IFS and NEC to launch sovereign cloud and industrial AI services
JAPAN 06:15

IFS and NEC to launch sovereign cloud and industrial AI services

Sweden's IFS and NEC have announced a joint initiative to develop cloud and industrial AI services for the Japanese market, aimed at modernising core systems used by capital-intensive industries while addressing economic security and data governance requirements. The companies plan to begin service delivery during Japan's 2026 financial year. Under the collaboration, IFS will deploy its IFS Cloud platform on infrastructure hosted in domestic Japanese data centres, with NEC supporting the build and operation

Resolute CS extends Equinix Fabric to enterprise last-mile connectivity
UNITED STATES 06:03

Resolute CS extends Equinix Fabric to enterprise last-mile connectivity

Resolute CS and Equinix have announced a collaboration to automate the design, pricing and ordering of global last-mile access for enterprises, integrating these capabilities into the Equinix Customer Portal. The partnership brings Resolute CS's Nexus platform into Equinix Fabric, allowing customers to connect on-premises locations to Equinix data centres and onward to cloud environments through a single interface.

MTS Exolve reports increased demand for PBX services
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 15 JAN

MTS Exolve reports increased demand for PBX services

Russian PBX services provider MTS Exolve, a subsidiary of the telecom operator MTS, announced that the number of applications to access its communications services platform from corporate customers grew by 30 percent year-on-year in 2025. Companies working in online retail, finance and utility sectors demonstrated the highest dynamics.

Rostelecom acquires 45% stake in Ertek
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 15 JAN

Rostelecom acquires 45% stake in Ertek

Russian national operator Rostelecom agreed the acquisition of a 45 percent stake in the company Ertek, a developer of a property management system. Rostelecom and Ertek already work together on the development of the system Digital Hotel. Rostelecom provides its infrastructure and digital services, and Ertek contributes its PMS.

Play introduces new business broadband offer
POLAND 15 JAN

Play introduces new business broadband offer

Polish operator Play, controlled by Iliad, has introduced its new fixed broadband offer for B2B customers. Options of 300 Mbps, 1 Gbps and up to 8 Gbps are available, and customers choosing a package with the maximum speed are also offered a permanent IP address, the internet security service, mesh equipment and a service level agreement for service restoration within eight hours of a disruption. Symmetric links are available in selected locations for PLN 10 monthly. Monthly subscription rates start from PL

Gigs appoints former Ayden exec as Head of Connectivity
GLOBAL 15 JAN

Gigs appoints former Ayden exec as Head of Connectivity

Global mobile connectivity platform Gigs has appointed Edgar Verschuur as Head of Connectivity. He joins the company from Ayden, where he was Global Head of Payments, and will lead an expansion into local consumer plans, enterprise connectivity and global roaming. Gigs powers embedded connectivity products for global brands including OnePay, Revolut, Netgear and Nubank. His appointment comes as Gigs looks to expand its presence in the US, UK and Europe, expand into Latin America, and strengthen partnerships

Westcon-Comstor and Weblib strengthen relationship with AWS Marketplace deal
GLOBAL 15 JAN

Westcon-Comstor and Weblib strengthen relationship with AWS Marketplace deal

Westcon-Comstor has expanded its relationship with Weblib, a vendor of intelligent Wi-Fi services, through an AWS Marketplace agreement. The deal establishes Westcon-Comstor as the first and only distributor to privately list Weblib software products in AWS Marketplace. Partners in several markets ins the Middle East and Europe can now purchase Weblib's cloud-based, retail-oriented "smart" Wi-Fi service from Westcon-Comstor via private listings and sell directly to their customers, entirely within AWS Marke

Quantum computing company Equal1 raises USD 60 million
GLOBAL 15 JAN

Quantum computing company Equal1 raises USD 60 million

Equal1, Dublin-based quantum semiconductor company, has raised USD 60 million in a funding round led by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). Other investors participating in the round include Atlantic Bridge Ventures, Matterwave Ventures, European Innovation Council Fund, Enterprise Ireland, TNO Ventures and Elkstone. This brings total funding raised to date to more than USD 85 million. 

