AT&T unveiled a 24-hour unlimited wireless data service for iPad users in the US, available to any customer regardless of their existing operator for a flat daily rate of $3.

The company claimed to be the first major US wireless provider to offer on-demand connectivity for iPad users on a pay-as-you-go basis. The service is for models with mobile and Wi-Fi connectivity capabilities, with the 24-hour data window beginning shortly after purchase.

AT&T explained it is targeting consumers who do not activate mobile connectivity on compatible iPads, pitching the benefit of short-term network access for periods where users are not in Wi-Fi range.

It highlighted ease of use, stating the service is activated in device settings without the need for a dedicated app.

The first day pass is complimentary, with subsequent purchases charged to a credit or debit card.

Josh Goodell, VP of consumer product management, said the goal is to make connectivity simple across the devices people use most.

The operator positioned the launch as part of a broader effort to simplify connectivity and provide flexible options without long-term commitments.

Model compatibility ranges from seventh-generation iPads to the latest Pro and Air models with M3 chips.

AT&T ultimately plans to expand the service to other 5G-enabled devices including Android tablets, smartwatches, laptops and drones.

Multi-day options are also planned.

AT&T noted data rates may be temporarily reduced during periods of network congestion.

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Managed services provider MetTel completed a rapid network capacity upgrade for the US General Services Administration (GSA), equipping 11 federal offices across the country with connectivity infrastructure to support the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate.

The project, delivered under the GSA’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract, involved the installation of 22 high-capacity network circuits alongside SD-WAN technology and VoIP services, enabling hundreds of federal employees to return to fully connected work locations.

Among the most demanding elements was a 10-gigabit circuit requiring entirely new carrier infrastructure, which was completed in under 60 days to meet the expedited timeline of a Telecommunications Service Priority order.

Don Parente, vice president of public sector at MetTel, said the mandate created an urgent, real-world test of the company’s capabilities.

“Our operations team delivered fast, reliable network modernisation, meeting the Administration’s Executive Order to return to work,” he said.

The SD-WAN architecture, which MetTel had previously deployed for the GSA, was a key enabler of the fast turnaround. The technology provides intelligent traffic management, enhanced resiliency and centralised network visibility, while high-capacity circuits were tailored to the specific needs of each site.

Bandwidth was sized for future growth, building in capacity to support evolving workforce and digital requirements without requiring additional infrastructure overhauls.

The Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) programme under which the work was delivered, is a 15-year, $50 billion government-wide vehicle designed to help federal agencies modernise their telecommunications and network infrastructure.

US-based MetTel has held EIS contract authority since January 2020, delivering network modernisation, managed services and communications transformation projects throughout that period.

The upgrade underscores the broader infrastructure pressures facing federal agencies as the return-to-office push accelerates demand for reliable, high-capacity government networks.

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President Trump on Wednesday said he may not renew the free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico six years after he implemented it in his first term to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “Well, I’m not looking to renew it,” Trump told reporters in regard to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement…

President Trump on Wednesday said he may not renew the free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico six years after he implemented it in his first term to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “Well, I’m not looking to renew it,” Trump told reporters in regard to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement…

The president’s comments come at a crucial moment in talks among the three countries over the renewal of their free-trade agreement.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Axon Networks acquired Greenwave Systems, combining two companies with shared roots to create a more unified, AI-powered network orchestration platform.

The US-based company stated the deal strengthens its cloud-agnostic Axon Maestro platform, purpose-built for telecom operators, institutions and enterprise service providers.

Greenwave’s software-defined mobile network services, including its network-as-a-service orchestration portfolio, will be added to Axon Maestro.

Greenwave’s technology will be folded into the Maestro platform as dedicated modules, with its engineering team shifting focus to OSS/BSS product development with expanded support for mobile connectivity.

Financial terms are not available.

At the heart of the integration is Axon’s real-time digital twin technology, which the company said will serve as the foundation for next-generation network inventory management.

Axon CEO Martin Manniche, who co-founded Greenwave in 2008 alongside other current Axon executives, stated operators are too often constrained by legacy operational support systems which require heavy customisation and slow down innovation.

“This limits their agility and effectiveness, delaying innovation and time-to-market for new services,” he said.

The deal also positions Axon to capitalise on growing operator interest in fixed wireless access and low earth orbit satellite connectivity.

As those technologies gain traction in access networks, the company argues end-to-end orchestration from the mobile core to in-home devices will become increasingly critical for delivering a consistent subscriber experience.

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OpenAI confidentially filed paperwork for a US IPO, becoming the latest company to move towards a listing as heavyweights in the AI sector race to raise fresh funds.

The ChatGPT-maker stated it had submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), adding, “we expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it”.

