” 

A vulnerability gets disclosed. Why is “which homes have this device?” now such an important question?  

Detection without identification doesn’t lead to an actionable response. If you know an exploit is circulating but can’t say which homes have the affected device, you either treat every subscriber as potentially affected or risk missing the ones that are.  

Identification turns a CVE from an abstract industry problem into a sized, addressable operational task. I think the ability to map a disclosure to an affected device population quickly will increasingly become a baseline operator capability, much like outage mapping is today. 

Say that an operator knows exactly which devices are vulnerable. Then what?  

It depends entirely on the device. For CPE the operator controls, the path is relatively clear: prioritise and push the firmware update, then use the management infrastructure to track uptake. For third-party devices in the home that still have vendor support, the operator’s role is more about awareness — helping customers understand what’s affected and what action they can take. Then there’s the third category, which is the uncomfortable one: devices that are vulnerable and will never receive a fix. That’s where the conversation shifts from remediation to mitigation. 

The CRA is designed to ensure vulnerabilities are handled. What about the millions of existing devices that may never receive another update?  

This is the reality nobody likes to talk about. Walk into an average European home, and you’ll find devices whose manufacturers no longer exist, cheap IoT products that never had a meaningful update mechanism in the first place, and perfectly functional equipment that has simply aged out of support. The customer often has no idea, and frankly no reason to know. The camera still streams, the plug still switches. 

The CRA should improve this over time by requiring manufacturers to define support periods and establish proper vulnerability-handling processes for products covered by the new requirements. But it doesn’t make the existing population of unsupported devices disappear. Those products could remain in homes for years, and for many of them, “install the patch” simply isn’t an option. Something else has to mitigate the risk. 

Is it really the operator’s job to protect a consumer’s abandoned smart camera?  

Operators are in a unique position to help. If the device can no longer protect itself and the manufacturer is no longer providing updates, the network may be one of the few remaining places where protections can be applied.  

The gateway sits in a particularly useful position because traffic to and from that device passes through it. Network-level security can block known malicious traffic before it reaches a vulnerable device, detect unusual behavior that may indicate compromise, and help contain compromised devices so they can’t threaten other devices in the home or be recruited into a botnet. None of that requires the vulnerable device to cooperate, which is precisely the point.  

The CRA focuses on responsibility for the security of the product. Network-level security can provide another layer of protection, particularly where product-level protections are no longer available. 

Will the CRA genuinely change how operators buy and manage CPE, or will price still win every RFP?  

It should. Support periods, vulnerability handling, and update capability used to be secondary criteria in many RFPs, behind factors such as price and performance. The CRA gives those considerations much more weight.  

It also forces more honesty around lifecycle management. Operators have historically been comfortable letting CPE sit in the field for a long time, because replacing hardware at scale is expensive. When a gateway carries a defined support period and vulnerabilities have to be handled throughout that period, end of support becomes a much more visible event. Operators have to plan for it: extend support contractually, replace the unit, or understand how the remaining risk will be mitigated. 

Some argue that the CRA will force operators to pull CPE from the field sooner. Do you buy that? 

Not necessarily. I think the more interesting outcome could be longer, better-supported lifecycles.  

The wasteful pattern today isn’t always hardware living too long; it’s hardware being abandoned by software long before the silicon is done. A gateway can remain physically capable of providing service for years after active software support has declined.  

The CRA puts more commercial and legal structure around support periods. That gives operators a reason to demand longer commitments upfront and gives vendors a way to account for those commitments commercially.  

There’s also a sustainability angle. Replacing millions of units before the hardware itself needs replacing carries both an environmental and financial cost. The better outcome is hardware that’s properly supported for longer, alongside additional protections where updates are no longer available. 

What are operators still failing to ask their hardware and software vendors?  

I’d start with a few basic questions. Who is the manufacturer of record for this product under the CRA — you or us — and is that written down? What is the committed support period, and what exactly does “support” include?  

Then, there are operational questions. Can you provide and maintain a software bill of materials? What is your coordinated vulnerability disclosure process? How quickly will we hear from you when something is being actively exploited? And are the reporting responsibilities between us clear enough that nobody is debating ownership when the clock starts?  

A few years ago, some of those questions might have seemed overly cautious. Today, they need to be part of the conversation. 

