Vodafone Group continued to press European authorities for a fairer regulatory deal, this time arguing the forthcoming Digital Networks Act (DNA) could enshrine outdated rules which favour OTTs over traditional service providers.

The operator highlighted a host of requirements operators must meet which OTTs and digital platforms do not.

It highlighted emergency service connectivity as an example of the imbalance, explaining people expect the function to be available no matter the app they use.

Vodafone stated traditional operators are also held to higher account in terms of maintaining open and resilient internet access, despite an increased reliance on “cloud providers, content delivery networks and large platforms that sit outside equivalent oversight”.

It asserted growth in the amount of fraudulent activity which “originates or is amplified upstream, across digital platforms and online services”, noting this is not subject to the same requirements placed on operators to prevent it.

Vodafone noted telecom service providers “invest heavily” in “network-level controls” and “cooperation with authorities”.

Customer verification is another bone of contention, with “overlapping” systems which “often duplicate” checks conducted by digital platforms and payment service providers. Operators also face various quality of service, security and “dispute handling” regulations for their customers.

“This asymmetry is often dismissed as a sector complaint, but the impact is most clearly felt by consumers,” Vodafone argued.

Proposed fixes
Vodafone called for the DNA to include “an explicit functional-equivalent principle” to enable regulators to apply rules equally in areas where broadly the same service is being provided.

It argued there is a lack of reality in the DNA proposals, stating the “distinction” between communications services using a telephone number and those which do not “no longer maps neatly onto user experiences or market dynamics”.

Vodafone believes fraud and internet access rules must equally cover cloud platforms, content delivery systems and messaging services.

It argued levelling the playing field would promote innovation and give consumers greater confidence in digital services.

The post Vodafone targets DNA disparities appeared first on Mobile World Live.

NTT and Japanese media company TBS identified AI as a potential danger to children’s decision-making abilities and outlined an intention to form a company to tackle the issue using digital games and smartphone apps.

The pair plan to commence operations of their e6 joint venture on 8 August to help children form clear ideas in a world where AI offers myriad possible answers to questions. The business is to be used to commercialise a namesake project NTT and TBS launched in February to provide an experience-based educational approach using various technologies.

NTT stated the companies created Emotional Knight, a story-based “original IP” emotive education game employing AI and extended reality to teach decision-making.

NTT President and CEO Akira Shimada said the companies believe huge volumes of information are not necessarily the best thing for children.

Instead, they need “the ability to think for themselves and make their own decisions while interacting with a wealth of information and AI”.

The companies intend to expand the line-up of educational games, develop relevant IP and add more “entertainment experiences” which foster children’s “ability to make independent decisions”.

NTT is contributing group resources including its innovative optical and wireless network, tsuzumi 2 LLM, R&D and social implementation capabilities. TBS brings content creation, IP development and distribution elements.

The Japanese conglomerate stated feedback from an event held in March showed a high level of satisfaction.

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Consumer hardware company Aina raised millions of dollars in seed funding to finance development of an interface it argues is required to fully unlock the potential of AI on smartphones and PCs.

The company believes current device hardware lags the progress of software and AI, resulting in a disconnect between expectation and reality in terms of the interface with apps and services.

It raised $5.5 million in the recent funding round to advance development of experimental interfaces which adapt to the app being used.

Aina stated it already shipped hundreds of experimental keypads called Dune to early adopters, a product for Mac computers it describes as “context-aware” which primarily focuses on work tools.

It is using the feedback from Dune to develop a general-purpose interface for smartphones and computers.

Aina founder and CEO Apoorv Shankar (pictured) said current smartphones and PCs “are still primarily designed for browsing” and use manual inputs requiring users to “figure out what you need”.

He argued this is laborious when users are “doing hundreds of tasks” per day.

The company believes there is room within the broader AI assistant space for a contextualisation system which makes it easier for people to interact with the technology. Shankar explained the general-purpose interface on the drawing board is being designed to “capture human approval”.

Shankar was previously VP of hardware at smart ring company Ultrahuman.

The seed funding round was led by Redstart Labs (Infoedge) and 360 ONE Asset, with two other investment companies and a host of angel investors.

Along with launching its interface, Aina intends to use the backing to grow its team in the US and India.

