Ah, nice to be writing about private 5G again – even if only briefly. Good sesh at UPTIME today from Vodafone Business, linked below. (Hats off to Nanda, everyone.) Some of the highlights, as I heard / saw them: Vodafone has 173 deployments on 119 contracts with 96 customers in 19 countries (well beyond its op/co territories; including in the US – and so, an overdue riposte for Verizon etc); 60% are ‘dedicated’ private networks, so all-edge on-site enterprise-owned (mostly Vodafone managed); the company is about to double its roster of vendor partners, likely with Ericsson (TBC; but “one is obvious”) and possibly with Celona or similar (total guess, “less obvious”; based also on Vodafone’s talk at the end about the industry needing to pitch-up to the SME market with simpler solutions). Nokia’s exit from the space has nothing to do with Vodafone’s shake-up, says Vodafone. Anyway, lots of good stuff from Massimiliano Mesenasco, including a rather withering (but entirely appropriate) assessment of the mess the market has made of private 5G so far. Work to do. Good show; high time Vodafone Business talks about this stuff more! (Meanwhile, T-Mobile is hoovering-up in the US; see Cat’s write-up, also linked below.)
James Blackmann
Executive Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
T-Mo widens lead: T-Mobile US ended 2025 as the clear growth leader. But, Verizon and AT&T leaned on scale, profitability, and broadband expansion – highlighting a battle increasingly defined by bundling and long-term monetization.
Voda trumpets P5G: Vodafone has listed 173 private 5G installs in 19 countries, referenced new vendor additions (likely Ericsson), and delivered a candid verdict on the industry’s slow start: too much about big-ticket tech, too little about SMEs.
Vi on Indian P5G: Vodafone Idea argued at UPTIME today that enterprise failures with IT/OT integration and use-case planning have hit take-up of private 5G – but that telcos are ready to explode the market with IoT service bundles.
Am-Móvil in Chile: Mexican telecom giant América Móvil says it will keep investing in Chile despite calling the market difficult, adding that Telefónica’s sale to Millicom does not significantly change competition in the near term.
Leo goes to sea: Amazon Leo is expanding into maritime connectivity by signing authorized reseller deal with maritime service providers, enabling its LEO system to reach commercial shipping, yachting, and offshore vessels.
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Beyond the Headlines
UK 5G review: The UK government has launched a market review to support investment and regulation for nationwide 5G SA by 2030, as officials estimate up to £34 billion is needed for its national deployment.
Join cold Trane: Trane Tech will acquire liquid cooling specialist LiquidStack, adding direct-to-chip and immersion systems to address rising AI-driven heat loads and expand its end-to-end data center thermal management portfolio.
Paraguay AI platform: HIVE Digital Technologies plans to launch a GPU-based AI cloud platform in Paraguay in early 2026, using hydroelectric power and telecom fiber as it expands from energy-driven Tier I sites.
Starlink crushes it: Starlink finished first in 97% of Ookla speed tests at last count, the company says – way ahead of rivals for both customer subs and network speeds also; like Viasat and HughesNet topped just 1.7% and 1% of tests.
Colt goes east: Europe’s largest B2B fibre provider will scale infrastructure and partner-led operations across the Middle East, positioning itself as a regional gateway – whilst also divesting non-AI data centres in Europe.
What We're Reading
AI translator: T-Mobile US has a beta version of an agentic AI platform in its core network to translate live phone calls in 50 languages; the service, offered as a native application without software or apps, will launch properly in the next months.
BT CEO shuffle: BT has switched-up leadership of its Openreach and International business units, with deputy-chief Katie Milligan succeeding Clive Selley as CEO of the former from April, and Selley succeeding Bas Burger to lead the latter.
Adriatic subsea: Sparkle, Alcatel Submarine Networks, and Elettra will build a subsea cable across the Adriatic to boost connectivity between Europe and the Middle East and integrate key Mediterranean landing points.
AI-first vRAN: Rakuten Mobile is working closer with Intel to develop ‘AI-native’ / ‘AI-first’ virtualized RAN to boost network performance, efficiency, and automation by integrating advanced AI into mobile network operations globally.
New Boldyn CEO: Boldyn Networks has appointed Christos Karmis, previously chief of its US business, as group CEO, replacing Igor Leprince. Karmis will also continue to lead the fast-growing US market; Leprince will support until March.
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