Siemens and HD Hyundai added momentum to moves to apply AI in specific ways, agreeing to develop methods to improve shipbuilding processes in a deal primarily intended to boost capacity in the US.

The deal is valued in the low-triple-digit millions of dollars range and involves using Siemens’ Xcelerator digital business platform to provide an overview of engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and shipyard operations.

Siemens explained the “digital shipyard” concept holds the potential to speed production and improve quality, facets expected to benefit the entire shipbuilding value chain.

It stated such a step-up would help satisfy growing “demand for greater and more advanced shipbuilding capacity in the US and other markets”.

Siemens anticipates benefits for full modernisation schemes along with projects taking a more staged approach to upgrades.

President and CEO Roland Busch said the companies are moving to use AI to help shipbuilders manage the “enormous complexity” of producing “advanced vessels”.

The companies are “building the operating system for industrial AI” by “connecting data, software and automation”.

Siemens and HD Hyundai also plan to back the Korea-US Shipbuilding Partnership Centre, a site opened in Washington D.C. yesterday (23 July) to foster collaborations on digitising shipbuilding which The Korea Times reports forms part of a $150 billion investment in the industry in the US agreed in a bilateral trade deal with South Korea in 2025.

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Meta introduced a standalone app for sellers on its Facebook Marketplace platform, adding AI tools and sales management features to enable merchants to manage listings, reach buyers, and grow their business.

Sellers, the dedicated app, brings together listing management, buyer communications, inventory tracking and sales insights, while syncing with existing Marketplace accounts so users can carry over listings, messages and sales history.

The new app includes AI-powered listing creation, allowing sellers to upload photos and have Meta AI generate details including titles, descriptions, suggested pricing and categories. It also provides a unified inbox for buyer conversations and analytics covering views, clicks, messages and completed sales.

Meta said its original platform Marketplace, which launched a decade ago integrated directly in Facebook, now handles 430 million item listings each month globally. The existing Marketplace platform will remain available through Facebook, with a web version being tested for Seller app users. Android testing is also underway.

Seller is available through the App Store for US users aged 18 and over.

The launch comes as Meta seeks to expand Marketplace’s capabilities and compete more directly with established e-commerce platforms including eBay. The company has previously focused on improving commerce and community features across its platform, including the release of a dedicated Facebook groups app called Forum in May.

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Verizon CEO Dan Schulman revealed in the company’s Q2 earnings call it had struck a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for data centre connectivity, while teasing other agreements will be announced before the end of the year.

Schulman said it will provide dark fibre connectivity for Google’s data centres, before adding it expects to announce other deals which together will be worth “multiple billions of dollars in revenue over the next several years”.

Details about the Google partnership were not disclosed in its second quarter earnings statement.

Over the period, Schulman stated its results provide “clear, compelling evidence” a recent shake-up to its consumer plans “is driving a structural inflection point across our entire business”.

“We are accelerating across our key metrics, achieving a step-change in churn reduction while lowering our customer acquisition and retention costs,” he said, while adding its core connectivity business is gaining momentum and the emergence of AI infrastructure revenue was helping reshape its growth trajectory.

Simplified service plans and a new loyalty rewards programme helped the company draw 184,000 postpaid phone net additions during the quarter, representing the highest gains in the segment in the past five years. Mobile and broadband net additions tallied up to 550,000, up 230,000 year-on-year.

Total revenue was broadly flat at $34.4 billion. Mobility and broadband service revenue hit $23.4 billion, a 2.8% increase, but this was offset by a nearly 20% decline in equipment revenue due to lower upgrade volumes.

Net income dropped 22.9% to $3.9 billion, primarily driven by a $1.8 billion hit in pre-tax special items including a $746 million loss related to its international wireline and managed network services business.

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Regulatory pressure over TikTok’s child safety measures continued to mount as the European Commission (EC) warned a preliminary look at the company’s protections found it wanting in various aspects.

The initial results of a formal probe into potential breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA) show TikTok is falling short of the required standards. The EC explained a public-access setting means child accounts can still be viewed by all kinds of people whether they use the social media platform or not.

Another risk involves the content of 16- and 17-year-olds, which the EC found can be featured in recommendations to other users, presenting the risk of “unwanted contact” or cyberbullying.

It is inviting TikTok to view and respond to the preliminary findings and emphasised there is no prejudice to any final decisions in the investigation.

