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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ESPOO, FINLAND, May 26, 2026—Telia Finland and QMill have developed quantum-enhanced message encryption for mobile networks. QMill’s new encryption method is enabled by local or cloud quantum computers. Once completed, the method is designed to protect messages against attacks carried out using either classical or quantum resources.

”The security of our networks is becoming more crucial, especially for our mission-critical customers. In this first demonstration with QMill we focused on the most critical part of our network, but this method could be applied more widely and, in the long-term, it could potentially establish a new standard for encrypted communications,” says Jari Collin, Head of Customer Segment Defense, Telia Finland.

 “It is important that we were able to include Telia as a telecom operator in this phase. We will continue developing our quantum-enhanced security method with the objective of making it available as a standalone product, while also using it to complement other encryption methods by adding an additional layer of security,” says Hannu Kauppinen, CEO of QMill, which is a pioneering quantum algorithm and software company based in Finland.

The method has also been demonstrated to the Finnish Defense Forces. 

According to the C5 Division of the Defense Command Finland, “Encryption is a critical component of the Defense Forces’ information networks. It is important for us to monitor developments in both encryption and quantum technology, and to assess their impact on the systems used by the Defense Forces. Testing in collaboration with companies offers an interesting perspective on this.”

This demonstration complements Telia’s previous achievement of being the first commercial operator to successfully test quantum key distribution (QKD) in their network, done as part of Finland’s national quantum-secure network NaQCI.fi project. Quantum key distribution is based on transmitting quantum states. In the future, it could serve as one of the means of ensuring a high-level of security in dedicated infrastructure, as opposed to a standard mobile network, which was used in the latest demonstration.

In the future, Telia and QMill will expand the newly demonstrated point-to-point connection with quantum-enhanced security to a wide variety of use cases as part of their ongoing collaboration project.

_ _ _

About Telia
Telia is a technology company that provides telecommunications, IT and digital services to its millions of consumer and business customers as well as public administration. Telia has approximately 3300 employees in Finland, and our customers have nearly 4.4 million subscriptions in our various services. Safety is the starting point for everything we do. Telia strengthens its critical infrastructure by investing approximately EUR 200 million annually in Finland’s nationwide telecommunications networks and secure ICT services.

Telia Finland is part of Telia Company, which operates in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Telia Company’s revenue in 2024 was EUR 8 billion. The company is committed to achieving net zero emissions throughout its value chain by 2040.

Read more: www.telia.fi/medialle,  X: @teliafinland, LinkedIn: @Telia.

About QMill
QMill is a quantum‑algorithm and software company making quantum computing practical and accessible for real-world industrial use cases on existing and near‑term quantum computers. The company develops algorithms especially geared towards the NISQ era, supporting quantum researchers and developers as well as industrial sectors such as defense, energy, telecom, and transport. QMill is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. www.qmill.com

Contributed Article

by Pete Harvey, Senior Product Manager Subsea, Starboard Maritime Intelligence

When Starboard published Cable Risk Intelligence 2026 (Issue 1) in April, the Persian Gulf scored 4.6 out of 5.0 on our risk index, the highest of the 25 cable landing zones we assessed globally. At the time, that rating was grounded in a combination of geopolitical tension, high traffic density, constrained repair access, and documented vessel behaviour around cable routes in the region.

Since then, the situation has deteriorated further. Iran has explicitly threatened to sever submarine cables in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the 2026 conflict, with state media circulating maps of Gulf undersea cable routes. At least 17 cable systems transit the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, carrying the majority of data traffic between Asia and Europe. Cable construction work across the Gulf has come to a standstill because repair ships can’t operate in active conflict zones.

The Persian Gulf rating was a forecast of the conditions that have now materialised.

The window of opportunity

Most operators find out a cable is at risk through a service degradation report from a customer, an optical monitoring alarm, or a repair dispatch. By the time any of those signals fire, the cable is already cut, and the repair window begins. Under normal conditions, that window averages 40 days for a deepwater fault. In a conflict zone there’s no definitive end.

The solution is to collate and analyse the risk data within the prevention window, giving operators a chance to intervene before a cable is struck.

Whether accidental or deliberate, every cable incident is preceded by vessel behaviour that is detectable before damage occurs. An anchor drag begins as a vessel drifting over a known route. A trawler working a protected zone slows to trawling speed before it makes contact. A vessel executing a deliberate act loiters, changes course without apparent purpose, or goes dark in a sensitive area. If you’re looking for them in the right way with the right tools, these patterns can be seen in the data before the fault event.

Early detection in practice

Starboard fuses AIS, satellite data, fibre sensing (DAS and SoP), and bathymetry into a single operational view, then applies behavioural models to flag when vessel activity near a cable route deviates from established patterns. The output is a prioritised alert with enough vessel data for a Marine Operations Centre or an operator to act.