Every vendor now claims to “solve” CRA compliance. What can device intelligence honestly do, and what can’t it?  

Let me be clear about the limits first: no platform makes you CRA compliant. Compliance involves processes, documentation, conformity assessment and legal accountability, and that responsibility belongs to the organization.  

Where device intelligence can help is at the operational layer underneath. It can give operators a more accurate picture of what’s actually connected across the subscriber base, allowing a vulnerability disclosure to be mapped to a real device population much more quickly.  

Combined with network security capabilities, visibility can also help operators understand suspicious behavior and apply protections to vulnerable or compromised devices — including devices that may never receive another update.  

The CRA defines the responsibilities. Device intelligence can help operators build the visibility needed to respond at the scale of a broadband network. 

An operator can’t fix everything before the deadline. What comes first?  

Three things.  

First, settle the role question. Go through your CPE and software portfolio and determine, product by product, whether you’re a manufacturer, importer or distributor under the CRA. Everything else depends on that answer, and it’s legal exercise, not a technical one. 

Second, build the reporting process now. If any part of your portfolio puts you in the manufacturer’s seat, you need a rehearsed path from “we’ve become aware” to an early warning within the required timeframe. That means clear ownership, internal escalation, and an on-call process that exists before you need it.  

Third, invest in visibility of the installed base — both the CPE fleet and the device population behind it. When a new vulnerability emerges, operators need to be able to establish what is affected, where it is, and what action is possible. Operators that can answer those questions quickly will be in a much stronger position to respond. Those that can’t may find every new disclosure becomes a fire drill. 

Steven Offerein is VP of Product, Device Intelligence and Protection Services at CUJO AI, the market leader in device intelligence, network intelligence, and cybersecurity solutions for network operators, protecting more than 60 million households worldwide. He has over 15 years of experience in cybersecurity, telecommunications, and product leadership. Before joining CUJO AI in 2025, Steven held senior roles at F-Secure and TalkTalk, developing security solutions and connected-home products for international markets.

News

The company says its new SingleRAN 22.1 wireless software aims to build a multidimensional foundation for the Mobile AI network

As AI models grow more advanced, the use of AI agents continues to proliferate. According to forecasts from IDC, there will be more than 1 billion actively deployed AI agents by 2029, raising to 2.2 billion in 2030. Other estimates are even more bullish, with Huawei’s Intelligent World 2035 report predicting 900 billion AI Agents will be active globally, with 90% operating in mobile scenarios. Indeed, earlier this year NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said he envisaged a workforce where each human employee would be supported by over 100 AI Agents. 

The consensus is clear: the ‘Agentverse’ – an interconnected ecosystem of autonomous AI Agents – is coming, if it is not here already.  

This explosion in AI Agents presents a significant challenge to wireless network operators. Unlike traditional legacy traffic, Agent services require continuous multimodal data transmission, real-time interaction, and constant multi-agent collaboration. This places unprecedented demands on mobile networks, requiring massive uplink capacity, deterministic low latency, and guaranteed service levels.  

Against this backdrop, traditional downlink-centric networks focussed on ‘best-effort’ connectivity will soon find themselves obsolete. Wireless networks will need to be systematically redesigned with a focus on capability allocations, dynamic resource orchestration, and novel interaction paradigms.  

This systematic overhaul is exactly what Huawei is targeting with its latest software update, SingleRAN 22.1. 

SingleRAN 22.1: Six features for the Agentic ecosystem  

Huawei’s SingleRAN 22.1, launched in Shanghai earlier this year, is the company’s first commercial software release purpose-built for the Mobile AI era. It includes six key technical advances that, when taken together, form a robust foundation for supporting Agentic AI at scale.

• GigaUplink focusses on overcoming terminal power and spectral efficiency bottlenecks with two new algorithms. The Multi-layer Fusion Uplink Reception algorithm aims to dynamically optimise the network through coordinated power control, non-contiguous resource scheduling, and intelligently combining beams from multiple antennas. The second algorithm, Uplink CoMP Enhancement, works to improve how multiple cells cooperate and suppress interference. 

  When combined, these algorithms have demonstrated average uplink throughput gains of 24% to 33% in live field trials in Macau and Yunnan, expanding 10 Mbps uplink coverage by approximately 2 dB to support uplink-heavy AI streams.  

