Qualcomm struck a deal to acquire AI software company Modular for about $3.9 billion, in all stock-deal aimed at strengthening its software foundation for generative and agentic AI across data centre and edge environments.

The deal will pair Qualcomm’s silicon expertise with Modular’s AI-native software platform, which is designed to run AI models efficiently across CPUs, GPUs, NPUs and custom ASICs without requiring separate rewrites for each type of accelerator.

The chipmaker stated developers and enterprises will only need to build once ahead of deploying across multiple environments at a lower total cost of ownership.

Qualcomm framed the acquisition as a response to a shift in what is constraining AI deployment at scale. As AI use grows, the company argued, efficiency rather than raw capability becomes the limiting factor, since performance-per-watt drives inference costs and those costs determine what can scale.

Closing this gap, according to Qualcomm, requires software that connects system-level optimisation with heterogeneous, disaggregated compute, turning silicon performance into AI services which work reliably across different accelerators and use cases.

The deal is intended to expand Qualcomm’s data centre ambitions, supporting more efficient inference, orchestration and deployment in distributed AI systems while deepening relationships with model creators, developers, hyperscalers, and enterprise customers.

It is also expected to help the company achieve strong day-zero performance on new Qualcomm AI hardware as it rolls out.

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon called the acquisition a pivotal moment for the AI industry. He stated agentic AI’s growth across data centres and edge environments is pushing the sector toward disaggregated, multi-vendor architectures which need a more open, modern software foundation.

He said Qualcomm believes the future belongs to developer-friendly platforms which can run across diverse compute environments, giving customers real choice in how and where they deploy AI.

“With Modular, we’re accelerating that shift, combining our scale and energy-efficient data center technologies with an open ecosystem approach to help drive the next chapter of AI,” Amon stated.

Modular co-founder and CEO Chris Lattner stated the company was built on the belief AI needs a more open and efficient software foundation spanning diverse hardware and deployment environments.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Qualcomm plans to issue 19.2 million shares to Modular equity holders.

The post Qualcomm inks $4B deal for software specialist Modular appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Verizon’s road to Level 4 network autonomy was boosted by turning 33,000 employees into software developers earlier this year using Anthropic’s Claude model.

Verizon CTO Yago Tenorio (pictured) told Mobile World Live (MWL) the company gave about 500 application developers on his team access to Claude Code in December 2025.

“We started using it like there is no tomorrow,” he said. “In a few weeks we made everyone in technology proficient as software developers and then people started coding.

“There is a mantra now that says: ‘If you can imagine it, Claude can code it for you.’ It is amazing the massive amount of enablement, simplification and efficiency we achieved in a few months.”

He explained Verizon’s legacy as a long-established operator means its path to network autonomy is far more complex compared to a greenfield player. Years of M&A, overlapping legacy systems, merged networks and coexisting OSS platforms have created operational complexity which must be abstracted away before AI-driven automation can work at scale.

The AI autonomy revolution is well underway. In 2025, Verizon’s closed-loop automation platforms executed over 70 million network configuration changes autonomously.

“I feel like it’s making the network better. It is reacting in real time and it is freeing up hours of labour that can be then thrown on something that requires a human.”

But Tenorio draws a line between that kind of automation and what’s coming next. Those 70 million loops were largely programmatic, following decision trees and fixed logic which engineers wrote in advance, the network equivalent of a Python script running the same routine repeatedly.

The shift now underway replaces fixed logic with AI agents which can reason through a situation they were never explicitly programmed for because they are trained on the skills and judgment which make Verizon’s network teams effective, rather than coded with rules for every scenario.

Verizon is moving away from traditional hardware constraints to turn its infrastructure into a software-defined, self-organising reasoning engine which optimises itself in real time. The company describes this not as simply adopting tools, but as engineering an AI-native enterprise.

Level 4 network autonomy
In the TM Forum’s six-stage taxonomy for autonomous networks, Level 4 is a major shift from traditional automation to true intelligence. For this level, the network moves away from rigid, rule-based scripting and task-execution, transitioning instead to automating decisions.

CCS Insight research director Ian Fogg told MWL a part of an operator’s network may be at one level of autonomy, but other parts will likely be at a different level depending on how far along each operator’s suppliers and network teams are in modernisation.

“The barriers are that this is simply a very complicated area,” he said. “AI and especially generative AI and agentic AI are increasingly at the heart of autonomous network innovation as operators move to level 3 and beyond. 

“AI is an essential technology to enable the creation of autonomous networks,” he added.

