• ‘Don’t rush into 6G’, pleads NGMN
• HPE’s stock soars as AI fuels major Q2 growth  
• Anthropic files IPO papers, expands project Glasswing

In today’s industry news roundup: Industry body the NGMN Alliance provides guidance on the best route for 5G-to-6G migration and calls on the industry not to rush into pre-standards 6G deployments; HPE’s share price jumps by 25% as it rides the AI wave; AI developer Anthropic takes the first real step towards an IPO and massively expands its Project Glasswing initiative; and more!

Ahead of the 3GPP plenary meeting in Singapore (8-12 June), the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) has published two new papers that aim to help mobile network operators identify the best way to migrate from 5G to 6G while at the same time urging the broader telecom ecosystem to learn from mistakes made in the early days of 5G and not to rush into pre-standards deployments in order to prevent complexity and market confusion. The 6G Architecture and Migration Options – An Operator View publication “evaluates multiple 6G architecture and migration options for the radio access network (RAN) and core network” in an effort to “help identify the most appropriate migration choices early when it comes to simplifying networks and reducing complexity, ensuring smooth and scalable deployment.” The 6G Deployment Timeframe Considerations – An Operator View publication provides a “consolidated view from leading operators across multiple regions on the timing constraints associated with the introduction of 6G. Drawing on lessons learned from 5G standalone deployments, it emphasises the importance of allowing sufficient time to develop robust standards that meet operator requirements. Current industry perspectives suggest that commercial introduction of standardised 6G capabilities is likely to emerge in the early years of the 2030s,” notes the NGMN in this announcement. Laurent Leboucher, chairman of the NGMN Alliance board and Orange Group CTO and EVP of networks, stated: “The transition to 6G will present significant opportunities, but only if the industry prioritises migration paths that build on existing network assets, minimise operational complexity and deliver tangible benefits from the earliest deployment stages. Dedicating sufficient time to this process is crucial, otherwise risking unnecessary complexity and long-term challenges, limiting the value to operators and end users.” The elephant in the next-gen networking room, though, is the phoney ‘race’ to be first to launch 6G services, which US President Donald Trump hopes to win by pressuring Qualcomm to have pre-standards 6G chips ready in time for the Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, July 2028) – two years before the 3GPP expects to have 6G specifications completed – and to have commercial 6G technology ready for deployment in 2029. Does anyone beyond the political ego bubbles give a flying FPGA who’s first?

HPE saw its share price leap by more than 25% this morning to $58.88 on the New York Stock Exchange after it reported a 40% year-on-year increase in fiscal second-quarter revenues to $10.7bn and improved margins. Networking division revenues were up by 148.2% to $2.7bn and the vendor’s Cloud & AI business reported a 22.9% increase in sales to $7.7bn. President and CEO Antonio Neri stated: “HPE delivered an exceptional quarter with record-breaking revenue, higher-than-anticipated profitability, and increased free cash flow, reflecting strong execution and healthy demand across the business. Customers continue to invest in modernising their infrastructure and scaling AI, and our performance shows the strength of our combined networking portfolio and the value we are delivering to our shareholders.” The vendor’s CFO, Marie Myers, added: “We drove high profitability and cash generation this quarter through continued operational discipline as well as executing ahead of schedule against Juniper Networks and Catalyst cost synergies. Based on our performance, we are raising our fiscal 2026 guidance and introducing a fiscal 2027 financial growth framework. These updates reflect the durability of our performance and continued operational excellence – and point to faster progress toward our long-term financial plan.” 

Anthropic is the latest AI company to take a major step towards an initial public offering (IPO): It has confidentially submitted documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but has not yet specified how much stock it intends to offer to investors, how much it hopes to raise, or what its implied valuation would be, though it did just raise $65bn in funding at a valuation of $965bn. Rival AI developer OpenAI is also expected to file IPO papers with the SEC any day, with industry observers expecting both companies to go public in the second half of this year. 

Still with Anthropic… The company has expanded Project Glasswing, its initiative set up in April to test the security implications of using new frontier large language model (LLM) Claude Mythos, to 150 new organisations, taking the total number involved to more than 200. Verizon recently became the first telco to join the project. Anthropic noted in this announcement that most of the new organisations in the new cohort, which have not been identified, are based in 15 countries and many of them “provide critical infrastructure to many more… The group covers several industries that weren’t well represented in our initial cohort, such as power, water, healthcare, communications and hardware.”

Another day, another eye-watering number associated with AI infrastructure deployments. This time it comes from Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which is aiming to raise $80bn in equity funding “for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures to scale AI infrastructure and global compute”. The company noted: “AI is driving an expansionary moment for Alphabet. The company is experiencing strong demand for its AI solutions and services from enterprises and consumers, at levels that are exceeding the company’s available supply. By scaling its investments, the company seeks to expand its foundational infrastructure to support the significant growth opportunity ahead. During its Q1 2026 earnings call, Alphabet announced that its 2026 capital expenditures are expected to be $180bn to $190bn, and that it expects 2027 capital expenditures to significantly increase compared to 2026.” Read more. 

– The staff, TelecomTV