BT Business highlighted the impact of a drone system used by the British Transport Police (BTP) intended to cut disruption caused by trespassers and other issues on the country’s rail network, a deployment set to be expanded over the next two years.

The police division is using BT’s drone SIM system and connectivity from its EE unit in a project the operator stated is able to cut response times for various problems taking place across the UK’s rail network.

It asserted the deployment is the first national routine use of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones by a police force in the UK.

The first routine operations using the drones took place earlier this year, with the BTP now operating seven so-called drone-in-a-box locations across the rail network. It plans to expand to 14 over the next two years.  

BT explained with 20,000 miles of railway track to cover, BTP faced challenges in responding quickly to trespass, welfare and operational disruption issues which often occur in remote areas.

It noted officers previously had to travel significant distances to assess situations, “delaying critical operational decisions”.

The drone system is intended to support real-time intelligence, faster decision making and safer responses.

Head of BTP’s drones programme Simon Bachelor said the technology is “transforming the way we respond to incidents across the rail network”.

“Real-time aerial intelligence enables our teams to assess situations faster, deploy resources more effectively and improve safety for both officers and the public.”

BT added “as drones become an increasingly important tool for transport, law enforcement and public safety organisations”, it is working with a range of entities “to turn emerging technology into real-world operational benefits, improving safety, efficiency and resilience”.

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Authorities in Norway opened investigations into Telenor Group over its former operation in Myanmar, charging the company on suspicion of violating sanctions and separately on claims of complicity in a crime against humanity.

In a joint statement, Norwegian law enforcement organisations PST and Kripos announced the opening of separate probes and outlined the associated charges.

PST is assessing potential violation of sanctions legislation related to Telenor’s divestment of its unit in Myanmar, which completed in 2022.

It accuses the company of including sanctioned surveillance equipment in the sale without permission of authorities.  

Kripos is looking into complicity with crimes against humanity, which relates to accusations the operator’s unit in Myanmar “repeatedly handed over historical traffic data on customers of the military regime” between the time of a coup in February 2021 and the sale of the business.

The authority stated this was at a time when “the regime was responsible for extensive abuses against parts of the civilian population”.  

In a stock market statement, Telenor revealed it is closely cooperating with investigators and pledged to “do everything in its power to assist in clarifying the case to the fullest extent possible”.

The operator noted no individuals had been charged or were under investigation.

Telenor added the probe “represents a further step in the extensive and ongoing dialogue” it “has maintained with the Norwegian prosecuting authorities over a long period, during which a substantial volume of documentation and information has been provided”.

As part of their investigations, the PST and Kripos are set to conduct a search of the company’s headquarters in Oslo today (15 September) and plan to cooperate on their probes.

Telenor reportedly previously argued it was required to hand over data to Myanmar’s miliary government, stating it was faced with “no good options”.

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Nokia trumpeted an agreement with the provider of a major internet exchange point (IXP) in Spain to deploy its product to defend against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The provider running the IXP, ESpanix, is set to offer Nokia Deepfield Defender as an optional add-on for the 200 national and international networks exchanging traffic through its system.

Nokia noted the ESpanix Node is a “central crossroads of the Spanish internet” and stated halting attack traffic would mean businesses, public services and consumers in the country are protected.

The vendor noted DDoS attacks continued to grow in size, frequency and sophistication, “with massive botnets of compromised IoT devices and weaponised residential proxies driving hyper-volumetric and application-layer attacks against networks, services and end users”.

ESpanix CTO Javier Achirica added this type of cyberattack is a “primary threat to our connected networks”, adding using the Nokia product would “substantially reduce the impact of DDoS events” by isolating and removing unwanted traffic while allowing legitimate communications.

“Crucially, this protection is delivered entirely within our network and within Spain, across the six data centres in Madrid and Barcelona where we connect with our members,” he added. “This ensures that local traffic remains local, eliminating any need for detours through third-party scrubbing infrastructure and thereby guaranteeing strict data sovereignty”.

