SKT advances modular and CXL-based AI data centre strategy
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 01:25

SKT advances modular and CXL-based AI data centre strategy

SK Telecom (SKT) has announced two agreements at MWC 2026 aimed at reducing the cost and deployment time of AI data centres and improving infrastructure efficiency. The operator signed a three-party memorandum of understanding with Supermicro and Schneider Electric to develop an integrated AI data centre solution based on a pre-fabricated modular model. Under the approach, power, cooling and IT infrastructure are pre-assembled into modules and installed on site, rather than being built sequentially in a con

Rakuten Symphony partners Lightstorm on sovereign network-as-a-service platform
INDIA 01:09

Rakuten Symphony partners Lightstorm on sovereign network-as-a-service platform

Rakuten Symphony and Lightstorm Telecom have announced a strategic collaboration to deliver an integrated sovereign network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform targeting telecom operators, data centre providers and sovereign cloud operators across India, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific. The partnership combines Lightstorm's Polarin NaaS platform with Rakuten Cloud-Native Platform and Rakuten Cloud-Native Orchestrator. 

NTT Data secures 115 MW in new US data centre capacity commitments
GLOBAL 00:58

NTT Data secures 115 MW in new US data centre capacity commitments

NTT Data has secured nearly 115 MW of new data centre capacity commitments across sites in the United States, as demand from hyperscale and enterprise customers for infrastructure supporting AI and high-density workloads continues to expand. The operator said its Global Data Centers division had signed four agreements spanning campuses in Gainesville, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; and Sacramento, California. The largest commitment is for more than 90 MW at the VA11 campus in Virginia from a major hyperscale

PNG province sets out AI-led digital govt plan with PNG DataCo and Oracle
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 00:45

PNG province sets out AI-led digital govt plan with PNG DataCo and Oracle

Papua New Guinea's Morobe provincial government has outlined plans to become what it describes as the Pacific's first fully AI-enabled sub-national administration, under a proposed partnership with PNG DataCo and Oracle. The initiative, known as the Morobe Digital Government Project – MMU, would see PNG DataCo and Oracle act as technology and solutions partners, delivering a cloud-based platform to support the province's digital transformation. 

Bell to upgrade contact centres for federal Canadian govt
CANADA 3 MRT

Bell to upgrade contact centres for federal Canadian govt

Bell Canada has signed a contact centre upgrade contract with the Canadian federal government. Bell will provide a solution powered by the AI-enabled Genesys Cloud experience orchestration platform to upgrade contact centres serving the public across key federal departments - including the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA); Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC); and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The solution will provide a resilient, secure platform hosted in Canada, reflecting th

Telefonica Germany moves 5G core functions to AWS Outposts
GERMANY 3 MRT

Telefonica Germany moves 5G core functions to AWS Outposts

Telefonica Germany has moved the operation of its 5G core network to cloud-based architecture from Amazon Web Services, using its own data centre based on the AWS Outposts service. The cloud-based architecture operates in parallel with Telefonica's existing 5G core network, using AWS machine learning services, including large language models (LLMs) from Amazon Bedrock, to automate complex 5G maintenance workflows. Telefonica uses equipment provided by Nokia to run its 5G core network on AWS infrastructure u

Iliad CEO says French mega data centre project held up by environmental regulations
FRANCE 3 MRT

Iliad CEO says French mega data centre project held up by environmental regulations

Thomas Reynaud, CEO of the Iliad Group, has denounced the impact of administrative formalities on a multi-billion euro data centre project unveiled in late 2025 to meet growing demand for AI applications. Iliad is investing in the facility via data centre venture OpCore, co-owned with InfraVia Capital Partners, on a site that previously housed a coal-fired power station. The project is being held back by a compulsory "four-season" assessment, Reynaud stated in an opinion piece published by Les Echos, descri

LCL to offer Scion security for data centre customers with Dutch provider Varity
BELGIUM 3 MRT

LCL to offer Scion security for data centre customers with Dutch provider Varity

Belgium's LCL Data Centers announced a partnership with the Dutch managed services provider Varity to offer customers new security options for their cloud infrastructure. The move means customers will be able to make their critical infrastructure invisible online, and control themselves which operators and networks are used for transferring their data. It's based on adoption of the Scion protocol. 

