Several bits of last mile news, a data center project, and some IX growth: … [visit site to read more]

UAE-based satellite player Space42 revealed on Monday it is ready to launch direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services via its geostationary Thuraya-4 satellite via a partnership with non-terrestrial network (NTN) firm Skylo Technologies.

Space42 said that Skylo’s 3GPP-compliant NTN platform has already been integrated with Thuraya-4 and is ready for commercial deployment. The two companies have also tested the platform by completing a bi-directional, real-time voice call on the network with no modified SIM and no changes to existing operator core infrastructure.

Space42 said that commercial deployment of Thuraya’s D2D service will begin across Thuraya-4’s coverage footprint across 37 countries on a rolling basis as it secures the necessary regulatory approvals and operator agreements in each target market.

“This partnership advances Space42’s strategy to become a global NTN leader, extending Thuraya-4’s reach through an interoperable connectivity layer that enables satellite and terrestrial networks to function as one unified system,” said Ali Al Hashemi, Space42’s CEO of space services, in a statement.

“Space42’s decision to select Skylo’s standards-based architecture for Thuraya-4 validates what we have built: a carrier-grade connectivity layer where satellites function as a natural extension of mobile networks, not a parallel system,” added Skylo co-founder and CEO Parthsarathi Trivedi.

Thuraya-4 – which went live in November 2025 after being launched into orbit earlier in the year – is designed to integrate seamlessly with terrestrial networks to support Space42’s broader strategy to develop and launch 3GPP-compliant D2D satellite services.

In September last year, Space42 and Viasat launched their Equatys JV, which aims to leverage 100 MHz of harmonized MSS spectrum already allocated across more than 160 markets to offer D2D services globally.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Gerry Christensen

The telecommunications landscape has reached a decisive turning point. For years, regulatory frameworks governing voice traffic operated largely on a model of passive observation and post-incident investigation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intervened where necessary, but the underlying infrastructure remained reliant on legacy protocols and “best-effort” compliance.

That era is over. … [visit site to read more]

Chinese satellite operator Guodian Gaoke has reportedly received a two-year trial licence from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to offer LEO satellite-based IoT services in China.

According to a report from Yicai Global on Friday, citing a statement from MIIT, Guodian Gaoke will spend the trial period accelerating deployment and activation of its Tianqi LEO satellite constellation.

The MIIT said the pilot – which will be the first such pilot in China – will help the Chinese satellite IoT sector achieve economies of scale and establish an industrial IoT ecosystem, as well as a regulatory regime to govern it.

Guodian Gaoke already has 41 LEO satellites in orbit for the first phase of its global network, the report said. According to filings with the International Telecommunication Union, it plans to launch another 640 LEO sats in the second phase, with the total constellation comprising 3,918 satellites.

Guodian Gaoke has already signed a couple of international deals for its Tianqi constellation. In December last year, the company signed a trilateral agreement with African satellite communications provider Q-KON and Chinese satellite communication terminals and antennas specialist StarWin to roll out satellite IoT services across South Africa.

Guodian Gaoke and StarWin signed a similar agreement with Malaysian satellite operator MEASAT in October 2025.

ZTE Corporation and MediaTek, a global semiconductor company, unveiled a joint strategy at the 2026 ZTE Broadband User Congress. The two parties will expand premium connectivity product portfolios tailored for high-demand residential users and small businesses in Brazil, addressing their needs for advanced technology, comprehensive coverage, ultra-high speed and low-latency network performance.

During the meeting, the companies presented the benefits of tri-band Wi-Fi 7, which operates simultaneously on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz. The adoption of the 6 GHz band, in addition to the already established bands, reinforces the gain in capacity and stability, improving the experience in both homes and small businesses, especially in scenarios with multiple connected devices and higher density of Wi-Fi networks.

« In Brazil, there is a clear niche of consumers and businesses that need an above-average connectivity experience, with higher performance, lower latency, and more consistent coverage. Today, this consumer cannot find a direct, structured, and easy-to-acquire offer, » says Samir Vani, MediaTek’s Business Development Director for Latin America. « By treating all subscribers uniformly, many operators fail to capture value from an audience with a greater willingness to invest and end up missing the opportunity to increase the average ticket price and profitability of broadband services, » adds the executive.

