Telefonica Tech targeted a bump to its IoT business in the US by providing the connectivity for a range of protective equipment produced by industrial health and safety product maker Halotech Digital Services.

An arrangement was made involving Telefonica Tech’s managed IoT connectivity with a Halotech Software-as-a-Service platform which uses AI to provide real-time information relating to worker safety in industrial settings.

Telefonica Tech country manager for the US Luis Lepe Marquez said the combination would help customers “transform workers’ day-to-day activities”, providing clear “actionable intelligence to improve safety”.

The operator unit explained Halotech AI integrates with various namesake protective helmets developed for “complex industrial settings” including mines and oil rigs.

Telefonica Tech is providing the connectivity to collect, transmit and process information from the safety wear to produce insights to improve staff procedures and help predict potential dangers. It listed automatic fall detection, emergency alerts, provision of location information and environmental monitoring among the capabilities on offer.

Real-time decision-making capabilities can reduce “workplace incidents by up to 60%”, Telefonica Tech stated.

Halotech CEO Manuel Marin said companies are changing their approach to safety by seeking systems which can help predict incidents instead of reacting to them.

The companies have history, having developed post-quantum encryption for various industries in 2024.

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Spark New Zealand added heat to rural IoT connectivity competition, working with natural resource protection company Dryad Networks and a local authority to provide advanced warning of wildfires in a major forest.

The set-up in the Waitangi Endowment Forest uses Dryad Networks sensors equipped with AI to detect fires at an early stage and inform the Far North District Council (FNDC) and woodland authorities.

Spark stated the sensors are capable of detecting smouldering, meaning alerts can be generated even when there are no visible signs of smoke or flames to provide early warning and give fire fighters more time to respond, along with enabling swifter evacuation of the forest.

The system is being configured and connected to the internet by Spark company Adroit, with FNDC installing the sensors. The authority is also to match funding for the project provided in a recent round of investment by New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

A total of 250 sensors are to be deployed, providing full coverage of Waitangi Endowment Forest. The system is to be in place for 15 years.

FNDC group manager for Corporate Services Charlie Billington said the project is an opportunity to train AI for the setting, localising the technology and making it more accurate.

Further fine-tuning is scheduled for February 2027, when forest managers and owners, iwi and business representatives are set to trek the ground to explain the system and tweak it for specific smoke signatures.

Spark stated there is a broader goal to integrate the set-up with systems used by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

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Telecom Italia warned ransomware attacks surged in 2025 as cybercriminals used AI and automation to scale campaigns, cautioning that rapidly evolving technology and geopolitical tensions are reshaping digital risk.

In the second edition of its Cyber Security Report produced alongside Italy-based non-profit Cyber Security Foundation, TIM said ransomware claims topped 7,400 globally in 2025, up 42% compared to 2024.

The report pointed to malware campaigns affecting entities in around 200 countries and a 20% rise in known vulnerabilities. It highlighted zero-day flaws as a growing concern because they can be exploited before vendors issue patches.

The study also flagged: promptware, a form of cyberattack designed to manipulate generative AI (genAI) and LLMs; and quishing, a scam using compromised QR codes, smart devices and satellite network security as emerging risk areas. It argued cyber resilience is now tied to service continuity, industrial competitiveness and overall national security.

In contrast, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) incidents, which are attacks designed to overwhelm websites, apps or networks by flooding them with traffic, fell 36% partly due to preventive measures. Yet, the report warned this decline did not mean the threat was easing. Attacks became more focused, persistent and aimed at strategic targets including governments, telecoms and transport systems, while average exposure times rose 19%.

TIM attributed the ransomware surge to the continued industrialisation of cybercrime, with attackers benefiting from both geopolitical instability and AI-powered automation.

Indeed, the study presented AI as a double-edged sword, noting that while it acts as a “threat multiplier” used to automate malicious code and accelerate fraud, phishing and abuse, it has also strengthened attack prevention, analysis and response capabilities.

