It’s late, and I have to cook dinner. But a couple of items caught my eye today. First, the announcement that BT Business will work with Nscale to deploy 14MW of AI data center capacity across three existing BT sites in the UK in the name of sovereignty is interesting, anyway – on-trend, smartly opportunistic, a signal that telcos can play at AI infrastructure. It is funny, too, because BT International was on stage at FutureNet World in London yesterday, ostensibly (with Orange) presenting an opposite view on telco AI tactics to Rakuten and Telus. The Canadian firm, in particular, had a good line on GPU as-a-service (“sold out in six months”) as a low-risk capital investment – when made as megawatt gambles, as the world waits on grander gigawatt projects. The sense from BT (and Vodafone on a separate panel) in London was that GPU as-a-service has limited mileage in the UK – just because geographic constraints mean most AI use cases can be effectively served from a central regional hyperscaler site. Here then, BT is taking the same approach as Telus – and Deutsche Telekom on a bigger scale, and Orange in some capacity (as heard at FutureNet World, too).
Separately, but related, the cooperation between Schwarz Digits and Siemens on sovereign private 5G is a cracker, we’d say. Schwarz Digits is the integration division of the Schwarz Group, which owns Lidl and Kaufland, established in 2023 to provide secure, sovereign digital infrastructure – a world view that Europe, plus other regions, now embraces. It is further proof as well that Siemens is serious about private 5G; the press note has a quote from its Digital Industries chief, who hasn’t said much about the technology until now. Schwarz Digits will sell it air-gapped for the defense and security sectors – which play in the same sovereignty narrative, of course. Siemens had a whole stand for its defense solutions in Hanover this week; it had another for cybersecurity, and another for private 5G – plus its mega stand in hall 27 (the new all-AI hall). And on the shop floor, the physical AI story, as presented top-down by the firm at Hannover Messe this week, and covered here, will rely on industrial-grade connectivity on the shop floor, and private 5G is an option for that. So private 5G, as we always wrote, is not just about performance, but very clearly about control, including jurisdictional control. It’s all coming together.
James Blackman
Executive Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
Telco AI tactics: At FutureNet World, Rakuten and Telus pushed for bold AI-led reinvention, while BT and Orange argued for a measured evolution. But a shared strategy is taking shape, with a message: don’t just sell connectivity, they said.
Nvidia + Google: Nvidia and Google Cloud are deepening their ties to streamline the transition from AI prototyping to full-scale production. The deal includes the introduction of A5X bare-metal instances powered by Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs.
UK-made AI: Telecom group BT and Nscale plan to deploy up to 14MW of sovereign AI data center capacity in the UK, aiming to expand local compute and also support secure, large-scale AI adoption.
Ookla on D2D: Ookla says global D2D connections rose 24.5% between July 2025 and March 2026, driven by Starlink expansion, but monthly user engagement remains extremely low, highlighting early-stage adoption despite network growth.
Móvil update: América Móvil plans to sustain $7 billion annual capex as profits rise and prepaid recovers, while evaluating potential direct-to-cell partnerships with Starlink ahead of a possible broader rollout around 2027.
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Beyond the Headlines
6G ISAC sensing: ISAC is one of the clearest examples of how 6G could expand the role of mobile networks by using the same infra to make the network better at transporting data, and more aware of the physical environment around it.
More AI in T&M: Vendors in T&M are using AI for automation, anomaly detection, and data analysis, with implementations focused on boosting efficiency, reducing errors, and improving predictive insights across complex environments.
Southern fiber: Fiber internet is expanding rapidly across the southern US with faster service and better pricing, though availability still varies widely between urban and rural areas as providers continue investing in network buildouts.
Leo versus Starlink: The satellite arms race between Amazon Leo and Starlink is heating up every day, but their addressable markets and business trajectories tell a different story. Sulagna provides an overview.
Scaling O-RAN: Rakuten Symphony will deploy open RAN and RIC across seven Global South markets, using METI-backed trials to prove performance, cut costs and energy use, and attract infrastructure investment.
What We’re Reading
Nokia’s day-zero: Nokia is emerging as a “day zero” DC vendor, says NAND Research; it is gaining traction by building AI-ready infrastructure from scratch with automation and cloud-native design rather than modernizing legacy systems.
Sovereign P5G: Schwarz Digits and Siemens have a deal to develop sovereign on-prem private 5G and compute, combining cloud, software, and industrial connectivity to support secure, resilient comms for critical infra and defense.
Freshwave first: Freshwave has launched a UK indoor connectivity solution delivering multi-operator 4G/5G coverage via Ericsson hardware, improving energy efficiency, deployment speed, and signal reliability in enterprise buildings.
Frontier AI slows: Omdia says growth in frontier AI models is slowing, while mid-sized models gain traction, shifting demand to more diverse compute, including CPUs, GPUs, and networking to support agent-based and inference workloads.
P5G bodies collide: The 5G-ACIA and Alliance for Private Networks have signed a letter of intent to align industrial 5G initiatives, aiming to accelerate industrial IoT adoption and global private 5G deployment.
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