The AI player did not disclose the size, price or timing of the listing and cautioned a debut may not be imminent. “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company,” it stated.

OpenAI added the decision involves “a complicated set of trade-offs”, but that the filing gives it “the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best”.

Reuters reported OpenAI is targeting a valuation of up to $1 trillion, with a debut possible as early as September. The value would put it alongside AI rival Anthropic, which confidentially filed for its own US IPO last week. SpaceX. meanwhile, is expected to launch its IPO this week, at a reported $1.75 trillion valuation.

The three firms all have a “vast need for cash”, Aviva Investors’ head of multi-asset Sunil Krishnan told the BBC, adding “no-one wants to be last” in the race to go public. He explained the companies’ hefty investments in AI infrastructure, including chips and training models, come at significant cost.

OpenAI’s filing follows a period of rapid growth. Last week, research company Sensor Tower estimated ChatGPT crossed 1 billion monthly active users on its app, becoming the fastest in history to reach the milestone.

The company’s route to market was also complicated by its nonprofit origins and efforts to restructure. In May, a US jury ruled against Elon Musk in a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of departing from its founding mission, removing a key legal barrier for the ChatGPT-maker ahead of any listing.

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AT&T deepened its partnership with EV maker Rivian, confirming its 5G network will power connectivity inside its R2 model, which is slated for availability from 9 June.

The collaboration builds on a relationship dating to 2023, when AT&T became the connectivity provider for Rivian vehicles across the US and Canada.

With the R2 coming to market, the arrangement expands to cover the automaker’s next-generation platform, ensuring its more affordable mass-market model arrives with the same always-on network backbone as its predecessors.

The operator stated its 5G infrastructure will support faster over-the-air software updates, richer infotainment and real-time services which enable the R2 to improve performance and personalisation over time.

“Connectivity is increasingly central to how vehicles are designed, delivered, and improved,” stated Matt Harden, VP of connected solutions at AT&T.

At an automaker technology conference in the US state of Michigan, AT&T also revealed an expansion of its connected car platform in collaboration with Cisco and LiveOne, the parent of Slacker Radio.

The three-way arrangement is designed to simplify how automakers integrate premium entertainment into connected vehicles. AT&T’s wireless network provides the backbone, Cisco contributes multi-party billing infrastructure through its SIM management platform, and LiveOne will be supplying personalised audio content ranging from curated playlists to live programming.

Rather than requiring each automaker to negotiate separate connectivity deals with individual content providers, AT&T noted its platform acts as a single integration layer.

LiveOne joins existing AT&T partners including iM Media Labs and SiriusXM as part of a content ecosystem now reaching more than 60 of the world’s top automotive brands.

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Verizon finalised the purchase of spectrum licences from the infrastructure company comprised of the remnants of UScellular not included in the sale of the bulk of its wireless assets to T-Mobile US.

The buy from Array Digital Infrastructure signs-off a deal struck back in October 2024. It was cleared by the US Federal Communications Commission on 14 May 2026.

Approving the deal the regulator endorsed Verizon’s view the buy would help the operator provide “a better overall experience to its customers” including by enhancing rural and indoor coverage in the parts of the country the assets cover.

In addition to the sale to Verizon, Array divested $168 million of assets to T-Mobile last month and completed a $1 billion deal with AT&T for other spectrum licences in January 2026.

Array noted the latest moves “further the objective” announced in May 2024 “to opportunistically monetise remaining spectrum following the sale of the T-Mobile wireless operation”.

Its president and CEO Anthony Carlson said the company had made “significant progress in our spectrum monetisation efforts and are pleased with the value realised in this sale”.

Array owns and operates shared wireless communications infrastructure in the US, including more 4,400 cell towers across the country.

In December, the company inked a partnership with Verizon which saw the latter sign-up to use its towers to strengthen its 5G network.

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EchoStar elected to defer approximately $183 million in cash interest payments due on debt held by its Dish DBS Corporation subsidiary, citing a preference to conserve liquidity while it awaits the closing of its spectrum deal with AT&T.

According to a statement, the missed payments span three tranches of Dish DBS notes: around $72.2 million on 5.25% secured notes due 2026, $71.9 million on 5.75% secured notes due 2028 and $38.4 million on 5.125% unsecured notes due 2029.

The company stated it skipped the payments deliberately to preserve cash while it waits for the AT&T deal to close, implying it does not intend to make the payments within the grace period.

The notes were part of the broader debt load accumulated by Dish Network over years of spectrum acquisitions and satellite operations, debt which became central to EchoStar’s financial stress and its motivation to complete the $23 billion AT&T deal.

Under the terms of the relevant indentures, the non-payment is classed as a default, though EchoStar has a 30-day grace period before it formally constitutes an event of default.