Brazil’s broadband landscape features more than 20,000 fiber internet providers, leading to intense price competition and homogenized service offerings. Against this backdrop, ZTE and MediaTek regard premium connectivity as a key strategic enabler, helping local operators and ISPs build differentiated, sustainable value propositions.

« ZTE can strongly contribute to offering premium equipment geared towards this new level of experience, » says Phoenix Li, CPE Marketing Director of ZTE LATAM Division. « One example is the triple bands 4*4 XGSPON model, which can reach up to 4.6 Gbps in Wi-Fi SpeedTest and also features MLO (Multi-Link Operation) technology, a feature that helps deliver a more homogeneous experience throughout the home or professional environment, through the simultaneous use of multiple frequencies. »

The ZTE Broadband User Congress gathers senior industry leaders and professionals to discuss cutting-edge connectivity trends, broadband monetization strategies and the evolving role of Wi-Fi in shaping next-generation user experience.

Pan-African operator Airtel Africa has announced a delay to the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its mobile money business, initially planned for the first half of 2026. Reuters reports that the IPO will now take place in the second half of 2026.

Events in the Middle East have certainly been a strong factor in this decision. Indeed, the company has forecast a near-term margin squeeze due to higher costs arising from the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.

The war has triggered a crunch in crude supplies from the Middle East. It has also affected supply chains and raised energy and logistics costs for companies everywhere.

Airtel is not alone in delaying its Airtel Money public offering; several other firms have also delayed IPOs as the war drives market volatility. Indeed cuts, project delays and cost-cutting drives by a number of companies have resulted from the war.

With market conditions now unfavourable, and the prospect of rising energy costs hitting parent company Airtel Africa’s near-term core profit margins, the delay is therefore not too surprising. The company insists, however, that it remains committed to the listing as soon as market conditions allow it. 

Reuters says Airtel Money, which operates across 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is Airtel Africa’s third-largest business, contributing 21.1% of total revenue. For the year ending on 31 March, the group posted a core profit of US$3.16 billion on total revenue of US$6.42 billion, beating market expectations of US$3.13 billion and US$6.36 billion, respectively.

Indeed, just over a week ago we reported that the listing that could value Airtel Money at as much as US$10 billion.

As we reported earlier today, the parent company’s fiscal 2026 results were favourable, benefiting from a strong demand for mobile networks, adoption of new digital technologies and artificial intelligence. Mobile money continued to be a major growth driver.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Michael Reid, CEO at Megaport

AI has moved decisively into the enterprise mainstream; what was once an emerging capability now plays a foundational role in how organizations operate, compete, and respond to shifting market forces. While the world has been focused on the “brain” of AI –  the LLMs and the massive GPU clusters that train them – we have overlooked its “nervous system,” the network infrastructure required to keep AI alive. … [visit site to read more]

International network services provider RETN announced on Thursday it has launched a new end-to-end backbone route through Romania that links the Balkans to Moldova and Ukraine.

The route links the Romanian cities of Drobeta, Bucharest and Iași to Chișinău in Moldova as a single continuous backbone path that connects with RETN’s existing Balkans corridor linking Budapest, Timișoara and Sofia.

RETN said this not only provides a new physical connectivity option across Romania into Moldova, but also creates an alternative to established regional IP transit corridors in Eastern Europe.

RETN added that the new backbone enables alternative routing to Ukraine via Moldova and into the Balkans via Bulgaria, providing additional options for regional and international traffic flows.

The route forms part of RETN’s broader strategy to strengthen its optical network across Central and Eastern Europe, said business development director Olena Lutsenko.

“Bucharest and Iași are rapidly developing hubs for business, education and technology, and demand for resilient, high-capacity infrastructure is rising fast,” Lutsenko said. “By delivering a direct route from Timișoara to Bucharest and onward to Chișinău, we are enabling faster, more scalable access to the region from the Balkans, Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe in general – for operators, ISPs, enterprises and international customers.”