If TikTok is ultimately judged to be in breach of the DSA, the EC “may issue a non-compliance decision, which can trigger a fine”.

Other areas of concern the EC highlighted include an ability to view the profile pictures of children even when accounts are set to private mode, with discovery available if they are contacts of other users or by non-users of TikTok.

The EC explained the DSA requires platforms which children can use to “ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security”, a standard it considers TikTok may not be meeting.

UK regulator Ofcom is conducting its own probe into TikTok’s child protection measures.

The EC previously warned TikTok over its “potentially addictive design” as part of the same investigation.

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Mobile World Live brings you our top three picks of the week as OpenAI’s models hacked an AI start-up during testing, Samsung unveiled its latest AI-powered foldables, and Verizon and AT&T logged record World Cup network traffic.

OpenAI models hack AI start-up

What happened: OpenAI revealed that a combination of its advanced AI models autonomously breached a controlled testing environment and launched a cyberattack on AI start-up Hugging Face.

Why it matters: During an internal benchmark designed to evaluate advanced cyber capabilities, the models exploited vulnerabilities in OpenAI’s research infrastructure to gain internet access before using stolen credentials and zero-day flaws to access Hugging Face’s systems. OpenAI said it had intentionally relaxed cyber safeguards in the sandboxed environment to test the models’ capabilities, stating the models were “hyperfocused” on completing the evaluation task and went to “extreme lengths”, though the company warned such events are likely to “become more commonplace” as models grow more capable.

Jason Goode, VP at IT service AppViewX, argued “this is the wake-up call the industry needed”, as the models “didn’t defeat their guardrails so much as exploit what their environments already permitted”. He said the episode underlined the “why model governance alone was never going to be enough” and how “the control point has to be the agent’s identity and what it’s actually allowed to touch”. Meanwhile Dan Gray, chief systems architect at technology R&D firm ChronoDyne Systems, added the incident should not be viewed as AI “going rogue”, but as a “cross-organisational control-chain failure” in which the models provided the “speed, persistence and adaptive exploitation capability”, while the organisations supplied “the objective, permissions, infrastructure and attack surface”.

OpenAI models hack AI start-up

Samsung unveils 3 new foldables packed with AI

What happened: Samsung Electronics expanded its foldables portfolio with three new smartphones at its latest Galaxy Unpacked event in London.

Why it matters: The lineup washeadlined by the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, Samsung’s first foldable to carry the Ultra branding. The vendor also refreshed the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Galaxy Z Flip8, placing AI capabilities and slimmer designs at the centre. Alongside the handsets, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2, while teasing AI-enabled smart glasses developed with Google and Qualcomm. Futuresource Consulting principal analyst Rasika D’Souza noted that despite forecasts smartwatch shipments will top 200 million units in 2026, the market is maturing as growth shifts to wearables including smart glasses and rings, an opportunity targeted by Samsung. She added the event showed Samsung’s strategy “has evolved from simple integration of AI features to now creating AI assistants that can assist meaningfully in daily tasks”. Meanwhile, FDM CCS Insight chief analyst Ben Wood said Samsung is “doubling down on foldables at exactly the moment the category is about to get its biggest credibility boost”, arguing Apple’s rumoured launch of a foldable iPhone later this year “could also be the moment that turns foldables from a niche premium category into a mainstream flagship battleground”.

Samsung unveils 3 new foldables packed with AI

Verizon, AT&T tally massive data usage during World Cup

What happened: Verizon and AT&T outlined the scale of network infrastructure deployed to support connectivity during the FIFA World Cup, reporting record data traffic and major capacity upgrades across US host venues.

Why it matters: Verizon said its network carried almost 500TB of data across all US host stadiums. The operator boosted stadium capacity by three to five times, installed thousands of under-seat and overhead antennas, and deployed nearly 140 small-cell projects and temporary sites beyond venues. Verizon described the World Cup as an opportunity to “test, refine, and validate our enterprise network capabilities, stressing that many upgrades will remain after the tournament to extend the value of the infrastructure into long-term assets for host cities. Meanwhile, AT&T reported it carried around one petabyte of nationwide traffic during the tournament after preparing its network for two to three times normal demand across 11 US host cities and 146 venues. Verizon’s deployment supported live broadcast production alongside fan connectivity, while AT&T highlighted the role of its FirstNet public safety network in coordinating emergency services.