• GigaBand is designed to optimise existing spectrum across both 4G and 5G. It uses centralised scheduling to dynamically allocate spectrum, time, power, and spatial resources between LTE and NR, improving overall spectrum efficiency by 20%. It also enables more flexible switching between dynamic spectrum sharing and NR-only, delivering 10–30% better NR performance without impacting 4G performance at existing levels. 

  Commercial deployments have achieved 34% higher 5G standalone experience, around 20% uplink improvement, and 5G uplink speeds exceeding 1 Gbps.  

• iBeam 3.0, the latest update to Huawei’s beamforming optimisation solution, is designed to improve 5G downlink performance, particularly under medium-to-heavy network loads. Building on previous iBeam generations, which delivered over 20% gains through interference suppression and user pairing, iBeam 3.0 further improves beam accuracy, user scheduling and interference management. It combines real-time channel conditions with Sounding Reference Signal measurements to more accurately target devices, optimises user pairing, power allocation and modulation, and suppresses interference. 

  In a live Saudi Arabian network, iBeam 3.0 delivered a 15% improvement in downlink rates versus previous iBeam generations through a software-only upgrade. 

• IDEA (Intelligent Differentiated Experience Assurance) is designed to move mobile networks from “best effort” to differentiated, guaranteed experiences. It dynamically allocates network resources according to the needs of different services and users; for example, prioritising high uplink capacity for AI services, low latency for gaming, and stable connectivity for real-time applications. IDEA combines elastic speed control with dynamic resource reservation to provide more predictable performance, achieving over 95% target-rate satisfaction for 2 Mbps uplink and 5 Mbps downlink in heavy-load metro scenarios. 

  A deployment for HKT showed that the proportion of <40 ms latency sessions in low latency gaming scenarios improved by 5%, 5 Mbps uplink rate satisfaction improved by 11.7% for live streaming customers, and VIP user live streaming satisfaction rose from 92.23% to 97.69%. 

• 0 Bit 0 Watt 0 Loss is Huawei’s intelligent energy-saving solution, designed to reduce 5G network power consumption without compromising service performance. It enables network equipment to enter deep sleep during periods of low demand and wake up quickly when traffic increases. In super-deep dormancy mode, residual power consumption falls below 10 W, with a 30-second wake-up, while fast deep dormancy reduces consumption below 50 W, with just a 5-second wake-up and zero service impact. This change means that energy savings are no longer achieved only during periods of predictably low usage, like nighttime, and instead are achieved all-day.  

• RANSpirit is an AI-powered wireless network intelligence agent, designed to automate network optimisation and operations. Instead of relying heavily on engineers to monitor millions of network settings and manually diagnose problems, RANSpirit uses a telecom AI model and digital twin to understand network conditions, identify issues and determine the best actions. It can simultaneously balance user experience, network performance, energy efficiency and operational needs, rather than improving one at the expense of another. By continuously sensing, analysing, deciding and executing, RANSpirit enables minute-level automated optimisation, helping operators move from reactive, manual network management towards proactive, autonomous operations. 

In addition to enhancing the network’s multi-dimensional capabilities in software, SingleRAN 22.1 also provides a foundation for the next generation of baseband processing hardware. This version of the technology is the first to support Huawei’s next-generation UBBPi series baseband boards, combining its advanced algorithms with the latest baseband technology to deliver the diverse network capabilities Mobile AI services will demand.  

A connectivity foundation for an AI-powered future 

For Huawei, these new capabilities represent not only improvements to existing 4G and 5G services but the creation of an entirely new network topology paradigm in anticipation of continued AI growth. These integrated solutions resolve foundational network bottlenecks, allowing operators to systematically deliver the deterministic latency, high uplink capacity, and differentiated performance required to support billions of interconnected AI Agents across the emerging Agentverse.  

“Mobile AI is not a service upgrade — it is a paradigm shift for the industry. As the first commercial version for the Mobile AI era, SingleRAN 22.1 comprehensively reconstructs network capabilities, empowering operators to seize new opportunities in the Token economy, making intelligence omnipotent, omnipresent, and perpetual,” said He Yunru, Vice President of Huawei Wireless Network Solutions. 

