Analyst figures showed cellular IoT modules remained resilient in the face of memory component shortages which are hammering the smartphone sector, with shipments of the specialised units up 15% year-on-year in H1.

IoT Analytics estimates module shipments were aided by an acceleration during Q2, though its numbers also indicate the technology involved is a key element and may explain why the market has so-far resisted the broader component problem.

The research specialist believes shipments of LTE Cat 1 bis modules dominated the sector in H1, stating “5G deployment has been relatively gradual” and focused more around “higher-value applications”.

It is reasonable to conclude the lean towards established LTE equipment may have alleviated some of the component woes affecting broader device markets and IoT Analytics acknowledged expectations of increased prices for memory and other apparatus may have led some companies to bring orders forward.

Senior principal analyst Satyajit Sinha said it is unclear if the performance of the IoT module market “reflects underlying demand and how much is being pulled forward by longer lead times and rising component costs”.

Although cautious, Sinha noted the steady demand for LTE Cat 1 bis modules and fresh projects could contribute to continued shipment strength in the back-half of the year. The flip-side to this would be in making predictions for 2027 harder.

Other insights in IoT Analytics’ H1 numbers are RedCap and eRedCap modules remained nascent. The company stated the units are “only beginning to move from roadmap into volume” as devices become available and demand is spurred by rising standalone 5G coverage.

“NB-IoT continues to slip” from a peak in Q1 2024.

The company noted China remained the largest market for IoT module shipments, but stated those in India registered the swiftest growth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Health company M42 positioned a deal with Oracle as its latest step to establish the UAE at the centre of the global market, with the pair deploying a product offering unified access to patient data.

Oracle stated M42 intends to use its Health Data Intelligence product on clinical, genomic and real-world data to boost management of chronic diseases and enable a host of other services.

These include mapping the health of populations and providing precise care.

Oracle stated M42 is on a mission to establish the UAE as “a global hub for healthcare innovation” and a leader in employing AI to overhaul the sector.

Dr. Ali Anees, CCO for UAE and Bahrain at M42, said the company is a long-term user of Oracle’s health products and has high expectations about what can be achieved through the combination of information detailed above.

The executive expects the work to speed detection, and deliver “more predictive insights” and tailored patient healthcare.

M42 hopes the Oracle products will advance ambitions to deliver comprehensive patient records which it expects to aid healthcare providers’ work by offering a big-picture overview.

It expects the unified approach and ability of AI to digest reams of data to help identify disease patterns and contributing factors.

AI is also being banked on to deliver swifter diagnoses and detection of emerging health trends.

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Juniper Research predicted a bright future for private mobile network spending due to heightened demand for infrastructure capable of extracting the full benefits of AI in business operations.

The company expects outlay on private LTE and 5G networks to hit $84.7 billion in 2031 compared with $17.3 billion this year.

Juniper Research suggested infrastructure providers may reap the greatest benefits by partnering with companies specialising in enterprise AI systems and positioning private networks “as a natural part” of modernisation initiated by the technology.

It argued private networks “are increasingly becoming the default way” to meet the connectivity requirements of AI.

VP of research Nick Maynard believes differentiation will emerge as the secret of future vendor success.

He highlighted “proven Industry 4.0, operational technology and mission-critical applications” as fields where vendors could fully establish an edge on rivals, pointing to services including automated guided vehicles, machine vision, and predictive maintenance and industrial control operations as prime opportunities.

To capitalise, private network vendors should “develop architecture that is repeatable, but highly tailored to individual sectors”, Maynard advised.

Juniper Research ranked current equipment vendors based on their shift “away from general enterprise connectivity” towards systems specific to industrial use cases.

It did not offer any big surprises in a top-five ranking of vendors in the here and now, with Nokia leading Huawei, Samsung, HPE and Ericsson, respectively.

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SES launched the final three birds in its 13-satellite O3b mPOWER medium Earth orbit constellation, adding thrust to its connectivity play for enterprise, cloud service providers, governments and mobile operators.

The company is now in the process of commissioning the trio, which it expects to be fully operational by mid-2027.

SES noted the satellites would extend the availability of “high-performance connectivity”; improve the resilience of the O3b mPOWER constellation; advance sovereign data capabilities; and boost the relay of data through space.

CEO Adel Al-Saleh said SES is combining “multiple technologies and orbits” to meet the needs of customers across various sectors.

The satellites support SES’ work to “deliver resilient, secure and scalable connectivity”.

SES’ satellites flew on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket yesterday (13 September). The 10 birds already in orbit can handle data rates “ranging from tens of Mb/s to multiple Gb/s”, the company stated.

