Vietnamese operator Viettel has reportedly approved plans to launch telecoms operations in the Dominican Republic, a move that would make it the country’s fourth mobile operator.

According to Viet Nam News, Viettel’s board approved a $560 million investment on April 17 to build and operate telecoms and digital infrastructure across the Caribbean nation.

The expansion will lead to the creation of a new unit, Viettel Dominicana, although the company’s final corporate structure and local partnerships have yet to be confirmed.

The operator is expected to focus initially on mobile services, fixed broadband and mobile money during its first two years of operation. It then plans to expand further into areas including data centres, cloud computing, cybersecurity, IT services and digital logistics.

The Dominican Republic telecoms market is currently dominated by América Móvil-owned Claro, Altice and local operator Viva.

Claro reported 8.1 million mobile subscribers across its Caribbean operations, including the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, in the fourth quarter of 2025. Altice had around 1.5 million consumer mobile subscribers in the same period, while regulator Indotel reported Viva had approximately 450,000 subscribers.

The Dominican Republic has a population of around 11.5 million people and the largest economy in the Caribbean, with GDP reaching $124 billion in 2024, according to World Bank data.

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PLDT Group’s data centre arm Vitro said on Thursday it has partnered with BBIX Philippines to establish a direct peering connection between BBIX and its Vitro Internet Exchange (VIX) in a play they say will strengthen the country’s digital ecosystem.

To that end, Vitro has deployed an initial 100G network-to-network interconnection at its Makati 2 data centre to start. Vitro expects to expand that capacity over time in line with traffic growth and evolving demand.

Vitro said the partnership with BBIX aims to enable more efficient traffic exchange through direct peering, allowing enterprises connected to both BBIX and VIX to benefit from improved routing, reduced latency, and enhanced access to content and digital services.

VIX’s local ecosystem includes access to over 98 million internet users in the Philippines, alongside a growing base of enterprises, carriers, and hyperscalers hosted within Vitro’s carrier-neutral data centres.

BBIX said it brings its global peering expertise to the table, as well as a rich and massive ecosystem of content from cloud service providers, content platforms, content delivery networks and other technology solution providers.

Direct peering between BBIX and VIX will reduce connectivity gaps and optimise traffic routes, enabling efficient traffic flow, reduced latency, and improved access to both regional and international content, said Vitro’s chief commercial officer Gary F. Ignacio.

“By strengthening how traffic is exchanged between networks, we are improving access to content, enhancing performance, and enabling businesses and communities to better participate in the digital economy,” he said in a statement.

“Through our direct peering with VIX, we are able to deliver more efficient and reliable connectivity that supports the growing demand for digital services in the country,” added Toya Oba, GM of BBIX.

Press Release

When we watch videos on our phones, we expect them to load instantly and play smoothly – even in the busiest places or at peak times. But as demand for video continues to grow, mobile networks can sometimes come under pressure, leading to buffering or drops in quality.

Keeping videos smooth on the UK’s best mobile network 

That’s why we’ve introduced a range of tools across our industry-leading EE network to ensure seamless performance for customers – from capacity-boosting small cell mini-masts to our world-first implementation of Advanced RAN Coordination (ARC) technology. This helps improve everyday experiences like streaming video, scrolling social media and watching live content on the go. As part of BT, EE benefits from the scale, investment and innovation that enable us to keep the UK at the forefront of connectivity. 

Working together with Meta  

But it’s also important that we work with content providers to tackle this shared challenge, and so we’re delighted to announce the success of a recent pilot with Meta which makes watching videos on Facebook and Instagram more reliable for EE mobile customers, even during periods of high network demand.  

The pilot saw the two teams test a smarter approach to video delivery using new congestion awareness technology that adapts automatically during busy periods, easing potential pressure on the network while maintaining a highquality experience for customers. In simple terms, it helps reduce those frustrating moments where videos buffer or stall when networks are busy. 

The ambition is simple: to help more people enjoy a smooth viewing experience, while at the same time reducing impact on the network.

Smarter video delivery during busy moments 

Rather than delivering video in the same way regardless of conditions, Meta’s congestion awareness technology intelligently responds when parts of the network are under pressure. By making small, real–time adjustments when detecting high cell load during peak moments, it reduces the amount of data needed without noticeably affecting video quality. This helps ease potential congestion so more people can keep watching without interruptions, while making better use of available network capacity. It also supports a more consistent experience when using video apps in busy areas like city centres, transport hubs or large events. 

Proven results for EE customers 

The pilot delivered strong results, including a 6–8% bitrate reduction when congestion was identified and around a 4% reduction in traffic to congested cells – all while maintaining a high–quality experience for EE customers using Facebook and Instagram. That means fewer slowdowns and a more reliable video streaming experience on mobile data. With this success, the congestion awareness technology has now been rolled out across the EE network, and Meta will expand the solution to other markets and partners throughout 2026. 

This latest work builds on BT and Meta’s earlier collaboration to improve video performance for EE customers, further demonstrating how closer coordination between networks and platforms can support growing demand. As video continues to play a central role in everyday life, initiatives like this show how incremental innovation behind the scenes can deliver meaningful benefits for customers – while helping networks remain efficient into the future. 

Global digital operator Veon announced on Wednesday that Ukrainian ride-hailing platform Uklon – which is owned by Veon’s Kyivstar – has started testing autonomous vehicle technology for a planned robotaxi service in Ukraine.