T-Mobile Poland and Plus offer free services to customers in Middle East
POLAND 3 MRT

T-Mobile Poland and Plus offer free services to customers in Middle East

T-Mobile Poland is offering a free 15 GB data package, as well as free calls and SMSs, to customers using its roaming services in the Middle East. The offer is valid in ten countries until 16 March. T-Mobile's prepaid subscribers are being offered a 100-day validity extension for their handset balances. Polkomtel, trading under the Plus brand, is offering a 15 GB mobile bundle to affected customers as well as 120 minutes of outgoing and incoming calls.

KPN discontinues Usenet from May
NETHERLANDS 3 MRT

KPN discontinues Usenet from May

KPN announced it will stop supporting Usenet groups on news.KPN.nl from May, due to limited interest. Subscribers can still pay for a subscription after that date, with the options Basic, Elite or Pro available via XS News.

Lightstorm, Arrcus to deliver AI-optimized networking across APAC
ASIA 3 MRT

Lightstorm, Arrcus to deliver AI-optimized networking across APAC

Arrcus has signed a partnership deal with Lightstorm to deliver purpose-built networking services for distributed AI inference and training workloads. Designed for AI cloud providers, enterprises, and infrastructure operators, the partnership combines Arrcus' intelligent routing capabilities with Lightstorm's Polarin NaaS platform to deliver automated, policy-driven connectivity optimized for AI workloads across geographically distributed data centres.

AT&T to preview new AWS Interconnect offering in Q2
UNITED STATES 3 MRT

AT&T to preview new AWS Interconnect offering in Q2

AT&T has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide scalable last-mile connectivity for business AI workloads. The new AWS Interconnect service brings AT&T fibre and fixed wireless connectivity directly into AWS environments, with a preview available to qualifying customers in select areas in Q2 2026. Availability will be extended after the preview phase, which will be used to validate the end-to-end customer experience.

GERMANY 3 MRT

EnviaM and Avacon open EUR 40 mln data centre near Hannover

EnviaM has announced that a new data centre in Sehnde near Hannover has begun operations, developed in conjunction with energy company Avacon. Construction took approximately eighteen months and the two companies have invested some EUR 40 million in the site. The facility has an area of around 2,000 square meters and offers space for up to 28,000 servers to support business-critical IT applications for companies and public organisations in Lower Saxony.

CHINA 3 MRT

ZTE presents Nubia NEO, Redmagic handsets at MWC, updates on AI strategy

ZTE is presenting new product launches and AI integrations at Barcelona Mobile World Congress 2026. The Chinese vendor said its exhibition covers the entire AI value chain, presenting a framework for full-fledged digital intelligence alongside eight next-generation innovations, including GigaMIMO for future 6G networks, Air Max AI stacks, 200G-grade PON equipment, a Wi-Fi 8 mesh product, and the agentic AI studio ZTE Co-Sight. Products debuting at MWC include mobile handsets in the gaming-focused Nubia NEO

GLOBAL 3 MRT

Interconnection Academy, GCA partner on network security training

The Interconnection Academy, established by CE-DIC and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona, has partnered with the Global Cyber Alliance (GAC) to expand free access to specialist networking and network security training. The Interconnection Academy, an online educational platform, and the CGA will share selected content and training modules to enhance their respective learning platforms. 