Alessandra Michelini, CEO and chairwoman of TIM Group’s cybersecurity arm Telsy, said the threat response cannot be limited to emergency management, calling for active investment in “digital sovereignty, skills development and secure technologies”.

Marco Proietti, founder and president of the Cyber Security Foundation, added cybersecurity must become “a widespread culture”, as “a more digitally aware country is, first and foremost, a safer country”.

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SK Telecom declared itself the first private company based in Asia to be picked to contribute to European Union (EU) work to develop next-generation quantum cryptography technology to boost the security of communications.

The South Korean operator was picked to help develop a quantum key distribution (QKD) system using Quantum Photonic Integrated Circuit-AI as part of the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon Europe science and technology research financing programme.

SKT staff are to work with researchers in Greece, Austria and Germany, focusing on reducing the bulk, weight and cost of QKD equipment.

The theory is access to QKD-based security would be boosted if the equipment is easier to deploy: SKT stated current systems are unwieldy because “precision optical components…must be individually assembled and aligned in the form of discrete equipment”.

SKT believes optical elements can be combined into a single chip using Photonic Integrated Circuit semiconductor process technology, an approach it likened to producing smartphone camera modules.

The operator expects real-time optical calibration to be possible by embedding AI into the system to boost “overall QKD system stability”.

Project coordination is to be handled by the National Centre of Scientific Research Demokritos in Greece, which is also tasked with developing the AI.

The Austrian Institute of Technology is to develop the key management system and German semiconductor start-up Synogate the functional logic.

SKT highlighted a side mission to help harmonise European and South Korean quantum cryptography standards by identifying differences in respective current approaches. The work could ultimately help develop a global approach, it stated.

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Orange made a second decisive acquisition move in as many days after completing a buyout of its partner in Spanish joint venture MasOrange.

The French operator detailed the completion of the deal late yesterday (8 June), two days after a move involving the assets of domestic rival SFR.

Orange began its quest to purchase the 50% of MasOrange it did not own from partner Lorca in October 2025 and the process ran relatively smoothly, with a definitive deal made two months later and regulatory clearance secured earlier this year.

MasOrange CEO Meinrad Spenger gains a place on Orange’s executive committee. He said the buyout cements the operator’s foundations and improves its “capacity for investment and innovation”.

Orange intends to refinance MasOrange debt “over time”.

The operator highlighted the acquisition of the remainder of MasOrange as important to a current strategy focused on the theme of trust, while also bolstering its position in Spain, its second-largest market in Europe.

“It paves the way for accelerated industrial, operational and commercial synergies”, CEO Christel Heydemann said.

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BT claimed to be the first UK company to join Anthropic’s Project Glasswing, a move it said strengthens cybersecurity for its networks and enables better protection against the latest AI threats for customers.

The operator made the announcement at the UK Government’s AI Adoption Summit at London Tech Week, with the country committing to accelerate AI usage across the economy.

BT stated its membership to Project Glasswing will give it access to Anthropic’s frontier AI model Claude Mythos Preview, strengthening protection against cybersecurity threats for its network and customers.

Anthropic announced last week it had expanded access to Mythos to 150 new companies across 15 countries, after initially restricting it to a group of private technology players.

BT explained Project Glasswing brings together “critical infrastructure providers” to secure data and systems, allowing organisations to use Anthropic’s safe AI systems to identify vulnerabilities and help to fix them before criminals can take advantage.

In a speech during the summit, BT CEO Allison Kirkby outlined the critical role of connectivity in ensuring the UK can seize the growth potential of AI, emphasising the operator’s commitment to working with the government to support “sovereign British AI capability so that the UK can be an AI maker and not just a taker”.

In line with its participation in Project Glasswing, BT said it prevents more than 4 million cyberattacks across its network every day.

CEO of BT Business Jon James added AI is changing cybersecurity fast and “businesses need trusted partners who can help them stay one step ahead”.