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Indian smartphone manufacturer Lava International made its debut in the UK at the end of August with a mid-tier offering. To coincide with the launch MD Sunil Raina caught up with Mobile World Live to discuss how he hopes it can stand out in its first market in the West.

Lava is positioning the AGNI 4N smartphone as having the highest build and component quality available in the mid-range, with the added benefit of no so-called “bloatware”. It is priced around the £500 mark.

The company’s foray into the UK comes after 17 years of supplying feature phones and then smartphones in its home market, where it also manufacturers the handsets.

It has a presence in over 20 countries, but Raina noted the UK would be its first “Western” venture.

The executive highlighted the business has “continuously grown in smartphones over the last 5 years,” though from a relatively small base, in an era of flat conditions for the overall market.

This factor “typically means that you are able to take share” from larger rivals; something the company aims to do in its new mature market.

Raina believes there is an opportunity in the UK’s Android segment given the high market penetration of Samsung and few alternatives in the mid-tier gaining significant traction.

He noted there was a relatively low penetration rate of Chinese brands in some Western markets, including the UK, companies which are stronger in this mid-range elsewhere in the world.

Lava’s origins, he hopes, will provide an advantage given India’s trustworthy status in the UK and the fact “there’s also a huge diaspora” who “I think would perhaps like to carry one of our products”.

Its debut device in the country is being sold initially through online channels. Subsequent releases are likely to be at the same or lower tier than the AGNI 4N.

“Because this is our first foray into a Western market we would like to gauge how it goes, take the first few steps wisely and cautiously,” Raina said, noting over the years it has learnt how to survive in a challenging and always shifting industry, building a brand for the long term.

“Very few companies who started around the same time we started could manage to survive in this industry,” he added, pointing to former big names who have come and gone include BlackBerry and HTC.

Youthful outlook
Lava intends to position its debut UK release at the “mid belly” of the market primarily to an audience of young people.

Promoted points include a lack of already installed apps and other “bloatware” on the device when people buy it and use of high-quality components for its price.

Raina noted there was a trend for some makers of Android-based phones to install “dozens of applications” before sale, which consume valuable memory and potentially raise security issues, as well as being a general inconvenience for the consumer.

Lava promotes supplying a “very clean” version of the operating system.

The executive noted it delivers a high build quality and performance levels at the upper end of the mid-range.

Its AGNI 4N has an aluminium alloy metal frame, glass back and uses a MediaTek Dimensity 8350 chipset, alongside AI and camera features similar to those frequently promoted in the mid-tier.

“Below a certain price point there are a lot of compromises that brands make in terms of the build quality of the phone,” he asserted, stating many around the mid-price were “more plasticy” than its offering.

Below a certain price point there are a lot of compromises that brands make in terms of the build quality of the phone

Sunil Raina, MD Lava International

Raina argues some brands which also sell at higher tiers have a vested interest in making their top products “more aspirational and therefore compromise at the lower level”.

In terms of its audience, the device is aimed primarily at a younger demographic who want high performance to suit popular applications such as gaming, but may not have a premium budget.

“It’s in a sweet spot where young people will be able to do high performance tasks, but at a price point which is good for their pockets as well”.

“We believe this device will be able to do a lot more things that other devices cannot at this price segment,” he concluded.

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UK operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) avoided 5,262 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions over the last decade through a network equipment-related partnership with sustainable tech specialist TXO.

Recovering and refurbishing assets for resale accounted for 4,575 tonnes of the savings reported by TXO. Switches, routers and line cards from VMO2’s fixed operation were common assets returned to the market.

The operator also sourced refurbished equipment: around 687 tonnes of CO2e saved was attributed to this activity, due to VMO2 not having to buy new.

Its TXO partnership also includes recycling, with more than 690 tonnes of the operator’s equipment at the end of its life sent to be broken down.

More than 60% of the recycled weight extracted from the waste was steel, copper and aluminium.

VMO2 head of reverse logistics Paul Franley said the operator aimed to “extend the life of our network hardware so it can be reused, given a second life or disposed of sustainably”, with its partner helping to “maintain network equipment through testing, repair and refurbishment wherever possible”.

“The results of this programme demonstrate how a more circular approach to technology can benefit both the business and the environment.”

