US telecommunications giants T-Mobile and Sprint have agreed to merge in a deal valued at nearly £19 billion. The companies had previously sought a merger during President Obama’s administration, but regulators at that time blocked the transaction. The current administration has taken a more permissive stance toward such consolidations, prompting concerns from some critics about … Read more

Established less than 20 years ago, the chief information officer (CIO) role was created to ensure a CEO’s technology vision would be optimised and delivered. In recent years, however, that intention has often produced the opposite effect. Despite generous investment compared with many other departments, IT frequently fails to deliver the efficiency gains and transformational … Read more

Ahead of Telecoms Tech World next week, James Monighan—chair of the M2M track at the event—discusses the current state of the M2M market, the central role of customer experience, and why raw coverage numbers don’t tell the whole story. The machine-to-machine (M2M) ecosystem is increasingly shaping everyday life as it evolves into the Internet of … Read more

An assessment by the UK National Infrastructure Commission identifies the areas where investment should be prioritised to avoid future shortfalls. “The whole purpose of the UK’s first National Infrastructure Assessment is to look beyond today’s technologies and ensure we can capitalise on future innovations,” explains Sir John Armitt CBE. “That is why this is not … Read more

SpaceX is reportedly aiming to raise $500 million from investors to fund its ambitious satellite broadband network. The proposed funding round would value the company at about $30.5 billion. According to The Wall Street Journal, existing shareholders have agreed to purchase new shares at $186 each. SpaceX has not yet received the funds, but the … Read more

The UK government has chosen the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to deploy the nation’s first multi-city 5G testbed. This award marks a major step toward bringing next-generation connectivity to everyday public services, industry and citizens across multiple urban centres. As part of the successful bid, the WMCA will receive a total of £50 million … Read more

A new industry challenge is urging telecom operators, AI researchers, and startups to build large language models (LLMs) capable of identifying and explaining the root causes of network faults — a persistent, costly problem for operators. Launched today, the AI Telco Troubleshooting Challenge is supported by GSMA, ETSI, IEEE GenAINet, ITU, and TM Forum, bringing … Read more

WhatsApp, the mobile messaging service used by around 300 million people worldwide each month, has announced plans to introduce voice messaging—a feature that aligns it with competitors such as Facebook Messenger, BBM and WeChat. The feature, demonstrated in a video on the WhatsApp blog, is deliberately simple: press and hold the microphone icon to record, … Read more

Nokia has launched Nokia Data Marketplace, a blockchain-based platform that gives enterprises and communications service providers (CSPs) real-time access to large, trusted datasets and AI models. Friedrich Trawoeger, VP of Cloud and Cognitive Services at Nokia, said: “Our customers need secure and trusted access to data for effective business decision making. With Nokia Data Marketplace, … Read more

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/Joe_Potato) During rush hour we expect road traffic to slow and cars to creep toward their destinations. As vehicles become connected to mobile networks, however, the virtual highways they rely on could also slow dramatically unless mobile operators prepare in advance. An independent study by Machina Research highlights the challenges connected cars pose … Read more