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French operators Bouygues Telecom, Free-Iliad Group and Orange reached a deal with Altice France to acquire SFR for a total enterprise value of €20.4 billion, sparking a major shake-up of the country’s telecoms sector.

The three would-be acquirers signed a memorandum of understanding with Altice France less than two months after entering into exclusive talks. An initial offer of €17 billion was rejected in October 2025.

Terms of the proposed deal remained unchanged from what was laid out in April, with Bouygues taking a 42% stake, Free-Iliad 31% and Orange 27%.

SFR’s consumer mobile and broadband units will be carved up between the consortium, with Bouygues to take control of the B2B segment.

With the deal expected to be subject to intense national and European regulation, breakup fees of between €100 million and €2 billion have been agreed, depending on the reason for any collapse and timing of termination of the deal.

Regulatory scrutiny is likely to be fierce because the transaction will reduce the number of players in the market from four to three, though there are signs traditional European regulatory resistance to deals which do so are beginning to lessen and the European Commission indicated an easing of corporate merger rules earlier this year.

The companies stated the proposed transaction would create value for all stakeholders, and ensure continued development of France’s infrastructure and digital ecosystem.

Combining SFR’s assets “is expected to generate significant synergies”, benefitting consumers and the overall digital ecosystem by bolstering the capacity to invest.

A consultation period will now be opened with relevant employee representative bodies. Definitive legal documents are expected to be signed in the second half of 2026 with completion expected in the second half of 2027, following regulatory clearance.

Big challenge
Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight, believes the deal paves the way for the greatest shake-up in the French telecoms sector since the arrival of Iliad in 2012.

“The agreement appears a successful outcome for all parties. Bouygues, Orange and Iliad each gain important new assets in their pursuit for greater scale, while eliminating a major rival will reduce the competitive intensity of the market.”

He warned the biggest challenge would be to convince competition authorities the deal is positive for the French market.

“Several years ago, this would have felt like a herculean task. But the regulatory tide has steadily been turning favour of consolidation in Europe following recent deals approved in the UK and Spain. Although a lengthy probe is likely, it is surely odds-on to get the green light,” he added.

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Telenor is reportedly exploring a sale of its digital bank in Pakistan, marking a full exit from the country following the sale of its mobile unit which was completed in December 2025.

Bloomberg reported Telenor is working on offloading its 55% equity stake in Easypaisa Bank, which was formerly known as Telenor Microfinance Bank. According to sources, a sale could be worth “several hundred million dollars”.

Over the next month, Telenor will apparently invite initial offers from prospective bidders, although no final decision has been made on the fate of the stake.

The rest of Easypaisa is owned by Ant Group, and the mobile money service is popular for cash transfers in the nation.

In line with a strategy to dispose of businesses in Asia, Telenor sold its telecoms unit in the country for around $490 million to Pakistan Telecommunications Company.  

Selling its stake in the banking business would therefore end the Norwegian operator’s two decade long presence in the country.

In a comment cited by Bloomberg, analyst at DNB Carnegie Christoffer Wang Bjornsen said the move would be “well received by the financial community to see Telenor simplifying its Asian portfolio”.

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Telefonica chairman and CEO Marc Murtra (pictured, right) insisted European sovereignty will only be possible with simplified regulation and a commitment to building technology within the continent, while stressing strategic autonomy does not mean isolation.

Speaking at the 2026 Cercle d’Economia meeting held in Barcelona on a roundtable about AI and European technological sovereignty, Murtra argued Europe needs to accelerate the development of its own technologies to keep pace in a world shaped by AI, quantum computing and new autonomous systems.

Murtra said building out technologies had become a determining factor for countries’ economic competitiveness, productivity, resilience and “decision-making capacity”.

In this context, however, he does not believe taking such an approach will mean isolation on the global stage, rather it gives Europe the ability to develop and control critical capabilities in areas such as energy, digital infrastructure, semiconductors and AI.