Verizon, AT&T tally massive data usage during World Cup

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Indian IT company HCLTech teamed with AI start-up Sarvam to build a data centre in the eastern state of Odisha, tapping increasing demand for the technology and cloud computing.

The project is expected to cost around INR142.6 billion ($1.5 billion), with financial assistance from the government of Odisha, HCLTech stated.

It pitched the data centre as central to boosting sovereign AI and the local developer ecosystem, employing the full-stack of its capabilities with the technology along with Sarvam’s foundation models to tailor services for private and public sector enterprises.

The company stated the data centre would also help to deliver multi-lingual AI-based services in line with calls from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the technology to benefit all citizens.

HCLTech is building its relationship with Sarvam AI after acquiring a 10.5% stake in the business for $150 million.

This month, it struck a $1.1 billion deal with an unnamed European company.

HCLTech CEO and MD C Vijayakumar said the data centre in Odisha is an important milestone in its full stack AI play, explaining the state offers “a progressive policy environment backed by excellent infrastructure”.

In November 2025, rival Tata Consultancy Services also announced plans to develop AI data centres in partnership with private equity company TPG and investing around $2 billion.

HCLTech separately outlined a plan to open a technology centre in the city of Bhubaneswar, also in Odisha.

It intends for the site to be operational by 2028, housing around 5,000 employees.

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Telefonica and materials producer Wurth Group boxed clever in applying advanced computing and AI to a logistics scenario, delivering various benefits in packing efficiency and a reduced environmental impact.

The companies worked with Spanish applied research and technology development centre Tecnalia and quantum computing start-up QCentroid to test a means of optimising logistics packing processes.

Telefonica explained the approach employs quantum computing and AI algorithms and was proven to improve packing efficiency “across 14% of the more than 6,000 orders processed”.

The sum translated to a 3% cut in the number of boxes used, in turn lowering the volume of cargo transported by road along with cardboard usage.

Leonor Ostos, director of product and service development with Telefonica Espana, said the work with the domestic unit of Wurth proved a combination of quantum computing and AI could improve services, provided of course the underlying communications network is up to the task.

Wurth Espana chief operations officer Begona Lopez said the fastenings and assembly materials producer is always seeking ways to improve efficiency and the project enabled it to explore the potential of the technologies “from a highly practical and operations-focused perspective”.

Telefonica is establishing something of a reputation for researching the potential of quantum computing, with work on data protection and pharmaceutical research notable examples.

The operator asserts a leading position in providing “quantum-safe communications services”, pointing to a pilot with a Spanish police force and the opening of a dedicated research centre which it employed in the Wurth work.

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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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Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured) rejected concerns Google is losing ground in the AI race after delays to the Gemini 3.5 Pro model, as the company posted a strong second quarter on booming demand for AI and cloud services.

Speaking on the company’s Q2 earnings call, Pichai acknowledged Google needed to improve in areas including AI coding, but said it remained “very committed and very confident of being at the frontier”.

The chief faced repeated questions over whether Gemini could keep pace with rivals in the AI race after Google delayed the launch of its next advanced model in June. He said Google is “committed to being at the full parade of frontier,” offering models at multiple price points including its more affordable Flash models.

Pichai argued “the frontier is an incredibly dynamic space, and it’s fiercely moving forward”, stressing “there are many attributes on which we are still at the frontier”.

He pointed to Gemini 3.6 Flash, released this week, explaining it improved by more than 10 points on a coding benchmark over its predecessor while using fewer tokens. He also revealed the company has begun training Gemini 4, describing it as its “most ambitious pre-training run yet”.

Once Gemini 4 lands, he added the company plans on “picking up pace and releasing models almost at a monthly cadence”.

Strong demand
In Q2 2026, Alphabet pinpointed Google Cloud, which continued to benefit from enterprise demand for AI infrastructure and services.

Revenue from the unit soared 82% to $24.8 billion and operating income more than tripled to $8.8 billion. Google Services revenue increased 15% to $94.5 billion, driven by a 17% spike in Search, 15% in Google subscriptions, platforms and devices, and a 13% rise in YouTube advertising.

Total revenue rose 24% year-on-year to $119.8 billion, Alphabet’s 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

Net income surged 298% to $112.1 billion, as it benefitted from a net gain of $98 billion on equity securities. It did not disclose further information, but the company is known to have a sizeable stake in SpaceX and has investment in Anthropic.