The trio run a Boeing software-defined payload technology which the aerospace player separately explained enables them to “dynamically route bandwidth, focus beam power and adjust capacity in real time”.

Boeing stated companies in the cruise line sector, “government organisations, civil entities, mobile operators and commercial airlines” use SES’ existing O3b mPOWER satellites.

“Technology is at its best when it has a direct line-of-sight to human impact,” Ryan Reid, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, declared.

Reid added SES’ satellites deliver the in-space baseline for a dual-use satellite architecture Boeing developed to work in multiple orbits.

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Mid-sized and large US enterprises face a widening gap in operational stability, with nine out of 10 organisations failing to detect third-party or supply chain disruptions until operations are actively impacted.

According to research from Economist Enterprise supported by AT&T Business, enterprise resilience strategies fall short where network connections, vendor systems and rapid digital deployments intersect.

The company surveyed 1,020 senior technology and operations executives to evaluate modern operational risks. The research identifies five key areas where resilience strategies are falling short of disruption risks.

The study found resilience priorities do not match disruption realities. Cybersecurity receives the largest share of spending, even though over one-third of the organisations cite third-party and supply chain failures as the primary driver of their most significant disruptions.

It also found trust stands in for verification. Over half of respondents assess the resilience of critical technology suppliers based on market reputation or assurances rather than empirical evidence or rigorous technical testing.

While larger companies have more resources, they also have more ground to cover. Despite having bigger budgets and specialised talent, only 5% of large enterprises avoided a major technology incident over the past year, compared to 27% of mid-market firms, largely due to legacy infrastructure and complex ecosystems.

Survey results indicate that AI adoption is moving faster than resilience preparation. Although relatively few (4%) companies identified AI or automation failures as the cause of their most significant disruption, the research shows organisations further along the AI adoption curve have already experienced at least one AI-related incident last year. Overall, preparedness for AI-related risks remains behind many other resilience capabilities.

It also found highly resilient organisations actively learn from past incidents, maintain clear executive ownership and regularly test recovery plans. While most companies practice cyber response, only 15% rehearse for wider geopolitical or supply chain disruptions.

Key
Zee Hussain, SVP of Global Enterprise Solutions at AT&T Business, emphasised technology resilience has evolved beyond traditional IT management into a core business strategy.

“Organisations that invest in visibility, resilient connectivity, and recovery readiness are better positioned to maintain customer trust, respond to disruption, and adapt to change,” he stated.

The findings are based on an Economist Enterprise survey of executives at mid-sized and large US enterprises across seven sectors, conducted between June and July 2026.

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Telenor subsidiary KNL continued to gain traction for a military high-frequency (HF) communication system from Nordic nations, sealing its third deal through a tie-up with Denmark.

An outline deal opens the way for the Danish Ministry of Defence to buy KNL’s HF radio equipment. The set-up is attracting interest among members of the Nordic Defence Cooperation, a programme established to streamline the procurement process which is open to all nations in the region.

KNL already agreed deals with Sweden and Finland, which the head of Telenor Corporate Development Portfolio Dan Ouchterlony said are a “strong foundation for Nordic cooperation” on the subsidiary’s radio system.

Adding Denmark “reflects a genuine and growing need for secure, independent communication across the region”, Ouchterlony explained.

HF operates in the 3MHz to 30MHz frequency range, which KNL states is well-suited to military operations due to its beyond-line-of-sight capability and resilience in the face of “jamming and other electromagnetic interference”.

The frequency enables coverage across thousands of kilometres in a set-up which does not require fixed or satellite connectivity, another characteristic KNL believes makes it “uniquely valuable” for military purposes along with maritime and critical communication uses.

KNL employs cognitive radio functionality to provide dynamic frequency allocation and boost the way spectrum is used.

CEO Toni Linden said the addition of Denmark is a “strong endorsement” of KNL’s technology.

The company has publicly announced a trio of orders worth around €23.5 million under its existing arrangements with Sweden and Finland.

It is also among several businesses approved to bid for tactical communications system projects in the UK.

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Accenture and Google Cloud expanded their long-standing partnership with the launch of a global joint initiative aimed at helping enterprise customers deploy and scale agentic AI tools and platforms.

The two companies formed the Accenture Gemini Enterprise Business Group, a new unit operating within the existing Accenture Google Business Group, designed to help customers deploy Google Cloud’s agentic AI platform.

It will integrate Accenture’s certified Gemini Enterprise talent with dedicated Google Cloud engineering resources to assist clients in moving AI projects from experimental phases into commercial production.

As part of the rollout, the partners plan to establish a 1,000-person workforce of forward deployed engineers (FDEs) to work with clients on-site to plan and build AI applications based on the Gemini Enterprise platform.