In a New Zealand cable protection trial conducted with the New Zealand Government, commercial cable owners, and a marine operations centre, this approach generated 86 alerts, prompted 17 VHF vessel calls, and resulted in three vessels changing course, none of which required waiting for a fault signal.

When Starboard’s vessel risk alerts are integrated directly into a carrier’s NOC software, response time drops from 25 minutes to 3. The compressed timeline from signal to action is where damage is prevented.

Hormuz

The events of 2026 have clarified that ambiguity is itself a threat vector. When a vessel drags anchor over a cable, attribution is uncertain. When a sanctioned vessel transits a cable corridor slowly and without AIS, intent is unclear. When a cable is cut in or near a conflict zone, the line between accident and deliberate act is difficult to establish, and difficult to act on legally or operationally.

Starboard’s behavioural models are designed to provide information, clarity, and explanation that shed light on the challenges. They flag deviations from established traffic patterns even when AIS data is absent or inconsistent, and correlate vessel activity with known risk indicators to deliver an assessed picture rather than a raw data feed.

This is the operating environment the Submarine Networks EMEA and Subsea Security Summit communities are navigating in 2026. The technology to detect threatening behaviour before it causes damage exists today. The question is whether it’s integrated into the operational workflows of the teams who need it.

Read the full risk index

Cable Risk Intelligence 2026 (Issue 1) covers 25 cable landing zones across the Baltic, Red Sea, Taiwan Strait, North Sea, Persian Gulf, and trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific corridors. The interactive map and full methodology are available at starboardintelligence.com/learn/where-submarine-cables-are-most-at-risk-in-2026.

Starboard Maritime Intelligence provides maritime domain awareness that helps governments, defence agencies, and critical infrastructure operators detect risks, prevent threats, and build resilience in real time. Partners include Ciena, Tampnet, Alcatel Submarine Networks, Kordia, and Searisk.

Submarine Networks EMEA takes place in London tomorrow! Get your ticket and join the discussion today.

Find Starboard Maritime Intelligence at Stand 10 of the co-located Subsea Security Summit & Expo.

PLDT’s wireless arm Smart Communications announced on Tuesday it will bundle AI-powered glasses with native access to Google Gemini with two postpaid plans starting this Friday.

The offer is the result of an exclusive partnership between Smart and Chinese tech firm Rokid, which Smart said marks its expansion into next-generation devices, particularly AI wearables.

Rokid’s AI glasses are powered by native Google Gemini integration, enabling users to access Google’s AI assistant directly. Gemini supports natural voice conversations, real-time language translation, intelligent search, content generation, task management, and contextual assistance, all accessible through the Rokid glasses.

Smart noted that the international version of Rokid’s AI glasses was recently updated to support other large language models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Alibaba’s Qwen. Smart said this will give users more flexibility in accessing a range of AI-powered assistance and services through a single device.

Smart will offer the Rokid glasses via its Smart Postpaid and Infinity plans. Smart Postpaid customers will have to pay an extra PHP28,800 (US$467.30) for the glasses (which is somewhat cheaper compared to retail prices in local electronics stores), but will also get 40GB open-access data, unlimited 5G data for 12 months, and unlimited SMS and voice calls (mobile and landline). Smart Infinity members on Plan 8000 can get the glasses free of charge.

“By making Rokid AI Glasses available on Smart Postpaid and Infinity Plans, we are enabling more Filipinos to experience the future of connectivity today,” said Marjorie Garrovillo, first VP and Co-OIC at Smart.

Global cable manufacturer Prysmian announced on Thursday it  has partnered with Ufinet Brasil to deploy a 30 km underground network to boost interconnectivity for hyperscale data centres in Sao Paulo Province’s Alphaville.

According to Prysmian, the goal of the project was to increase network capacity and expand data transmission in São Paulo using existing pipeline infrastructure to reduce the social impact of infrastructure works.

To that end, Ufinet and Duraline deployed Prysmian’s SiroccoHD solution, which sports a cable density of 8.6 F/mm², enabling the installation of 432 optical fibres in a single 12x10mm microduct.

Prysmian said this allows the reuse of legacy 40mm duct networks with up to 3 microducts, which can expand the capacity of existing infrastructure up to 1,296 optical fibres.

Ufinet and Duraline deployed the 432-fibre version of the SiroccoHD solution, which Prysmian said is a 3x improvement over conventional microcables in Brazil, which typically accommodate up to 144 fibres in microducts.

“SiroccoHD addresses a real problem for our customers in large urban centres: how to increase fibre capacity using the infrastructure I already have installed?” said Lucas Nogueira, manager of R&D, innovation and sustainability at Prysmian in a statement. “This is the kind of solution that enables strategic hyperscale data centre projects, positioning Brazil at a new level in the race for digital transformation and demonstrating the strength of our industry.”