India and Turkey are both signaling the next phase of 5G expansion — one defined by scale, investment, and readiness for AI-driven services.
Reliance Jio Infocomm in India closed September with 234 million 5G subscribers, up more than 20 million in just three months. Half of all Jio traffic now runs on 5G, showing how quickly India’s network modernization is translating into mass adoption. Also, Turkey’s long-awaited 5G auction raised nearly $3 billion, far exceeding the government’s initial expectations and paving the way for commercial launches during 2026. With spectrum secured until 2042, Turkcell, Türk Telekom, and Vodafone Turkey are gearing up for a new decade of digital growth fueled by 5G and 5G-Advanced.
While 5G buildouts accelerate, AI is emerging as the next frontier for telecom innovation. In the UAE, e& and AMD are partnering to develop energy-efficient, secure AI infrastructure powered by EPYC processors and Instinct GPUs. The collaboration highlights how telcos are aligning 5G connectivity with AI compute to unlock the next wave of intelligent networks. More below.
Juan Pedro Tomas
Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
Half of Jio traffic now 5G: Reliance Jio reached 234 million 5G subscribers by September — up by more than 20 million in the quarter. 5G traffic now makes up half of its network load. Fixed broadband and AirFiber users also surged..
Turkcell tops the bill: Turkcell is the biggest spender in the Turkish 5G auction, paying $429 million for the block in the 700MHz band and securing four additional blocks in the 3.5GHz range – bringing its total expenditure to over $1.2 billion.
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Beyond the Headlines
Industrial AI – in numbers: Industrial AI has moved from experimental pilots to boardroom strategy. The global market was worth $43.6 billion in 2024, and is growing at 23% per year.
Industrial IoT – in numbers: IoT has always been more concept than category – like a loose collection of private device networks. And it makes increasingly good sense to enterprises alongside industrial 5G networks and industrial AI systems.
Industrial 5G – in numbers: Private 5G continues to outpace the broader telecoms market, with enterprise deployments expanding and industrial use cases taking shape. Data from Dell’Oro shows sustained almost-double-digit growth.
Bubble debates rage on: OpenAI, Nvidia, and other AI innovators have created a three-year bull market. Some say “bull” to the circular nature of the deals, while others say it’s the best way to drive AI innovation.
Balancing quality, cost, and carbon: Cloud-native telecom networks aren’t just faster and smarter — they’re greener, too. Discover five ways cloud-native architecture helps operators cut energy use and save costs.
What We're Reading
Intel, AIREV power agentic AI: Intel and UAE’s AIREV partner to optimize agentic AI infrastructure using Xeon and Gaudi accelerators — pushing sovereign AI adoption globally.
AI to make electricity ‘more affordable’: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says AI infrastructure will help make electricity more abundant, reliable, and ultimately more affordable.
China Mobile unveils CMobile brand: China Mobile has unveiled its refreshed international brand, CMobile, and launched a new International Ecosystem Alliance, signaling a major step in its global expansion and collaboration strategy.
G42 advances AI project: UAE-based company G42 provides update on construction of Stargate UAE AI infrastructure cluster, a 5GW AI campus in Abu Dhabi.
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