Huawei’s SingleRAN 22.1 has already been commercially deployed at 35 operator sites across 23 countries. Over 100 operators globally are expected to have completed deployment by the end of the year. 

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BOSTON: September 2, 2026 – Vodia Networks, Inc., a provider of unified cloud communications solutions to enterprises, contact centers, and service providers, is pleased to announce the expansion of its integration with the Apple ecosystem. This includes the company’s new iOS app, which now enables iPhone users to access a focused Vodia Phone experience in Apple CarPlay.

The Vodia iOS app

On July 28, 2026, Vodia announced its new iOS app, which gives users a native way to use a Vodia PBX extension from an iPhone or iPad. The redesigned app is built around a cleaner, card-based interface, making it easier to manage calls, call history, active call controls, chat, extensions, voicemail, call parking, and transfers, all from one mobile experience. 

The app interface follows the latest iOS design patterns, with layered cards, soft glass-style surfaces, and familiar system controls. Instead of forcing users through a legacy softphone experience, the app is built around how people already expect to use their iPhone. It also supports iPad, giving users a larger workspace for calls, status, messaging, and daily communication workflows.

Apple CarPlay

Apple CarPlay gives iPhone users a smart, safe way to use an iPhone while driving – it provides directions, makes calls, sends and receives messages, and plays music, all on the car’s built-in display. 

The Vodia CarPlay interface is built with Apple’s native CarPlay templates and includes four main areas: call history, extension directory, messages, and voicemail. It gives users access to essential Vodia PBX communication features from the vehicle display, without turning the dashboard into a full desktop PBX interface.

With CarPlay support, Vodia users can access important PBX features from the vehicle display:

• Business call handling
• Calls in CarPlay
• Call history
• Car audio support
• CarPlay alerts
• Confirmation before dialing
• Extension directory
• Native in-car call screen
• Presence visibility
• Siri-assisted chat
• Siri calling
• Voicemail playback

“Since iOS 13, Apple has consistently provided a robust framework for multiple voice apps to function on the same device, across a large range of hardware and software combinations,” said Christian Stredicke, PhD, founder and CEO, Vodia. “Vodia has gladly used and added app features as they became available, and the latest addition, CarPlay, will help users use their time commuting to work more efficiently and safely.”

The Vodia iOS app requires V68 or higher of the Vodia cloud phone system. It is available for download from the App Store. Documentation is available on the Vodia documentation website. 

For more information about the expansion of the Vodia PBX with the Apple ecosystem and the company’s overall mobile strategy, sales@vodia.com, +1 (617) 861-3490.

About Vodia

Vodia Networks, Inc. provides B2B cloud communications solutions for enterprises, contact centers, and service providers. Its PBX software offers a broad range of business telephony features for on-premise and cloud deployments on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Fully SIP-compliant, Vodia integrates with numerous SIP devices and trunking providers for flexible telephony. Its multi-tenant platforms support desk phones, softphones, APIs, and third-party CRM integrations. Vodia empowers partners and users with world-class cloud PBX and personalized support to ensure success. The company operates globally, with offices in Boston, USA, and Berlin, Germany. Visit Vodia on LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

• Sparklight Carrier Services implements TransUnion Universal Order Connect for wholesale order management.
• Streamlined ordering supports carriers, wireless providers and ISPs expanding into new markets.
• Automated wholesale ordering can reduce manual processing and standardize connectivity workflows.
• Electronic transactions improve visibility throughout the entire order lifecycle.

PHOENIX (September 2, 2026) — Sparklight® Carrier Services, a provider of wholesale connectivity solutions to national and regional carriers, wireless providers and internet service providers, has enhanced its wholesale ordering experience with technology designed to simplify how customers order, manage and deploy connectivity services.

“Wholesale customers need more than network capacity. They need a partner that is responsive and easy to do business with,” said Katherine Creech, Vice President of Business Services at Sparklight. “By simplifying how customers order, manage, and track services, we’re creating a faster, more seamless experience that helps them serve their own customers with greater confidence.”

