This edition’s lineup highlights how telecom and tech giants are aligning global infrastructure strategies with AI-native ambitions. Vodafone has tapped Samsung to supply vRAN and O-RAN solutions across key European markets, expanding multi-band radio deployments and layering in AI-driven operations software to enable large-scale rollouts and RAN sharing. The partnership underscores how open, software-centric architectures are moving beyond trials into operator networks at scale.

In Korea, KT is sharpening its AI play with SOTA K, a large language model co-developed with Microsoft and optimized for Korean grammar, culture, and context. Early benchmarks suggest it outperforms global peers in comprehension, reasoning, and specialized knowledge — an example of how national telcos are tailoring frontier AI for domestic markets and use cases.

Meanwhile, Samsung and SK Telecom are extending their collaboration with OpenAI through the Stargate initiative, scaling monthly memory chip supply to 900,000 wafers and evaluating new AI-focused data centers across Korea. The effort highlights the increasing interdependence of semiconductor capacity, telco infrastructure, and generative AI growth.

In other, equally important news, geopolitics remain center stage as China curbs the use of Nokia and Ericsson equipment in its national networks — a decisive step toward decoupling from European suppliers amid heightened global tensions; and Soracom has launched an integrated IoT connectivity solution with Skylo, enabling devices to switch between cellular and satellite networks across regions, underscoring how IoT providers are bridging terrestrial and non-terrestrial access to deliver global reach.

Take a look!