Tenorio is careful not to overclaim on autonomy levels. He said Tesla represents something closer to Level 3, a Waymo represents Level 4, and Level 5 would be a car with no steering wheel at all.

He is not convinced the network needs to go Level 5. In his view, building a network with literally no human element anywhere in it is not necessarily the goal, even if individual domains or use cases can get there.

Across the board, in every domain and every use case, he considers Level 4 a reasonable target, while cautioning operators in the industry tend to generalise their autonomy successes across specific areas.

Rather than chase a number, Tenorio stated Verizon’s focus is on making autonomy matter operationally, whatever level it ends up being called.

He also pushes back on the idea that full autonomy means removing humans from the picture entirely. Even with what he calls a “totally dark” network operations center, people must still be dispatched to base stations and customer premises for hardware replacement or tuning which cannot be done remotely.

He argues agents are trained, not programmed, meaning the human expertise which has shaped a network for years does not disappear, it just gets transferred into the skills the agents learn from.

The loop which runs the network day-to-day can become fully closed, but the loop of deciding how those agents should behave still runs through human judgment.

AI models
To get there, Verizon has doubled down on generative and agentic AI. Tenorio describes Verizon’s approach as model-agnostic. For agents now running parts of its network, it is primarily using Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini.

Verizon is also optimising across model size and cost: simpler problems get routed to small language or cheaper models, while more complex tasks get the most capable ones available, including Claude Opus 4.7

Verizon had access to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 model prior to the US government shutting it down.

Tenorio used Fable 5 on a side project built with Claude Cowork and came away impressed, particularly by what felt like a broader contextual awareness and more lateral reasoning than he was used to. However, he is cautious about claiming a measurable gap versus Opus 4.8, since the same project has continued just as well on Opus 4.8 since Fable 5 access ended.

“I thought it was fantastic,” he said of Fable 5. “I was blown away by it.”

Starting in mid-January, the company expanded Claude access to its entire 33,000-person technology organisation over about six weeks, turning employees across modelling, capacity planning, capital deployment, and operations into capable software developers regardless of their formal coding background.

It now counts between 7,000 and 10,000 weekly active users of the tool. Tenorio frames this as a deliberate first step on the road to autonomy, not a side project.

Before trying to make the network autonomous, Verizon wanted to find out what happens when everyone in the organisation can write software.

Architectural blueprint
Verizon is currently conducting an autonomous network programme with intelligent agents running full-time, although Tenorio resists calling the effort a pilot.

He instead describes it as a deliberate, already-in-production evolution. The same 70 million automated loops from last year are progressively having reasoning and token-based decision-making layered on top of them, with the foundational pieces of true network autonomy now live rather than experimental.

He identifies two areas for genuine autonomous network operations.

The first is a common data layer. Since an autonomous network is only as good as the data feeding it, the telemetry needs to be shared across the organisation in near real time, and it needs to reflect actual customer experience rather than what the network itself reports.

Tenorio stated Verizon began rolling this out at the start of June and it is now in production.

The second is a common repository of skills, tools and agents, the framework by which years of collective engineering expertise and pattern recognition gets encoded into a form AI agents can draw on.

Once both pieces are in place, Tenorio stated deploying domain-specific agents becomes comparatively straightforward.

He said this approach has no off-the-shelf component and is not organised around a specific network domain or generation. It is not built around radio, transport, core, or optical separately, and it is not tied to 5G or 6G.

Instead, Verizon designed it to run across the network as a whole, starting with making every employee a developer rather than buying a vendor’s packaged autonomy product.

A master agent can immediately detect a localised anomaly, take control and instantly spin up a network of specialised sub-agents focused on the exact root cause, pinpointing it down to the precise network domain and specific element.

Work which used to take engineering teams hours to manually diagnose and correct is now identified and resolved in less than two minutes, long before the end user ever experiences a dropped call or a lag in their data connection.

An autonomous system, however, is only as good as the live data feeding it. Traditional network KPIs tend to skew toward favourable conditions and do not always fully capture the true, localised end-user experience.

Verizon’s new AI-driven models aim to close the telemetry gap. By using aggregated, anonymised network performance signals, including floor-by-floor indoor environments, the company builds an accurate, hyper-granular picture of service quality, feeding the common data layer described above.

The rich physical telemetry, fused with existing network data, feeds a continuous optimisation loop which detects and resolves coverage and capacity issues proactively, often before a customer is affected.

Tenorio said the end-result is near real-time visibility into in-building performance environments, enabling automated alerting and network tuning at a level of granularity the company did not previously possess.

“We started by making everyone a software developer,” he said. “I don’t know if other companies are doing it.”

