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The move comes as the company pledges “to embed AI across manufacturing, logistics, energy, finance, retail, agriculture and healthcare” throughout India

Reliance Industries, owner of India’s biggest telco Reliance Jio, has announced plans to invest $109.8 billion over the next seven years to expand India’s AI data centre footprint.

Speaking at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi today, Reliance owner and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, said that the investments would see the conglomerate deploy sovereign gigawatt (GW)-scale data centres to handle the country’s growing demand for AI.

“I would like to announce that Jio will play an even bigger role in India’s AI transformation,” said Ambani. “This is not a speculative investment. It is not for chasing valuation. This is patient, disciplined, nation-building capital, designed to create durable economic value and strategic resilience for six decades to come.”

During his speech, Ambani said the biggest bottleneck for AI in India was the limited availability of compute infrastructure, which risked driving up costs for consumers. By rapidly expanding the availability of this infrastructure, Reliance hopes to make AI affordable across the country.

“India cannot afford to rent intelligence. Therefore, we will reduce the cost of intelligence dramatically as we did the cost of data,” Ambani said.

Reliance Jio is already building a massive data centre campus in Jamnagar, ultimately aiming for 3 GW of total capacity. The first 120 MW are expected to come online in the second half of 2026, according to Ambani.

In addition to expanding its data centre footprint, Reliance’s investment strategy also focusses on building more localised compute infrastructure (i.e., edge computing facilities). By processing data closer to the edge, customers will be able to leverage AI with lower latency.

Of course, all this new AI infrastructure will require an immense amount of power. For this, Reliance says it is leveraging its 10 GW of renewable energy from solar farms in Gujarat and the Andhra Pradesh. This, Ambani says, is not only makes the project sustainable, but also cheaper for Indian customers.

It is worth noting, however, that Reliance is not alone in aiming to become India’s leading domestic data centre player. Earlier this week, Adani Enterprises – owned by India’s second-richest man Gautam Adani – said it would invest $100 billion to build renewable energy-powered AI-ready data centres by 2035.

The battle for AI data centre dominance in India is only just beginning.

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Press Release

Boldyn Networks (Boldyn) today announced that it is delivering a major connectivity upgrade at Silverstone, one of the world’s most iconic motorsport venues and home to the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Boldyn will deploy a new, permanent high-capacity 5G mobile network that will provide fans, race teams, and broadcasters with seamless connectivity all year round.

The new network, capable of supporting all UK mobile network operators, is designed to provide a faster, smoother and more reliable mobile experience across the venue. It uses advanced connectivity technology to handle the huge amount of sharing, streaming and real‑time engagement. This ensures fans can stay connected, capture every moment, and enjoy the day without frustrating signal drop‑outs.

Once live, the new network will deliver high-quality 5G mobile coverage across Silverstone not only on a race weekend, but also year-round. Visitors enjoying the brand-new karting facility, staying overnight at Escapade or visiting the Wing for a conference or dinner will all enjoy reliable high-speed connectivity.

Stuart Pringle OBE, Chief Executive Officer of Silverstone, said: “With more than 1.5 million visitors each year, reliable mobile connectivity is essential to the customer experience at Silverstone. This new network delivers the performance and resilience we need to support fans, customers and partners and allows us to share information and unforgettable iconic moments that will enhance their visit.  We’re delighted to be working with Boldyn to bring world-class connectivity to everyone who comes through our gates.”

In the past, Silverstone has relied on temporary mobile infrastructure deployed for just a few months each racing season. These short-term solutions were not designed for big crowds and often meant that connectivity was constrained by tens of thousands of people connecting simultaneously to the network.

To address these challenges, Boldyn will deploy its state-of-the-art hybrid active Distributed Antenna System (DAS). By replacing the previously deployed temporary systems with a permanent, high‑capacity network, Silverstone will also benefit from improved operational efficiency, reducing setup time, minimising seasonal engineering work, and ensuring consistent performance for every event throughout the year.