“Strategic autonomy is the relevant concept. No economy is completely independent, but Europe must strengthen its capabilities to reduce excessive dependencies in key technologies,” he said.

Protect European values
Delving deeper into Europe’s needs, Murtra explained strategic autonomy requires combining investment, industrial capacity, innovation, talent and forming “a shared long-term vision”.

This vision, he added, should be centred on defending and preserving “very important values linked to democracy, human dignity and the ability to say what we think.”

On the point of regulation, the Telefonica executive believes simplifying rules and focus does not mean eliminating anything, but “rather prioritising what drives innovation, competitiveness and strategic autonomy”.

He concluded: “Europe has the GDP, the talent, the engineers, the companies and the institutions” to lead the next technological revolution.

Murtra’s comments coincided with a new European Commission (EC) proposal to boost the continent’s sovereignty, outlining renewed focus on semiconductors, AI, cloud and open source.

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Ex-Deutsche Telekom executive Abdu Mudesir resurfaced at US rival Verizon as EVP and president of the operator’s global networks, platforms and technology (GN&T).

The move to Verizon pits Mudesir in direct competition with T-Mobile US, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom.

Mudesir will succeed 30-year veteran Joe Russo, who is retiring over the coming months. He will sit on an 11-member leadership team reporting directly to CEO Dan Schulman.

Russo is currently EVP and president of global networks and technology.

A representative for Verizon told Mobile World Live (MWL) the company hired Mudesir following a thorough global search.

“He has a brilliant track record in building 5G capabilities, scaling fibre architecture, and is a recognised pioneer in Open RAN, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven network automation,” the representative stated.

Mudesir, who served as Deutsche Telekom’s head of product and technology, left the company abruptly in late March 2026 after eight years in various roles.

Verizon noted it is still finalising the exact dates for the transition, but stated Russo remains fully in charge of GN&T for now and will be staying through Q1 2027 to ensure a seamless transition.

“Abdu is obsessed with the customer experience and network excellence,” Schulman said in an internal announcement to employees. “He will help drive the convergence of Network, Platforms, Technology, Products and AI, using our unrivaled connectivity and the transformative power of AI to define what comes next for our business and the customers we serve.”

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Telefonica reached a deal to buy back rural backhaul provider LineoX after selling the business to investment group Asterion Industrial Partners more than six years ago.

Telefonica stated LineoX operates one of Spain’s leading rural microwave link networks, providing critical backhauling infrastructure for mobile connectivity, particularly in rural and less densely populated areas.

Asterion acquired the “underlying portfolio” of microwave radio links from Telefonica in 2020 through a carve out transaction and has operated the business as an independent infrastructure platform.

It has also been integrated within a broader wholesale telecoms group alongside Axion, spanning radio links, towers, broadcasting and fibre transport.

Telefonica, which did not reveal the value of the transaction, stated it has remained a partner and anchor client of LineoX since the sale, reflecting a commitment to network performance, service continuity and reliability.

Borja Ochoa, CEO of Telefonica Spain added the deal to acquire the unit is fully aligned with its strategy.

“Our focus is to rigorously strengthen control over the capabilities that are critical to our network, our resilience and our long-term leadership, so that we can provide more and better services to our customer.”

He added LineoX is a highly relevant platform for rural connectivity in Spain, and its integration will reinforce its ability to continue investing in the evolution of its infrastructure.

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Telstra teamed up with Google to bolster digital infrastructure across Australia and Asia-Pacific, using a combination of fibre and subsea network integration to tap into growing demands for AI technology.

The partnership will see Google work with Telstra on its fibre backbone Aura network, securing inter-city dark fibre capacity, and target new opportunities “along some of Australia’s key connectivity corridors”. The increase in capacity is intended to give more Australian businesses and households the opportunity to connect faster and more securely to the rest of the world.

The Aura network is described by Telstra as the “backbone of Australia’s digital future”, run by its InfraCo division, providing ultrafast connectivity between cities and remote regions. The operator has already laid 8,000km of the network, which will increase to 14,000km when complete.