Lutsenko added that the expansion comes at a time of rapid fibre growth and infrastructure modernisation across Romania and Eastern Europe.

According to the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications of Romania (ANCOM), Romania is among the region’s fibre leaders, with 6.9 million fixed broadband connections in mid‑2025 – 37% of which are gigabit-capable – and fixed broadband average traffic per capita on the rise.

Two data center development partnership projects and one new longhaul fiber route. … [visit site to read more]

Every major release tells a story about where a platform is headed. With v8, the story is about integration, openness and connectivity. 

More CRM systems working in parallel, more AI providers deployable without extra infrastructure, real-time call events feeding directly into the automation tools your customers already use, and a unified codebase bringing gloCOM Desktop and Web closer together than ever before.

v8 touches many layers of the platform: how CRM data flows across departments and devices, how contact center capabilities reach customers who never needed a full CC migration, how AI moves from a conversation topic into something partners can actually deploy and bill for.

Over twenty years, PBXware has grown from a voice PBX into a communication and collaboration platform. v8 is the release where that growth becomes most visible, not because of one breakthrough, but because of how many things now work better together.

In this post, we walk through the pillars of v8 and what they mean for partners building and growing their UC business.

AI That Works The Way You Do

The Voice Of The Future – The AI Voice Agent

One of the standout features of v8 is the AI Voice Agent. It allows for a customer-oriented, AI-driven experience, delivered in a consistent tone (configured by the administrator in the back) that can help guide callers through a conversation by answering questions it was designed to, transfer the call to a more qualified department depending on the nature of the issue, and even end calls when a conversation completes successfully.

In addition, the AI voice agent can be given access to an MCP server which connects the AI Agent to external services, expanding its utility even further.

In order to track the efficiency of the AI Agent, we’ve also ensured that their calls are logged just like any other agent’s would and have made them distinguishable from human agents on the CDR page.

AI Agents used in business environments provide numerous benefits: from automating the menial tasks in order to divert the company workforce and its resources toward more complex initiatives, to improving overall customer satisfaction and achieving the ultimate goal – supporting a wide range of use cases across various industries and verticals.

The Home For All AI features – The AI Hub

In previous editions, we’ve introduced our first suite of AI features: Call Recording Transcription and  AI Voice Greeting Generation but the issue was trying to find them amidst everything else that the Bicom Platform had to offer.

With v8, we are consolidating them all under a new tab, the AI Hub, alongside the new AI Agent feature, as well as the AI Providers setting to make it easier to find, configure, and interact with our newest AI tools.

Per Tenant AI Providers

Another significant advancement introduced with v8 to PBXware is the change from per feature to per tenant AI providers.

This setup enables you to have both billing and advanced usage statistics per tenant (on the AI side) by using a different API key per tenant, ensuring better operational insights and more accurate billing. 

Live Call Transcription

Provide more accessibility to calls with Live Transcription, enabling real-time speech-to-text for calls routed through an extension, ERG or Queue.

When enabled, PBXware captures live call audio and streams it to supported AI transcription services (AWS Transcribe, Deepgram, Google Speech, or OpenAI). Transcription results are generated continuously during the call and forwarded in real time to a configured WebSocket callback endpoint, ensuring instant availability of live text data.

This enables users to follow conversations as they happen, improving accessibility, monitoring, and integration across business workflows. 

Event Publisher

v8 introduces Event Publisher, a standout new feature of this release. It allows users to integrate their own backend server and handle call event data exactly as needed, giving them full control over how information is processed.

With real-time event delivery, any change in call flow creates an event instantly, eliminating the need for custom workarounds, polling, or delays, and enabling faster and cleaner integrations as well as a more responsive call architecture.

Works with tools you already use, connecting with popular low-code and no-code automation platforms.

Your PBX is no longer just recording activity.
It’s driving it.

CC Lite

Gain access to Contact Center’s enhanced monitoring and reporting capabilities across all editions, with main focus on PBXware MT and Business, through CC lite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsI8GzFmLpoIt enables non-CC users to experience some of CC edition’s best features like: Wallboards and additional ERG dashboards (gloCOM web & Desktop), Scheduled Reports for ERG and Extension statistics, and the ERG callback feature.