KEY FACTS

• Sparklight Carrier Services has implemented TransUnion® Universal Order Connect (UOC) to automate wholesale order management.
• UOC enables standardized electronic transactions for wholesale connectivity ordering.
• The enhanced workflow extends from order validation, acceptance and enrichment through order status tracking.
• The implementation is designed to improve order accuracy and visibility throughout the order lifecycle while helping accelerate service delivery.
• Standardized workflows are intended to reduce manual processing in wholesale connectivity ordering.
• Sparklight Carrier Services provides connectivity across a fiber-powered network spanning 24 states.
• Its wholesale portfolio includes Wholesale Internet, Carrier Ethernet, Cellular Backhaul, Dark Fiber, and Middle- and Last-Mile Connectivity Solutions.

Automated wholesale ordering can reduce manual processing and standardize connectivity workflows

Wholesale connectivity ordering can involve multiple stages, from determining service availability and qualifying locations to placing orders and monitoring progress toward delivery. Sparklight Carrier Services’ updated process is designed to automate and streamline the ordering and tracking stages through a more standardized electronic workflow.

For wholesale providers managing network expansion across multiple markets, the operational objective is straightforward: make it easier to move an order toward deployment without introducing unnecessary manual steps.

Electronic transactions improve visibility throughout ordering and service delivery

Order automation is only one component of the update. The new capabilities improve visibility throughout the order lifecycle, covering the process from initial order placement through order tracking.

That visibility matters when carriers, wireless providers and ISPs are coordinating network extensions or entering new markets. A standardized workflow can give wholesale customers a more consistent way to understand where connectivity orders stand as they progress toward service delivery.

Streamlined ordering supports connectivity expansion into new markets

Sparklight Carrier Services provides wholesale connectivity solutions across a fiber-powered network spanning 24 states. Its portfolio includes Wholesale Internet, Carrier Ethernet, Cellular Backhaul, Dark Fiber, and Middle- and Last-Mile Connectivity Solutions.

“Whether customers are extending their network footprint or delivering services into new markets, our focus is on providing a responsive, reliable wholesale experience from order placement through service delivery,” Creech said.

For more information about Sparklight Carrier Services, visit business.sparklight.com/carrier.

###

FOLSOM, Calif., Sept. 2, 2026 — The AI² Insights Platform today announced it will launch publicly at IBC 2026. The platform gives media & entertainment (M&E) leaders a current, evidence-based answer to what AI is actually delivering in their business, and where it is heading next.

Every M&E executive is being asked to commit budget to AI. Few have a reliable way to tell a proven capability from a promising demo, or to know which opportunities are opening and which are closing. Guessing costs real money. It shows up as misallocated capital and missed windows.

AI² Insights closes that gap. Executives can see which AI capabilities are delivering results today and which are still just a good demo. They can find where the genuine innovation opportunities sit, where the market gaps are, and where the traps lie. They can also see how fast each part of the landscape is moving. The picture updates continuously, so what leaders see reflects the market as it stands now.

“AI is the fastest-moving technology this industry has ever had to absorb, and the decisions cannot wait for the next research cycle,” said Fernando Amendola, Founder of AI² Insights. “We built AI² Insights to close that gap. Ask it about opportunities. Ask it about traps. Ask it about trends. Always get a current answer you can trust.”

The scope is substantial. More than 200 AI use cases in M&E, each researched from a technology angle and a business angle. More than 70 distinct AI techniques are being analyzed with continuous monitoring across more than 1,000 technology vendors and 1,000 media operators worldwide. All of it is organized around the PADE-POC™ taxonomy, which maps AI across the entire value chain: Produce, Augment, Distribute, Experience, Protect, Orchestrate, Comply.

Trust is engineered in. Every answer runs through the Truth Engine™, built on RAHIC™: Recursive, Adversarial, Human, Iterative, Convergent. Conclusions are tested against contradicting evidence and reviewed by industry experts before an executive sees them. Every conclusion carries a confidence rating. Where the evidence is thin, the platform says so rather than filling the gap.

Executives reach that intelligence three ways:

• AI² Enquire

  An LLM-based dialogue engine. Ask a question in plain language and the engine intelligently selects and assembles the answer from the research corpus, in real time.

• AI² Research

  A library of published research. Executives pull full reports across more than 200 AI use cases in M&E, each analyzed from both a technology and a business angle.

• AI² Industry Tracker

  A dynamic dashboard. Watch the market move in real time: where the technology is heading, which players are gaining ground, and where the opportunities and obstacles are forming.