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FDM CCS Insight pointed to one area of the devices market which is showing signs of promise against a mostly gloomy backdrop, as it noted smartphones are not the only form-factor affected by rising component costs.

Analysts believe the smart ring sector is nailed on to book a rise in shipments in 2026, bucking an anticipated 3% drop in the overall wearables market.

FDM CCS Insight stated wearables’ woes would mostly stem from an anticipated drop in smartwatch shipments, the dominant form-factor in 2025.

The company predicts smartwatch shipments to fall 4% due to “replacement fatigue” and a general lack of innovation.

It also highlighted “supply side” issues involving memory and component costs as hindrances, indicating problems which have affected the smartphone market for some time are beginning to spread.

FDM CCS Insight acknowledged a forecast smart ring shipments would grow 53% this year comes “from a small base” in previous years, but argued the rise points to a greater “interest in health and wellness tracking” among buyers, along with broader retail availability.

It ranked Oura at the top of the shipments table for the first half of the year and noted Ultrahuman recovered from a ban on shipments in the US during the final quarter of 2025.

A recent “easing of regulations” by the US Food and Drug Administration is also tipped to fuel future shipments.

Senior analyst Ekta Mittal said the company’s research showed “75% of smart ring owners also own a smartwatch”, suggesting there could be a knock-on effect for the latter form-factor.

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Nokia promised significant hikes in spectral efficiency over the next two years as it launched an AI-native RAN platform which relies heavily on Nvidia systems.

The AI-RAN platform is already capable of boosting spectral efficiency by 20% and Nokia stated gains of 50% and 100% would be delivered in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

It hailed the platform as “one of the most significant shifts in radio network architecture in decades”. It hopes to deliver pilot deployments by the end of the year and commercial availability in 2027.

The platform uses Nokia’s anyRAN software so operators running other network vendor’s equipment today can use it, but the bulk of the services available through Nvidia’s systems are reserved for those already using the Finnish provider’s AirScale range.

A GPU-based AirScale capacity plug-in is pitched “as the most efficient path forward”, for example. It brings Nvidia compute capabilities into current networks, “preserving existing” investments and offering the option to employ chips from Marvell Technology.

Nokia also launched a standalone AI-RAN node employing GPUs which can run on 4G and 5G networks, with forward compatibility to likely 6G infrastructure.

Various configurations are available comprising a one-node deployment, clusters and as part of a single logical base station.

GPUs also form the heart of a commercial off-the-shelf server available from Nokia’s partners which it stated would tackle any supply chain worries.

The vendor followed in rival Ericsson’s footsteps by unveiling a subscription-based model enabling operators to access software-based upgrades to equipment without swapping hardware.

Nokia president and CEO Justin Hotard said AI-RAN “makes the network intelligent” and would help operators maximise the capabilities of their current infrastructure.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, hailed the step as the dawn of a new era for the telecoms sector as the companies turn “RAN into a planet-scale AI computer”.

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Experts speaking at the inaugural AMR Technology Forum offered a picture of the road to deploying AI in enterprise which is not unlike the early days of Formula One and other motor racing series.

The core message from Aston Martin Aramco technology partners is the best way to employ AI is to use it.

It is an ethos which is arguably the very basis on which Formula One racing is built. Want to try a different valve configuration on your engine? Do it. Is the car better with the power unit behind the driver than in front? Let’s find out. Are six wheels better than four and so on.

AI strategy
Speakers from the AMR Network of technology partners essentially said the strategy for deploying AI is no different to those shifts and trials in car design. Devise a clear plan about what you want to achieve and just do it. Do not be fearful, go all in and make sure what you do helps the people with the real expertise to do their jobs better.

David Ingham, digital partner in media and entertainment with Cognizant (pictured, third from right), said any AI deployment needs “to be solving a problem”, so it makes sense the first step would be to identify what that is, then the rest “falls in line”.

Ingham explained Cognizant’s approach is born of its position as a company which brings “all the layers of the AI stack” together. He referred to chips, infrastructure and software as the elements in mind, explaining the primary goal is to combine them into “a coherent workflow”, a “process that adds value”.