TXO chief product and asset recovery officer David Evans urged the technology sector to “move beyond the linear model of buying, deploying and replacing”.

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Trade body the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) outlined a need for significant moves across several areas including standards and security ahead of widespread use of agentic AI for automated networks.  

The group backs the technology as a likely key enabler for Level 4 autonomous networks as defined by the TM Forum, but highlighted work was still required in architecture, operations, governance and other supporting areas.

In a newly-released report detailing the opportunities and areas to address, the NGMN explained operators need “robust mechanisms for governance, trust, policy adherence, observability, explainability, operational safety, determinism, assurance, security and cost control”.

Real-world
Mobile operator technical teams were cautiously optimistic about the NGMN’s findings.

Orange CTO and NGMN chair Laurent Leboucher said operators are at a “decisive inflection point as the telecoms industry enters a new phase of network automation”.

“The rapid arrival of agentic AI has introduced the prospect of autonomous systems able to reason, plan, collaborate and execute actions within and across multiple operational domains”.

He noted network complexity and high customer experience demands mean “general-purpose agentic AI technologies must be used carefully”, highlighting a need for safeguards and the ability to “bring humans in the loop when needed”.

“This is a learning process in itself, where operators will have to take controlled risks.”

Fellow NGMN board member and China Mobile chief expert Guangyi Liu noted reviews from standards development organisations, industry initiatives and open-source activities showed “encouraging momentum” for agentic AI use, but “despite this, the landscape remains largely complex and unevenly mature”.

He endorsed increased collaboration across a wide range of organisations to “achieve confidence in the opportunity of large-scale deployments and provide a more unified end-to-end perspective”.

Vodafone Group head of R&D Luke Ibbetson, also on the NGMN’s board, agreed about the need for protections and trust being in place before agentic AI could be fully employed by the telecoms sector.

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Airtel Business inked a deal with Indian state-owned telecoms equipment manufacturer and supplier ITI to jointly target enterprises in regulated sectors aiming to adopt the latest digital technology.

ITI designs, manufactures and deploys a wide range of telecommunications and enterprise IT equipment for organisations in India, while Airtel’s unit offers connectivity and a variety of complementary products in the market.

By combining the partners’ respective strengths, they aim to help companies address digital transformation challenges including legacy system modernisation and meet new business demands through adoption of the latest technology.

The pair plan to provide what they define as “future-ready solutions” for enterprise connectivity, sovereign cloud and data centre services, IoT, AI and cybersecurity.

In a joint statement, they cited segments including banking and public sector organisations as likely targets for their combined offering, which is set to integrate industrial IoT asset tracking, AI analytics and cybersecurity with connectivity, cloud and data centre infrastructure.

Airtel Business CEO Sharat Sinha said the companies have a “shared ambition to create future-ready technology solutions that strengthen business continuity, unlock innovation and support India’s secure digital-first future”.

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NTT Docomo and Samsung Electronics validated AI-RAN technology which optimises user experience at an individual level to cut service issues, a feat the pair asserted is an important step towards predictive architecture expected to be prevalent in 6G.

The companies explained the technology tested in a trial earlier this year in Japan uses AI to analyse a user’s movement patterns and behaviour to predict potential service degradation before it happens.

Rather than applying the same network configuration to every device connected to a base station, the technology tested is meant to tailor each user’s experience depending on real-time network conditions and their expected actions.

The companies noted the traditional approach led to connectivity drops in areas of weak signal and other degradation issues, stating increased demand for high bandwidth services meant users increasingly required greater stability.

Validation tests for the AI-RAN optimisation technology reduced the frequency of data rate degradation from 13% to 7%.

The companies expect the technology to “usher in an era where networks autonomously recognise user contexts and service requirements, delivering optimal communication environments”, stating it is an important step towards predictive network operations.

They added this is needed as “AI-driven network optimisation becomes increasingly prevalent in the 6G network”.

JinGuk Jeong, EVP and head of the Advanced Communications Research Centre at Samsung Electronics, said “by shifting our research focus from overall cell performance to AI-driven individual user considerations, we have demonstrated the potential for enhanced perceived quality at the user level”.