Access is sold as an Insights-as-a-Service model. Executives pay as they learn, for the intelligence they use, when they need it, rather than for a shelf of reports commissioned months earlier.

“Only AI can keep pace with AI. That is what makes this platform possible,” said Thierry Fautier, Co-Founder of The Media League. “The distance between what gets announced and what actually works is where budgets go to die. AI² Insights is the first thing I have seen built specifically to close that distance for M&E.”

How to get access

1. Today — register and take a look

   Executives can request beta access now at www.ai2insights.ai and see a sneak peek of what the platform can do.

2. Sunday, Sept 13 — see it live

   The full AI² Insights Platform will be introduced at the 2nd Annual SundAI Breakfast, hosted by The Media League, on Sunday, September 13 at the Van der Valk Hotel Amsterdam Zuidas. The morning includes a live demonstration and an executive roundtable on making AI pay in Media & Entertainment.

3. Early October — beta access opens

   Selected registrants receive login details and onboarding instructions.

Wider availability follows through Q4 2026, with general availability scheduled for January 2027.

Press Release

Sceye, a U.S. aerospace and material science company specializing in High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) for telecommunications and real-time environmental monitoring, today announced the successful trans-Pacific flight of its Service Test 1 (ST1) mission from New Mexico to Japan. Traveling more than 15,000 km through the stratosphere in 13 days, upon arrival over Japan, ST1 demonstrated mobile broadband connectivity to unmodified devices through SoftBank Corp.’s core network and HAPS-based edge computing and communication with drones to support the development of a 3D communications network.

Conducted in partnership with SoftBank Corp., a leading operator of telecommunications and IT businesses in Japan and globally, ST1 marks Sceye’s first flight to Asia and a groundbreaking milestone towards the commercial deployment of HAPS as stratospheric infrastructure.

“This flight marks a defining moment for Sceye and for the commercial potential of HAPS,” said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, Founder and CEO of Sceye. “Flying from the US to Japan demonstrates the performance required to make the stratosphere a viable layer of infrastructure and realize the future of AI, edge computing, and 6G. Together with SoftBank, we are moving beyond proving the technology to demonstrating how Sceye can complement and extend existing networks and deliver persistent connectivity at scale.”

The stratosphere offers the optimal vantage point: It is close enough to Earth for high-capacity connectivity and observation, yet the altitude is high enough for wide-area reach. Importantly, the stratosphere offers space-like conditions without the cost of being in space and the disadvantages of being in orbit. Sceye’s HAPS maintain altitude and their area of operation in the stratosphere through consecutive day and night cycles, operating like geostationary satellites, only 1,800 times closer to Earth and at a fraction of the cost.

In 2025, SoftBank Corp. invested in Sceye’s HAPS-based stratospheric infrastructure as a scalable solution to complement terrestrial towers and satellite constellations. The strategic partnership advances a shared vision for HAPS and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) as transformative infrastructure that can expand connectivity, support communications during disasters, and enable future applications across AI, IoT, aerial communications, edge computing, and 6G.

ST1 carried SceyeCELL, a first-of-its-kind “cell tower in the sky” designed to deliver wide-area mobile broadband directly to standard devices from the stratosphere. When deployed at full scale, one Sceye HAPS is designed to cover the equivalent area of approximately 500 terrestrial towers. During the ST1 mission, Sceye and SoftBank demonstrated mobile broadband from the stratosphere, including text messaging, voice calls, internet access, and video streaming. Testing also included emergency calls, using an emergency alert messaging system designed for large-scale disasters, and communications with drones.

Sceye’s ST1 mission launched on August 9, 2026 at 7:00 AM MDT from New Mexico. Additional notable mission attributes include:

• Traveled more than 15,000 km across the Pacific to Japan in 13 days

• Operated within Japanese managed air space for over 7 days

• Remained continuously within its area of operation for an extended period, achieving a station-seeking radius as low as 5 km

• Operated at approximately 16.5 km in altitude while completing telecommunications, drone, and emergency communications

• Confirmed communications performance equivalent to that of terrestrial networks while reducing radio interference with ground-based base stations

• Through a server installed on the HAPS, Sceye and SoftBank conducted data processing directly on the platform, demonstrating average round-trip processing response time of 68 milliseconds, reducing communications latency by over 40% compared with internet-based cloud processing. This marks the world’s first successful test in which a mobile core network and a web server for processing were installed on a HAPS, enabling response processing to be performed entirely onboard the HAPS and the results to be relayed back to smartphones.