The post Feature: How Verizon is crafting its network for the agentic AI era appeared first on Mobile World Live.

SK Hynix outlined plans to go public in the US to raise KRW45.5 trillion ($29.4 billion), which would be the second-biggest IPO in history after SpaceX’s listing earlier this month.

The South Korean high bandwidth memory (HBM) chip company filed for the proposed IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission to list American Depositary Receipts on the Nasdaq.

In total it plans to issue 17.79 million new shares to raise more than $29 billion, giving it a company valuation of $1.2 trillion. It expects to start trading on 10 July.

It will use the cash to fund the buildout of chip factories in South Korea and acquire chipmaking equipment including extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) scanners. It already has an order in place with ASML worth KRW12 trillion.

A supplier to Nvidia and Google, SK Hynix has been a big winner of the AI boom, with its shares quadrupling in value this year. It competes in the HBM segment with Samsung Electronics and US-based Micron.

Indrani De, global head of investment research at financial company FTSE Russell, told Bloomberg SK Hynix’s outperformance reflects its early move in HBM and strong demand for its chip.

“Supply shortages in HBM where Korean firms dominate with 80% market share are expected to last for years,” she said.

The size of the proposed IPO would see SK Hynix surpass Saudi company Aramco’s IPO in 2019, when it raised $25.6 billion, which is currently the second largest behind SpaceX’s $75 billion.  

The post SK Hynix seeks to raise $29B from US listing appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Industry associations the GSMA and TM Forum agreed a collaboration to aid adoption of practical AI systems across a range of use cases within the telecoms industry.

In a joint statement, GSMA director of AI initiatives Louis Powell and TM Forum EVP products and services Andy Tiller explained the organisations would work together to help create open AI models and frameworks able to meet the industry’s very specific needs.

“Networks underpin the cloud, device and edge capabilities on which AI depends,” the two argued.

“Yet telcos themselves have not fully captured the value of AI within their own operations”. 

“If the industry is to accelerate towards more autonomous, AI-native networks, it must align on shared assets, common standards and practical implementation pathways”.

The organisations address complementary areas towards the common goal. The GSMA is working on relevant models and agentic systems through the Open Telco AI initiative and TM Forum is focusing on frameworks and standards to align the industry and ensure interoperability.

They labelled the collaboration as being “about connecting the AI stack end-to-end, combining shared models, common frameworks and practical deployment pathways, with the trust required for critical network environments”.

Problem
Explaining the rationale for the closer ties between the organisations, Powell and Tiller argued adoption of AI is more complex in telecoms than other industries, but is a board-level priority in many organisations.

Among the difficulties cited is the multi-vendor nature of network architecture, with fragmented, siloed data and “very little tolerance for error”.

They also noted frontier AI models are not designed for operators and have not been trained on industry-specific data, leaving deployments limited to areas outside of the network layer such as customer experience.

Data published by GSMA Intelligence noted 16% of AI deployments target network use cases, despite networks accounting for 34% of opex.

The organisations believe the telecoms industry needs to “align to solve these challenges for itself, building AI approaches that reflect the complexity, economics and operational realities of the industry”.

The post GSMA, TM Forum team on telecom AI 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.

The post Orange readies AI chief succession appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) closed an AWS-3 re-auction with gross winning bids topping $3.5 billion in what was the agency’s first spectrum sale after a four-year lapse in activity.

Bidding concluded for Auction 113 yesterday (23 June) after 72 rounds for the 200 licences across the 1695-1710MHz, 1755-1780MHz and 2155-2180MHz bands.

All the licences received bids in the process, which had 17 qualified participants and began on 2 June.

The frequencies were originally auctioned to Dish Network, which is now part of EchoStar, in 2014 but never made it into service after a series of defaults and bid withdrawals left them sitting unused in the FCC’s inventory for more than a decade.

In 2015, Dish Network affiliates Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless surrendered a number of spectrum licences worth $3.5 billion after a dispute with the FCC over discounts.

In April, the FCC and EchoStar reached an agreement which included the latter dropping a lawsuit it filed in a US Court of Appeals over the defaults by Northstar and SNR.

The financial total carries significant regulatory implications. Up to $3.3 billion of the proceeds will be legally directed to cover funds borrowed for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, commonly known as the “rip and replace” initiative to swap out Huawei and ZTE gear from US networks.

Surpassing the $3.5 billion mark clears the $2.9 billion threshold required for EchoStar to avoid paying a potential shortfall payment to the regulator under a prior settlement framework.

