Lots in here about AI telco agents – including a carpe-diem piece from Google Cloud urging telcos to grasp the nettle, and a (half) write-up of a good talk with Gabriele Di Piazza at Blue Planet about how they are. The word is telcos are growing bolder as the stakes are getting bigger, seeking out 30% cost-savings from their big AI gambles. Which include, it seems, bets on Blue Planet’s own OSS drift management platform, staffed by a stable of agents, which promises to help telcos keep their promises – about network uptime, critical comms, AI sovereignty.
There are a couple of interesting telco wins, too, in the critical public sector. BT has a “multi-million” pound deal with Scottish Water to take its IT and OT systems in hand, and manage 7,000-odd network connections across last-mile broadband, private WAN technology (MPLS), GEO/LEO satellite comms, sundry “internet services”, plus some private cellular / non-cellular / mesh IoT systems for workers. But the best comment today was from Dean (Bubley; again), our favorite analyst-agitator, about Telefónica Tech’s deal with health-tech firm Harrison.ai in Spain.
Dean wrote on LinkedIn how the press note makes zero mention of any of the same comms wizardry – such as BT is supplying to overhaul Scottish Water. Nor AI tokens or edge GPUs, or “any other current obsessions” (round of applause). Which is partly just because it is a channel deal – a tie-up with an AI firm, to go to market with. No question, Telefónica Tech would like to sell whatever-comms when it does get in front of doctors and such. But, like Dean says, it is a solution, as presented, that does not make a fuss of the network. Bravo.
And the best telco SIs – like all the best SIs – have not pitched tech-based “outcomes” to businesses from the outset for ages, they say. Certainly, the likes of Orange and Verizon, have said to RCR that private 5G and SD-WAN are just tools in the toolbox, to be brandished only in cases where business problems must be grafted to the business outcomes with them. Which is not every time, very clearly. The tech-co mantra must make this its central discipline – to discover and diagnose, and then to prescribe. Same for AI agencies – and for telcos buying from them.
What else? Some good British and Australian focus, here, too – and more about industry. See below.
James Blackman
Executive Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
AI vs telco drift: Blue Planet’s new configuration management platform is puzzle-piece in the autonomous-networks jigsaw – and a part of the big telco story about reliability and trust, as they purse developing roles in AI value chain.
Rakuten O-RAN: Rakuten Mobile is deploying Fujitsu’s 1Finity open RAN radios to expand 5G capacity and efficiency, while advancing AI-driven automation, network densification, and preparations for future 5G-Advanced services.
Intel Foundry 18A: Intel Foundry’s 18A chip manufacturing yields jumped from 65% to 85% in a quarter, and Nvidia, AMD, Apple, and OpenAI are now on board. The advanced node remains strategically important as Intel competes with TSMC.
Agentic telecoms: Operators must move beyond human-in-the-loop AI to embed agents across their core systems, build invisible self-healing networks, and unlock billions in value – writes Google Cloud.
P5G, Down Under: Private 5G is moving from experiment to expectation across Australian industry. As deployments grow in scale and complexity, Chris Upstone at BAI Comms discusses what that transition looks like from the front line.
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Beyond the Headlines
Industrial AI-4.0: Europe’s sovereignty push is gathering pace with the launch of Soofi S, while telcos and governments reposition networks, chips, submarine cables, private 5G, and DCI as strategic assets in the emerging AI economy.
Verizon’s horizon: Verizon’s latest store sales and job cuts show an industry still chasing growth beyond connectivity. As operators invest in AI, private networks, and infra, cost discipline is trumping diversification as the route to future returns.
Subsea fiber rules: ITU recommendations and FCC rules show how submarine cables are critical infra. While the ITU is targeting deployment and repair bottlenecks, the FCC is tightening oversight of ownership, operations, and security.
From push to pull: Physical AI is changing the private 5G dynamic, as industrial enterprises – and their physical tech providers – are increasingly pulling private 5G into factories, plants, and supply chains.
On the defense: Ericsson has a direct hand in the UK £8bn military 5G comms overhaul, highlighting the importance of private 5G, drones, and AI in battlefield engagements – and thumbing its nose at rival Nokia.
What We're Reading
AI mast + robot: Vodafone is testing an AI-controlled mobile mast that uses a robotic arm to automatically adjust antenna direction in response to demand and conditions – pointing to self-optimizing radio networks, maybe.
UK 6GHz split: Ofcom is to split the upper 6 GHz band in the UK between Wi-Fi and mobile, giving priority access to Wi-Fi in the lower portion and to mobile in the upper portion, while enabling shared use via automated coordination systems.
BT utility gig: BT Business has won a multi-million-pound deal to modernize Scottish Water’s IT and OT systems under a single managed platform – to improve resilience of one of Scotland’s most critical public services.
Hospital host: Freshwave has deployed an indoor neutral-host LTE system at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in the UK, giving staff, patients, and visitors connectivity on all UK networks to support healthcare apps and reduce bottlenecks.
Ondas drone deal: Ondas has won a $6.9m Australian defence deal for portable counter-drone systems, highlighting demand for integrated detect-and-defeat capabilities as militaries strengthen protection against drone threats.
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