The new unit will use Accenture’s existing foundation of nearly 50,000 Google Cloud-skilled personnel to build repeatable industry solutions, speed up time-to-value, and create specialised capability centres for enterprise-wide integration.

The Accenture and Google Cloud initiative targets accelerating enterprise demand for agentic AI architectures, which rely on autonomous digital agents to automate complex, multi-step workflows.

Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture, stated the business group aims to unite advanced AI capabilities, data assets, and industry expertise to help corporate clients achieve productivity and growth targets faster.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian noted deploying agentic AI has quickly become a primary priority for enterprise technology buyers aiming for operational transformation.

FDE trend
The move mirrors a growing pattern across the tech landscape as vendors deploy specialised engineering talent directly to client sites. OpenAI recently established a $10 billion joint venture with institutional investors to finance dedicated enterprise deployment teams, while Anthropic investors backed a $1.5 billion standalone venture to build hands-on FDE capabilities for corporate deployments.

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AT&T Business and Amazon Leo reached a deal to bring satellite broadband to enterprise and public sector customers, with the company becoming the first major US operator to employ the low Earth orbit (LEO) network in a bundled set-up including fibre and 5G.

The operator plans to offer the connectivity as a fully managed service on top of its existing terrestrial networks. Customers would get one bill, one point of contact and round-the-clock customer service.

AT&T is to provide the equipment to connect to the satellites.

Shawn Hakl, AT&T Business SVP and head of product, said enterprise and public sector customers need a platform which delivers reliable connectivity across fibre, 5G and satellite in a single managed architecture.

Chris Weber, VP of Amazon Leo Business and Product, said the satellite network adds resilience to the network.

AT&T stated the companies are “moving through a structured, phased deployment designed to ensure business-grade reliability before broad availability”.

It plans to issue pricing and configuration details in the coming months.

The explosion of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket in May could put the timeline for the launch of the AT&T Business closer to 2027: the rocket company is repairing damage to a launchpad and aims to restore operations by the end of the year.

Amazon Leo is simultaneously pushing into direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity, seeking regulatory approval to deploy up to 5,105 satellites, with deployment scheduled to begin in 2028.

All three major US operators are involved in various D2D moves through deals with Amazon Leo, SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile, along with collaborating to close coverage gaps.

AT&T Business is bidding to differentiate by bundling the connectivity option.

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Siemens Mobility, Deutsche Bahn and others made strides in an automated train development project after tests proved the technical feasibility of the concept.

The intelligent transport company and German national rail operator are collaborating with relevant industry and scientific partners on the AutomatedTrain project.

Siemens Mobility stated testing proved the viability of Grade of Automation 4, the highest tier in relevant self-driving technology, by having one of its Mireo trains transfer from a depot to a station to begin services.

Marc Ludwig, CEO of Rail Infrastructure, said Siemens Mobility and its partners have “developed the decisive technologies” which establish the “foundation for the next generation of rail transport”.

The work is “a significant step forward in bringing automation to the railway”, he added.

Testing involved the train receiving instructions then preparing itself for operation by conducting necessary tests before embarking on a journey where it “independently detects obstacles and reacts appropriately”.

Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Johannes Steiniger branded the concept as “the future of mobility” and an example of how autonomy could help maintain a reliable rail service in the face of a shortage of skilled staff.

Technical points
Siemens Mobility stated the system relies on digital signalling technology based on the European Train Control System, which in part employs mobile networks to transfer real-time information.

Automatic Train Operation technology and intelligent vehicle control systems are also in the mix, with the Advanced Vital Vehicle Operation platform providing pre- and in-operation safety checks.

The train relies on highly-precise positioning information and digital maps. Siemens Mobility explained “state-of-the-art sensor systems” spot problems on tracks, to which the train can respond automatically.

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NTT Docomo Business began preparing to develop an IoT security system with Tess Engineering to combat growing cyberattacks on devices by addressing threats at the network level.

The pair intend to develop ways to boost the security of communications infrastructure used for remote monitoring at solar power generation plants using an existing IoT-oriented Docomo network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform.

Docomo stated the IoT devices used to remotely monitor solar facilities typically lack the performance to implement effective security measures. There are also specific difficulties associated with the operating environment.

It explained Tess Engineering is a specialist in designing and operating solar power facilities and had already reported problems involving attacks on the communication systems used to transmit operational data to remote monitoring units.

The existing threat detection and blocking functions in Docomo’s NaaS platform are expected to help tackle the threats by providing notifications and blocking capabilities.