While specific winning bidders remain anonymous under strict anti-collusion quiet period rules, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US and SpaceX are widely expected to have driven the demand.

The event marks a milestone for FCC chair Brendan Carr, representing the return of the agency’s auction power.

“After years on the sidelines, FCC auctions are finally back,” Carr stated. “Today’s successful auction generated billions of dollars in competitive bids to put spectrum to effective commercial use, and it bolsters competition in the wireless marketplace.”

The FCC plans to carry the momentum into its upcoming Upper C-Band auction, tracking on schedule to meet a congressional deadline to auction at least 100MHz of the spectrum by July 2027.

The post FCC wraps AWS-3 re-auction with $3.5B in bids appeared first on Mobile World Live.

LIVE FROM MWC SHANGHAI 2026: AI naturally dominated the opening keynote session of this year’s event, with China Mobile and Filipino operator Globe Telecom offering insight into consumer benefits of the tech and how it is driving growth at both companies.

Carl Cruz, CEO and president of Globe Telecom (pictured), outlined how his business is arguably one of the most advanced operators globally in terms of implementing AI for its own employee work practices as well as customer use cases.

It is a journey which started in 2024 when Globe Telecom established a group to lead its adoption of AI technology and created the position of chief AI officer (CAIO). The role was taken up by Anton Bonifacio and since widened to become Chief Intelligence and Trust Officer (CITO), leading the integrated structure of key technology and enabling groups across AI, data, cybersecurity and digital policy.

“Our goal was simple,” declared Cruz. “Democratise technology so innovation could come from anywhere. We see AI not as a threat but as a tool for power and growth.”

To that end, Cruz said Globe Telecom had witnessed more than 80 citizen-developed use cases across the business using a hub and spoke operating model. He cited other statistics claiming AI is now embedded in 90% of Globe’s business practices, with more than 260 relevant projects running across all business units.

Cruz put the AI focus on four main areas: hyper personalisation; customer experience; autonomous networks; and the creation of new products and services.

He gave the example of how Globe Telecom used AI to build a new billing agent: “It used to take days, even weeks, to reconcile billing. Today it takes seconds and minutes.”

“It’s about deepening customer relevance, unlocking new value and creating new growth engines for Globe.”

Cruz also talked up Globe Telecom’s AI Fiesta initiative, an affordable aggregator platform which bundles leading global AI models including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini Pro, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Grok under a single, budget-friendly subscription. It is designed to democratise AI access for students, creators and small business owners.

And the operator has launched Globe Cloud, a personal cloud storage and file-backup service. Running Synchronoss technology, the app allows users to free up device space, sync media across devices, and use AI tools for editing and transforming images.

“AI at Globe is not an end to itself, it is a means to serve customers better, unlock new opportunities and growth,” Cruz said. “It’s not about using AI everywhere, it’s about using AI where it matters most; most importantly the communities we serve”.

“We are only scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

China Mobile: AI for All
The world’s largest operator China Mobile opened the keynote with a presentation tagged Mobile AI – AI for All.

Chair Zhongyue Chen highlighted how AI is enabling a hearing-impaired man to carry out everyday tasks.

“AI should not only be serving the elite or remain the domain of the masses,” Chen said.

The company claimed it is open to partnerships to further boost its AI offering. “We are not building a closed garden service for ourselves.”

And its AI for All mantra encompasses a variety of sectors, with Chen highlighting a focus on consumer services, showcasing how the technology is being used to supercharge the TV viewing experience in China of the FIFA World Cup; industries, for example in steel manufacturing where AI is helping reduce exposure to dangerously high temperatures; and infrastructure, where AI is measuring the power of individual models and also the capacity of platforms.

The post Globe, China Mobile drive AI use cases appeared first on Mobile World Live.

LIVE FROM MWC SHANGHAI 2026: Vivek Badrinath, director general of the GSMA (pictured), spotlighted humanoid robotics, the low-altitude economy and autonomous vehicles as three of the most promising markets emerging from Asia’s mobile ecosystem, as he underlined the importance of telco infrastructure in powering the continent’s future.

Badrinath declared the mobile industry had moved on from connecting people and businesses and now has a new opportunity “to connect and coordinate intelligent systems at scale”.

“Systems that sense, decide and act in the real world across our cities, infrastructure and economies.”

The first of his three big opportunities for Asia, robotics and embodied AI, is showcased by how robots are moving from production laboratories to the real economy.

“They are moving into our factories, our restaurants, our airports and, one day, our homes. And while the applications differ across sectors, they all depend on the same foundation: advanced connectivity.”

