SoftBank reports record full-year revenue and outlines AI-led strategy
SoftBank Corporation reported consolidated revenue of JPY 7.04 trillion for the financial year ended 31 March 2026, up 7.6 percent year on year, with operating income rising 5.4 percent to JPY 1.04 trillion. Net income rose 10.9 percent to JPY 726.6 billion, while net income attributable to owners of the company reached a record high of JPY 550.8 billion. Adjusted EBITDA grew 3.8 percent to JPY 1.82 trillion.
SoftBank reports record full-year revenue and outlines AI-led strategy
SoftBank Corporation reported consolidated revenue of JPY 7.04 trillion for the financial year ended 31 March 2026, up 7.6 percent year on year, with operating income rising 5.4 percent to JPY 1.04 trillion. Net income rose 10.9 percent to JPY 726.6 billion, while net income attributable to owners of the company reached a record high of JPY 550.8 billion. Adjusted EBITDA grew 3.8 percent to JPY 1.82 trillion.
Ziggo adds ESPN channels with top football to standard TV plans
Dutch cable operator Ziggo is increasing its focus on sports and adding all four ESPN channels to its standard TV packages from July. This means an increase in prices of EUR 2.50 per month. However, only new customers will pay the higher amount, while existing subscribers get the ESPN channels free until the end of their contracts. The deal significantly expands ESPN's potential audience for its football rights, while giving Ziggo extra content to help win back TV subscribers.
Ziggo adds ESPN channels with top football to standard TV plans
Dutch cable operator Ziggo is increasing its focus on sports and adding all four ESPN channels to its standard TV packages from July. This means an increase in prices of EUR 2.50 per month. However, only new customers will pay the higher amount, while existing subscribers get the ESPN channels free until the end of their contracts. The deal significantly expands ESPN's potential audience for its football rights, while giving Ziggo extra content to help win back TV subscribers.
SoftBank launches battery business to support AI data centre infrastructure
SoftBank has launched a battery business in Japan aimed at supporting the growing power demands of AI infrastructure and large-scale data centres. The operator said it plans to establish an end-to-end battery operation covering development and manufacturing of battery cells and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Production facilities will be developed around the AI data centre project being built on the former Sharp factory site in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture. The operator is targeting annual revenue o
SoftBank launches battery business to support AI data centre infrastructure
The week in telecom: Lumen, NTT turn to data centre market to revive growth, Hutchison exits UK
Preparing telecom networks for the changing world of AI was a recurring theme last week, with global operators like Lumen and NTT working on a shift in their business to focus more on the networking needs of the future. Corning confirmed a big investment in optical capacity to support demanding clients like Nvidia, and the EU agreed to give everybody more time to prepare before its AI regulations kick in.
The week in telecom: Lumen, NTT turn to data centre market to revive growth, Hutchison exits UK
Brazil rolls out new local fixed telephony charging to more states
Brazilian regulator Anatel is expanding its new local fixed telephony area system to Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, and several states in the Midwest and North of Brazil throughout May. This initiative, which began in January, standardizes fixed phone calls to mirror mobile phone operations, eliminating long-distance charges for calls within the same national area code (DDD).
Brazil rolls out new local fixed telephony charging to more states
Huawei leads expanding wearables market in Russia
Sales of wearable devices totaled around 1.5 million units in Russia in the first quarter of this year, according to figures from the mobile and electronics retail chain M.Video. Sales revenues amounted to RUB 11.5 billion. The average retail price of the devices grew by 10 percent year-on-year to RUB 7,800. Huawei, Xiaomi and Redmi led unit sales, and Huawei, Apple and Samsung were at the top by sales revenues.
Huawei leads expanding wearables market in Russia
Uzbekistan, Meta discuss cooperation
Uzbekistan's minister of digital technologies Sherzod Shermatov met with representatives of Meta Platforms to discuss potential avenues of cooperation in the domains of digital economy, artificial intelligence, online safety, and digital skills development, Trend reports from the press service of the Uzbek Government. During the meeting, both sides addressed regulatory matters concerning digital platforms and emerging technologies, examined international best practices in digital governance, and explored st
Uzbekistan, Meta discuss cooperation
Iez! Telecom debuts 5G in Minas Gerais through NetSpeed partnership
Brazilian upstart Iez! Telecom has launched its 5G mobile service in Itau de Minas, Minas Gerais, in partnership with local provider NetSpeed. Initial tests showed download speeds exceeding 1 Gbps, and NetSpeed is now offering 50GB and 100GB mobile plans.Iez! intends to focus its 5G mobile operations on municipalities across these three Southeast states, while also exploring applications in agribusiness, IoT, telemedicine, smart cities, and private networks as part of its growth strategy.
Iez! Telecom debuts 5G in Minas Gerais through NetSpeed partnership
Waystream wins 5-year framework contract from GlobalConnect
Waystream has announced a five-year framework agreement for deliveries to GlobalConnect business customers in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. Niclas Strandberg, VP and head of technology & engineering at the fibre network operator, said Waystream's product portfolio aligns well with GlobalConnect's requirements. He values the Swedish supplier's commitment to quality, reliability, and sustainable production practices, saying its geographic and operational found
Waystream wins 5-year framework contract from GlobalConnect
Lifecell leads number porting gains in year to date
Ukrainian operator Lifecell said that almost 70 percent of all mobile numbers ported in Ukraine in the first four months of the year were connected to the Lifecell network. The operator's share is almost 67 percent since the launch of the MNP service in the country in April 2019. In total, 1.005 million telephone numbers have been transferred from other mobile networks to the Lifecell network using porting to date.
Lifecell leads number porting gains in year to date
Libelium, OVHcloud team up on sovereign cloud for Europe
Spanish IoT firm Libelium has partnered with European cloud provider OVHcloud to offer a sovereign cloud platform that is designed to keep sensitive data under European jurisdiction. The agreement will see Libelium's iris360 platform hosted on OVHcloud's European infrastructure, with the companies targeting public and private organisations that offer sustainability and digital twin projects.
