Chinese vendor Huawei has announced a patent licensing royalty rate of US$0.50 per device for products compliant with the Wi-Fi 7 standard, as it seeks to provide greater transparency around its intellectual property licensing framework.

The company said the rate would apply to consumer-grade Wi-Fi 7 devices and that licences could be obtained either through bilateral agreements or via patent pools under FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms.

Huawei described the move as part of its commitment to creating a transparent and predictable licensing environment while supporting continued innovation across the wireless ecosystem.

Wi-Fi 7 is designed to deliver higher throughput, lower latency and improved reliability compared to previous generations, supporting emerging applications and next-generation digital services.

Huawei claims to be one of the largest holders of declared standard-essential patents related to Wi-Fi 7, having spent more than a decade developing technologies that contributed to the standard. The company added that its patent licence agreements had covered more than 1.2 billion consumer electronic devices worldwide by the end of 2024.

The vendor has been active in patent pool licensing initiatives. In 2022, Huawei joined the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool as a founding member and has since extended its participation to the Sisvel Wi-Fi Multimode pool, which covers both Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 technologies.

Huawei said the multimode pool offers vendors a streamlined approach to accessing essential patents across multiple Wi-Fi generations through a single licensing platform.

Huawei Chief Intellectual Property Officer Alan Fan said: “Huawei continues to facilitate collaborative licensing models that balance the interests of innovators and implementers, further reinforcing its leadership in shaping a transparent and efficient global Wi-Fi licensing environment.”

News

India’s largest mobile operator is targeting a landmark public listing as it ramps up investments in AI, cloud and next-generation digital infrastructure.

Reliance Jio’s MD and Chairman Mukesh Ambani has announced that the company will file the initial public offering (IPO) papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) later today.

The IPO could raise around $3.8 billion, according to analyst estimates, making it India’s largest IPO to date.

“The proposed listing of Jio will demonstrate to the world that India can build technology companies of global scale, global capability, and global value,” said Ambani at the company’s Annual General Meeting.

Backed by the billionaire Ambani, Reliance Jio Infocomm burst onto India’s mobile scene in 2016, with its discount prices triggering a major price war. Since then, the company has soared to become the country’s largest mobile operator with over 500 million customers.

The listing is expected to be closely watched by investors seeking exposure to India’s fast-growing digital economy. Jio has expanded well beyond mobile connectivity in recent years, building out a portfolio that includes fibre broadband, enterprise services, cloud offerings, digital payments and connected devices.

AI was also a significant focus of the meeting, with Ambani calling for India to continue its efforts to embrace AI and develop its own platforms, saying that the country should be a creator of AI as well as a consumer.

Jio is investing heavily in AI, with Ambani saying earlier this year that the company would invest around $110 billion over seven years to build India’s AI backbone infrastructure.

The company’s JioBrain platform, which it uses for network planning, predictive maintenance, resource optimisation and customer service automation, notably won the AI Innovation award at the World Communication Awards 2025.

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It’s being widely reported that Indian telecommunications company Reliance Jio is planning to develop and launch its own low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of 1,600-1,650 satellites at an altitude of about 650 kilometres in the next two to three years.

The aim of the project, whose cost has been estimated at between US$10 billion and US$15 billion, is to offer broadband and direct-to-device (D2D) services, according to local news reports, albeit this has not apparently been confirmed by the telecom giant.

Nevertheless what does seem inarguable is that the company has submitted a proposal to this effect to regulator the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which is evaluating the configuration and technical architecture.

As India’s Economic Times news service points out, if the proposal becomes reality it will be the first time an Indian company has entered the LEO segment.

It will have a lot of catching up to do. Starlink has 10,000 or so satellites already in space, way ahead of rivals like Amazon Leo (about 300 in orbit on the way to 3,200) or Eutelsat OneWeb (over 650 satellites in space so far). India’s Bharti Group, a Reliance rival, is the second largest stakeholder in Eutelsat OneWeb after the French government. 