Badrinath highlighted demonstrations on show at MWC Shanghai this week including the Robot Football Challenge, along with recent Chinese operator developments as signs of the progress.

“In hospitality, China Mobile is developing robots that support order collection, preparation and delivery. In sectors like aviation and logistics, China Telecom is working with AgiBot on a new Robotics-as-a-Service model. And in chemical industries, China Unicom is showing how robots can inspect, diagnose and respond to hazards, taking on tasks that are too dangerous for humans alone.”

Low-altitude economy
The GSMA boss also picked up on a new layer of mobility emerging quickly in China, drones, UAVs and other low-altitude services.

He stated there are more than 3 million registered drones in China, with thousands in the air at any one time during peak periods.

In 2025, total flight time surpassed 45 million hours, a 70% increase on 2024.

“And with that scale comes a new set of opportunities: China Mobile, for example, is employing drones for site inspections in remote facilities, like power stations, solar farms and railways. At the same time, China Telecom is using them to monitor air quality and detect pollution in Nanjing. And China Unicom is advancing delivery use cases, including blood supply transport to hospitals in Anyang.”

“But with these developments also come new responsibilities. All three operators are building platforms to help monitor airspace, identify risks and support safer operations. What we are seeing is a new frontier of economic activity. And its success will depend on secure, intelligent and uninterrupted connectivity.”

On the road
The third area piquing Badrinath’s interest is how vehicles have become intelligent, software-defined platforms aware of their surroundings and connected to the world around them.

He said Chinese operators are driving this shift: “China Mobile is building an AI ecosystem that connects user devices, vehicles and smart home environments. China Telecom is integrating non-terrestrial networks into vehicles to support remote maintenance and emergency connectivity. And China Unicom is pioneering Vehicle-to-Everything capabilities, enabling hazard detection and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.”

“All of this points to a future where our vehicles are no longer standalone products, but vital parts of our connected world.”

Best yet to come
He issued a call to action that the future would not be built by operators alone.

“It will require continued collaboration between mobile operators, technology companies, industry partners and governments.”

“If we get that collaboration right, I’m confident the most transformative applications are still to come.”

The post GSMA boss puts Asia focus on robotics, drones appeared first on Mobile World Live.

El consejero delegado de SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son, ha descartado la propuesta de la empresa de Elon Musk, SpaceX, de construir centros de datos de inteligencia artificial en el espacio, al considerar que la economía del proyecto favorece claramente la infraestructura terrestre.

Bloomberg ha recogido sus palabras durante la junta anual de accionistas de SoftBank. El directivo ha sostenido que “la principal ventaja” de eliminar los costes eléctricos instalando centros de datos en el espacio se ve contrarrestada por “las mayores tarifas de transporte, el mantenimiento y los retrasos en las comunicaciones”.

Son ha respondido así a un accionista que quiso saber si SoftBank consideraría una estrategia similar a la del máximo responsable de SpaceX, quien solicitó en febrero la aprobación regulatoria en Estados Unidos para desplegar hasta un millón de satélites solares diseñados para operar como centros de datos de IA. Musk defiende que el acceso ininterrumpido a la energía solar permitirá “lograr una eficiencia transformadora en costes y consumo energético”, y sostiene que “a largo plazo, la IA espacial es, obviamente, la única forma de escalar”.

Pese a calificar al empresario tecnológico de “agente de cambio notable”, Son ha dejado claro que SoftBank concentrará sus esfuerzos en construir capacidad de centros de datos “formidable” en tierra. “En la batalla por la IA, los próximos años serán mucho más determinantes que lo que pueda ocurrir dentro de una década”, ha apuntado, para concluir que “quien golpea primero, gana”.

A pesar de la creciente competencia, Son ha argumentado que la IA aún tiene recorrido para multiplicarse “diez veces, cien veces”, y que hay espacio más que suficiente para que OpenAI y sus rivales, entre ellos Anthropic y Google, crezcan ante el aumento sostenido de la demanda.

Las declaraciones ponen de manifiesto la distancia que separa la estrategia de Son de la visión a largo plazo de Musk. SpaceX ha formalizado este mes una salida a bolsa valorada en 75.000 millones de dólares (unos 68.000 millones de euros), con los fondos destinados a financiar su iniciativa de IA espacial y la expansión de la red de satélites Starlink.

Mientras tanto, SoftBank ha comprometido cerca de 65.000 millones de dólares (unos 59.000 millones de euros) en OpenAI, pese a informaciones que señalan que esas inversiones tensionan su balance, y ha prometido destinar cientos de miles de millones de dólares a infraestructura de IA y centros de datos terrestres en todo el mundo.