He argued Aston Martin Aramco’s racing cars are a great example, because individual components “don’t add value, they don’t win a race” until they are brought together.

An obvious use for AI in any organisation is coping with vast amounts of data, an element Ryan Lewis, head of Cohere’s operation in the UK and Ireland (pictured, second from right), said is another in which Formula One is a fitting example due to the volume of information teams generate and rely on.

He pointed to telemetry, diagnostic and simulation data as examples from the sport which emphasise the challenges any organisation faces in making the most of their information.

Data is “sometimes really hard to access” due to being stored in different systems, modalities or even languages.

Lewis believes “making sense of the data wherever it’s sitting” to enable rapid decision making “in high-stakes environments” presents a “really exciting opportunity for AI just to take that off the table”.

He envisions a set-up where individual AI agents communicate directly to synthesise the insights, “reports and responses” staff can use to work more effectively.

For Lewis, the watchword of deploying AI in a business is empowerment.

Cohere is not inherently seeking to use AI to “replace the things that are high value in organisations”, instead it is driving to “give the people the power to do the things that are mundane and routine” more easily, in turn accelerating the decision-making process.

Teamwork
Aston Martin Aramco technology ambassador Eric Ernst (pictured, second from left) elaborated on the empowerment theme, explaining it is the experienced staff within the team which drive the value of AI usage.

He noted machine learning is well-established, meaning AI deployment strategies today are more about how best to employ generative iterations.

Aston Martin Aramco is deriving benefits by using AI to create and assess several possible strategies, which knowledgeable engineers can then pick from based on their real-world experience.

Ernst’s advice is humans must remain the foremost element in use of AI, interpreting recommendations and conclusions the technology produces to derive the smartest outcomes.

For a Formula One team like Aston Martin Aramco, this could be as simple as when drivers should go flat out and when they should be more conservative during a race.

The point about the human element was picked up in a later session by Jonathan Armstrong, senior director of Brand and Creative at Arm, who noted AI is good at deconstructing “complex problems” but argued the full benefits of the technology can only be reaped when it is combined with the vision, ingenuity and creativity of people.

“When you have technology and AI and human insight altogether, that’s a powerful weapon.”

He said Formula One teams are working to optimise the combination of AI and human abilities, an “exciting” period for the engineering sector.

Simon Cox, chief transformation officer at ServiceNow (pictured, far right), urged organisations not to be paralysed by worries over the accuracy of their operational data. He explained the companies making the most of their AI strategies “are the ones that embrace” the chaos of current information sources and adopt a “fix it as we go” mindset.

He argued the iterations of AI involved in the latest dawn of the technology deliver the capabilities to correct data anomalies on the fly and so make a success of the very approach which embodies the ethos of Formula One racing.

The technology today can “find those gaps and see through the noise” in a company’s data. The volume of information and challenges of employing it should not hinder companies, instead Cox believes the secret to success is to “just start, get going”.

Cox’s advice to take the plunge was echoed by Ben Richardson, head of CoreWeave International (pictured, third from left), who urged companies not to wait for the perfect AI or deployment strategy.

“Like anything, if you really want to use it you’ve got to take risks, you can’t sit there and you can’t just wait”, because rivals are not.

“People have to be brave and you have to be able to say this is happening, it is here, how can I start to capture it”?

Richardson’s view is cracking on and using AI holds the potential to create a virtuous circle, where the technology becomes more valuable based on how much it is employed. Or, as he more succinctly put it: “the more people that use it the more you get out of it”.

Restrictions
With the experts’ broadly agreeing the best strategy is to learn about AI by using it, what do they think is holding most organisations back?

Lewis believes many large organisations are simply not clear enough about what they want to achieve and so are struggling to develop a “cohesive enterprise AI strategy”.

Companies must consider the result of their AI deployments and doing so requires “a top-down perspective”, one which ties every element together.

Rushing headlong into deploying any technology is, of course, inherently risky. Richardson acknowledged as much and advised companies to build protections into their strategy “if that’s what you need” to deliver the confidence required to reap the AI benefits he outlined.

Cox noted governance is a decidedly unsexy element in any discussion of AI, but explained it is still necessary.

Experience from using data, cloud computing and more has taught ServiceNow the importance of installing controls “from the beginning”.