GLOBAL 3 MRT

Broadcom updates VMWare Telco Cloud

Broadcom announced the next iteration of its VMWare Telco Cloud Platform. VMWare Telco Cloud Platform 9 brings additional telecoms-grade functionality for better AI monetisation, operating efficiencies, and sovereign data workflows in cloud-hosted telecoms infrastructures. AI-targeted features include GPU virtualisation used to partition physical GPUs among multiple virtual machines, and a multi-tenant GPU-as-a-service architecture that helps operators scale AI capability while providing on-demand access to

BULGARIA 3 MRT

Digital Realty launches operations in Bulgaria, buys Telepoint interconnection hub in Sofia

Digital Realty has announced its entry into Bulgaria, establishing a new market presence in the Sofia capital. Digital Realty's entry into the market is enabled through the acquisition of Telepoint, a local data centre and interconnection provider. The transaction includes two data centres in Sofia, including an interconnected facilities in Southeast Europe, with more than 110 unique network service providers and multiple cloud on-ramp deployments.

MALAYSIA 3 MRT

Tune Talk completes first phase of cloud core network modernization with Nokia

Malaysian operator Tune Talk has announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026 the completion of Phase 1 of its cloud core network modernization in partnership with Nokia. The operator has deployed this cloud native core technology at scale. Phase 1 was completed in January, with Phase 2 now underway to enhance automation, orchestration, and intelligent network capabilities, Tune Talk added.

EUROPE 3 MRT

EU backs telco digital sovereignty project with EUR 75 mln for edge infrastructure

Telefonica and the European Commission announced the launch of EURO-3C, a EUR 75 million project to build a pan-European sovereign infrastructure combining telecommunications, edge computing, cloud and artificial intelligence capabilities. Unveiled at Mobile World Congress, the initiative aims to accelerate Europe's digital and industrial transformation through a federated, open and secure model. 

EGYPT 3 MRT

E& Egypt provides laboratories for Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport

E& Egypt had signed an agreement with the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) to establish wired and wireless telecommunication laboratories covering every mobile network standard (2G, 4G, and 5G), to support academic studies with labour market needs in the ICT sector. The company will provide AASTMT's four branches in Cairo, Alexandria and South Valley with the required equipment for establishing and operating the laboratories. This will ensure access to educational and train

SPAIN 3 MRT

Amazon to invest further EUR 18 bln in northern Spain data centre build

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced at MWC plans to invest an additional USD 18 billion on top of the USD 15.7 billion already pledged to expand its data centre infrastructure in Spain and boost AI innovation in the country. The total investment of EUR 33.7 billion will create an estimated 29,900 full-time jobs in the northeastern Aragon region until 2035.

GLOBAL 3 MRT

Rakuten Symphony validates Samsung vRAN and vCore on Rakuten Cloud

Rakuten Symphony has completed interoperability testing of Samsung's virtualised RAN (vRAN) and virtualised Core (vCore) software on the Rakuten Cloud-Native Platform. The companies said the validation confirmed that Samsung's cloud-native network functions operate on Rakuten's cloud platform without code changes, achieving interoperability during testing. The integration covered both RAN and core network software stacks running in a cloud-native environment.

SINGAPORE 3 MRT

Bridge Data Centres and Concord to develop barge-based hydrogen power

Singapore-based data centre developer and operator Bridge Data Centres (BDC) and Concord New Energy (CNE) have signed an MoU to develop a barge-based hydrogen power generation solution for data centres in Singapore, targeting AI-driven digital infrastructure. The companies said the project would explore a marine-integrated hydrogen generation model designed to provide modular clean power capacity.

GLOBAL 3 MRT

UfiSpace partners Arrcus on AI networking, unveils 1.6T portfolio

Hyperscale software developer Arrcus and open disaggregated networking hardware provider UfiSpace have announced a collaboration to deliver AI-optimised networking platforms for service provider, data centre, edge and cloud environments, as UfiSpace separately introduced a new 1.6T open networking portfolio at Mobile World Congress 2026. The partnership integrates Arrcus's ArcOS network operating system with UfiSpace's routing and switching platforms, including systems based on Broadcom silicon such as the

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Background

1 MRT 13:21

The week in telecoms: Paramount tops bidding for WBD, Samsung S26 kicks off MWC showcase

23 FEB 00:28

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16 FEB 00:17

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9 FEB 01:54

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