Spectrum policy featured again this week, with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic moving to free up airwaves for the next wave of mobile and satellite services. The US Federal Communications Commission lined up votes to open new bands, the GSMA renewed its push for the upper 6GHz range, and Europe’s biggest operators began closing ranks over satellite spectrum. Alongside the policy story ran a steady stream of open RAN and AI-RAN developments, a fresh round of direct-to-device satellite deals, and continued momentum in Africa and the Middle East.
The FCC set the agenda for the month ahead. Chair Brendan Carr confirmed the regulator will vote later in September on two items designed to release large amounts of spectrum for next-generation connectivity. One proposal targets the 12GHz and 42GHz bands for satellite broadband, while the other looks to modernise unlicensed ultra-wideband spectrum to support AI-based sensing and other emerging uses. The votes signal a clear intent to treat terrestrial and space-based connectivity as parts of a single spectrum strategy rather than separate silos.
The GSMA kept up its campaign for the upper 6GHz band, urging governments and regulators to make the full range available for mobile. The industry body argued that the global ecosystem is ready for large-scale deployments, pointing to more than 60 operators and a growing pool of devices lining up behind the band. For regulators weighing competing claims on 6GHz, the message was that certainty now will underpin future network investment and capacity.
Looking further ahead, ATIS published a Next G Alliance whitepaper setting out a blueprint for the spectrum 6G will need by 2030. The paper frames the requirements for commercial 6G rollout and gives policymakers an early reference point as the debate over mid-band and sub-terahertz allocations gathers pace.
In India, the government approved a 5% spectrum usage charge for satellite operators, clearing a regulatory hurdle that had held up low and medium Earth orbit broadband plans. Resolving the charge should give satellite players the clarity they need to move ahead in one of the world’s largest markets. Indian operators were less content elsewhere: private telcos pushed back hard against the regulator’s proposed 5G network slicing rules, warning that the framework could add regulatory burden and limit the flexibility slicing is meant to deliver.
Europe’s operators, meanwhile, moved to protect their position in satellite. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone are reported to be in talks to form a consortium that would bid for European mobile satellite spectrum for direct-to-device services, a coordinated response to the growing presence of Starlink and other low Earth orbit players. In the UK, operators called for changes to net neutrality and planning rules, arguing that current arrangements slow investment and complicate network rollout.
The satellite theme carried into commercial deals. AT&T became the first major US operator to fold Amazon Leo into a bundled enterprise offer, pairing the low Earth orbit network with its fibre and 5G to give business and public sector customers a more resilient connectivity layer. The move deepens the pattern of terrestrial operators treating satellite as an extension of the network rather than a competitor.
Not everyone is convinced by the satellite-as-mobile pitch. AT&T chief executive John Stankey played down SpaceX’s small cell mobile plan, arguing that a constellation of small cells cannot match the demands of a full terrestrial mobile network. T-Mobile struck a similar note, publicly questioning the scale of the Starlink mobile threat. The exchanges show operators drawing a firm line between satellite as a coverage and resilience tool and satellite as a wholesale replacement for the macro network.
Ukraine offered a working example of hybrid connectivity under pressure. Kyivstar reported that more than 7.5 million customers have now connected to its combined terrestrial and non-terrestrial system built around Starlink, a setup designed to keep users online through wartime disruption. Closer to home, O2 in the UK began targeting rural businesses with a direct-to-device service, extending mobile reach into areas that traditional coverage struggles to serve.
Open RAN produced both progress and hard questions. NTT Docomo said it had deployed a Nokia base station capable of operating in a multi-vendor open RAN configuration, a practical step for an operator that has been among the technology’s most consistent backers. The optimism was tempered by a Connect Europe report, which urged the European Union not to ban Huawei while acknowledging that open RAN has so far failed to deliver on its promise. Spain’s continued reliance on Huawei equipment underlined how far commercial reality still diverges from the policy ambition in parts of Europe.
AI in the radio network drew scrutiny as well as investment. Ericsson used the RCRTech Telco AI Forum to argue that telco-grade AI-RAN must deliver measurable gains at scale to be worth the effort, positioning AI as a bridge to a broader shift across the network rather than a standalone feature. Nokia’s AI-RAN claims got a reality check from a newly commissioned study that examined the vendor’s spectral efficiency figures and set out the conditions under which they might actually be achieved. The message across both was that the industry is moving past the marketing phase and starting to demand evidence.
AT&T set out a wider strategic direction, confirming plans to strip out legacy copper and build its business around fibre and wireless, with a converged service, an enterprise push and satellite integration all in the mix. Ericsson showed the enterprise angle in practice, deploying a private 5G network at a US airport to support operations and lay the groundwork for further digital projects. In the UK, Freshwave extended its urban small cell run with VMO2, adding Canterbury to a growing list of cities served through the partnership.
In the Middle East, Zain Kuwait reported a 5G-Advanced milestone, completing the country’s first six-carrier aggregation trial and hitting peak downlink speeds of 3Gbps. The result is a useful marker of how far 5G-Advanced can stretch existing spectrum holdings when carriers are combined effectively.
Two voices offered a grounded view of what comes next. Former Bell Labs president Marcus Weldon warned that 6G will need more than AI “magic dust” to succeed, cautioning against treating artificial intelligence as a shortcut to a genuine generational leap. T-Mobile chief technology officer John Saw made the case that 6G should be more than another incremental “G”, pointing to network reach and distribution as assets that hyperscalers cannot easily replicate. Both suggest the industry is trying to define a purpose for 6G early, rather than repeating the search for a use case that dogged the first years of 5G.
Growth data from Africa showed why the region remains one to watch. Zimbabwe’s regulator, POTRAZ, reported a 57% surge in internet and data traffic in the first quarter of 2026, driven by rapid LTE and 5G expansion, rising smartphone adoption and heavier use of data-intensive applications. Kenya’s Communications Authority opened a 30-day consultation on a standalone licensing category for data centres, a sign that regulators are adapting their frameworks to the digital infrastructure now being built. Algeria, meanwhile, launched a tender to extend mobile coverage to 3,000 underserved areas, a reminder that basic connectivity gaps still sit alongside the 5G growth story across much of the continent.
FCC sizes up spectrum for satellite broadband and AI sensing
A clear read on the two spectrum items heading for an FCC vote and what they mean for the terrestrial and space-based connectivity mix.
https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/fcc-sizes-up-spectrum-for-satellite-broadband-ai-sensing
EU telcos close ranks against Starlink in bid for satellite spectrum
Essential background on the emerging European operator consortium and the strategic contest over direct-to-device spectrum.
https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/eu-telcos-close-ranks-against-starlink-in-joint-bid-for-satellite-spectrum-report
Huawei gets lobbying boost from European pals after open RAN fail
A candid look at why open RAN has stalled in Europe and how that is reshaping the Huawei debate.
https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/huawei-gets-lobbying-boost-from-european-pals-after-open-ran-fail
Ericsson says telco-grade AI-RAN must deliver measurable gains at scale
A useful benchmark for judging AI-RAN claims as the industry shifts from promise to proof.
https://rcrwireless.com/20260908/carriers/ericsson-ai-ran
© 2026 Cenerva Ltd | All Rights Reserved | Terms
By providing your email address, you agree to receive relevant content from Cenerva. We will not rent or sell your information and you can unsubscribe at any time. Read more in our privacy policy.