Con información de Amiya Johar.

The post El CEO de SoftBank descarta la apuesta de Musk por los centros de datos orbitales appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Meta Platforms ha dado un nuevo paso en su apuesta por las gafas inteligentes con el lanzamiento de una línea de modelos de precio reducido bajo su propia marca, una novedad en la trayectoria de la empresa.

Bautizadas como Meta Glasses, la firma ha presentado tres estilos en colaboración con el fabricante EssilorLuxottica, con un precio de partida de 299 dólares (unos 270 euros al cambio).

En la gama de entrada se ubican los modelos Meta Adventurer y Meta Fury, mientras que una variante de corte más fashion, desarrollada junto a la celebridad Kylie Jenner, se comercializará a 399 dólares (unos 360 euros).

El movimiento marca un cambio de rumbo respecto a la estrategia que había situado a Meta entre los proveedores de referencia en el segmento, donde hasta ahora había apostado por alianzas con marcas consolidadas como Ray-Ban y Oakley.

Los últimos modelos de ambas firmas arrancaban en 799 dólares (unos 725 euros al cambio) y 499 dólares (unos 455 euros), respectivamente, en su lanzamiento de septiembre de 2025.

Competencia

Según Meta, la nueva línea comprende 26 estilos que, como el resto de su catálogo, incorporan funciones de inteligencia artificial, altavoces de oído abierto, una matriz de micrófonos avanzada, más de ocho horas de autonomía y opciones de privacidad reforzadas.

La empresa ha subrayado también la compatibilidad con Muse Spark, su primer modelo desarrollado por Meta Superintelligence Labs específicamente para sus productos, que actúa como motor de la plataforma Meta AI.

El segmento de las gafas inteligentes vive una creciente efervescencia competitiva: según informaciones recientes, Apple prevé presentar su propio dispositivo antes de que acabe el año, con Google y Samsung Electronics siguiendo la misma senda.

Con información de Kavit Majithia.

The post Meta presenta sus primeras gafas conectadas de gama baja y marca propia appeared first on Mobile World Live.

El organismo de autorregulación publicitaria Autocontrol ha estimado parcialmente una reclamación de Orange contra una campaña reciente de Telefónica (Movistar), centrada en el bloqueo de llamadas basura. La resolución, ratificada por el pleno del organismo a finales de mayo de 2026, concluye que la operadora no ha podido acreditar la superioridad absoluta que sugiere su reclamo publicitario.

“Tono excluyente”

El núcleo de la disputa se encuentra en el mensaje “La red más segura”, que acompañaba al dato de 190 millones de llamadas fraudulentas bloqueadas. Según el jurado de Autocontrol, este eslogan tiene un “tono excluyente”, ya que transmite al consumidor medio una posición de superioridad absoluta y global de Telefónica respecto al resto de competidores en materia de seguridad.

El organismo argumenta que la seguridad de una red es un concepto amplio que no depende exclusivamente de la capacidad de frenar el fraude telefónico, sino que engloba otros factores como la estabilidad del servicio, la resiliencia tecnológica, la protección frente a diversas amenazas o la integridad de las comunicaciones. Al no haber aportado pruebas que demuestren esa hegemonía en todos los parámetros de seguridad, Autocontrol considera que Telefónica ha vulnerado el principio de veracidad recogido en la norma 14 de su Código de Conducta Publicitaria.

Rectificación

Como consecuencia, Telefónica ha sido instada a rectificar su campaña y a cesar de inmediato el uso de la frase cuestionada en cualquier soporte, ya sea televisión, radio, internet o vallas exteriores. No obstante, la resolución no supone una derrota total para la operadora: el jurado ha dado por válida la cifra de 190 millones de llamadas bloqueadas, al considerar que Telefónica sí ha aportado documentación y metodología suficientes para acreditarlo. Asimismo, ha rechazado que la campaña sea denigratoria o constituya una comparación ilícita con otros operadores.

Cabe recordar que MasOrange ofrece también en todas sus marcas un servicio similar de identificación de llamadas de origen dudoso, apoyándose en la tecnología de Hiya.

Rivalidad entre operadores

Segun Cinco Días, el caso se enmarca en una intensa pugna comercial y jurídica entre Telefónica y Orange —ahora encuadrada en MasOrange—. Ambas firmas han trasladado su competencia más allá de las tarifas, centrándose en la ciberseguridad y la confianza digital como argumentos de venta.