The executive added through further collaboration with its partner, it would “continue securing core technologies for future communications centred around users”.

Samsung and NTT added they also developed a related data collection process to minimise the network burden during optimisation.

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Infrastructure company IHS Towers completed the sale of assets in Brazil and Colombia to Macquarie Asset Management, a deal announced in February as being worth $952 million.

IHS noted the sale signals its exit from the Latin America region and is part of a strategy around “shareholder value-creation”.

Macquarie noted the transaction includes 8,700 sites in Brazil and 250 in Colombia, strengthening its position as a “long-term investor in the digital infrastructure sector” and “supporting the growth of critical infrastructure across Latin America”.

The investment company’s Brazil country manager Fernando Lohmann added the market he heads “continues to be one of the most attractive infrastructure markets globally, supported by growing demand for connectivity and long-term investment in critical services.”

“As digitalisation accelerates across Brazil and the broader region, resilient communications infrastructure will play an increasingly important role in supporting economic growth and social development”.

Completion of the sale comes as operator group MTN continues to work towards an acquisition of IHS Towers, a company it already owned around a quarter of before announcing its intent for a complete buyout in February.  

The deal with MTN is still undergoing the regulatory process. Earlier this week, IHS shareholders formally approved the takeover bid at the company’s extraordinary general meeting.  

In a stock market notification today (7 August), the operator group noted the sale of the IHS’s Latin American assets aligned with its intention “to acquire only IHS’s African assets”.

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NTT Docomo Business partnered with Chilean state-owned copper mining company Codelco to assess the viability of remotely operating heavy machinery over high capacity, low latency communications architecture.

The pair plan to connect the El Teniente mine to a remote operations centre 1,500km away using an Innovative Optical and Wireless Network All Photonic Network (IOWN APN), which the technology company hopes will provide the means for remote operations and HD video monitoring at the site.  

For Codelco the test is part of an ambition to up safety and efficiency at its mines. It aims to move towards advanced monitoring and remote operations, partly to address working condition issues including easing a risk of mine collapses.

NTT noted the mining company was also struggling from a lack of access to skilled operators.  

Among the specific areas set to be assessed in the project are: the type of communication environment needed; evaluation of network configurations with a view to cutting down the number of operations centres required; and examining the use of IOWN APN more generally in the mining sector.

NTT noted it planned to use insights from this project to create new use cases for IOWN APN technology, which the company has been heavily pushing for industrial uses.  

“The company will explore the potential for further applications in the mining and energy sectors, as well as across other sectors where remote operations are required,” it added.

The project is part of a research programme commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

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Deutsche Telekom held its latest pilot of delivering mobile connectivity from base stations on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), using two aircraft and direct satellite backhaul to deliver signals during a trail running event in the Czech Republic.

The pair of so-called flying base stations were used in alternating operation to provide uninterrupted coverage, with the satellite backhaul removing the need for an additional ground station on site.

Deutsche Telekom asserted the experiment, held in collaboration with its T-Mobile Czech Republic unit and drone company Primoco UAV, brought “resilient airborne mobile connectivity one step closer to practical application”.

During the test the UAVs flew at altitudes of 2-3 kilometres and provided coverage across 20 square kilometres. They used the same frequency bands as the Czech operator’sterrestrial network and provided data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s.

The test took place during the Behej lesy trail run, which is held in a protected area with limited standard mobile coverage. A compact portable tower supplied coverage at the start and finish with the drones covering the remainder of the route.

Deutsche Telekom noted around 1,900 runners remained reliably connected throughout the event with the successful handover between the two aircraft confirming “the technical feasibility of the concept”.

It added with seamless operation using alternating craft and satellite backhaul new “deployment scenarios with flying base stations for temporary mobile coverage” had opened up.

Examples include where “infrastructure is unavailable or damaged, or where additional capacity is needed at short notice” such as during wildfires or floods. This is alongside the large outdoor events, which have been the focus of trials of the technology so far.

In 2025 the three companies combined to demo a single unit providing coverage at a ski race in the Czech Republic.

