KT has lost over 210,000 users since penalty waiver
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 06:18

KT has lost over 210,000 users since penalty waiver

More than 210,000 customers of Korea Telecom (KT) have left the operator for a different service provider after it began waiving early termination fees following its major data breach, according to Maeil Business, citing industry sources. As of 11 January, 210,603 KT users switched to rival carriers since 31 December, averaging more than 17,000 departures per day. On 8 January alone, 24,252 subscribers left KT, including 15,701 who moved to SK Telecom (SKT). On 10 January, as more users moved to other carri

Broadband, TV, mobile soon most popular multi-play bundle
NETHERLANDS 06:17

Broadband, TV, mobile soon most popular multi-play bundle

Broadband, TV and mobile (BBTVMO) is set to become the most popular consumer multi-play bundle in 2026 in the Netherlands. According to research by Telecompaper, the combination already had the second biggest subscriber base in Q3 2025, at one in four households in the Netherlands.

South Korea steps up AI cooperation with Nvidia and OpenAI
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 06:17

South Korea steps up AI cooperation with Nvidia and OpenAI

South Korea's ministry of science and ICT has moved to deepen international cooperation on AI following senior-level meetings with Nvidia and OpenAI in California, alongside engagement with Korean-founded startups and investors in the US. The ministry said second vice minister Ryu Je-myoung visited the headquarters of Nvidia and OpenAI on 9 January, as part of efforts to strengthen public-private collaboration on AI infrastructure, talent development and safety. The visit builds on discussions held last yea

Wild weather and vandalism disrupt telecoms across Australia
AUSTRALIA 06:13

Wild weather and vandalism disrupt telecoms across Australia

Telecommunications services in parts of north Queensland were disrupted over the weekend after vandalism damaged network infrastructure as Tropical Cyclone Koji approached the coast, compounding challenges for operators managing severe weather impacts. An unplanned outage caused by vandalism disrupted services to around 5,000 premises in parts of Townsville on Saturday 10 January. According to an NBN Co spokesperson, technicians worked through the night and restored services for the majority of affected cus

ChatGPT tops Korea's mobile app downloads last year
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 06:09

ChatGPT tops Korea's mobile app downloads last year

ChatGPT ranked first in new installations in South Korea's mobile application market last year, far outpacing other apps, according to IGAWorks' Mobile Index. ChatGPT reached 16.57 million cumulative new downloads last year, the highest among all mobile applications. The number of ChatGPT users leapt by 341 percent from January to December last year, pushing its overall ranking up to 27th. According to Maeil Business, citing company sources, the number of active devices using the app also reached 19.49 mill

SoftBank and OpenAI to invest USD 1 billion in SB Energy
UNITED STATES 06:07

SoftBank and OpenAI to invest USD 1 billion in SB Energy

OpenAI and SoftBank Group have agreed to invest USD 1 billion into SB Energy, which is backed by SoftBank and Ares Management, to support the buildout of AI data centres as part of the Stargate initiative. OpenAI and SoftBank are each investing USD 500 million into SB Energy. OpenAI has also selected SBE to build and operate its previously-announced 1.2 GW data centre site in Milam County. The equity funding supports SB Energy's growth as a development and execution partner for data centre campuses and asso

Meta sets out US nuclear power agreements to support data centre growth
UNITED STATES 06:05

Meta sets out US nuclear power agreements to support data centre growth

Meta has announced a series of agreements to support existing and new nuclear power projects in the United States, with the aim of securing long-term electricity supply for its data centre and AI infrastructure. The company said the projects could support up to 6.6 GW of new and existing nuclear capacity by 2035, supplying grids that serve Meta's operations, including its Prometheus data centre cluster in New Albany, Ohio.

CAICA Digital completes Web3 IoT trial using 5G RedCap and MQTT
JAPAN 06:02

CAICA Digital completes Web3 IoT trial using 5G RedCap and MQTT

Japan's CAICA Digital has completed the second phase of a proof-of-concept trial for its Web3-based IoT integration initiative, advancing work on a real-time machine-to-machine and edge computing platform using 5G RedCap and MQTT. The trial is being carried out jointly with its subsidiary, NCXX, and is structured in three stages: initial implementation of an M2M and MEC platform, enhancement of communication protocols, and the planned introduction of decentralised identity authentication.