The technology will be rolled out across 25 locations around the circuit, and the architecture features 57 high-capacity sectors across 87 DAS zones, ensuring reliable connectivity even during peak attendance. The 2025 Formula 1 British Grand Prix welcomed 164,000 spectators on raceday alone, with total attendance reaching 500,000 across the full four-day weekend.

Brendan O’Reilly, Chief Executive Officer UK & Ireland, Boldyn Networks, said: “As the legendary home of the British Grand Prix, and the venue for the first Formula 1 World Championship over 75 years ago, Silverstone is a place where excitement and expectations are at their highest every race weekend. Boldyn is very proud to be supporting this iconic venue with connectivity infrastructure built to match its world-famous reputation. The deployment will provide Silverstone with a future-ready mobile network designed to continue pleasing fans, teams and broadcasters for years to come.”

The network will also support Silverstone’s future needs, both during race weekends and outside of busy event periods. It marks a significant step forward in improving the circuit’s digital capabilities, providing a robust foundation for Silverstone to continue delivering world-class motorsport races and events.

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The breach, which was reported earlier this month, jeopardised the data of 6.2 million customers

On Thursday, Dutch mobile operator Odido notified customers that the company had been hacked and their personal data may have been leaked.

The incident, which took place earlier in the month, saw data from 6.2 million customers compromised, according to an Odido spokesperson.

Both Odido’s direct customers and those of its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Ben NL were affected.

Customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, and bank account numbers were among the data points leaked.

Odido emphasised that no passwords, call records, or billing data had been accessed, but urged customers to be vigilant about suspicious calls and texts.

In a statement, the operator said that an investigation into the incident was ongoing and it had reported the breach to the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

“The unauthorised access to the system was ended as quickly as possible,” said the Odido statement. “In addition, Odido has brought in cybersecurity experts to implement additional security measures in response to this incident.”

While Odido did not explicitly explain how the hackers had gained access to their systems, reporting from Dutch public broadcaster NOS suggests it may have been a case of social engineering.

According to anonymous sources speaking to the news agency, the hackers gained access to Odido’s systems by attempting to log into the accounts of customer service representatives that had fallen for phishing emails. The hackers then contacted these employees by phone, posing as Odido’s IT department, and manipulated them into approving a fraudulent login attempt.

The report suggests that the staff targeted may have been external call centre workers based outside the Netherlands.

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The participating companies pledge to follow the same standards of transparency, security, and data protection

Fifteen international tech giants have joined forces to launch the Trusted Tech Alliance, an initiative aimed at promoting transparency and trust across the tech sector.

The founding members – which includes the likes of Anthropic, Google, and Ericsson – are pledging to adhere to a set of shared principles to help foster a more open and reliable tech industry.

The initiative’s five founding principles, according to its website, are as follows:

• Transparent Corporate Governance and Ethical Conduct
• Operational Transparency, Secure Development, and Independent Assessment
• Robust Supply Chain and Security Oversight
• Open, Cooperative, Inclusive, and Resilient Digital Ecosystem
• Respect for the Rule of Law and Data Protection

These principles, the members say, will help ease cross-border collaboration at a time when geopolitical tensions are eroding international trust.

Tech companies are under increasing scrutiny over their origin and political independence, while governments are increasingly pushing for technological self-sufficiency and digital sovereignty.

“This is a period of time when many governments and countries are feeling pressure to create stronger technology borders, to focus more on their own digital sovereignty,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in an interview with Reuters. “Our companies are working together to set this high standard to really make clear what the definition of trust is.”

The members will self-assess their compliance with these ‘high standards’, though Smith notes that provisions are also included for independent assessment.

The other founding members are Amazon Web Services, Cassava Technologies, Cohere, Hanwha, Jio Platforms, Microsoft, Nokia, Nscale, NTT, Rapidus, Saab, and SAP.

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(Image credit: Amazon)

News

The approvals bring Amazon’s planned constellation to 7,700 satellites

This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given Amazon Leo the green light to launch a second tranche of low Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites.