Connectivity hub
On the subsea side, Telstra will join Google’s Pacific Connect and Australia Connect initiatives to use subsea fibre pairs on the Tabua, Proa and Bulikula subsea systems, which provide the country with links to Japan, the Pacific Islands and the US, reinforcing the nation’s potential as a connectivity hub.

Through the integration of terrestrial and subsea, the duo touted benefits to security and resilience, as they can remove single points of network failure.

Telstra said it partnered with Google to further advance the technology giant’s AI capabilities in Australia, while enabling the operator to deliver “diverse and secure subsea pathways” to ensure networks are equipped to handle the growing demands of AI applications and workloads.

Telstra added underlying infrastructure must evolve to securely and reliably support data flows not only within Australia but across key international corridors.

Steve Worrall, CEO of Telstra Digital Infrastructure said “the partnership is about enhancing our national capability and ensuring that Australia remains seamlessly connected to the global economy”. 

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Liberty Global appointed Stephen van Rooyen (pictured) to take charge of its newly formed telecoms company Ziggo Group, which will combine VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands with Telenet in Belgium.

Liberty Global stated van Rooyen, who is the current CEO of VodafoneZiggo, will take control of the joint entity on 1 September, ahead of planned listing of the company in Amsterdam in 2027.

The executive was credited by Liberty Global for leading “a turnaround at VodafoneZiggo over the past 18 months”, leaning on extensive European telecoms and media leadership experience.

He previously spent more than 17 years at Sky, serving as CEO of Sky UK & Ireland and CCO of Sky Group.

As part of preparations for the new entity, Liberty Global also named Jany Fruytier from its Swiss operator Sunrise as CFO. Fruytier has held the equivalent position at Sunrise since 2020, playing a key role in the growth and listing of listing of the business.

Liberty Global struck a deal to buy the 50% stake in VodafoneZiggo it did not own from Vodafone Group earlier this year.

It then declared it would set up Ziggo Group, which would own 100% of VodafoneZiggo and Telenet. As part of the buyout transaction, Vodafone took a 10% stake in Ziggo Group.

The joint entity will have 13 million customers, generating €6.6 billion in revenue.

Expertise and experience
Alongside his responsibilities at Ziggo Group, van Rooyen will retain his role at VodafoneZiggo.

Mike Fries, Liberty Global chairman and CEO said van Rooyen’s experience and Fruytier’s expertise gives it the right platform to deliver on the planned listing.

“Together, they will lead two highly complementary businesses, and we see significant opportunities in what these two strong brands can achieve together,” he said.

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Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa (pictured) believes Africa is no longer playing catch-up in global technologies, telling attendees of a key business conference in Kenya the continent is now holding its own in developing fresh business models and tapping emerging digitalisation trends.

In a string of posts on a popular micro-blogging site, the operator reported Ndegwa told the Academy of International Business (AIB) Conference nations are increasingly looking to Africa for fresh approaches to delivering growth and innovation.

Africa is now “co-creating new models” and its views are ever-more sought after, Ndegwa said.

The Safaricom boss noted Africa was not immune to global challenges, but argued “turbulence can also drive transformation”.

He pointed to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic as an example, explaining the operator group “had to navigate regulatory changes, currency pressure”, greater competition and cybersecurity challenges.

The challenges fuelled a shift from “telco to techco” as Safaricom recognised “adaptability is now a competitive advantage”.

He noted global uncertainties continue today due to “geopolitical tension, economic volatility” and various disruptive technology developments including AI, meaning the ability to swiftly adjust is still essential.

Ndegwa said the m-Pesa mobile money platform “remains the clearest example of African innovation” being used to address a local problem by looking to the bigger picture of what the system is for rather than focusing solely on technology.

He argued the platform shows what can be achieved in driving digital transformation when initiatives are backed by the right regulations and laws, along with “strong public-private collaborations”.

The three-day AIB event concluded today (29 May).

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