“Our AI investments are redefining what’s possible across every part of our business,” Pichai explained, adding ballooning demand for AI infrastructure and enterprise AI solutions helped drive the results.

The search giant also continued ramping AI investment, expecting to spend between $195 billion and $205 billion in capital expenditure this year, up from its previous forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion.

“We have increased ​our capacity quite significantly over the past three years. The demand still outpaces that investment,” explained Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi, adding that although “we’re still in a supply constraint environment”, the company is “seeing very strong demand, both from external cloud customers as well as across the business”.

Looking ahead, the company added it expects capex to “increase significantly” in 2027 as AI demand swells.

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Rockwell Automation and industrial AI company Augury spotted an opportunity to help industries make sense of the vast pools of data the technology is now generating, teaming on a product focused on delivering usable information to manufacturers.

The US-headquartered automation company explained the partnership with Augury would benefit businesses seeking to employ AI in predictive ways spanning maintenance, reliability and overall industrial performance.

Rockwell Automation’s own research indicates less than half of all data collected is being used in effective ways, despite the growing ability for AI to execute on the insights it provides.

“Manufacturers don’t need more alerts, they need a faster path to action,” Angela Rapko, VP and GM of Visualisation and Asset Management at Rockwell Automation explained.

The set-up uses relevant products from each company to provide the route highlighted by the executive: Rockwell Automation stated it enables manufacturers to go beyond “early issue detection and diagnosis”.

It emphasised the use of an Augury reliability agent and its own maintenance assistant as a key differentiator.

The Augury agent “continuously analyses machine conditions” for potential problems and generates ideas on how to avoid or fix them. Rockwell Automation’s assistant is used to make sense of the recommendations to provide “maintenance workflows, work orders and orchestration of execution activities”.

Rockwell Automation indicated the partnership could be foundational in future agentic AI developments in addition to the companies’ more practical aim of helping industrial players to improve the efficiency of their manufacturing operations.

The companies aim to provide initial access to the set-up from September.

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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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T-Mobile US CEO Srini Gopalan (pictured) insisted its second quarter earnings are proof its strategy is working, highlighting the success of customer-focussed initiatives which are leading to a surge in adoption of its premium packages.

Gopalan stated the company’s strategy is simple: “give customers the best network, the best value and the best experience, all in one place.”

“That’s how we eliminate trade-offs for our customers, and that’s what sets us apart, and our results represent another proof point that our strategy is working,” he added.

Since taking on the role in November 2025, Gopalan has changed the reporting structure in results announcements to no longer reveal changes in wireless customer additions.

However, it recorded net account additions of 277,000 in Q2, a 13% decrease year-on-year but up quarterly by 60,000.

Speaking to Reuters, COO Jon Freier stated a push towards more lucrative subscriber plans, which include customer loyalty incentives, unlimited data and device upgrades, is beginning to pay-off.

“We are seeing new customers really kind of adopt our most premium plans at a rate of about 60% of total sales,” he said.

Total sales for the quarter increased 8% to $22.8 billion, with total service revenue up the same amount to just shy of $19 billion. Net income was broadly flat at $3.2 billion, due to the impact of related costs on its UScellular merger.  

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Fibre proved fruitful for BT Group in the opening quarter of its fiscal 2027 (the period to end-June), becoming the key generator of broadband revenue as the operator booked record levels of connections and uptake.

BT added 514,000 FTTP connections in the three-month period alone, leaving it with a total of 23.4 million. The operator declared it is experiencing record demand for fibre services at its Openreach and consumer businesses.

In wireless, BT asserted EE “maintained its mobile leadership”, pointing to the receipt of a consumer award with category-topping figures in reliability, coverage and performance.

Its 5G network coverage hit 77% of the population.

CEO Allison Kirkby (pictured) declared it a “solid start” to the fiscal year, with gains in consumer customers increasingly backed by BT’s selection for “mission-critical” connections.

She said the consumer business is benefiting from ongoing investment in BT’s brands and services. It is also “stabilising” service revenue in its Business division on “sales order growth from major customers”.

Kirkby was of course positive about a recently-forged JV with Verizon and said BT is unparalleled in the “scale and pace” of work to upgrade the “digital backbone” of the UK.