The approval will allow the company to launch 4,504 additional satellites, bringing the burgeoning constellation’s full complement to 7,727 devices.

Of the newly approved satellites, 3,212 are the more advanced Gen 2 satellites, while 1,292 are Gen 1 satellites aimed at expanding coverage to polar regions, including the northernmost parts of North America and Europe.

Under the approval, Amazon Leo must launch half of the approved satellites by February 10, 2032, and the remaining half by February 10, 2035.

Amazon Leo (previously known as Amazon’s Project Kuiper) has been in development since 2019, aiming to challenge meteoric rise of SpaceX’s Starlink.

Starlink already has around 9,000 satellites in orbit, and recently secured approval to increase this number to 15,000.

As such, Amazon Leo has a lot of catching up to do – a fact made more daunting by its slow deployment rate since it began launching satellites in April last year.

Amazon’s initial FCC clearance required the company to launch half of its 3,232 Gen 1 satellites by July 30, 2026; however, last month the company filed a request for an extension, citing launch vehicle limitations. Amazon is asking that the deadline be extended to July 2028 or even waived entirely.

Amazon Leo has currently launched just 180 of the 1,616 satellites required. (Thirty-two additional satellites are set to be sent into orbit later today, delivered by Arianespace’s latest Ariane 6 launch vehicle.)

Despite this, the company still reportedly aims to begin providing commercial services later this year.

In related news, this week maritime connectivity reseller MTN has announced it will be the first to offer the sector access to Amazon Leo.

According to MTN’s website, the company’s existing partnership with Starlink is ‘the core of [the company’s] strategy’, but it also notes other satellite partners including OneWeb an GEO (geostationary) satellite operators.

“But Starlink is only part of the solution. MTN combines LEO networks like Starlink and OneWeb with GEO satellites, wireless, and near-shore RF to deliver a hybrid model that consistently outperforms legacy connectivity.”

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Whitepaper

For years, the telco wholesale model was a predictable, linear affair. It was a world of minutes and megabytes, defined by simple value chains where connectivity was the sole currency. But as the global industry evolves, MDS Global is highlighting a shift toward something far more intricate: the value network.

In this new “Wholesale Plus” era, the boundaries between operators, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), hyperscalers, and enterprises are dissolving. As CCS Insight explores in their latest report with MDS Global, communication service providers (CSPs) are becoming the essential platform for a massive ecosystem of digital services. From real-time network APIs to Open Gateway’s “Quality on Demand” API, the revenue opportunities are vast, but they bring a level of billing complexity that legacy systems simply cannot handle.

Ryan O’Hanlon, VP of Global Sales at MDS Global, joined the Beyond the Cable podcast in 2025 to discuss this transition towards sophisticated charging metric combinations. As Ryan noted, whether it is supporting a short-term quality boost for a specific event or managing application service plans, the billing engine must be a revenue catalyst, not a bottleneck. It requires a system that can orchestrate settlements across multilayer hierarchies, often involving four or five different partners in a single transaction.

In a market where technical agility is the true differentiator, agility is the only true competitive edge. To attract the most innovative partners, CSPs must move beyond the “one-size-fits-all” approach and embrace a platform that allows for rapid pivots and complex, real time settlement.

To find out how your organisation can unlock these new revenue streams and master the multilayer wholesale world, you can download the full CCS Insight whitepaper and listen to the latest industry discussion via the links below.

Unlock New Revenue: Download the Whitepaper

MDS Global will be showcasing these solutions at MWC Barcelona. You can find the team at the Lumine, Hall 2, Stand 2G11.

News

The sale to NJJ and Millicom marks the latest step in Telefonica’s Latin American retreat

This week, Telefonica has announced it has sold its Chilean mobile unit to Millicom and NJJ, a pair of companies both owned by French billionaire Xavier Niel.

The deal, valued at $1.2 billion, will see NJJ take a 51% of the business and Millicom a 49% stake. Despite holding the smaller stake, Millicom will operate the business on a day-to-day basis.