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Telefonica detailed an operation to increase connectivity provision across more than 2,700 sites in Spain for an expected boost in network demand from viewers turning out to see a solar eclipse on 12 August.

The operator has undertaken network optimisation and capacity expansion work in locations across 31 areas of Spain covering the thousands of kilometres where the event is likely to be visible.

Tasks included actions to “parameterise the mobile network”, intelligently reconfiguring base stations and adapting them to traffic demand.

Telefonica noted preparations started five months ago and form part of wider planning to bolster coverage for events expected to be popular during the local holiday season.

In planning for the eclipse, it analysed coverage in more than 400 potential observation points identified by the country’s Autonomous Regions. It expects “extraordinary demand for connectivity from national and international observers” at the sites.

The astronomical event is expected to be visible in areas including Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Catalonia, Community of Madrid, Valencian Community, Galicia, La Rioja, Navarra and the Basque Country.

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Vodafone Group completed the purchase of CK Hutchison’s 49% stake in UK joint venture VodafoneThree, less than 14 months after the formation of the operator from their respective mobile operations in the country.

In a brief statement on the completion of the £4.3 billion deal, Vodafone asserted having full ownership would allow it to “move at an even faster pace and capture the significant benefits” of its £11 billion network investment plan and “targeted synergies”.

Within the latter it aims to save £700 million across annual costs and capital expenditure by its FY30 (which runs to end-March 2030).

Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle added she expects the upgraded infrastructure to “deliver better connectivity for our customers up and down the country, help drive the UK’s digital economy, and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.”

The deal to buyout CK Hutchison was announced in May 2026.

Announcing completion of the sale, CK Hutchison deputy chair Canning Fok said the company was “proud of the role it has played in the history of [the] UK telecommunications industry”, pointing to the pioneering launch of 3G in the market under its 3 brand in 2003 and creation of the JV with Vodafone in 2025.

“This transaction realises our investment in VodafoneThree and returns value to the Group and our shareholders, while further strengthening our balance sheet and creating additional opportunities for the future,” Fok added.

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Samsung Electronics booked an operating loss at its mobile division in Q2 due to elevated component costs and revealed plans for efficiency initiatives at the unit, as it registered another all-time high in overall quarterly earnings driven by memory sales.

Its Mobile eXperience (MX) division and associated Networks Business recorded an operating loss of KRW700 billion ($480 million) compared with a profit of KRW2.8 trillion in Q2 2025. Revenue was up 14% to KRW33.2 trillion

Samsung noted despite “solid sales” of its flagship Galaxy S26 devices and “strong momentum” for its lower-end Galaxy A series, “earnings declined due to elevated component cost pressures across the industry”.

The company plans to continue its focus on providing AI experiences on its devices and “drive overall market share growth based on flagship-first expansion centred on the new Galaxy Z8 and S26 series”.

It also flagged plans to launch smart eyewear and “pursue efficiency initiatives to mitigate the impact of rising costs”.

For networks, it pointed to improved earnings supported by increased sales outside of its home market of South Korea.  

While the company suffered from rising component costs for its devices, Samsung’s memory chip business recorded what it described as an all-time high in quarterly revenue and operating profit.

The Device Solutions division, which houses the memory unit, booked an 89% increase in operating profit to KRW89.2 trillion on revenue up 357% to KRW127.5 trillion.

Across the whole of Samsung Electronics, revenue was up 130% to KRW171.5 trillion and net profit grew from KRW5.1 trillion to KRW71.6 trillion.

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BMW Group handed Qualcomm Technologies a long-term deal to be the lead supplier of chips for its digital cockpit and next generation automated and assisted driving systems.

The chip company revealed it had been appointed the automotive giant’s lead compute silicon provider for the business areas over the next decade, with products being used from its Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio.

It noted the latest deal follows years of technical collaboration between the pair, pointing to a commercial launch of an automated driving system in the BMW iX3 vehicle in November 2025.

Qualcomm EVP and group GM, Automotive, Industrial and Embedded IoT and Robotics Nakul Duggal said “as agentic and physical AI drive a new generation of intelligent vehicles, this collaboration enables both companies to define the future of mobility”.