BT’s numbers leave it “on track to deliver our targets, including cashflow of circa £2 billion”, the CEO explained.

The rising cost of finance impacted pre-tax profit, with the figure for continuing operations dropping from £526 million in fiscal Q1 2026 to £505 million. Revenue was flat at £4.3 billion.

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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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GSMA Intelligence estimated the cost of replacing equipment made by so-called high risk vendors (HRV) from telecoms networks in Europe will cost between €30 billion to €40 billion, based on data from operators representing almost half of the market.

In the study, independently commissioned and sponsored by seven operator groups, GSMA Intelligence put the cost of replacing mobile networks at €16 billion to €22 billion, equating to around €30 to €42 per mobile connection. This is driven by high exposure to HRV equipment and the cost of replacing equipment such as base stations.

Fixed network costs will hit up to €5 billion, representing the costs of fibre terminals, gateways and fixed wireless equipment. Transport networks, which includes optical switches, multiplexers and amplifiers will cost between €9 billion and €12 billion.

The figures cover only direct equipment replacement and exclude write-offs of existing assets, disruption cost, capacity constraints and broader impacts on future investment plans.

Higher prices
GSMA Intelligence further warned excluding HRV’s could reduce competitive pressure, leading to a 24% price increase in mobile network equipment, 19% in fixed network equipment and 10% in transport network equipment.

Higher prices would therefore raise operator investment costs by €8.5 billion between 2027 and 2030, with current budgets for mobile networks set at nearly €42 billion.

The European Commission outlined a proposal making it mandatory to “de-risk” European mobile telecoms networks from high-risk third party suppliers in January, as part of revisions to its Cybersecurity Act.

Over a five year period, it estimated phasing out equipment could lead to annual costs of €3.4 billion to €4.3 billion for operators, while investment in “trusted suppliers” could grow up to €2 billion per year.

Operators Deutsche Telekom, Fastweb, MEO, Orange, Telefonica, United Group and Vodafone Group took part in the GSMA Intelligence study, which was based on limited datasets provided by third parties.

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Según estimaciones de GSMA Intelligence, el coste de sustituir los equipos fabricados por los denominados proveedores de alto riesgo (HRV, por sus siglas en inglés) de las redes de telecomunicaciones en Europa oscilará entre los 30.000 y los 40.000 millones de euros, basándose en datos de operadores que representan casi la mitad del mercado.

En el estudio, encargado de forma independiente y patrocinado por siete grupos de operadores, GSMA Intelligence estimó el coste de la sustitución de las redes móviles entre 16.000 y 22.000 millones de euros, lo que equivale a entre 30 y 42 euros por conexión móvil. Esto se debe a la alta exposición a los equipos de alta frecuencia y al coste de la sustitución de equipos como las estaciones base.

Los costes de la red fija alcanzarán los 5.000 millones de euros, correspondientes a los terminales de fibra óptica, las pasarelas y los equipos inalámbricos fijos. Las redes de transporte, que incluyen conmutadores ópticos, multiplexores y amplificadores, costarán entre 9.000 y 12.000 millones de euros.

Las cifras solo abarcan la sustitución directa de equipos y excluyen las amortizaciones de activos existentes, los costes por interrupciones, las limitaciones de capacidad y los impactos más amplios en los planes de inversión futuros.

Alza de precios

GSMA Intelligence advierte además que excluir los HRV podría reducir la presión competitiva, lo que conllevaría un aumento de precios del 24% en los equipos de redes móviles, del 19% en los equipos de redes fijas y del 10% en los equipos de redes de transporte.

Por lo tanto, unos precios más altos incrementarían los costes de inversión de los operadores en 8.500 millones de euros entre 2027 y 2030, teniendo en cuenta que los presupuestos actuales para las redes móviles ascienden a casi 42.000 millones de euros.

A principios de año, la Comisión Europea presentó una propuesta que obliga a reducir los riesgos de las redes europeas de telecomunicaciones móviles procedentes de proveedores externos de alto riesgo, en el marco de las revisiones de su Ley de Ciberseguridad.

Según las estimaciones, en un periodo de cinco años, la retirada gradual de equipos podría suponer costes anuales de entre 3.400 y 4.300 millones de euros para los operadores, mientras que la inversión en “proveedores de confianza” podría ascender a 2.000 millones de euros anuales.