EchoStar said both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the US Department of Justice granted regulatory approval for the AT&T transaction, though the FCC’s sign-off is not yet final. The company noted the closing remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of additional conditions.

The deal, announced in August 2025, will generate net proceeds of $20.25 billion according to EchoStar’s filing, reflecting adjustments and transaction costs applied to the gross figure.

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The US Space Force (USSF) granted SpaceX a $4.1 billion contract to build a constellation of birds capable of detecting and tracking airborne threats globally, which signals a shift in how the military conducts battlefield surveillance.

The competitive Other Transaction Authority agreement, announced last week (29 May) by Space Systems Command, covers the space-based airborne moving target indicator (SB-AMTI) programme.

SB-AMTI architecture integrates advanced space-based sensors, secure and rapid communication links, and resilient ground processing.

The deal tasks SpaceX with fielding an initial satellite constellation by 2028, giving joint military personnel an early capability to close what officials describe as dangerous operational blind spots.

The driving force behind the programme is a growing recognition traditional airborne platforms for tracking moving targets are increasingly vulnerable. As adversaries field more sophisticated anti-access and area-denial systems, the Pentagon has concluded a persistent, space-based sensing layer is essential.

USSF acting portfolio acquisition executive for space-based sensing and targeting Colonel Ryan Frazier, said the shift to space gives joint warfighters continuous awareness of contested airspace in a way ground or airborne systems cannot match.

He noted development and integration work is beginning immediately to meet the programme’s accelerated timeline and address pressing national security demands.

USSF has assembled a multi-vendor pool which includes numerous companies selected through the Space Systems Command’s other transaction authority agreements announced at the Space Symposium in April.

The SB-AMTI award landed several days after the USSF confirmed a separate $2.29 billion contract with SpaceX to build the Space Data Network Backbone.

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A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded during a test, a potential blow to AST SpaceMobile and its launch schedule.

The New Glenn explosion yesterday (28 May) at Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida will likely lead to lengthy investigations by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA, which will sideline future launches.

In late 2024, AST SpaceMobile signed a multi-launch agreement with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. It previously relied on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to launch its birds into orbit before attempting to branch out to the larger New Glenn models.

AST SpaceMobile has predicted an orbital launch cadence of roughly every one to two months this year through deals with multiple launch providers as it continues to target having approximately 45 birds in orbit by the end of 2026.

New Glenn’s seven meter-wide payload fairing is one of the few in the industry capable of accommodating the 2,400 square-foot phased arrays of AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites, with the potential to carry up to eight per flight.

Fallout
“The New Glenn failure is a tough blow to AST which, due to the size of its satellites, has limited options for launch and New Glenn was by far the best option,” Chris Quilty, founder and CEO of research company Quilty Space told Mobile World Live (MWL), adding the company would now struggle to achieve its launch target for the year.

Tim Farrar, president at consulting company TMF Associates, told MWL the explosion has a “huge impact since this was the primary launch vehicle and it will take a year or more to rebuild the [launch] pad”.

“I think this pushes [AST’s] continuous commercial service back to 2028,” he added.

A representative for AST SpaceMobile stated the company’s near-term launches are unaffected.

“None of the missions planned for the next few months are scheduled with Blue Origin. Our satellites are designed to be launcher-agnostic, and we have agreements in place with multiple launch providers, giving us flexibility across our launch programme.”

BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 are already at Cape Canaveral undergoing final processing ahead of a planned launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket next month.

A launch of AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation BlueBird 7 satellite from a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket last month fell short of the required orbit, resulting in its loss.

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Boldyn Networks’ US CCO Jason Caliento said the company is making good on pledges to boost the digital experience offered at Major League Soccer (MLS) venues after equipping a new stadium in the city of Miami with various connectivity technologies.

The company installed a platform of Wi-Fi 7, IPTV, audio, neutral host mobile and converged fibre infrastructure at the Nu Stadium in the Miami Freedom Park to deliver fresh services for fans and contribute to improved operation of the venue which opened in April.

Caliento highlighted an “innovative financial structure”, whereby Boldyn Networks handled the capital investment it plans to recoup through network operation and management duties.

He said the model provides “significant financial flexibility” and predicted it would become a key selling point for deals with other venues.

Boldyn Networks explained the Nu Stadium is a 26,700-seat facility located in a mixed-use development spanning 131-acres.

It installed more than 600 access points covering high-density Wi-Fi and mobile throughout the site. Cloud-based IoT platforms are providing real-time information on crowd behaviour, and the fibre element covers game streaming and display on more than 200 connected TVs.

The company highlighted mobile ticketing, from-seat refreshment ordering and access to interactive content as among the main benefits for fans.

Caliento said Boldyn Networks became an official supplier to the MLS in a deal struck in 2025.

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