The company added the deal “establishes the hardware basis for BMW Group to deliver the next generation AI-powered experience”.

Qualcomm has been actively pursuing the automotive sector in recent years as part of a diversification strategy to spread its revenue away from being handset-heavy.

Accelerating ambitions
Last month, the company upped financial targets for revenue from automotive and general non-smartphone earnings.

At its investor day in June, it set out an ambition to make $10 billion in revenue from the automotive segment in its fiscal 2029 (ending late September 2029), forming part of a wider target of $40 billion in non-handset revenue that year.

It expects revenues from handsets to make up a third of its top line figure in fiscal 2029.

The previous target for fiscal 2029 was $8 billion from automotive out of a non-handset figure of $22 billion.

In its fiscal 2025, automotive revenue generated almost $4 billion of its total $38.4 billion. Handsets contributed $27.8 billion of its top line.

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Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar announced London as the preferred location for listing shares in its mobile money division, with the IPO expected to take place later this year.

In a trading update, the chief said he believed the UK capital city would provide access to a broad international investor base and “support our ambition to unlock the long-term value of one of Africa’s leading fintech platforms”.

Talking-up the impact of the service on its markets, he noted it continues to expand financial inclusion with “strong engagement”, highlighting Airtel Africa’s growing product range and an increase in digital adoption throughout the region.

In its fiscal Q1 2027 (the quarter to end-June), it had a mobile money customer base of 56.5 million, up 23% year-on-year, and processed a total of $61.4 billion, almost 52% higher.

ARPU from the service stood at $2.40, up 14%.

Although the executive did not expand on the current status of the plan beyond the timeline and location, Bloomberg reported earlier this year the operator could net between $1.5 billion and $2 billion from the share sale.

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The European Commission (EC) slapped two fines on Google totalling €890 million for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and demanded the tech giant make changes to its search service and app store policies.

Decisions on the two probes follow investigations started in March 2024. Of the total, €460 million is for breaches on its search service and €430 million for app distribution restrictions on Google Play.

On the search charge, the EC determined Google gave its own services preferential treatment in rankings, either by having them at the top of a results page, or using enhanced visuals or filters.

This goes against DMA rules requiring “transparent, fair and non-discriminatory conditions” in rankings, the EC argued.

Its fine related to the Google Play app store was for not allowing developers distributing apps through the platform to inform customers of alternative offers and direct them to make purchases elsewhere.

The regulator acknowledged after what it termed constructive dialogue Google had begun testing changes to its services the regulator noted could “constitute substantial progress towards compliance”.

However, the EC stated the “fines imposed today on Google take into account the gravity and duration of the non-compliance”.

As part of the judgement, the EC demands Google ends the policies deemed in breach of the DMA.

Google has 60 days to comply, with the authority threatening periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of worldwide turnover if it does not.

The company has the right to appeal.

Breaking products
Unsurprisingly Google is unhappy with the changes it is being forced to make to meet DMA obligations.

In a statement, president of global affairs at Google and its parent company Alphabet Kent Walker claimed the way the DMA is implemented “continues to break everyday products” and degraded the experience of businesses and consumers in the European Union.

“To comply, we are having to strip away real-time Search features Europeans love like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants, and dismantle safety protections on Google Play,” he added.

“This isn’t fair competition, it’s product degradation driven by a small group of self-serving complainants, with European businesses and consumers taking the hit. Regulation should improve products, not make them worse.”

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Nokia flagged early progress in a strategic shift focused on grasping AI-related opportunities in its Q2 results, where it expressed confidence on securing a buyer for its Enterprise Campus Edge business and unveiled a deal to up US manufacturing.

The vendor announced the under review campus edge business unit, which includes part of its enterprise private networks offering, is being shunted into its discontinued operations accounting bracket alongside the fixed wireless access CPE business it has already agreed to sell to Inseego.

Nokia deems an agreement to sell the business “highly probable”.