Tess Engineering is piloting the system at some of its solar sites and the companies plan to explore further measures to provide remote monitoring systems protections in a one-stop shop model.

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Connectivity has quietly become the backbone of how the physical world runs, from the factory floor to the farm, the port to the platform. This month, Mobile World Live pulls back the curtain on exactly how that’s happening with Unwrapped: Digital Industries, our free, online event running 23–24 September.

Across the two days, we’re bringing together CxOs, senior operators and industry specialists to dig into three of the hottest frontiers in enterprise connectivity: Connecting Factories, Connecting Outdoors and Connecting Transport & Logistics Hubs.

While this is only the second Digital Industries event in our Unwrapped series, we’ve been running Unwrapped for five years now and are excited to announce a refreshed new format. Each broadcast session will kick off with a 15-minute editorial keynote interview with a big name industry leader, followed by a live, in-depth, 45-minute topic panel or webinar unpacking the detail. Six sessions in total, each free to attend and each just one click away on our new event agenda.

What’s on the agenda
Connecting Factories explores how private 5G, edge and cloud are turning connected machines into intelligent, self-optimising production lines. This isn’t theory: expect real-world progress, ROI numbers and hard-won lessons from manufacturers moving beyond pilots into scaled deployment, plus a look at automation, AI, digital twins and what it all means for the workforce. With a keynote from PepsiCo and guest speakers from Boldyn Networks, Corning, GSMA Intelligence, IBM, Nokia and Red Hat, these are two sessions you won’t want to miss.

Connecting Outdoors takes connectivity beyond the factory walls and city limits into the remote, distributed environments where a lot of the world’s toughest operational challenges live including utilities, agriculture, construction, mining and critical infrastructure. The session cuts through the hype to focus on the realities of delivering hybrid networks, resilience, security and sustainability in difficult outdoor conditions. We have keynotes from John Deere and Sateliot, and guest speakers on topic panels from Ericsson, Soracom and Viasat, along with innovative players Agrodemy Technologies and Ennoia Technologies.

Connecting Transport & Logistic Hubs explores how the maritime sector, airports, ports and distribution centres are being transformed into real-time, orchestrated environments. This session delves into the operational realities of how mission-critical networks and automation are reshaping how people and goods move, exploring the real-world connectivity requirements and digitalisation of the maritime sector, the ROI case and just how far off the vision of a frictionless hub is. Keynote speakers from AWS and MasOrange will be joined by guest speakers from Boldyn Networks, Druid Software, GSMA Intelligence, Shipsider and VodafoneThree.

Why it’s worth your time
If you’re working anywhere near enterprise connectivity, private networks, IoT or digital transformation, this is a rare chance to hear directly from the people setting the agenda. The mix of keynotes and interactive panel debates will give you the strategic view while cutting through the hype and theory with real-world knowledge and experience.

Best of all, registration is free and takes just one step: pick the sessions relevant to you, build your own agenda and you’re set for the whole event.

Save your seat
Unwrapped: Digital Industries brings together professionals from telecom and vertical industries for two days of insight and we encourage you to be one of them. Whether your interest is manufacturing, remote operations, logistics or all three, there’s a session built for you.

Register free for Unwrapped: Digital Industries →

Pick your sessions, build your agenda and we’ll see you online on 23–24 September.

The post Six Sessions, Three Industries, Two Days; Get Ready for Unwrapped: Digital Industries appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Enterprise IoT connectivity provider Wireless Logic further expanded its operations in Brazil by arranging the purchase of a local telecoms player’s connectivity business.

The company is set to take on the IoT element of Algar Telecom and incorporate it into existing Brazilian business Arqia, which Wireless Logic acquired in 2025.

Arqia CEO Tomas Fuchs said the deal would enable it to provide more “comprehensive” services and speed expansion. He believes the move “demonstrates Wireless Logic’s confidence in Brazil’s potential as a key growth market in Latin America”.

Wireless Logic explained typical closing conditions must be met before the deal is completed, at which point it expects a boost for Arqia’s ability to deliver services to the agricultural, logistics, payments, utilities, manufacturing and healthcare sectors.

It highlighted Latin America as “one of the world’s most promising IoT growth markets” and stated Arqia’s capabilities in mission-critical services are set to be increased by the acquisition.

The company plans a phased integration, with the businesses initially continuing to run separately.

The post Wireless Logic buys bigger Brazilian IoT presence appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post Airtel Business partners for digital push at home appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Telefonica continued to focus on improving services using applied AI, embedding the technology in its fixed and mobile networks to provide a host of voice options for businesses.

The operator pitched the move as providing smart communications for voice services, with the AI enabling features including transcription and summarisation of conversations.