“This gives NJJ and Millicom operational control from day one and the ability to capture long-term growth potential at an attractive valuation, without compromising our financial strength,” Millicom Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Benítez said in the statement.

Telefonica will receive an initial payment of $50 million, with $340 million deferred. Telefonica canTelefonica makes $1.2bn exit from Chile also earn up to a further $150 million based on the unit’s future performance.

Both Millicom and NJJ will also have the right to purchase the other’s stake after five and six years have passed, with Millicom’s option taking priority.

Telefonica has been divesting of its Latin American businesses since 2019, when the company changed its strategy to focus on its core markets of Spain, Germany, Brazil, and the UK.

The sale of these units has accelerated under CEO Marc Murtra, who took over the role at the start of January and quickly oversaw exits from  Argentina, Peru, and Colombia.

Discussions over Telefonica’s Chilean unit had been underway since at least in May last year, with America Movil, WOM, and Entel also displaying interest in the business.

Millicom, on the other hand, is expanding its regional footprint and has already proven a keen buyer of Telefonica’s struggling businesses.

In the past two years, Millicom has snapped up Telefonica’s operations in Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay for a combined total of over $1 billion.

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Press Release

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, announces the construction of GreenMed, a next-generation subsea cable system designed to enhance route diversity, resilience and low-latency connectivity between Europe and the Middle East. The system will be engineered and manufactured by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), a major player in the submarine cable industry, and installed by Elettra Tlc, a company dedicated to the marine survey, installation and repairs of telecommunication cables.

GreenMed East will cross the Adriatic Sea, providing diverse optical fiber connectivity between Levant countries and the rich digital ecosystem of the Milan area; the route will touch the strategic gateways of Crete and Sicily and connect, along its path, the Balkan countries, thus supporting the growing demand driven by cloud adoption, content delivery, enterprise digitalization and emerging AI-era traffic patterns. The new system will be fully integrated into Sparkle’s broader backbone and landing-hub strategy, delivering secure and diversified international connectivity services to carriers, cloud and content players, as well as multinational enterprises.

GreenMed builds on Sparkle’s experience with BlueMed – the company’s flagship project in the Tyrrhenian Sea – and its pioneering open architecture approach. In this context, GreenMed further strengthens the open cable model allowing each fiber-pair tenant to select its preferred optical illumination architecture and vendor, in line with system design and operational requirements.

The contract between Sparkle, ASN and Elettra Tlc, executed today during Capacity Middle East 2026 in Dubai, will be in force by end of February 2026, with the first segments of the system expected to be in service by late 2028. Under the agreement ASN will be responsible for system design and manufacturing of the subsea optical infrastructure including wet plant components and associated equipment, while Elettra Tlc will carry out marine operations, including route surveys and cable installation/laying activities.

“GreenMed represents another concrete step in Sparkle’s strategy to strengthen the Mediterranean basin as a key digital gateway and to reinforce Italy’s role as a primary international connectivity hub,” said Enrico Maria Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. “With GreenMed in the Adriatic and BlueMed in the Tyrrhenian, Sparkle offers two highly innovative routes between Europe and the Middle East for maximum diversification and resilience.”

“ASN is proud to bring its end-to-end subsea expertise and advanced system design capabilities to GreenMed,” added Alain Biston, CEO of ASN. “This project will showcase next-generation wet plant technology, scalable capacity design and industrial quality, enabling a future-proof infrastructure that supports the most demanding applications and evolving traffic patterns.”

“Elettra is honored to be entrusted with the marine operations for GreenMed,” commented Didier Dillard, President & CEO of Elettra Tlc. “Our teams will deliver the survey and installation phases with a strong focus on safety, precision and environmental responsibility, leveraging deep experience in Mediterranean cable operations to ensure an efficient and reliable deployment.”