“Resilience by design can give you the control tower for your AI and then you’re able to fly.”

Governance “sounds dull” in any discussion of enterprise AI strategy best-practice, but is an element Cox argues is absolutely necessary.

The post Feature: Experts offer top tips for enterprise AI deployments appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Orange lined up Usman Javaid (pictured) as its next AI chief, tasking the current chief product and marketing officer of its business unit with delivering on ambitious revenue targets for the technology.

Javaid is scheduled to succeed Steve Jarrett on 1 September, a little over three years after taking on his current post within Orange Business.

Orange is in the throes of implementing a strategy intended to derive more than €600 million in value from AI by 2028. It is also working to expand internal use of the technology and stated implementing agentic iterations would be a key element in Javaid’s remit.

During an Orange Business event in March, Javaid told Mobile World Live past experience in adapting to emerging technologies would serve the company well in the AI era, explaining the focus is on how to employ advances to benefit customers.

Orange credited Jarrett with having laid the foundations of its use of AI and establishing its credentials in the field.

There is a circularity to Orange’s appointment given Javaid began his career with the company in 2005. The executive also racked up experience in various roles held with Vodafone Group and AWS spanning cloud, IoT and network strategy.

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Orange Business highlighted an established presence in the digital health sector as it revealed remote cardiac monitoring service provider MicroPort CardioFlow decided to stick with it for another five years.

An extended deal continues to cover the transmission of clinical health data from devices embedded in patients to healthcare professionals. The information is used to remotely monitor users and guide treatment decisions.

Orange Business explained it provides the IoT platform and secure connectivity for the data, tapping the operator group’s cybersecurity division to test the system and provide relevant reports.

Implanted devices transmit patient information to a bedside device using Bluetooth low-energy, with the information forwarded on demand or at set times. Connections are authenticated using a mobile module and SIM, with data encrypted during transmission.

Orange Business stated roaming SIMs are used to connect patients and healthcare professionals in different geographies.

The operator emphasised remote monitoring can cut the number of hospital visits a person needs to make.

It stated it would work with MicroPort CardioFlow to explore potential connected health developments unlocked by emerging technologies, in particular the possibility for personalised treatments to boost the quality of healthcare provided.

Claire Scotton, VP of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Orange Business, said connectivity “underpins the next generation of remote health monitoring”, enabling MicroPort CardioFlow “to provide even more precise, personalised care for chronic conditions”.

Orange Business highlighted remote health monitoring as a prime example of the need for sovereign data protections, in particular arrangements enabling companies to provide global services while complying with local regulations.

The extension builds on a working relationship spanning more than a decade, Orange Business stated.

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Iridium Communications launched a module it pledged would simplify the release of hybrid IoT devices when used in conjunction with an associated development kit.

The Iridium 9604 module combines the company’s Short Burst Data satellite and LTE-M connectivity, with GNSS used for positioning. A namesake development kit then helps device makers to prototype and validate products spanning space and terrestrial connectivity options.

Iridium sees uses in devices covering remote areas of land, oceans, airways and polar regions.

EVP Tim Last was proud of Iridium’s work, hailing it a “milestone” in efforts to provide global IoT connectivity.

He said integrating the satellite, mobile and GNSS elements into a single module would “simplify device design, reduce costs and create smarter, location-aware products” with the connectivity range well beyond that of land-based networks.

Iridium emphasised there had been encouraging feedback from early adopters and beta users in terms of the operational and economic benefits the 9604 module provides.

It explained device makers can tweak the subsystems of all three elements to control failure detection systems, connectivity choices based on location and how to route traffic depending on the service being run.

The module measures 16mm x 26mm x 2.4mm and is compatible with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou GNSS services.

Satellite connectivity compatibility is handled by Iridium’s network of birds operating in the L-band, a reliable range between 1GHz and 2GHz capable of getting signals through most weather.

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Telefonica Tech helped the people of Santa Pola on Spain’s Costa Blanca to see the bright side of life after contributing its NB-IoT capabilities to an upgrade of streetlights in the town.

The project is another collaboration by Telefonica’s digital business unit and a joint venture involving infrastructure player Ferrovial Energia, which this time is working with Spanish energy company Iberdrola Clientes.