ST1 remains in flight, returning towards the United States over the Pacific Ocean at the time of this announcement.

“SoftBank aims to build next-generation communications infrastructure that seamlessly connects the ground, the sky, and space. The fact that Sceye’s HAPS reached Japan from the United States and successfully provided Japan’s first trial services from the stratosphere in Japan’s airspace marks an important step toward the commercialization of HAPS, which is at the core of this vision,” said Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO of SoftBank Corp. “By combining the HAPS flight and operational technologies that Sceye has developed with SoftBank’s communications technologies, we have gained confidence to realize a three-dimensional communications network utilizing HAPS. Going forward, in collaboration with Sceye, we will continue to integrate a wide range of technologies, including communications and AI, to develop HAPS into a new form of social infrastructure.”

This flight builds on Sceye’s Endurance Program, completed earlier this year, when its SE2 HAPS traveled more than 10,000 km in the stratosphere from New Mexico to the coast of Brazil where it stayed over its area of operation for several days to test long-duration performance in preparation for the Service Test Program, the first of which flew to Japan.

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

Contributed Article

by Ayswarya Ashok, Founder and CEO of Halleyx

The UK fibre story has been told in terms of homes reached.

Full fibre now reaches 24.9 million premises (82% of UK homes), with 47% taking a full-fibre service. By 2028, Ofcom expects 73% of UK homes to have access to at least two gigabit-capable networks.

The industry has spent years answering:

“Can we connect the home?”

But in an MDU, that question is only the beginning.

An apartment building may be one premise on a coverage map, but it can represent hundreds of customers, propositions and decisions.

That distinction is becoming increasingly important.

A building is not a customer

Consider a 300-unit apartment building.

The building has one location, but 300 realities.

One unit has a customer. Another is vacant. Another has a network. Another may be covered by a building agreement. One customer wants an upgrade while another moves out.

The network infrastructure may remain the same.

The commercial context doesn’t.

Customer. Product. Price. Eligibility. Service. Billing.

All can change from one unit to the next.

Take Flat 217, for example. The resident wants to move from 500Mbps to 1Gbps.

The question isn’t whether fibre reaches Flat 217.

The operator needs to establish whether the service is eligible under the building agreement, whether 1Gbps is included or an additional purchase, what price applies, which network should fulfil it, whether the change requires a new order or modification, and what billing should charge.

And this is where I think the MDU conversation needs to change.

The problem isn’t that operators don’t have the data. It’s that the commercial context isn’t travelling with the unit.

The unit is the missing context

Most telecom journeys follow:

Customer → Product → Order → Service → Bill

MDUs add something that doesn’t fit into that model:

Building → Unit → Customer

The customer is temporary.

The unit is persistent.

When one resident leaves Flat 217, the next resident shouldn’t inherit a blank record. The operator should already know the unit’s network availability, applicable building agreement, eligible propositions and commercial rules.

The same applies when something changes at building level.

A new agreement, network, product or pricing rule shouldn’t require teams to manually work through hundreds of units to understand the impact.

The building should establish the context. The unit should carry that context into every transaction.

That’s the missing link.

What should “MDU Ready” actually mean?

For me, MDU readiness shouldn’t stop at serviceable.

It should mean that an operator can take a unit and answer, without manual reconciliation:

Can I sell this product to this unit? At what price? Under which commercial terms? Through which network? What order should be created? What should ultimately be billed?

And the answer should remain consistent from:

Qualification → Proposition → Order → Activation → Billing

Operators should look beyond coverage and take-up and start measuring how many MDU transactions require human intervention.

How many need commercial overrides? How many orders are corrected? How long does qualification take to reach activation? How many billing issues can be traced back to an earlier commercial decision?

These questions tell us how efficiently a network converts availability into revenue.

The next MDU advantage

Fibre availability is becoming less of a differentiator. What happens after availability will matter more.