There is also a virtual assistant capability which director of product, presales and provisioning Javier Pascual said is accessible “using natural language”.

Telefonica is pitching the set-up at medium and large businesses, and public organisations which use cloud-based voice services.

It highlighted the launch of a namesake AI agent for Centrex IP cloud set-ups which can understand everyday speech, and so lends itself to broader contextual interpretation and automation capabilities to speed responses to customers.

Telefonica flagged a 60% boost in efficiency using AI agents, in-turn improving the volume of calls handled by 10% over standard systems.

It offered a real-world example of the applied AI system by highlighting a healthcare service where a WhatsApp messenger agent can book and confirm appointments.

Compatibility with more than 100 languages means a broader ability to resolve customer service queries either directly or by redirecting calls.

Telefonica is not the only operator to today (10 August) reveal applied AI moves, with NTT Docomo and LG Uplus also detailing progress.

The post Telefonica does the business with applied AI appeared first on Mobile World Live.

NEC lined up real-world trials of a technology mix it reckons could shake up the vehicle parking sector, advancing a self-professed mission to digitalise the sector.

The company is integrating a parking management system from UrbanChain with its own AI image recognition technology to assess the effectiveness in detecting when people leave their vehicle.

NEC explained this is an important safety step, reasoning the set-up could be used to provide alerts if people park and then fail to exit the vehicle in a timely manner, which it stated could indicate they have suffered a medical episode.

The company explained there is growing concern about such matters.

Trials of the combined system are scheduled to begin in car parks in the Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan next month to assess how effective the AI is at recognising the number of vehicle occupants and if they have left or not.

NEC stated the companies hope to devise a “next-generation” car parking service model which could improve “safety, security and convenience”.

The companies hope to work out how many cameras are required and the best installation points along with the overall impact on safety and security.

They are also exploring a payment model based on the time a vehicle enters a parking space instead of charging from the moment it enters the grounds.

Ultimately, the work could establish a means of analysing car park usage trends and control mechanical lifts used in multi-storey architectures.

The post NEC pitches digital car parks as safety feature appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post NTT digs deep into remote operations at Chile mine appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Tampa Electric Company (TECO) selected Ericsson and OneLayer to deploy, manage and secure its growing private LTE network, with Burns & McDonnell providing integration and engineering expertise.

Ericsson stated TECO is among the first investor-owned utilities in the US to deploy the private network technology for operational use.

The network uses the Swedish vendor’s kit and supports connectivity for operational devices across TECO’s delivery infrastructure. It will expand as more connected devices come online in the coming years.

OneLayer’s Bridge platform provides SIM lifecycle management and device onboarding. It also provides real time visibility into connected devices across TECO’s operational infrastructure.

Burns & McDonnell is responsible for aligning the deployment with existing systems and operational requirements.

Following the deployment, TECO’s operations teams will be able to onboard and provision cellular-connected devices through automated workflow, which Ericsson noted cuts down the manual effort needed to bring new assets onto the network.

Teams also gain visibility into devices behind cellular routers and customer premises equipment, which were previously difficult to monitor. The system allows the tracking of device status location, and connectivity in real time across distributed field sites.

TECO plans to deploy tens of thousands of devices over the next five years with several thousand targeted in the first phase.

Ericsson stated the approach gives TECO a private, high-reliability broadband platform. It supports grid protection, field workforce communications and sensor connectivity. It also provides a path to evolve to 5G as requirements grow.

Dana Jaber, head of mission critical networks at Ericsson Americas, stated the deployment sets a new benchmark “for how utilities can scale secure, high-reliability private cellular networks to support tens of thousands of devices and future 5G requirements”.

The post US utility expands private LTE network appeared first on Mobile World Live.

Rakuten Mobile expanded the capabilities of its corporate generative AI service by incorporating Anthropic’s Claude model.

The Japanese operator is employing the model to boost the research and data analysis capabilities of Rakuten AI for Business, a shift it stated would help companies to make decisions.

Research capabilities cover collection and organisation of external information, a function Rakuten expects to help companies conduct market research, assess their competition and plan strategy.

The data analysis element involves assessing internal data to highlight trends and present the information in a comprehensible format. Rakuten expects the facility to help staff “without specialised data science backgrounds” with decision-making.

It explained the greater decision-making capability could hold benefits for departments including sales, planning and administration.

Anthropic’s model adds to existing OpenAI ChatGPT-5 functions available on Rakuten AI for Business covering meeting summaries, creating emails and project planning.

Rakuten emphasised its AI service is secure, with safeguards in place to prevent the technology accessing data without permission.

The post Rakuten adds Anthropic to business AI mix appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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