EU launches EUR 307 mln artificial intelligence calls
EUROPE 15 JAN

EU launches EUR 307 mln artificial intelligence calls

The European Commission has announced the launch of two new calls worth a total of EUR 307.3 million under the Horizon Europe programme's "Digital, Industry and Space" cluster to boost Europe's digital innovation and competitiveness. The initiative aims to advance the development of trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI), data services and technologies that underpin the EU's strategic autonomy in the digital field, said the EC.

BT provides easyJet with mobile connectivity across Europe
EUROPE 15 JAN

BT provides easyJet with mobile connectivity across Europe

BT has won a contract to provide UK airline easyJet with thousands of mobile connections across Europe. It will provide 23,000 mobile connections across the EE network to support the airline's operations in 35 countries and more than 150,000 airports across the region. EasyJet will use the EE network to connect various devices, enabling all cabin crew and pilots to access flight information and real-time training.

South African telecom operators want OTT services to pay towards infrastructure
SOUTH AFRICA 15 JAN

South African telecom operators want OTT services to pay towards infrastructure

The Association of Communications and Technology (ACT) wants over-the-top (OTT) services such as Netflix, WhatsApp and YouTube to contribute to network infrastructure costs in South Africa, MyBroadband reported. The ACT is an industry body comprising telecoms players such as Cell C, Liquid, MTN, Rain, Telkom and Vodacom. It argues that the video, audio and messaging service OTT players offer compete directly against regulated service providers without having to adhere to regulatory obligations. It calls for

Swiss competition authority starts preliminary investigation into Microsoft licence fees
SWITZERLAND 15 JAN

Swiss competition authority starts preliminary investigation into Microsoft licence fees

The Swiss Competition Commission started a preliminary investigation to look into Microsoft's increasing prices for license fees in the country, a move that might lead to an unlawful restriction of competition. The price increase relates mainly to the licence to use Microsoft 365 by private businesses, government agencies, public companies and other government-related bodies.

UNITED STATES 15 JAN

Boingo upgrades cellular, Wi-Fi connectivity at Citi Field

Boingo Wireless has been appointed to deploy high-speed cellular and Wi-Fi network infrastructure at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets baseball team. The upgraded wireless networks will deliver enhanced mobile connectivity across the stadium, boosting operational efficiencies and fan engagement.

UNITED STATES 15 JAN

CyrusOne appoints Chief Business Officer to lead US operations

Global data centre group CyrusOne has appointed Robert Johnson as Chief Business Officer to oversee the operations and performance of its US data centres as they come online. He will be responsible for operational excellence, revenue management, customer outcomes and asset utilisation; and lead teams from US operations, account management, asset management, service delivery and security. He joins the company from Ericsson, where he was in charge of the Americas Network business.

EUROPE 15 JAN

AWS starts sovereign cloud service in Europe

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the general availability of the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, its new offering designed to meet demand from the public sector and critical industries for local storage and increased data protection. Located physically and logically separate from other AWS Regions, the new service launches first in Germany and will come soon to AWS Local Zones in Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. 

UNITED KINGDOM 15 JAN

Wavenet offers Smarsh AI-enabled call recording solutions

Wavenet, UK managed services and security provider, has partnered with global communications intelligence specialist Smarsh to help organisations upgrade call recording using AI and other features. Wavenet is adding Smarsh customisable call recording solutions to its unified communications and contact centre offering. These provide businesses with AI-enabled conversation analytics, call quality management tools, business intelligence reporting and end-to-end compliance.

IRELAND 15 JAN

Integrity360 targets human cyber risk with new managed service in Ireland

Integrity360, Ireland-based global cybersecurity group, has launched a new Managed Security Awareness service in Ireland to tackle human cyber risk for businesses. This follows an increase in social engineering, phishing and AI-generated scams. The tailored service provides businesses with multi-language content and realistic phishing simulations, aiming to boost employees' cybersecurity awareness with ongoing, scenario-based education and training.