Telefonica Tech’s NB-IoT capabilities are being used to enable remote management of LED street lighting in the coastal town. As in a previous deployment, 6,300 nodes made by Tellink are being deployed which the operator unit is connecting.

The system enables the Ferrovial Energia and Iberdrola Clientes joint venture to regulate lighting based on demand with a view to optimising energy consumption.

Telefonica Tech highlighted predictive maintenance as another benefit of the NB-IoT equipped lights.

Tellink CEO Dionisio Martinez said the company had won more than 100 smart lighting contracts and emphasised the experience it brings in installing and operating the systems.

For Telefonica Tech, the deal in Santa Pola is another notch in a move to establish itself as a leading digitalisation company, director of IoT Dario Cesena said.

The smart lighting system highlights its potential in delivering centralised management, Cesena added.

Loreto Serrano, Mayor of Santa Pola, explained upgrading its lighting systems is “one of our major challenges” for the current term in office and it is taking advantage of the need to improve systems to deploy a smart set up capable of cutting costs and its carbon footprint.

The post Telefonica Tech lights NB-IoT in coastal town appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Eutelsat continued to make waves in maritime connectivity, renewing an agreement with specialist provider AST Networks involving its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite fleet.

AST Networks already accesses Eutelsat’s LEO birds for its maritime services, so the latest multi-year deal looks to expand on the arrangement by literally growing the amount of satellite capacity used.

It continues a recent run of maritime contracts Eutelsat secured for its OneWeb unit.

The LEO option forms part of a broader connectivity service AST Networks provides to shipping industry customers which Eutelsat stated are increasingly seeking set-ups with high-level performance, resilience and global coverage.

Shipping companies employ such connectivity for staff wellbeing along with operation of their vessels and the running of digital services.

Eutelsat stated the renewed deal is in the multi-million-dollar range. VP of Aero and Maritime Connectivity Thierry Polycarpe said the agreement highlights “the growing demand for LEO-enabled connectivity across the maritime sector”, along with the company’s ability to integrate with hybrid set-ups.

AST Networks CTO Lukasz Latosinski said LEO brings the required level of reliability and low-latency.

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South Korean operator KT moved the goalposts in customer loyalty initiatives, promising to take 1,200 of its most-dedicated subscribers for a night out at a musical based on the work of late artiste Kim Kwang-seok.

KT is targeting the offer to attend The Days at customers who have subscribed to its mobile, internet and TV services for at least five years, pitching the move as a cultural twist on traditional loyalty rewards.

The seating capacity of the D-cube Arts Centre hosting the musical is 1,242, meaning KT’s move is essentially a complete takeover for the night of 25 July.

KT also plans to offer those attending commemorative photographs and theatre programmes.

The operator is also offering an experience at the KT Wiz Park involving baseball, inviting applications from customers keen to enjoy some luxury camping and watching a game at the venue.

KT emphasised the musical and baseball offers are somewhat extreme examples of ongoing lifestyle benefit programmes providing various discounts on services.

Kim Young-geol, SVP and head of KT’s Customer Business Division, said the operator arranged “this Invitation Dream event to express our gratitude” to long-term customers.

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Defence company KNDS enlisted Nokia to provide 5G capabilities intended to boost communications for military personnel and enable autonomous war machines.

The contract for Nokia Defense involves using its Banshee portfolio to close gaps in battlefield communications.

Nokia stated Banshee systems would be integrated with a KNDS armoured vehicle for infantry to deliver a communications set-up described by the Finnish vendor as fit for a “transition from armoured vehicles into complex mission environments”.

It explained the integration would enable “more responsive and coordinated operations”, highlighting modern warfare requirements spanning “continuous communication across many manned and unmanned systems”.

The connectivity gap targeted involves communications with personnel once they are outside their vehicle. Nokia explained 5G would tackle this, along with laying the groundwork for the data exchange required to run robotic systems.

Ari Kynaslahti, head of Nokia Defense, said “reliable, real-time data” is now a must for military operations, a view echoed by KNDS France CEO Nicolas Groult, who said “connectivity is becoming a core enabler of future land operations”.