El trasfondo de esta hostilidad tiene también una dimensión de mercado: MasOrange, la primera operadora española por número de clientes, ha perdido más de un millón de líneas móviles por portabilidad desde su fusión en abril de 2024, mientras que Telefónica, que lidera el mercado en términos de facturación, acumula más de dos años de ganancias netas en este apartado. La batalla se extiende asimismo al ámbito institucional, con recursos cruzados por grandes contratos públicos, como el de ciberseguridad del Estado o la red de comunicaciones de la Administración (CORA).

The post Obligan a Telefónica a retirar el eslogan “la red más segura” por publicidad engañosa appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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.

The post Orange keeps finger on remote monitoring pulse appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Support for so-called physical AI including automated vehicles, robot dogs, drones and semi-humanoid units was one of the main market drivers SNS Telecom & IT cited in a forecast annual private 5G spending would top $6.6 billion by 2030.

In its Private 5G Market: 2026-2030 report, the company predicted investments in the networks would grow at a CAGR of 34% over the period.

It expects a substantial proportion of this spending to be on highly localised networks for physical AI, automation and workforce connectivity across enterprise campuses and industrial facilities.

SNS Telecom & IT also pointed to continued adoption of 5G architecture for mission-critical uses by defence agencies, public safety organisations, railway companies and utility providers.  

In a statement on the top-line findings of the research, SNS Telecom & IT noted 5G could “address far more demanding performance requirements” than previous generations of mobile technology and is being positioned “as a viable alternative to physically wired connections for industrial-grade communications between machines, robots and control systems”.

The analyst house previously predicted annual private 5G investment would reach $5 billion by the end of 2028.

The post Analysts tip rise of robots to boost private 5G spend appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal approved a £3 billion class action lawsuit against Apple over its iCloud service, allowing consumer group Which? to proceed with a claim on behalf of nearly 40 million users across the country.

The lawsuit alleges Apple abused its dominant position and breached UK competition law by “trapping” users into using iCloud. Which? argued Apple steered iOS users towards its own cloud storage service and limited visibility of alternative providers, leading to “rip-off” prices and lower levels of free storage.

The case is expected to go to trial in 2028 after the UK court granted Which? a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO), clearing the path for what could become one of the UK’s largest consumer tech claims.

At the centre of the dispute is Apple’s cloud storage model, where users receive 5GB of free storage before being directed towards paid tiers. Pricing then rises across multiple levels, from 99p per month for 50GB to £54.99 for 12TB in the UK. The consumer group argued this structure reflects a lack of competition, with users “locked-in” once their devices become reliant on iCloud for photos, messages and device data backups.

Strong message
The claim, first filed in November 2024, will cover consumers living in the UK who used iCloud services between 8 November 2018 and 8 June 2026. Potential compensation is estimated at around £77 per user if it succeeds.

Which? also called on the tech giant to resolve the dispute without litigation, urging the company to offer consumers refunds and open up iOS “to allow users a real choice for cloud services”.

However, Reuters reported Apple previously rejected the allegations, arguing users are not required to use iCloud and that third-party alternatives remain available.

Which? CEO Anabel Hoult said the group “wants to make clear that no company, no matter how powerful, can get away with abusing its position”. “The granting of the CPO means we’re one step closer to getting consumers the redress we believe they are owed from Apple,” she noted, adding, “this should send a strong message to any other companies using anti-competitive tactics”.

The post UK court greenlights £3B Apple iCloud lawsuit appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Meta Platforms deepened its smart glasses push with the launch of a set of lower-priced models under its own brand name for the first time.

Called Meta Glasses, the company stated it is introducing three styles in partnership with manufacturer EssilorLuxottica, at a starting price of $299.

At the lower end of the price point are the Meta Adventurer and Meta Fury options, while a fashion-inspired variant designed in collaboration with celebrity Kylie Jenner costs $399.

The moves marks a change from Meta’s strategy which has made the company a leading smart glasses provider, with it previously launching eyewear in partnership with well-known brands in the segment such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Recent Ray-Ban and Oakley ranges had starting prices of $799 and $499 respectively when they were launched in September 2025.

Competition
Meta stated is offering 26 styles through the new line-up, and like with all the glasses in its portfolio they offer a range of AI features, open ear speakers, an advanced multi-mic array, over 8 hours of battery life and advanced privacy settings.

It also highlighted compatibility with Muse Spark, its first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs built specifically for its products, powering the Meta AI platform.

Competition is ramping up in the smart glasses sector, with Apple reportedly due to launch its own offering later this year, as is Google and Samsung Electronics.

The post Meta unveils low-end, own-brand smart glasses appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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.