This allows you to upsell key Contact Center capabilities on a per-tenant basis without migrating entire customer bases to the CC edition, helping you protect margins by avoiding additional licensing and infrastructure costs. Additionally, you can retain customers in a multi-tenant environment while effectively supporting small and growing contact centers that need greater visibility without added complexity. 

A New CRM Integration Module

v8 also introduces a new, completely redesigned CRM Module, available in gloCOM Web and the new gloCOM v8 Desktop app.

What this solves for you and your customers:

• No more choosing one CRM for all departments
• No more shared CRM credentials or permission conflicts
• No more missed conversation logs, or customer history
• No more custom workarounds for multi-CRM environments

It comes with a few key improvements like: supporting multiple CRM integrations per tenant and per system depending on edition, flexible authentication methods, permission groups, automatic conversation logging for both Voice and Messaging channels, a unified CRM widget and a configurable CRM data model.

It is intended to provide improved flexibility, stability and UX across the board and to exist alongside the legacy CRM integration module to ensure full backwards compatibility.

CRM Routing

Another improvement coming to CRMs is CRM Routing which introduces inbound call routing dependent on real CRM data instead of static IVR logic, and allows incoming calls to be automatically directed based on customer information stored in connected CRM systems.

Admins have full flexibility in rule configuration when defining what happens when a recognized customer calls within PBXware.

Additionally, the feature works consistently across all supported CRM integrations.

This eliminates the need to standardize on a single CRM across departments, removes reliance on shared credentials, and ensures complete, accurate conversation histories without missed logs. All of this while also doing away with custom workarounds previously required to support multi-CRM environments, ensuring faster CRM deployments and less support tickets to manage. 

Stereo Call Recordings

With v8, the Stereo Call Recordings Feature is out of Beta and is available to everyone, allowing them to record each side of the conversation on separate audio channels which helps greatly enhance AI transcription accuracy, general training and improves CRM integration.

Taking the next step forward with gloCOM NEXT

Version 8.0 has also focused on big changes with the Web & Desktop versions for the new gloCOM App, giving them a modern touch-up. Now, you can keep everything within reach with a unified codebase and CC features available on both platforms.

It also features the new ‘Unified Contacts’ functionality which replaces the legacy Central Phonebook and introduces a more structured visibility model for more robust contact management alongside the aforementioned CRM integration module.

gloCOM NEXT also allows you to fully brand your desktop app with your own colors with changes visible in real-time through the BRM, helping improve your white-label offerings and shortening go-to-market cycles.

Keeping Up To Speed With Regulations – Custom Middleware Enablement For Dispatchable Locations

Like with every release, the Bicom Platform has also been updated to comply with the latest regulatory requirements – Ray Baum’s act in particular.

By introducing support for custom middleware apps in the “Dispatchable locations” setup process, partners can now seamlessly integrate with providers that require location data to be registered and validated on their platforms.

This approach enables synchronization of dispatchable location information between PBXware and trunk providers, even with each of them using a different API, ensuring consistency and resulting in a more adaptable, user-friendly solution.

And More…

These are only some of the more standout changes that have been introduced with the release of 8.0. Here are a few more notable inclusions:

• The ability to automatically log out the plugin on gloCOM for Teams when the Teams desktop app is closed to stop the user from receiving calls(disabled by default).
• The Call Parking enhancement on gloCOM GO (iOS and Android), which allows users to park active calls directly from the call screen without having to dial an extension code.
• The addition of Concurrent Archiving which utilizes multiple workers (configurable at any given time on the admin side) in order to process call recordings as they’re offloaded.

As always, plenty of other bug fixes, quality of life changes and feature updates have also been implemented to ensure smoother workflows and less tedium during app interaction.

These changes should further enhance your experience with the Bicom product suite as a whole, as well as make your work easier going forward.

We look forward to seeing your feedback on these new additions and hope that the changes in v8 have increased your overall enjoyment of our products. If you have any extra questions, feel free to Contact Us.