Kepler launches first optical relay satellites tranche
GLOBAL 06:00

Kepler launches first optical relay satellites tranche

Satellite company Kepler Communications announced the successful launch of the first tranche of its optical relay satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The satellites will now begin commissioning as Kepler transitions its optical data relay network into operational service. The tranche consists of 10 satellites, each approximately 300 kilograms, equipped with high-capacity SDA-compatible optical terminals and multi-GPU on-orbit compute modules with terabyte

Pakistan to slash taxes on mobile phone imports
PAKISTAN 04:35

Pakistan to slash taxes on mobile phone imports

Pakistan's National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance has formally directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Ministry of Finance to reassess the current tax structure for imported mobile phones. The FBR is expected to submit a report with specific 'policy options' for tax reduction by March 2026.

Jazz unveils JazzWorld corporate identity, appoints chief AI officer
PAKISTAN 03:46

Jazz unveils JazzWorld corporate identity, appoints chief AI officer

Pakistani operator Jazz has unveiled 'JazzWorld', its refreshed corporate group identity. The operator says JazzWorld reflects its evolution into a multi-business organization, bringing together connectivity, digital, financial, lifestyle, health, data centre, AI, and platform businesses under one unified vision.

The week in telecoms: CES brings Wi-Fi 8 and more smart glasses, while Warner sticks with Netflix
GLOBAL 00:04

The week in telecoms: CES brings Wi-Fi 8 and more smart glasses, while Warner sticks with Netflix

CES last week brought news of more smart glasses and the first Wi-Fi 8 products, while Samsung's preliminary earnings report suggests the Korean company is profiting fully from the AI-driven demand for memory chips. Warner Bros meanwhile has decided to stick with Netflix and officially rejected Paramount's rival offer, while Italy takes a stance on Cloudflare's role in piracy and gets a new network sharing alliance.

BELGIUM 9 JAN

Orange Belgium's Hey! wins brand of the year award

Orange Belgium's budget brand Hey! has been named Brand of the Year for 2026 by Product of the Year (POY) Belgium. This is the first time a telecom brand has been named in this category, with the award based on a survey of around 10,000 consumers. 

GERMANY 9 JAN

Allianz signs global AI partnership with Anthropic

Anthropic has signed a global strategic partnership with Allianz to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) at the German insurance group. The partnership focuses on teaching employees how to use AI, using AI to accelerate internal processes, and setting new standards for accuracy. Under the partnership, Anthropic's Claude models are integrated in Allianz's internal AI platform, which is free for all Allianz employees to use. Claude Code is redefining software development for a large number of developers at All

LATVIA 9 JAN

Tele2 Latvia introduces AI call analytics to improve customer services

Tele2 Latvia has introduced AI software that can analyse conversations to help with customer service. Developed and implemented by Latvian startup Asya.ai, the Pitch Patterns system uses AI to recognise the content of a conversation in Latvian and other languages, as well as identify the voice tone, intonation, speech rate and other expressions. The tool will help identify situations when a call was not successful and offer tips to help employees improve communication and service quality. The solution can r

NETHERLANDS 9 JAN

Dutch TV time down 5% year-on-year in December

TV viewing time in the Netherlands reached a seasonal peak in December, but was still down 5 percent year-on-year, figures from the NMO show. Average daily time watching the main TV in the home was 211 minutes per day, including 130 minutes for linear TV (-6%) and 81 minutes for VOD services (-5%).

NETHERLANDS 9 JAN

Odido owners revive IPO plans - report

The private equity owners of Odido have revived plans for an IPO of the Dutch operator. The stock market listing in Amsterdam could start as soon as this month and raise about EUR 1 billion or more, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Odido confirmed last year that it was considering an IPO, but the listing never happened due to turbulent market conditions. 