The post Iridium releases hybrid IoT module appeared first on Mobile World Live.

UK operator Virgin Media O2 announced plans to begin its 2G network switch-off in Summer 2029, joining rivals BT and VodafoneThree in setting a date to wind down the legacy technology.

Its timeline is similar to that of the country’s other operators, with BT expecting to begin deactivating 2G in May 2029 and VodafoneThree set to turn off its last sites in Spring 2030.

All three operators have signed a voluntary government charter for retirement of the technology. Commitments in that document include undertaking a gradual process starting in trial areas, thorough testing, and work to aid migration of IoT devices supporting “life critical services” which are currently tied to 2G.  

VMO2 noted decommissioning 2G would mean it could switch resources to 4G and 5G, having turned off 3G in 2025.

Advantages cited include redeployment of spectrum resources, cutting energy consumption and generally upping service levels for customers.

The operator reports its 2G network currently carries less than 0.5% of all data used by its customers.

VMO2 CTO Jeanie York said “having recently switched off our 3G network and signed up to the government 2G switch-off charter, we know exactly how to do this responsibly and without disrupting customers. While most customers won’t need to take any action at all, some businesses might need to start planning for this now”.

“We will communicate with customers directly and ensure we support everyone as this essential upgrade takes place.”

The post VMO2 sets timeline to pull plug on 2G appeared first on Mobile World Live.

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son reportedly rejected the case put forward by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build AI data centres in space, arguing the economics favour terrestrial infrastructure.

Bloomberg cited comments made by Son at SoftBank’s annual shareholder meeting, who stated the “the main advantage” of eliminating electricity costs by putting AI data centres in space is outweighed by “higher fees to transport everything into space, maintenance and communication delays”.

Son was apparently responding to a shareholder who asked whether SoftBank would pursue a strategy similar to that proposed by the SpaceX chief, who filed for US regulatory approval in February to deploy up to 1 million solar-powered satellites designed to operate as AI data centres. Musk argues persistent access to solar power will “achieve transformative cost and energy efficiency”, adding “in the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale”.

While describing the tech mogul as a “remarkable agent of change”, Son reportedly said SoftBank would instead focus on building “formidable” data centre capacity on Earth. “In the battle for AI, the next few years will be far more important than what might happen a decade or so from now,” he noted, adding “he who strikes first wins”.

Despite intensifying competition, Son argued AI has scope for “ten-fold, a hundred-fold” growth, adding there was ample room for OpenAI and rivals including Anthropic and Google to expand amid accelerating AI demand.

The remarks put Son’s strategy at odds with Musk’s long-term vision for AI. SpaceX launched a record-breaking $75 billion IPO earlier this month, with proceeds funnelled towards funding its space-based AI initiative alongside the expansion of its Starlink satellite network.

Meanwhile, SoftBank has committed around $65 billion to OpenAI despite reports the investments were straining its balance sheets, and pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in terrestrial AI infrastructure and data centres globally.

The post SoftBank chief dismisses Musk orbital data centre gambit appeared first on Mobile World Live.

The Five Eyes intelligence agency called for urgent action to respond to the evolving AI landscape, warning while the technology would help improve defences over time, it also accelerates the speed, scale and sophistication of attacks.

Five Eyes is a global intelligence-sharing alliance between the UK, Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand: it stated frontier models are expected to exceed current industry expectations, transforming offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.

The timeline for this “is not years, it is months”, meaning action must be swift “to remain ahead”.

“In this environment, cyber resilience is integral to advancing business continuity, market confidence and long-term value,” it stated.

As part of a number of recommendations, the alliance urged leaders to understand and assess, risk, readiness and accountability; prioritise foundational cybersecurity practices and controls; empower cyber leaders with authority and resources; and actively engage as threats evolve.

“Success will come from getting the basics right, acting quickly and integrating cybersecurity into core business strategy. Those that do not will face growing operational and strategic disadvantage.”

It emphasised cyber risk cannot be treated purely as a technical issue, but rather a core business risk, arguing ensuring systems are secure by design should become standard industry practice, resilience should depend on a single solution or technology and there must be an understanding fresh vulnerabilities would emerge as AI systems evolve.

Five Eyes also called for better processes to swiftly patch faulty software, address legacy systems, and limit unnecessary system access and external connectivity.

On the flip side, the alliance stated AI should be used to bolster defences, explaining organisations integrating AI tools into security operations can detect vulnerabilities faster, improve quality, monitor unusual behaviour and respond to threats swiftly.

The post Five Eyes sounds alarm on AI cyber threat appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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.