The pilot project – which is being conducted in partnership with Boryspil International Airport – leverages core autonomous vehicle technologies and operational components, including onboard sensors, LiDAR, real-time connectivity, vehicle telemetry and remote operations infrastructure. Remote human operators will serve as a control layer during the pilot.

Veon said the test is part of Uklon’s strategy to position itself as the operating partner for Ukraine’s future autonomous mobility and robotaxi ecosystem as it works with regulators and Boryspil Airport.

Veon Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu said the autonomous vehicle pilot illustrates how Veon’s US$1.3 billion investment in Ukraine’s digital infrastructure between 2023 and 2026 is now generating homegrown next-gen services.

“Today’s launch puts Uklon at the center of Ukraine’s future robotaxi ecosystem and shows that VEON’s US$1.3 billion investment in rebuilding the country’s connectivity and digital infrastructure is generating exactly the kind of next-generation services we said it would,” Terzioglu said in a statement.

The pilot comes a little over a year after Kyivstar bought Uklon in a deal valued at US$155.2 million to expand its digital consumer services portfolio.

“As part of the Veon group digital operator strategy, we are developing a digital ecosystem where communication technologies become the basis for new services.” said Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov. “This project confirms that the synergy of the telecom and IT sectors within the Kyivstar group of companies, which includes Uklon, creates unique solutions and opens new opportunities for the country.”

The Uklon pilot also marks Veon’s first autonomous mobility initiative across its operating footprint.

Veon criticised the high rate of taxation on the telecoms sector in Bangladesh and Pakistan, warning it risks slowing digital and economic growth in both countries.

The Dubai-based operator group, which owns Banglalink in Bangladesh and Jazz in Pakistan, pointed to new research from Frontier Economics arguing that lower mobile-specific taxes would ultimately generate greater long-term government revenues.

The report, titled Unlocking Digital Growth by Reducing Sector Taxation in Bangladesh and Pakistan, found the two countries impose some of the world’s highest telecoms-specific taxes. Mobile sector taxes account for 47% of service revenues in Bangladesh and 37% in Pakistan, far above regional and global averages.

According to the analysis, reducing combined sales and turnover taxes on mobile services to 23% in Bangladesh and 17% in Pakistan would increase mobile penetration, boost digital adoption and accelerate GDP growth.

Frontier Economics estimated Bangladesh’s annual GDP per capita growth rate could rise from 6.6% to 7.2%, while Pakistan’s could increase from 4.2% to 4.5% in the medium term.

The report also argued that although governments would initially see lower tax receipts from the telecoms sector, broader economic growth would offset the losses, with total tax revenues surpassing baseline levels by 2030 in Bangladesh and by 2031 in Pakistan.

Veon said the findings reinforce the importance of mobile connectivity in both markets, where smartphones and mobile networks remain the primary route for millions of people to access banking, digital services and the formal economy.

Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu said reducing barriers to mobile adoption would help expand digital financial services, support small businesses and strengthen long-term economic participation.

News

The scale of the UK’s commercial fibre rollout means some target areas no longer warrant government support

Today, fibre network operator CityFibre and Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency have agreed to ‘re-scope’ the nine contracts the operator holds as part of Project Gigabit.

The decision, the companies say, comes “in response to the accelerated rollout of commercially funded full fibre across Project Gigabit areas”, meaning government subsidies are no longer necessary.

Officially launched in 2021, Project Gigabit promised £5 billion in government subsidies to help fibre network operators reach some of the UK’s hardest-to-reach premises.

In 2023, CityFibre won ten Project Gigabit contracts with subsidies totalling around £782 million. This funding, CityFibre said, would help the company to reach 1.3 million homes and businesses across rural or hard-to-reach areas.

Work related to each of the contracts was reportedly underway by the start of last year, with CityFibre saying it had reached 150,000 premises in the covered areas, 70,000 of which had made use of subsidies.

Now, following analysis of information gained from BDUK’s ongoing Open Market Review process, the partners agree that the scope of the contracts is too broad for today’s market conditions. As a result, the revised targets will see CityFibre aim for 450,000 rural or hard-to-reach premises by 2030, with 226,000 of these directly subsidised by Project Gigabit.

In addition, a £58.6 million contract covering Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire will be ‘returned’ to BDUK.

“We are immensely proud of CityFibre’s involvement in Project Gigabit, an ambitious programme that has helped unlock the benefits of full fibre infrastructure for households and businesses previously at risk of being left behind. BDUK’s commitment has helped spur further investment and continued innovation and the time is right to focus on where we will have the biggest impact as we establish the competitive digital infrastructure market the UK deserves,” said Simon Holden, CityFibre’s Chief Executive Officer.

The government was quick to take credit for facilitating the rapid rollout of fibre across the UK.

“Over the past 18 months, this government has delivered upgrades to more than 229,000 hard-to-reach premises across the country. Our reforms to the telecoms market have unlocked a surge in commercial broadband rollout, meaning many areas previously in scope for CityFibre’s Project Gigabit contracts will now be upgraded without cost to taxpayers,” said Liz Lloyd, Telecoms Minister.

The announcement notes that this revision “will not affect BDUK’s ability to achieve the UK government target of 99% UK gigabit coverage by 2032”.

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