Los operadores Deutsche Telekom, Fastweb, MEO, Orange, Telefónica, United Group y Vodafone Group han participado en el estudio de GSMA Intelligence, que se basa en conjuntos de datos limitados aportados por terceros.

Con información de Kavit Majithia.

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La Comisión Europea (CE) ha impuesto a Google dos multas por un total de 890 millones de euros por incumplimiento de la Ley de Mercados Digitales (DMA) y exige a la empresa que modifique las políticas de su servicio de búsqueda y de su tienda de aplicaciones.

Las decisiones sobre las dos investigaciones se derivan de las pesquisas iniciadas en marzo de 2024. Del total, 460 millones de euros corresponden a infracciones en su servicio de búsquedas web y 430 millones de euros a restricciones en la distribución de aplicaciones en Google Play.

En lo que respecta a la acusación sobre las búsquedas, la Comisión Europea considera que Google otorgaba un trato preferencial a sus propios servicios en las clasificaciones, ya sea colocándolos en la parte superior de la página de resultados o utilizando elementos visuales o filtros mejorados.

Esto contraviene las normas de la DMA que exigen “condiciones transparentes, justas y no discriminatorias” en las clasificaciones, argumentó la CE.

La multa impuesta a la tienda de aplicaciones Google Play se debe a que no permitía a los desarrolladores que distribuían aplicaciones a través de la plataforma informar a los clientes sobre ofertas alternativas y dirigirlos a realizar compras en otros lugares.

El organismo regulador reconoció que, tras lo que denomina un diálogo constructivo, Google había comenzado a probar cambios en sus servicios que, según señaló, podrían “constituir un progreso sustancial hacia el cumplimiento”.

Sin embargo, la Comisión Europea declara que “las multas impuestas hoy a Google tienen en cuenta la gravedad y la duración del incumplimiento”.

Como parte de la sentencia, la Comisión Europea exige a Google que ponga fin a las políticas que considera que infringen la DMA.

Google tiene 60 días para cumplir con la normativa, y la autoridad amenaza con imponerle multas periódicas de hasta el 5% de su facturación mundial si no lo hace.

La empresa tiene derecho a apelar.

Productos rotos

Como era de esperar, a Google no le ha sentado nada bien tener que introducir los cambios que le exige el cumplimiento de la DMA.

En un comunicado, Kent Walker, presidente de asuntos globales de Google y de Alphabet, su empresa matriz, afirmó que la forma en que se aplica el DMA “sigue provocando fallos en los productos cotidianos” y que ha deteriorado la experiencia de empresas y consumidores en la Unión Europea.

“Para cumplir con la normativa, tendremos que eliminar funciones de búsqueda en tiempo real que los europeos aprecian, como los precios instantáneos y la disponibilidad directa de hoteles, vuelos y restaurantes, y desmantelar las medidas de seguridad de Google Play”, añadió.

“Esto no es competencia leal, es la degradación de los productos provocada por un pequeño grupo de personas que se quejan por interés propio, y las empresas y los consumidores europeos son los perjudicados. La regulación debería mejorar los productos, no empeorarlos.”

Con información de Chris Donkin.

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El consejero delegado de Alphabet, Sundar Pichai (en la foto), ha salido al paso de las dudas sobre si Google está perdiendo terreno en la carrera de la IA tras los retrasos en su modelo Gemini 3.5 Pro.

La empresa registró un buen segundo trimestre, impulsado por la creciente demanda de servicios de IA y en la nube.

Durante la presentación de resultados del segundo trimestre, Pichai ha reconocido que Google necesita mejorar en áreas como la programación mediante IA, pero afirma que sigue “muy comprometida y muy segura de estar a la vanguardia”.

El CEO ha tenido que responder a varias preguntas sobre si Gemini podrá mantener el ritmo de sus rivales en la carrera de la IA, después de que Google retrasara el lanzamiento de su próximo modelo avanzado el pasado mes de junio. Afirmó que Google está “comprometido a estar a la vanguardia”, ofreciendo modelos en diversos rangos de precios, incluidos sus modelos Flash más asequibles.

Pichai argumenta que “la frontera es un espacio increíblemente dinámico y que avanza a pasos agigantados”, y recalcó que “hay muchos aspectos en los que todavía estamos en la frontera”.

