Spectrum and regulation feature this week, with SpaceX reaching for more airwaves in the United States, regulators in Liberia and Nigeria moving on satellite policy, and the GSMA confirming that its next Middle East gathering will sit alongside a major ITU treaty conference. The 6G debate grew louder too, as India talked up its prospects and vendors argued over how much artificial intelligence silicon the next generation really needs. Elsewhere, operators kept chipping away at the practical business of building and sharing networks, from RAN-sharing pacts in New Zealand and Switzerland to fresh fixed wireless data and a clutch of new deployments across Europe, Asia and Africa.
SpaceX has again gone shopping for spectrum. The company applied to the US Federal Communications Commission to acquire three unpaired AWS-3 licences from Tristar License Group, adding to the holdings it wants to underpin its direct-to-device mobile satellite plans. It is another sign that satellite operators now treat terrestrial mobile spectrum as core strategic ground rather than a side interest, and regulators will be weighing how these transfers reshape competition for beleaguered mobile-satellite airwaves.
In the United States, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration signed off on Illinois’ final BEAD proposal, the last of all 56 state and territory plans to clear the process. The approved Illinois blueprint leans on fibre for roughly 68 per cent of locations, with fixed wireless access taking about 24 per cent and low-earth-orbit satellite picking up the remaining 8 per cent. With every proposal now approved, attention shifts to delivery and to whether the revised, more technology-neutral rules genuinely widen access.
Africa produced two notable policy moves. Liberia’s Telecommunications Authority formally adopted new Satellite Communications Guidelines, setting out a framework that covers nationwide access, consumer protection, quality of service, data protection and spectrum management, and signalling a more structured approach to licensing non-terrestrial connectivity. Nigeria, meanwhile, approved plans for two new communication satellites as part of a push for greater digital sovereignty, a reminder that spectrum and orbital assets are increasingly viewed through a national-security lens.
In Europe, Orange Poland’s fibre agreement received a green light from the European Commission, clearing a regulatory hurdle for continued fixed-network investment in one of the region’s larger markets. And the GSMA confirmed that MWC26 Doha will be co-located with the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in November, putting the mobile industry’s commercial showcase directly alongside the treaty body that governs global spectrum allocation. For anyone tracking policy, the calendar collision is worth noting.
The director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India argued that the country is better placed than several global rivals to become a 6G leader, while conceding there could be slippages on the road to a commercial launch around 2030. The comments reflect a broader ambition to translate India’s scale in 5G into an earlier seat at the standards table for the next generation.
Qualcomm, asked about China’s role in shaping 6G standardisation, gave a predictably guarded answer, underlining how geopolitics continues to colour what should be a technical process. That tension surfaced again in a sharper vendor dispute: Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung are diverging on whether 6G will need Nvidia-style GPUs at its core. Nokia is championing graphics processors as essential to the next generation, while its rivals argue the case is far from settled. The disagreement matters because it shapes early architecture bets, supplier relationships and cost assumptions long before any standard is frozen.
Network sharing was a recurring theme. In New Zealand, One NZ and 2degrees set out a plan to combine their respective RAN assets into a single infrastructure business, citing efficiency, faster technology rollout and better resilience. Switzerland saw a similar impulse, with local operators moving closer to a RAN-sharing arrangement aimed at improving rural coverage. Both cases point to a maturing market where operators increasingly treat the radio layer as shared plumbing rather than a source of differentiation.
On the equipment side, lens-based multibeam antennas from suppliers such as Amphenol and MatSing are starting to challenge the massive MIMO products that Ericsson and Nokia have bet heavily on, raising questions about the most cost-effective path to capacity. Intellectual property also made news, as Huawei and HP signed a global Wi-Fi patent cross-licensing deal. HP was quick to play down suggestions that the agreement signals any broader partnership, insisting the arrangement had been mischaracterised.
Fresh Ookla Speedtest data highlighted a persistent gap in US 5G fixed wireless access. Around 70 per cent of second-quarter samples came from urban users against 30 per cent from rural areas, and urban customers generally saw better performance, with T-Mobile leading on speed and a familiar summer slowdown in evidence. The figures raise a practical dilemma for operators: fixed wireless is proving popular in cities, yet capacity there is finite, which complicates the technology’s original promise of extending broadband to underserved rural homes.
EE drew attention for its network-slicing based ‘Fast Lane’ service, an attempt to sell prioritised connectivity that critics likened to a no-frills airline’s paid extras and which comes with a fair few open questions about fairness and delivery. In China, the small fourth operator China Broadnet missed its 5G subscriber target and has yet to chart a clear path to profitability, a cautionary note on how crowded and difficult that market has become. Japan offered a more optimistic picture, with NTT Docomo and Mitsubishi Estate agreeing to build next-generation, 5G-powered smart-city clusters across central Tokyo’s Marunouchi district.
Closer to home, Freshwave detailed a neutral-host deployment that uses small cells to bring all UK mobile networks into a historic building once used to receive telegraph messages, a neat illustration of how in-building coverage is being solved. O2 leaned on street furniture as well, tapping lampposts to boost coverage around Westminster. Across the Atlantic, AT&T signed a five-year deal to become the official connectivity partner of the US Open, upgrading its network to cope with tens of thousands of fans streaming, scanning tickets and sharing footage across the tournament grounds.
ZTE reported that its computing business drove first-half growth even as carrier spending weakened, with opportunities tied to the build-out of intelligent computing resource pools providing a fresh revenue stream while its core network-equipment market held broadly stable. The result captures a wider industry shift, as traditional network vendors increasingly lean on artificial intelligence and computing infrastructure to offset softer operator capital budgets. In the same vein, Mavenir teamed up with Sanas to add real-time voice artificial intelligence to carrier networks, a sign of how operators are looking to layer new services onto existing infrastructure.
SpaceX reaches for more spectrum to feed its mobile ambitions
A clear read on how satellite operators are competing for terrestrial mobile airwaves and what that means for regulators.
https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/spacex-feuls-mobile-ambition-with-another-helping-of-spectrum
Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung clash over 6G’s need for Nvidia
The vendor split over GPUs in 6G is an early signal of the architecture and cost debates that will define the next generation.
https://www.lightreading.com/6g/ericsson-nokia-and-samsung-clash-over-6g-s-need-for-nvidia
COAI chief bullish India will have an edge on rivals in the 6G era
A useful window into India’s 6G ambitions and the realistic timeline to a commercial launch.
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/5g/coai-chief-bullish-india-will-have-edge-on-rivals-in-6g-era/
EE flies the Ryanair model into 5G with network slicing
A concrete example of how operators are trying to monetise network slicing, and the fairness questions it raises.
https://www.lightreading.com/5g/ee-has-flown-the-ryanair-model-into-5g
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