BT announced that its revenue in the first six months of this fiscal year increased by 1% year-on-year to £8.8 billion ($11.8 billion). The company stated that this growth was due to higher sales revenue from its mobile phone business within its consumer segment.
After adjustment, EBITDA ( EBITDA ) also increased by 1% year-on-year to £4.1 billion ($5.5 billion). BT indicates that the reduction in employee costs offset the impact of declining voice revenue.
BT has confirmed its annual outlook, however its FY27 outlook does not include the impact of the operator's planned acquisition of the troubled fixed-line service provider TalkTalk.
Speaking of this transaction and another transaction in the United States, CEO Allison Kirkby stated: "Our proposed international joint venture with Verizon is progressing rapidly. We have also stepped forward for the country by acquiring TalkTalk, protecting millions of customers and creating value for all stakeholders."
Telia and Ericsson will jointly build an "advanced 5G" network for the Swedish armed forces, as part of a larger NATO-led project. Telia indicates that these new 5G capabilities will complement the existing military communication systems, providing secure and resilient connections.
They will also pave the way for new applications, including intelligence sharing, drone detection, and enhancing the “situation awareness” of military personnel. This project is built on the existing cooperation between the Swedish armed forces, Telia, and Ericsson through the NorthStar innovation program, which has already tested the suitability of 5G for military purposes.
Ethio Telecom and Chinese equipment manufacturer ZTE have completed a AI-RAN deployment. The two companies claim that this deployment has increased 4G capacity by 11% and improved user throughput by 40%.
This project combines FDD large-scale MIMO technology with the ZTE AIREngine intelligent computing engine, introducing AI-driven beam scheduling to enable more efficient allocation of wireless resources according to the constantly changing network traffic demands.
Vodafone UK has launched its so-called Pro 4G broadband service, which utilizes CityFibre's fiber-optic network based on XGS-PON, and is provided by Wi-Fi 7 routers to offer a maximum speed of up to Gbit /s. This service also includes the “Smart Modes” feature, which prioritizes ensuring that the most important devices in the home are connected to the internet – at least that's what it's intended for, as far as those dealing with bills are concerned.
GSMA believes that by 2040, 6G has the potential to add $1.24 trillion to the global economy. However, in their new report "6G 2040: The Economic Benefits of", this lobbying organization warns that if there is a shortage of available spectrum, nearly half of this economic opportunity could be lost.
The report indicates that the manufacturing industry and the financial services sector will be the two major beneficiaries of the 6G effects, accounting for 20% and 19% of the additional economic contribution from this technology in 2040, respectively. The construction industry will account for another 13%, while information and communication technologies will contribute 12%.
The LightSpeed Networks in the UK is currently in an expansion phase, having launched a new 25-kilometer link in the central region that connects multiple commercial parks between Tamworth and Nuneaton. The new infrastructure supports enterprise connection services with a capacity of up to 10 Gbit /s.
Helios Towers is a tower company focused on the African and Middle Eastern regions. The company has raised its full-year guidance, with the strong third quarter previously driving a year-on-year growth of EBITDA by 13% to $392.2 million, and revenue also increased by 13% year-on-year to $718.8 million.
CEO Tom Greenwood stated: "The opportunities in Africa and the Middle East are very attractive. Rapid population growth, increasing mobile penetration rates, and accelerating data consumption continue to drive a growing demand for our infrastructure."
The European Commission has launched a European chip design platform, hoping to attract investments of 525 million euros (589 million US dollars) to foster a new generation of European companies focused on semiconductor design. The Commission states that European companies currently account for less than 1% of the global revenue in this niche market, which is clearly a major obstacle to achieving the EU's goal of "sovereign" data processing.
The transaction in which Sky intends to acquire the broadcasting business of ITV has been submitted to the UK Competition and Markets Authority for review. After completing consultations, the UK Secretary of Culture Lisa Nandy issued a notice of public interest intervention, stating that it is necessary to consider the importance of free expression of opinion in the news media, the diversity of viewpoints, and to avoid excessive concentration of control over media institutions.
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