SpaceX has acquired spectrum from Echostar that will be central to advancing the next generation of Starlink’s Direct to Cell mobile service. Imagine driving through rural areas where your phone’s signal bars drop and then disappear: maps stop updating, streaming halts, and important calls are interrupted. That gap in reliable mobile coverage is what SpaceX … Read more

O2 is spreading festive cheer by gifting free mobile data to hundreds of Big Issue sellers. As part of the National Databank initiative, the donated data will help vendors access vital online services, accept cashless payments and expand their businesses. More than 200 Big Issue sellers will receive 7GB of data per month, plus unlimited … Read more

Ofcom is preparing to auction a substantial portion of millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum aimed at addressing slow 5G performance in crowded urban areas and busy public venues. The bidding opens on 16–17 September 2025, when the UK telecoms regulator will release a large allocation of mmWave spectrum. Think of this as creating a broad, multi-lane data … Read more

Chip-maker Qualcomm, network vendor Huawei, and UK mobile operator EE today announced the successful completion of interoperability testing for LTE Category 9, which supports peak download speeds of up to 410 Mbps. The trial used Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 810 processor with an integrated LTE-A modem together with Huawei’s commercial infrastructure, and was run over EE’s … Read more

Asia-based telecommunications companies are leading global innovation in the telecom sector, outpacing their European and U.S. rivals, according to ABI Research’s report “Telco Innovation Benchmark: Winners and Losers in the Race to Future Revenues.” The report ranks Asian operators at the top, led by China Mobile and NTT Docomo, followed by U.S. Tier One providers … Read more

The GSMA warns that a slower 5G rollout in the European Union compared with rival markets threatens the bloc’s “Digital Decade” objectives. In its 2022 Mobile Economy Europe report, the GSMA reports that 108 operators across 34 markets had launched commercial 5G services as of the end of June. Around six percent of Europeans currently … Read more

Access to radio spectrum influences nearly every long-term decision telecom operators make. It shapes where networks expand, how quickly upgrades occur, and how much investment risk appears on company balance sheets. In Europe, that foundation may be shifting toward greater stability. Draft policy proposals circulating within the European Union indicate a move toward granting operators … Read more

A new report from market researcher Omdia predicts that shipments of 5G smartphones will increase eightfold in 2020. The report also explains that 5G technology will be a major driver in transforming the broader technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industry. Omdia, formed by combining the research capabilities of Ovum, Heavy Reading, Tractica and IHS Markit’s … Read more

It is difficult to protect moving targets, but subscribers on 4G and LTE networks must be confident that their data is secured beyond simply being part of a fast, high-volume traffic stream. A major concern in LTE architectures is that the link between the cell site and the core network is not inherently secure. Historically, … Read more

Private mobile radio is fast becoming an essential communications solution for utilities, airports, oil and gas pipelines, and emergency services that require dependable operational communications. Compared with public cellular networks, private mobile radio delivers superior coverage, reliability, contention resistance, security, group communications and predictable performance. The digital radio landscape includes several public safety and commercial … Read more