• Qualcomm tasked with delivering 6G tech for 2028 Olympics
• Never mind Wi-Fi 8, Nokia’s mulling Wi-Fi 9! 
• Italian telcos form towers joint venture

In today’s industry news roundup: The Trump administration wants Qualcomm to have pre-standards 6G products ready for the July 2028 summer Olympics in Los Angeles; even though Wi-Fi 8 is still a few years away, Nokia has started to pave the way for Wi-Fi 9; Italian telcos Fastweb+Vodafone and Telecom Italia have formed a towers joint venture with plans to build 6,000 new sites; and more!

The Trump administration is pressing wireless tech giant Qualcomm to develop and deliver pre-standards 6G chips in time for the Summer Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles in July 2028, two years before the 3GPP expects to have 6G specifications completed. In a recorded interview with Politico, Nate Tibbit, Qualcomm’s senior VP of global government affairs and public affairs, stated: “The US government is very interested in accelerating the timeline for 6G. They have asked us to work to bring 6G forward so that it will be launched in 2029 with pre-commercial devices ready to go for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, so this timeline is accelerating pretty significantly and we want to make sure we have the spectrum and regulatory framework that allow us to deliver on that request.” Those timelines tie in with the Mission LA 2028 initiative launched a few months ago by the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which advises the President on communications, broadband and internet policy, and with the strategic collaboration initiative that Qualcomm announced during MWC26 that aims to “accelerate the development and global deployment of 6G” and establish a “clear, milestone-driven roadmap focused on delivering 6G commercial systems starting from 2029 onwards.”

Whether it’s welcome or not, the excitement around 6G developments and collaborations is growing as world-first claims are made, collaborations are announced and new timelines proposed. But next-gen wireless isn’t all about 6G: Nokia has just outlined its vision for Wi-Fi 9, which is set to be “designed to support real-time, immersive and AI-driven digital experiences”. If you’re thinking that we’re still in the Wi-Fi 7 era (in terms of commercially available products) and that Wi-Fi 8 is still warming in the oven, then you’d be right – the IEEE standard (IEEE 802.11bn) for what’s known as Wi-Fi 8 is not due to be cooked until 2028, but hey, that’ll be here before we know it, right!? According to Nokia, “Wi-Fi 9 is expected to evolve alongside future 6G networks as part of a broader, complementary wireless ecosystem, with each technology optimised for different environments and use cases.”  

Fastweb+Vodafone, part of the Swisscom empire, has struck a non-binding partnership with Telecom Italia (TIM) to identify and build up to 6,000 new tower sites across Italy as part of plans to accelerate 5G deployment in the country. The Italian mobile operator will launch a 50/50 joint venture with TIM that, the partners hope, will attract third-party investors in the future, according to Swisscom. The initiative will also offer access to other telecom providers in Italy on an open access model, while allowing the partners to align operational efficiencies. The project will be financed through a combination of debt and, the partners hope, equity from external investors, according to Swisscom’s announcement. 

Scaleway, the cloud and AI infrastructure platform of the Iliad Group, has launched in Italy with a new cloud region in Milan. The move is part of a broader European growth strategy, as Scaleway, which already operates cloud regions in France, Poland and the Netherlands, plans to launch operations in Sweden and Germany. Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway, stated: “As a European hyperscaler, we are expanding our presence across Europe, and anchoring our ability to stay close to local markets. The launch of operations in Italy is a crucial step in this direction. Europe cannot rely entirely on foreign hyperscalers to fuel its digital economy. European companies must have access to hyperscale cloud platforms built in Europe, managed in accordance with EU regulations, and aligned with European priorities.”

– The staff, TelecomTV