BELARUS 9 JAN

A1 Belarus adds partner promos to loyalty programme

A1 Belarus has added a new option to its loyalty programme AI Plus, allowing customers to use their accumulated points for promotions at partners of the operator. Up to 100 percent of the price of a partner purchase can be covered in this way.

LITHUANIA 9 JAN

Telia Lithuania announces bestselling laptops

Telia Lithuania announced a list of the bestselling laptops in its shops in 2025. The list includes the Apple MacBook Air 13.6, MSI Thin 15.6/ i5 16 GB/512 GB / RTX 3050, Lenovo IdeaPad 1 15.6 / Ryzen 5 / 8 GB/512 GB, MSI Vector AI 16 / Ultra 7/16 GB/1 TB / RTX 5070 Ti and Lenovo LOQ 15.6 / i5 / 24 GB / 1 TB / RTX 4060.

SLOVAKIA 9 JAN

UPC Slovakia expands pay-TV lineup with 6 new channels

UPC Slovakia has expanded its pay-TV lineup with six additional channels. The list includes the Ukrainian channel Dim, as well as five Slovak regional and local channels: TV Vega, TV Zemplin, TV Vychod, TV Sirava and TV Michalovce. This follows the end of the channels MTV 80s, MTV 90s, MTV 00s, MTV Live HD and Club MTV, which were withdrawn from the market. 

CZECH REPUBLIC 9 JAN

T-Mobile Czechia supports Jizerska 50 ski race

T-Mobile Czech Republic extended its partnership with the Jizerska 50 ski race. The operator will use IoT sensors placed on selected sections of the race course to monitor snow conditions, air temperature and humidity, wind speed, and precipitation in real time, providing up-to-date data via a special website. Four IoT sensors and two weather stations will be used to help the competitors prepare for the course and choose the right wax for their skis. The technology will remain in the field throughout the wi

POLAND 9 JAN

Samsung, Xiaomi, Apple lead Play bestsellers list in 2025

Polish operator Play, controlled by Iliad, announced the best-selling smartphones in its shops in 2025. The top sellers, in alphabetical order, were the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G, Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, Samsung Galaxy A56 5G, Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G. Among premium devices (also in alphabetical order) the bestsellers were the Apple iPhone 15 128 GB, Apple iPhone 16 128 GB, Apple iPhone 16 Pro 128 GB, Samsung Galaxy S24 FE 5G 128 GB and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 5G 256 GB.

POLAND 9 JAN

T-Mobile leads Polish fixed and mobile internet speeds in 2025 - Speedtest.pl

T-Mobile Poland supplied the fastest fixed broadband, mobile internet and 5G speeds the country in 2025, according to a study from Speedtest.pl. Orange Poland provided the quickest service on FTTH networks.

SPAIN 9 JAN

Cellnex on CDP 'Climate A' list for 7th consecutive year

Spanish telecommunications infrastructure operator Cellnex has been named on the 'Climate A List' of the not-for-profit CDP (Climate Disclosure Project) for the seventh straight year. The ranking awards points to companies for their strategy, corporate transparency and performance in response to climate change, and Cellnex achieved the highest rating thanks to the considerable progress made in meeting the environmental targets it has set for 2030.

Just In

06:18

KT has lost over 210,000 users since penalty waiver

06:17

Broadband, TV, mobile soon most popular multi-play bundle

06:17

South Korea steps up AI cooperation with Nvidia and OpenAI

06:13

Wild weather and vandalism disrupt telecoms across Australia

Commentary

2 JAN 13:21

Open Dutch Fiber's new management team takes up turnaround challenge

15 DEC 2025 13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

8 DEC 2025 11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

31 OKT 2025 11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

Background

00:04

The week in telecoms: CES brings Wi-Fi 8 and more smart glasses, while Warner sticks with Netflix

5 JAN 00:52

The week in telecom: Finnish security check, M&A completions and telco job cuts

23 DEC 2025 10:32

Netherlands TV-video market grows 2.6% in Q3 to EUR 759 mln

22 DEC 2025 00:25

The week in telecoms: YouTube, Instagram take on TV market and WBD rejects Paramount