Of course, the fact that Jio is an Indian company means its LEO plans might be well-received, at least locally, at a time when countries are worrying about digital and data sovereignty, not to mention national security considerations, including worries about operators using interlinked satellites (as Starlink apparently does) for providing internet services.

The argument is that this system allows data to bypass national borders and that data could potentially be routed through hostile jurisdictions or surveillance hubs before reaching its destination. Thus Jio could give India a sovereign communications layer in space.

That does leave a few unanswered questions, however, particularly about capacity and costs. LEO satellites have limited lifespans, so replacement costs need to be factored in. And what about monetisation? One assumes maritime, aviation and enterprise customers along with underserved (and not necessarily high value) rural areas would be target markets.

In addition, as the Economic Times points out, orbital slot allocation through the ITU is highly competitive, and spectrum coordination is complex.

However, Jio can claim one of the largest telecom subscriber bases in the world, so bundling satellite broadband into its existing Jio services could be a useful strategy.

There’s also convergence. Jio’s holding company, Jio Platforms, already operates across telecom, digital services and cloud infrastructure. This would add a, potentially useful, satellite layer and, with it, uninterrupted connectivity across terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, plus new possibilities in edge computing. 

However, despite some interesting, even exciting, possibilities, the reality is that a Jio LEO satellite service is not yet taking part in a race in which other big names have been competing for some time.

Power is the binding constraint on new GPU deployments. Operators who already hold energized space are looking to convert compute demand into revenue themselves. Colocation facilities and former bitcoin miners are moving up the stack into bare metal and GPU-as-a-Service. And colocation facilities can finance the climb on better terms than the new neoclouds they compete with. … [visit site to read more]

Communication & Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI), a telecom energy service and asset management company and part of global corporate group two33, has received a funding boost for the expansion of its renewable energy assets across Africa.

The Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), a debt fund conceived by the African Development Bank and managed by Cygnum Capital, which is an investment bank and asset manager, has, along with the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries (Norfund), closed a US$90 million long-term debt facility to CREI.

This financing refinances the US$55 million short-term bridge facilities provided by the lenders in 2024 and adds US$35 million of new capital to support CREI’s next phase of growth.

What this means in practice is that the facility will enable CREI to scale its energy-as-a-service model across Africa, providing mobile network operators with sustainable and energy-resilient infrastructure to improve service quality and expand network coverage. This facility is expected to increase over the next 12 months to further support CREI’s continued expansion.

In collaboration with ieng Group, the flagship engineering and network deployment arm of two33 – which specialises in telecom, renewable energy and critical infrastructure – the partners say that this investment is set to transform telecom energy infrastructure across CREI’s target countries. These include Mali, South Sudan and the Central African Republic where the deployment of modern renewable power assets is expected to increase the share of renewable energy in production to nearly 50%.

By bringing sustainable, reliable energy to some of Africa’s most underserved markets, the partners say this financing marks a defining step toward a greener telecom industry – one that reduces its environmental footprint while delivering more efficient and dependable power to operators. 

Ghada Ghotmeh, Chief Investment Officer of CREI Limited, explains: “Building on strong execution across our markets, we have transitioned from bridge financing to a scalable long-term capital structure that supports sustainable growth. By refinancing and expanding the facilities initially provided by FEI and Norfund, we are building on a trusted partnership and positioning CREI to continue investing in energy solutions that power connectivity and economic development across Africa.”

Birgit Edlefsen, Senior Vice President at Norfund, adds: « This second financing to the company, a long-term facility, marks a significant milestone, extending our reach beyond Mali to now include South Sudan and the Central African Republic. It reflects Norfund’s commitment to bringing renewable energy and essential infrastructure to fragile states and challenging markets. By backing CREI, we aim to support economic growth, job creation and greater stability across the region.”

We reported in February that Finnfund, the Finnish development financier and impact investor, had made a follow-on investment in CREI to scale up sustainable telecom energy infrastructure in South Sudan.

Press Release

Some new terrestrial fiber far away, a new FTTx market back home, a bit of M&A, and some cloud interconnection south of the border: … [visit site to read more]

Telegram is challenging an Indian government order blocking access to its messaging platform, arguing the move violates constitutional protections for free speech and access to information.