Pone como ejemplo Gemini 3.6 Flash, lanzado hace pocos días, que mejora en más de 10 puntos una prueba de rendimiento en programación respecto a su predecesor, consumiendo además menos tokens. También reveló que la empresa ha comenzado a entrenar Gemini 4, al que describió como su prueba de preentrenamiento más ambiciosa hasta la fecha.

Cuando Gemini 4 esté listo, añadió, la empresa planea acelerar el ritmo y lanzar modelos casi con periodicidad mensual.

Fuerte demanda

En el segundo trimestre de 2026, Alphabet destacó el papel de Google Cloud, que siguió beneficiándose de la demanda empresarial de infraestructura y servicios de IA.

Los ingresos de la unidad se dispararon un 82% hasta alcanzar los 24.800 millones de dólares (unos 22.300 millones de euros), y el beneficio operativo se triplicó con creces hasta los 8.800 millones de dólares (unos 7.900 millones de euros). Los ingresos de Google Services aumentaron un 15% hasta los 94.500 millones de dólares (unos 85.000 millones de euros), impulsados por un repunte del 17% en las búsquedas, un 15% en las suscripciones, plataformas y dispositivos de Google, y un aumento del 13% en la publicidad de YouTube.

Los ingresos totales aumentaron un 24% interanual, hasta alcanzar los 119.800 millones de dólares (unos 107.800 millones de euros), lo que supone el duodécimo trimestre consecutivo de crecimiento de dos dígitos para Alphabet.

Los ingresos netos se dispararon un 298%, hasta alcanzar los 112.100 millones de dólares (unos 100.900 millones de euros), impulsados por una ganancia neta de 98.000 millones de dólares (unos 88.200 millones de euros) en valores de renta variable. No se han revelado más detalles, pero se sabe que la empresa posee una participación considerable en SpaceX y tiene inversiones en Anthropic.

“Nuestras inversiones en IA están redefiniendo lo que es posible en todos los ámbitos de nuestro negocio”, explicó Pichai, y añadió que la creciente demanda de infraestructura de IA y soluciones de IA empresariales contribuyó a impulsar estos resultados.

El gigante de las búsquedas, además, continuó aumentando su inversión en inteligencia artificial y prevé gastar entre 195.000 y 205.000 millones de dólares (entre 176.000 y 185.000 millones de euros, aproximadamente) en gastos de capital este año, frente a su previsión anterior de entre 180.000 y 190.000 millones de dólares (entre 162.000 y 171.000 millones de euros, aproximadamente).

“Hemos aumentado nuestra capacidad de forma bastante significativa en los últimos tres años. La demanda sigue superando esa inversión”, explicó la directora financiera de Alphabet, Anat Ashkenazi, y añadió que, aunque “seguimos en un entorno de escasez de oferta”, la empresa está “observando una demanda muy fuerte, tanto por parte de clientes externos de la nube como en todo el negocio”.

De cara al futuro, la empresa añadió que prevé que la inversión de capital “aumente significativamente” en 2027 a medida que crezca la demanda de inteligencia artificial.

Con información de Amiya Johar.

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Telefónica y Cellnex Telecom han suscrito una ampliación de su acuerdo estratégico para equipar un total de 3.800 emplazamientos de telefonía móvil con sistemas de baterías de reserva. La iniciativa supone un avance respecto a la primera fase de 2.000 instalaciones, completada a comienzos de este año, con el objetivo de reforzar la infraestructura crítica del país frente a posibles fallos del suministro eléctrico.

Motivos de la ampliación: lecciones del pasado y presión reguladora

El principal impulso de esta alianza ha sido la voluntad de evitar interrupciones en el servicio como la registrada tras el apagón eléctrico del 28 de abril de 2025 (https://www.mobileworldlive.com/spanish/asi-afrontan-las-operadoras-espanolas-el-gran-apagon-electrico-iberico/), un incidente que dejó gran parte de la península sin comunicaciones móviles.

Además, las dos compañías buscan anticiparse a la tramitación final del Real Decreto de Seguridad y Resiliencia de las Redes y Servicios de Comunicaciones Electrónicas. Esta normativa, cuya aprobación prevé el Ministerio para la Transformación Digital antes de que acabe el año, obligará a los operadores principales a garantizar el funcionamiento de la cobertura móvil durante un mínimo de cuatro horas seguidas ante un corte eléctrico general para el 75% de la población.