GLOBAL 15 JAN

Viavi updates edge monitoring and assurance line-up targeting private 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi

Viavi is launching new RF sensing modules that strengthen data collection in its xEdge platform, a monitoring and assurance suite that helps gauge edge network performance in private cellular and Wi-Fi environments. Enriched sensing is provided by xEdge version 2, the latest evolution of the original XEdge sensor technology, which deploys constant monitoring across wireless networks to help gather performance insights.

NETHERLANDS 15 JAN

B2B mobile revenues falling faster in Netherlands on tough competition, economic uncertainty

The outlook for the enterprise mobile market in the Netherlands has deteriorated, as the uncertain economic climate and increased competition puts pressure on prices and spending. B2B mobile revenues fell more than 3 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of decline, according to the latest research from Telecompaper. As a result, the market researcher expects the market to contract over 2 percent in FY 2025, and it has also downgraded the 5-year forecast f

JAPAN 15 JAN

Sakura adds dedicated eight-GPU Nvidia H100 to cloud service

Japanese operator Sakura Internet has launched a new beta plan for its container-based GPU cloud service, Koukaryoku DOK, offering customers dedicated access to eight Nvidia H100 GPUs within a single task. The new plan allows multiple H100 GPUs to be used concurrently for large-scale workloads such as model training and inference, reflecting growing demand for high-density compute driven by large language models and other AI applications. Under the plan, GPU resources and NVMe storage are provisioned automa

UNITED STATES 15 JAN

Megaport launches bare-metal GPU instance based on Nvidia RTX Pro 6000

Latitude.sh has introduced a new bare-metal GPU instance powered by Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000 Server GPU, expanding its on-demand compute offering following Megaport's acquisition of the company. The new instance makes the RTX Pro 6000, based on Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, available in both bare-metal and virtual machine formats. Latitude said it is among the first providers to offer this GPU on an on-demand basis. The product is positioned as an alternative to higher-end Blackwell GPUs that are typically

JAPAN 15 JAN

BBIX's OCX cloud service now supports Cisco Secure Access

SoftBanks IX subsidiary BBIX and its network solutions provider BBSakura Networks said they will add Cisco Secure Access as a destination connection for "XaaS Connection" within their cloud-based network service Open Connectivity eXchange (OCX). Cisco Secure Access is a cloud-based Security Service Edge (SSE) solution built on zero trust. The security features provided by Cisco Secure Access can be flexibly applied to customers' environment, enabling efficient and centralised security management.

JAPAN 15 JAN

Rohde & Schwarz expands Japan operations with larger Osaki office

Rohde & Schwarz has opened a larger office in Osaki, Tokyo, replacing its previous location in Shinjuku, as it increases its engineering, service and testing support for the Japanese automotive market. The new site provides expanded facilities for the repair, calibration and servicing of test equipment, as well as additional engineering support capacity. It also includes space for customer demonstrations and joint technical activities with industry partners.

JAPAN 15 JAN

Kobe City trials NTT's gen AI voice bot for tax enquiry calls

Kobe City has carried out a pilot deployment of a generative AI-based voice bot to handle telephone enquiries related to municipal tax, as part of an outsourced contact centre project delivered by NTT Marketing Act ProCX. The trial focused on routine and standardised enquiries about resident tax, including questions on tax notices, filing procedures and how to obtain certificates. The voice bot used generative AI to interpret callers' questions and provide automated responses by referencing prepared FAQs. C

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FiberCop and Milan Polytechnic ink network research deal

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Indus Towers incorporates subsidiaries in Nigeria and Zambia

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Netflix agrees global pay-TV rights to Sony films

08:12

Lionsgate sells streaming platform Lionsgate Play Asia to founder Rohit Jain

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

15 JAN 08:55

Fairphone still a small player but market share growing in Netherlands

12 JAN 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