When every unit can have a different customer, product, price, network and commercial agreement, the ability to manage that complexity without manual intervention becomes a competitive advantage.

The building is connected.

Now make every unit count.

Are you maximising the value of your networks? Join HalleyX and the UK fibre industry at Connected Britain 2026, the UK’s largest digital economy event 

Contributed Article

By Sylwia Kechiche, VP Industry Analysis at Opensignal

In a market where full fibre broadband now passes 82% of UK premises and mobile connections outnumber people, acquiring genuinely new customers is hard. Most acquisition growth today comes from switching, not from bringing net new subscribers into the market. Every customer an operator wins is one another operator has lost. In such an environment, retention is no longer a secondary concern.

Homes passed don’t translate into homes connected

One of the less-discussed challenges in the UK is that a large share of consumers already believe they have fibre, even when they don’t. FTTC (fibre-to-the-cabinet), FTTP (fibre-to-the-premise), FTTH (fibre-to-the-home), full fiber, superfast: the terminology has been used interchangeably in marketing for years, and customers have absorbed the confusion. When genuine full fibre arrives in a street, it often doesn’t land with the impact operators expect. Take-up of full fibre where it’s available sits at just 42%, according to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 report.

Part of the experience gap is in-home. A customer on a full fibre connection with inadequate Wi-Fi equipment will still have a poor experience, and operators who can’t distinguish network performance from in-home equipment issues can’t fix the right problem. Operators are therefore left with a multi-layered conundrum: how to educate consumers about what they actually have access to, while also ensuring those same consumers take the right actions to receive the full promise of the network.

What ‘good connectivity’ means

At Opensignal, we measure network experience from the consumer’s perspective, capturing “lived,” what actually happens when you stream, video call, or work from home.

Even though I’ve spent 20 years analyzing telecoms data, when I’m on a Zoom call or trying to video call my mum, I am not thinking about what technology powers my connection. I care whether it allows me to do what I need to do, when I need it. Most people are the same. We compare notes and complain about the moments when connectivity lets us down: the dropped call, the frozen screen, the meeting where audio kept cutting out. That’s what customers remember, and that’s what they act on when it’s time to renew.

Opensignal’s Subscriber Analytics product tracks switching patterns at the sub-regional level, giving operators a view of where churn risk is building before it shows up in their quarterly numbers. It also shows where the opportunity is: markets where penetration of converged customers sits well below what the network footprint would suggest. Paired with visibility of competitor performance, operators can see not just where they’re losing customers, but to whom and on which metrics.

The data shows that retention risk is concentrated where altnet FTTP experience is genuinely strong and customers have a credible alternative. This is not a low-end market problem. We are seeing the premium end of the market switching to altnets and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) too. Ofcom estimates 23% of UK households, around 5.3 million, struggle to afford their communications services. But even customers who can afford to pay a premium are shopping for the best combination of price and experience, and they move when they find it.

Bundling is an experience lever, not just a billing strategy

The case for bundling is clearer than operators tend to act on it. Consider Vodafone: nearly half its broadband customers already use Vodafone for mobile, yet the other half don’t, despite being reachable within the same commercial relationship. Opensignal’s Subscriber Analytics shows that customers who do bundle churn at a fraction of the rate of those who don’t, and the effect holds consistently across the major UK players. Bundled customers are harder to lose, and they give operators more to work with: more experience data, more touchpoints, more insights into what’s working and what isn’t.

So, what’s the path to closing that gap? It starts with treating the broadband–mobile relationship as an experience question before a pricing one. Operators who target cross-sell based on where the experience is strong, rather than on the basis of promotional timing, convert better and retain longer.

Sylwia Kechiche is VP Industry Analysis at Opensignal and will be speaking on the Customer Strategy panel at Connected Britain 2026, 10 September, 12:40, Keynote Theatre.

Join Opensignal on Day 2 of Connected Britain 2026 at @ 12:40

Customer strategy: Shifting the focus from acquisition to retention

Speakers include:

• Tim Stranack, Regulatory & Trade Director, Community fibre
• Neil Smith, Chief Operating Officer, TalkTalk
• Moderator: Hayden Shaw, Insight Director, FDM CCS Insight
• Vasa Babic, Head of EMEA, Actifai
• Krystian Heald, Head of Partnerships, ISPA UK