The forecast sale is part of a strategic change at the company unveiled by Nokia CEO Justin Hotard in November 2025, which reshaped the company in an attempt to take advantage of the AI boom.

In its results statement today (23 July), Hotard said he is “encouraged by the execution and progress we have made in a short period of time” since the plan was announced.

He noted order intake from its AI and cloud division more than doubled year-on-year to €2.8 billion.

Nokia booked a net profit of €5 million, down 95%, on net sales which were up 8% to €4.8 billion.

Its profit figures were hit by €390 million in charges taken in the quarter to fund accelerated restructuring efforts and other one-off costs.

Nokia noted with these factors stripped out it would have booked a 64% increase in its bottom-line.   

Restructure
Nokia provided an update on ongoing restructuring projects.

It expects to spend a total of €800 million across 2026 on making the changes, some of which had been previously flagged.

Around €250 million relates to the concluding part of a programme commenced in 2023; €350 million are integration charges to simplify its business in China after taking full ownership of a JV there; and the remaining €200 million is going on “additional restructuring actions”, primarily in Europe.

On the latter, the vendor stated the actions were a “further step in simplifying Nokia’s operating model and allocating resources towards growth opportunities” without providing details.

US manufacturing
Alongside its numbers, Nokia announced a deal to buy NXP’s Chandler Semiconductor Fabrication campus in the US state of Arizona, subject to getting the regulatory nod.

The vendor explained it is part of long-term capacity planning and it would use the facility for Indium phosphide semiconductor production for optical components. With the purchase not expected to close until Q1 2029, it plans to lease some capacity at the site from early 2027.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

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Virgin Media O2 CEO Lutz Schuler warned the UK’s net neutrality rules could hamper agentic AI and other emerging technology, as well as limiting innovation today, as the operator published a report making the case for policy reform.

The executive described net neutrality regulations in the UK as outdated and argued they hamper the realisation of the benefits from significant network investments being made.

He asserted the rules requiring all internet traffic to be treated equally meant the operator is “not able to help customers by prioritising taxi and map apps when travelling home at night and can’t prioritise payment apps for sole traders in crowded markets”, two in a series of examples.

“New technologies like agentic AI will improve the online experience and we’re investing £700 million this year in our mobile network to boost connectivity across the UK, but with network traffic growing relentlessly we won’t get the most out of it without much-needed reform,” he added.

The statement comes as the country is in the process of conducting a mobile market review, which Schuler argued should be used to remove “antiquated roadblocks to innovation” such as net neutrality.

VMO2 acknowledged current rules on the issue were initially intended to protect consumers, but noted they were issued a decade ago and set in a different era of connectivity.

The comments accompanied the release of Net Fatality, a 48-page report commissioned by the operator and produced by consultancy Communications Chambers.

It outlines the case against the current stance in the country along with a series of services it asserts are being hampered by net neutrality including the use of time sensitive applications and prioritising important video calls.

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Consumer use during off-grid travel was cited as a primary driver in early direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity adoption in Australia and New Zealand by Gartner analysts, who forecast more than 1.5 million connections on the service in 2027 across the nations.

The projected number of low Earth orbit (LEO) D2D connections next year would be up from an expected 673,000 in 2026. In 2025 the figure for the two countries stood at 251,000.

Gartner noted end user spending on the service last year was $5 million. This is expected to hit $23 million this year and reach $66 million in 2027.

The rise in use of the technology in the countries comes during a period of early rollouts and limited functionality, with initial launches restricted to specific handsets, areas and messaging.   

Gartner senior director analyst Khurram Shahzad highlighted early adoption was being driven by use for safety and in recreational pursuits by consumers, but enterprise demand was “steadily increasing for field operations in industries such as mining, agriculture, forestry and transportation” due to the need for continuous connectivity for operations and worker safety.

“Australia and New Zealand are among the early adopters of LEO D2D satellite communications due to the vast remoteness and persistent gaps in terrestrial mobile coverage in both countries,” Shahzad said.

“Adoption is accelerating rapidly as services move beyond early trials and into broader commercial availability, demonstrating how satellite connectivity can extend mobile coverage without the need for traditional infrastructure.”

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