Horizonte 2027

El despliegue de estos sistemas de energía en las 3.800 torres se ejecutará de manera gradual, con la previsión de que esté finalizado en junio de 2027.

El acuerdo se desarrolla bajo la modalidad comercial de “energía como servicio” (Energy as a Service o EaaS). Mediante este modelo, Cellnex asume la propiedad, la instalación técnica y el mantenimiento de los equipos acumuladores de energía, mientras que Telefónica utiliza el servicio para garantizar la continuidad de su red.

Hacia la totalidad de las torres protegidas

El objetivo central es garantizar al menos dos horas de autonomía eléctrica continua en todos los emplazamientos incluidos en el contrato. Con esta ampliación, Telefónica logrará que la práctica totalidad de su infraestructura gestionada por Cellnex quede protegida: los 3.800 emplazamientos recibirán las nuevas baterías objeto de este acuerdo, mientras que otros 700, situados generalmente en edificios de centrales de Telefónica, ya disponen de sistemas propios de energía de reserva.

De este modo, los 4.500 emplazamientos que Telefónica tiene alquilados a Cellnex contarán con medios para asegurar el suministro en caso de emergencia, reforzando la resiliencia de una red que da servicio a millones de usuarios en todo el país.

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The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted final rules for auctioning 160MHz of spectrum in the upper C-Band, setting the stage for an auction to close by July 2027 and creating what the regulator called a harmonised 5G super band spanning 440MHz when combined with existing holdings.

The rules apply to the 3.98GHz to 4.14GHz range, and build on the FCC’s lower C-Band auction conducted during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Combining the lower C-Band with the newly cleared upper C-Band will create a contiguous 3.70-4.14GHz block which the FCC described as a larger swath of licensed, 5G-grade mid-band spectrum than any other industrialised country holds.

“America’s wireless leadership is back,” FCC chair Brendan Carr stated. “Freeing up this spectrum drives down prices, raises speeds, and enhances competition. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, America will once again lead the world in wireless.”

The commission announced it will auction 60% more spectrum than the 100MHz minimum required by law, a move it stated would raise tens of billions of dollars in additional proceeds for the US Treasury to support deficit reduction and other national priorities.

The auction will offer 3,248 new flexible-use licences across the contiguous US.

Winning bidders will be able to launch wireless services in the top 75 US markets starting December 2030, with remaining markets following from July 2031, a timeline the FCC said is faster than originally expected.

The FCC estimated the spectrum release could generate at least $422 billion in GDP, 2.4 million new jobs and $621 billion in consumer surplus.

Aviation concerns
In 2021, major airline industry players pressed the government and regulators to delay the launch of 5G in C-Band over interference fears.

To protect aviation safety systems operating in adjacent frequencies, the FCC worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration on rules governing coexistence between wireless operations and radio altimeters in the nearby 4.2GHz to 4.4GHz band.

The FAA said the FCC had incorporated key safeguards to protect the frequencies aircraft altimeters rely on, and the rules include rebates to help the aviation sector retrofit and upgrade altimeter equipment. The FCC said incentive payments to satellite operators being cleared from the band will be lower in aggregate than those paid following the lower C-Band auction, reflecting the smaller amount of spectrum involved, though roughly proportionate to it.

The rules follow a process that began last year under the FCC’s renewed auction authority as part of President Trump’s so called  One Big Beautiful Bill Act, building on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted last November.

Commission staff are expected to seek comment on auction procedures in the coming days before finalising them ahead of the auction.

The order was adopted by a vote of FCC chairman Brendan Carr and commissioner Olivia Trusty in favour, with commissioner Anna Gomez approving in part and dissenting in part.

Space modernisation order
Separately, the FCC voted to overhaul its space and earth station licensing process, replacing the legacy Part 25 rules in their entirety with a new Part 100 framework rebuilt from first principles. The commission said it completed the systematic, industry-wide regulatory overhaul in roughly 18 months, a pace it described as historically unprecedented for a federal agency.

The new rules are intended to speed up space and earth station licensing through a faster, more predictable process the FCC likened to a “licensing assembly line”, while also enhancing space safety and removing outdated regulations to support the country’s commercial space sector.

The FCC framed the reform as part of a broader push under the Trump administration to strengthen US leadership in space.

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