Spectrum policy set the tone this week. The US finalised the rules for its upper C-band auction and began lining up a 2.7 GHz sale for 2028, while regulators from France to Niger, South Sudan and Ghana opened consultations or reset their licensing plans. Around that policy backdrop, operators pressed on with 5G-Advanced launches, the RAN market showed its first real signs of stability in years, and vendors leaned harder into AI. Here is what mattered.
The headline event was in Washington. The Federal Communications Commission adopted final rules to auction 160 MHz of upper C-band spectrum, with the sale due to close by July 2027. Combined with existing lower C-band holdings, the regulator says the result is a harmonised 5G “super band” spanning 440 MHz. The FCC also signalled its next move, setting its sights on a 2.7 GHz auction in 2028 and rebuilding its satellite licensing framework in parallel. Analysts are already describing the combination as a spectrum supercycle for the US market, and the contrast with the UK approach of sharing bands out rather than auctioning fresh capacity is worth watching.
Europe produced its own regulatory movement. France’s telecoms authority Arcep opened a second consultation on how it will reallocate spectrum for licences due to expire between 2030 and 2035, covering the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands while leaving 3.5 GHz to one side. Croatia’s Hakom and Slovenia’s Akos signed a technical agreement setting the rules for infrastructure and spectrum use in their shared border regions, a practical piece of cross-border coordination that lets an operator in one country lean on capacity in the other. France’s spectrum agency ANFR also flexed its enforcement muscle, ordering the recall of the Nubia Z70 Ultra handset after laboratory tests found it breached EU specific absorption rate limits.
Africa was busy on the policy front. Ghana abandoned its exclusive 5G infrastructure arrangement with Next-Gen InfraCo and moved to an open-market model, launching a competitive process worth around USD 230 million after repeated delays under the shared wholesale approach. South Sudan’s National Communication Authority wrapped up a workshop to begin drafting its National Spectrum Management and 5G Strategy, and Niger opened a public consultation running to the end of August on reorganising frequency bands, starting with 600 MHz, to clear the path for 5G. In the Asia-Pacific, Papua New Guinea’s regulator announced the release of 5G as its regulatory review nears completion.
Two more regulatory items deserve a mention. In South Korea, a Seoul High Court cancelled a KRW 16.8 billion fine imposed on SK Telecom over misleading 5G advertising, though it upheld the finding that the advertising had been exaggerated, ruling that the competition regulator had miscalculated the violation period. And on standards, South Korea’s ETRI led the development of an ITU-R report on using machine learning to assess and predict spectrum availability, approved at a Study Group 1 meeting in Geneva, a small but telling sign of where spectrum management is heading. In Brazil, Algar Telecom won Anatel approval to reorganise 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum to lift 4G and 5G capacity across 80 cities.
Finally, a policy cost worth noting for European operators: a fresh assessment suggested that ripping out high-risk vendor equipment across the EU could cost the industry up to EUR 40 billion, a reminder that security-driven supplier rules carry a heavy price tag.
5G-Advanced continued its move from trial to commercial reality. Zain KSA began the commercial rollout of 5G-Advanced, becoming the first operator in Saudi Arabia to bring the technology to market and building on its earlier lead in 5G Standalone. In China, Huawei and China Unicom Beijing said they had commercially deployed what they describe as the world’s largest 5G-A 100 MHz GigaUplink network, having earlier trialled the uplink optimisation across more than 10,000 base stations in the region, with data rates averaging 379 Mbps and peaking at 1 Gbps.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian operators Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and Lifecell switched on a 5G pilot in Kyiv, their largest testbed to date and the fourth location in a programme run with the Ministry of Digital Transformation. In the Netherlands, KPN entered the fixed wireless market with a 5G home internet service aimed at homes not yet reached by its fibre network, offering unlimited data at speeds up to 1 Gbps for EUR 42.50 a month. And India’s Jio underlined the scale story, posting a near 10 percent rise in quarterly profit and passing 285 million 5G subscribers in June.
The radio access network market offered a rare piece of good news. Dell’Oro Group reported that the global RAN market has entered a phase of stability after a near USD 9 billion revenue decline between 2021 and 2024, and forecast modest growth through 2030 driven by 5G, AI-RAN and early 6G investment. The AI-RAN theme ran through the week: South Korea selected two consortia led by SK Telecom and KT to build and demonstrate a “Hyper AI Network Infrastructure”, and Nokia’s leadership pointed to AI-RAN as a way for operators to move at software speed.
Nokia itself posted stronger second-quarter results, with net sales of EUR 4.8 billion and improving profitability, crediting demand for AI-related networking infrastructure even as it warned of further European job cuts. Rakuten Mobile pressed on with open RAN, completing its rollout of 1Finity radios and planning to deploy the vendor’s massive MIMO units, a welcome sign of momentum in a segment that has struggled for positive headlines. Vodafone offered a glimpse of the more automated network to come, trialling a mobile mast fitted with an AI “brain” and a robotic arm that adjusts its own antenna to optimise 4G and 5G coverage. And in a neat demonstration of what existing infrastructure can do, AT&T and Ericsson showed off a system that uses network sensing on ordinary 5G towers to detect an unconnected drone without radar.
On the enterprise side, Kontron announced a deal to supply automotive 5G network access devices to an unnamed European car maker, an initial eight-figure contract for around 150,000 units built in Duesseldorf, with the potential to triple volumes if the client expands the programme. It is a useful marker for where private and embedded 5G demand is heading, away from showcase pilots and towards volume industrial supply.
US opens the spectrum floodgates while the UK shares it out
A clear read on the diverging spectrum strategies now shaping the two markets, and why the US super band matters for 5G capacity.
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20260724/carriers/spectrum-supercycle-mid-band-us-uk
Ghana abandons exclusive 5G deal and opens the market to competition
A significant policy reversal that other African regulators weighing shared wholesale models will study closely.
https://news.broadcastmediaafrica.com/2026/07/20/ghana-abandons-exclusive-5g-deal-with-ngic-moves-to-open-market-auction-for-high-speed-network-rollout/
Global RAN market finds stability as 5G, AI-RAN and early 6G take hold
Dell’Oro’s forecast is the most encouraging read on RAN spending in years and sets the tone for vendor strategy.
https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/delloro-global-ran-market-finds-stability-5g-ai-ran-and-early-6g-investments-take-hold
Vodafone pilots an AI-powered robotic mobile mast
A tangible look at how automation and AI are starting to reshape the physical network, not just the core.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/network-tech/vodafone-pilots-ai-powered-robotic-mobile-mast/
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