How is Europe’s submarine cable ecosystem changing in 2026? Join the experts in discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA, the world’s largest subsea cable event

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The European Commission’s ‘preliminary view’ is that Meta is stifling competition by blocking competitors’ AI assistants from WhatsApp

The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Meta, presenting its preliminary view that Meta breached EU antitrust rules by excluding third party AI assistants from accessing and interacting with users on WhatsApp.

The statement says that Meta is likely to be abusing its dominant position in the consumer communication application market, potentially stifling future competition.

Meta made the policy changes to effectively ban third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp in October last year. The Commission began investigating the matter in December the same year.

“Artificial intelligence is bringing incredible innovations to consumers, and one of these is the emerging market of AI assistants. We must protect effective competition in this vibrant field, which means we cannot allow dominant tech companies to illegally leverage their dominance to give themselves an unfair advantage,” said EU Commissioner for Competition and Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, in a statement.

In addition, the EU is considering implementing interim measures to ensure these AI assistants can retain access to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing.

“AI markets are developing at rapid pace, so we also need to be swift in our action. That is why we are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing, and avoid Meta’s new policy irreparably harming competition in Europe,” Ribera explained.

Meta rejects the assertion that their policy is anticompetitive.

“The facts are that there is no reason for the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API,” a Meta spokesperson said.

“There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and industry partnerships. The Commission’s logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots,” the company added.

Meta has a fractious history with EU regulations, with a long history of clashing with the bloc’s stringent data privacy, competition, and artificial intelligence laws.

In the past three years, the EU has fine Meta over €2 billion for various antitrust and GDPR infractions.

It is worth noting, however, that not every EU decision has gone against the tech giant. Indeed, this week a ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given the green light for WhatsApp to continue contesting a €225 million fine delivered by the Irish data regulator back in 2021.

“The Court refers the case back to the General Court for it to rule on the merits, including on whether WhatsApp infringed the relevant provisions of the GDPR,” the ECJ said in a statement.

Investigations into WhatsApp’s Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance first began in 2018. Three years later, in 2021 the Irish Data Protection Commission fined WhatsApp €225 million for failing to inform its users how their data would be shared with its parent company, Meta (then Facebook).

WhatsApp immediately challenged the decision, which has seen them embroiled in a legal tussle for the past five years.

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Press Release

BT Group today announces leadership succession within Openreach and BT International.

Katie Milligan, currently Deputy CEO of Openreach, will become CEO, Openreach on 01 April 2026. She succeeds Clive Selley, who will become CEO of BT International. He succeeds Bas Burger who has decided the time is right for him to leave BT after 18 years of service, including nine years on the Executive Committee, also on 01 April 2026.

Allison Kirkby, BT Group Chief Executive, said:

“Openreach is a critical national asset – the digital backbone of the UK – and a key driver of BT Group’s long‑term value. Its talented team, disciplined execution and customer focus continues to strengthen our position as the UK’s most trusted connector. Katie has helped shape that success. Her deep industry experience, strong people leadership and sharp operational instincts make her the right leader to take Openreach forward.”

“Clive’s contribution at the helm of Openreach has been exceptional. His leadership – particularly the scale, pace and quality of the full fibre broadband build, has set new standards for our industry. We are deeply grateful for the commitment, expertise and integrity he has brought to the role. Clive’s lasting legacy is a world-class digital infrastructure that will serve the UK for generations to come.”

“Clive is also the best person to lead BT International forward as a next generation, global telco platform business. No one has more experience building complex modern day infrastructure and supporting customers at scale in their digital transition. I’m delighted he’s staying within BT Group and look forward to working together with him in his new role.”

“I’d like to thank Bas for all that he’s done for us over the past 18 years, including leading Global, BT Business and, most recently, successfully carving out BT International as a standalone unit. He has laid the foundations and strategy for a more focussed, responsive platform business for our customers outside of the UK, ready to scale and grow with the help of next generation technologies.”

“Together these changes strengthen BT Group’s leadership for the next chapter – giving Openreach continued commercial and customer momentum in the UK, and speeding up the transformation of BT International.”

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