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Nokia and Lenovo agreed another multi-year patent cross-licensing deal to maintain a harmony found in 2021 when they put their litigious differences aside.

The companies emphasised their commitment to licensing their respective technologies on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

They were tighter lipped regarding the exact details of their latest agreement, though Nokia chief licensing officer Susanna Martikainen said it is an “amicable” arrangement which the company is happy to have come to.

Taylor Ludlam, VP, deputy general counsel and chief IP officer at Lenovo, pointed to its meaningful contribution to technology development and emphasised the benefits of allowing other companies to access it.

“Effective IP licensing helps companies innovate faster, meet industry standards and bring new products to customers more efficiently”.

A two-year legal fight between the companies was brought to a close in 2021 when they agreed an initial cross-licensing deal, one which Nokia stated at the time involved Lenovo making a “net balancing payment”.

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Ericsson kept the heat on in a bid to be a frontrunner in 6G technology, though separately detailed a move at the recent FIA Formula 1 race in Japan showing it is keeping 5G firmly in its sights.

The vendor stated work to optimise RAN energy consumption under the Intention 6G programme is now at a mid-point. The initiative is a €12 million move contributing to decarbonisation targets set in the France 2030 scheme and is co-funded by domestic bank Bpifrance.

Ericsson explained the project targets delivering optimal RAN energy use while still meeting the needs of 5G and 6G traffic.

AI is playing a central role, driving work involving automating network functions, dynamic energy use and developing infrastructure which can adapt power consumption by itself.

Hitting the mid-point in the development means the focus of Intention 6G is now switching to defining the initial “building blocks”, Ericsson explained.

Christian Leon, head of Ericsson Western Europe, said the project is an example of how its French R&D centre is collaborating with domestic companies to develop networks capable of delivering “tomorrow’s critical use cases and digital transformations”.

French government information explains France 2030 is a €54 billion investment programme covering decarbonisation through technological innovation and promoting companies in key industrial sectors.

Ericsson emphasised the research programme demonstrates the benefits of broad collaboration brought about through public-private partnerships.

Racey.
The vendor today (17 June) separately detailed a trial of standalone 5G its Japanese unit completed with SoftBank Corp during the FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix held at the Suzuka Circuit in March.

Ericsson Japan and SoftBank employed five independent network slices, one of which involved mmWave to boost connectivity at the venue, a set-up the vendor explained enabled quality to be optimised for specific use cases.

The pair deployed tri-band Massive MIMO equipment and various mmWave radios, along with conducting “detailed network design”, all of which upped downlink data rates by 4.1-times and uplink 14.6-times over those SoftBank users received at the event in 2025.

Some base stations employed self-tuning to tweak the performance of individual network slices based on a quality measurement taken every minute.

The post Ericsson races through French 6G research appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Australian regulator ACMA advanced preparations for the introduction of anti-scam measures on SMS by advising users of the visual changes involved.

ACMA lined up the introduction of SMS Sender ID Register rules for 1 July and stated it would mean some messages are labelled as unverified to alert consumers to potential scams.

Unverified messages are to be grouped in a single thread to draw attention to them.

ACMA member Samantha Yorke believes the measures will boost consumer confidence in the legitimacy of messages and “help prevent impersonation scams”.

She advised people to be cautious about messages tagged as unverified and check for proven contact information online or using bills.

The regulator is acting after scammers took Australians for almost AUD18 million ($12.7 million) using SMS in 2025.

It stated almost 17,000 sender IDs have already been verified, but Yorke warned businesses which do not get their details in by the launch date risk being flagged as potential scams.

She said operators are also set to publicise the move to their customers directly.

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Vodafone Group and Airbus rolled out the carpet for a ruggedised device maker in a three-way collaboration which is offering European emergency services and critical industries a dedicated communications bundle.

RugGear devices are being added to a package involving Vodafone’s connectivity and an Airbus collaboration platform in a move the operator believes will simplify its pitch to emergency service and business customers.

Vodafone Business CEO Marika Auramo said the trio are delivering “a complete mission-critical communications” package.

Olivier Koczan, head of public safety and security with Airbus Defence and Space, declared the arrangement as “the ultimate toolset” for critical industries.