The app has been suspended until June 22 after authorities linked several Telegram channels to the alleged leak of questions from India’s national medical entrance examination. The exam was annulled last month amid allegations that papers had been circulated in advance, despite millions of students having already sat the test.

In a 200-page court filing seen by Reuters, Telegram argued that upholding the block would “enable indiscriminate suspension of digital platforms, severely undermining constitutional protections of free speech and access to information.”

The company also said the order was issued on the “impermissible premise that misuse by a subset of users justifies blocking of an entire platform.”

Telegram has long attracted scrutiny from governments and law enforcement agencies due to its emphasis on privacy and its historical reluctance to share user data. The platform has frequently been accused of enabling the spread of illegal content, misinformation and criminal activity through public channels and encrypted communications.

However, Telegram maintains that it cannot be held responsible for the actions of individual users and has argued that blanket restrictions on the platform are disproportionate. The company said targeted enforcement against offending accounts would be a more appropriate response than blocking access for millions of legitimate users.

The case is likely to become a closely watched test of the balance between online free speech and government efforts to combat fraud and criminal activity on digital platforms in one of the world’s largest internet markets.

Interview

At the Submarine Networks EMEA 2026, we caught up with UltramapGlobal’s marketing lead Mychael Owen and co-founder Martin Connelly to discuss the company’s role in securing submarine infrastructure

As geopolitical tensions and high-profile disruptions push submarine cables from the realm of invisible infrastructure into mainstream media headlines, subsea security has suddenly become a focal point of global anxiety.

At the Submarine Networks EMEA 2026 event in London, the conversation naturally turned toward shielding these critical data arteries from both intentional harm and accidental damage.

It was against this backdrop that UltramapGlobal’s Mychael Owen and Martin Connelly discussed the ongoing evolution of the company’s AssetMonitor platform. What began in 2022 as a focus on “selling surety” for cable operators quickly evolved into a data-driven virtuous cycle by 2023 as the company gained momentum, with more customers leading the company to adopt the ‘better informed, better protected’ mantra.

By 2024, the rapidly scaling business was forced to interpret data in entirely new ways to meet varied client reporting needs and, in 2025, AssetMonitor became the world’s most used subsea cable monitoring software.

Now the company is preparing for further growth thanks to its recent acquisition by Abingdon Software Group. Far from disrupting operations, the merger has provided stability and continuity for existing customers while supercharging the company’s capabilities.

“What they have given us is the ability to innovate and add to the software when we need to. We can do things better and bigger than we were able to before,” explained Connelly, noting that the partnership has also dramatically increased their international scope.

Integrating Lumetec’s sensing technology

The fruits of this newly expanded innovation capacity are already on display. Ultramap Global has recently integrated Lumetec’s Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and State of Polarisation (SOP) technology into the AssetMonitor platform, giving cable operators even more data about their infrastructure’s surrounding environment.

“DAS can tell you a whole host of things, including the health of the cable,” said Connelly. “But the more important thing for us is it’s a source of information about the cable’s environment in real-time. For example, if a fishing vessel is trawling nearby, it can detect that activity on the seabed.”

This live environmental insight serves multiple critical functions. It allows Ultramap to pre-emptively contact nearby vessels to warn them of cable proximity. Furthermore, it provides forensic evidence of overhead activity. Connelly pointed out that fishermen often claim they lift their gear when approaching a cable, and this technology verifies if they are actually doing so. It is equally valuable for tracking “dark” vessels that have turned off their Automatic Identification System (AIS).

With this upgrade, cable operators remain grounded in factual security based on real-time feedback.

“It’s all about dealing with what’s actually happening. A lot of the news recently has been fear around what could happen. We need to keep it real,” concluded Connelly.

How is connectivity for the UK’s critical infrastructure evolving? Join the discussions at Connected Britain 2026

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There was a key bit of consolidation announced in the fiber world yesterday, albeit an in-house project. Great Plains Communications and Ritter Communications will be merging into a single entity under the brand RightFiber. … [visit site to read more]