The package uses Vodafone’s Mission Critical Communications service, a cloud- and on-site Airbus platform, and RugGear’s range of toughened devices.

Vodafone noted the devices address the dangers of potential damage to units in the field and stated the broader deal deepens a relationship with Airbus originally struck in 2025.

The operator’s network is configured to prioritise communications from emergency personnel. Vodafone launched the service in Germany and is now widening availability to other European markets.

It stated Airbus’ Agnet secure critical communications platform can connect a large number of users to control rooms.

RugGear’s devices offer military-grade specifications, high intensity torches, scanners, GPS tracking and PTT capabilities.

The post Vodafone, Airbus harden emergency devices appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Japanese operator KDDI renewed an IoT connectivity management deal with US platform provider Aeris, a significant backing for the company and its development of the set-up since acquiring it from Ericsson in 2023.

KDDI signed up to what is now the Aeris IoT Accelerator in 2017 and remained a customer after Ericsson’s sale, tapping global connectivity orchestration, management of devices throughout their lifecycles, security and diagnostics, and eSIM orchestration capabilities.

Aeris stated modernisation of the platform involved cloud-readiness along with broader cooperation between international connectivity providers.

The platform is used in 104 million IoT devices and 42 million connected vehicles.

KDDI stands to benefit from “seamless service continuation” as a result of the renewed contract.

The Japanese operator is an important spearhead for Aeris’ ambitions to access what it stated is strong growth in IoT connectivity throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The company expects the global market to grow by 21.7% by 2033 on demand for secure connectivity capable of operating in multiple markets across various industries.

Aeris highlighted automotive and utilities as among the target markets.

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The TM Forum added satellite to an existing framework for digital networks in recognition of forecasts space-based connectivity is poised to become a significant earner over the next 10 years.

Companies including Rakuten Group, Huawei and Netcracker Technology are joined by operators Telekom Deutschland and Vodacom Group among the initial members of the Open Digital Architecture (ODA) for Satellite initiative.

The standards organisation stated the full potential of satellite for services including IoT and direct-to-device connectivity is being held back by various incompatibilities between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, highlighting billing systems and requirements for specialised devices as examples.

Dr Ryan van den Bergh, managing executive for group technology strategy, architecture, spectrum and assurance at Vodacom, said “greater interoperability and simpler integration” are needed to capitalise on the “significant opportunities” to use satellite connectivity as a complement to ground-based networks.

The TM Forum’s existing ODA covers digitalisation measures spanning automation and intelligence. It stated the satellite element adds standard frameworks, operating models and governance for companies working in the terrestrial and non-terrestrial sectors.

It expects the architecture to lay the groundwork for “seamless multi-orbit service delivery” along with speeding integration and boosting the overall value of space and land-based infrastructure.

Willie Stegmann, the body’s EVP for composable IT and ecosystems, said ODA for Satellite is “a call to action” for the telecoms industry.

The group is “overcoming challenges and unlocking avenues for growth…before operating models, customer ownership and value chains are defined elsewhere”.

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Sateliot pressed the benefits of satellite connectivity for agriculture in a test with Brazilian innovation centre CPQD which it stated showcased the advantages of non-terrestrial IoT.

Standard NB-IoT devices were connected in a remote area out-with the reach of land-based mobile networks as part of a Sateliot initiative to boost use of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in Brazil.

The company explained the “performance and commercial viability” of satellite-enabled IoT was verified, proving the “feasibility of seamless roaming” between land- and space-based networks.

Sateliot and CPQD put the technology to work tracking cattle.

The Spanish company’s Conecte o Brasil LEO NTN push involves device validation and interoperability testing. The initiative is intended to help Sateliot unlock a nation it stated is “one of the largest untapped IoT markets in the world”.

Sateliot highlighted large portions of Brazil are still not in range of mobile networks, potentially hampering the nation’s ability to capitalise on growth in cellular IoT services.

Elitelma Souza, CPQD solution manager for Automation, IoT and Hybrid Computing, said extending the “reach of IoT” services could “enable new operating models for various sectors of the economy”.

Sateliot CCO Gianluca Redolfi highlighted the test was the company’s first “commercial demonstration in Brazil”, making it “a crucial milestone” in its push there and beyond.

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