What’s up with… BT & Bharti Airtel, Nokia, QKD

• BT gets tighter with Bharti Airtel
• Deutsche Bahn boards Nokia’s FRMCS train
• Honeywell teams up for QKDSat R&D 

In today’s industry news roundup: Bharti big guns join BT’s board of directors, signalling a closer relationship between the telcos; the FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) sector is picking up a head of steam; Honeywell has teamed up with space and defence sector company Redwire to explore the potential of quantum key distribution (QKD) via satellites; and more!

BT Group’s share price dropped by almost 2.8% to 200 pence on the London Stock Exchange in Monday trading following the news that billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman of giant Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, and Gopal Vittal, vice chairman and managing director of Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telco, will join the UK telco’s board as non-independent, non-executive directors. That Bharti Enterprises has a presence on the BT board shouldn’t come as a shock – it is the single largest shareholder in the UK operator following its purchase last year of the 24.5% stake previously held by another billionaire, Altice chief Patrick Drahi – see India’s Bharti Global snaps up Drahi’s 24.5% stake in BT. Now BT and Bharti Enterprises have reached a “relationship agreement”, whereby Bharti Enterprises will have two BT board seats as long as its stake remains above 20%, and one seat if it drops to between 10% and 20%. So why did BT’s share price dip on the news? Various news reports suggest there are concerns that the new board members will exert an influence over BT’s strategy, which currently is very clear (focus on the UK market and not bother with the international market). Alternatively, it could be that investors are disappointed that the board-level appointments signal that Bharti is not going to launch a full takeover bid for BT, a move that would drive the share price up. (Bharti has always said it has no intention of trying to acquire BT.) What is clear, though, is that BT’s share price, despite today’s dip, is way higher than in August 2024, when the Indian company unveiled its deal to acquire Drahi’s stake: At that point, BT’s share price stood at 130.5 pence. For Bharti Enterprises, at least currently, its investment in BT is paying off. In general, the UK telco’s share price has risen under the stewardship of Allison Kirkby, who became CEO in February 2024 and unveiled her UK-focused strategy in May 2024. Since then, BT has sold a number of its international assets – the latest being the Radianz unit that serves the global finance sector – and carved out its remaining international operations into a separate unit that could either attract external investors or even be sold. Could it be that this is where Bharti Enterprises plays a bigger role in the broader BT picture? Could Bharti Airtel become a strategic, operational and/or even a financial partner in BT International? (Note: This is a TelecomTV hunch and not based on information from any industry sources.) After all, the Indian operator already has international operations, particularly via its Airtel Africa subsidiary, and every international service provider benefits from, and is constantly seeking, greater scale. BT has reportedly held talks this year with a number of telcos about the potential of an international tie-up – could Bharti Airtel be BT’s international white knight? BT declined to comment on whether it was in talks with Bharti about any such collaboration, adding that it has no updates on plans for its International unit currently.        

Nokia is very keen to position itself as a frontrunner in the emerging Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) sector as the world’s railway companies plot their migration from existing 2G-based GSM-R systems, which support their mission-critical communications, to 5G-enabled FRMCS systems. Having recently unveiled a commercial, FRMCS-ready 5G radio product for the n101 spectrum band (1900MHz-1910MHz), which has been assigned for 5G railway communications in Europe, the vendor has now announced it has supplied Germany’s national railway company, Deutsche Bahn (DB), with an n101 5G radio network solution, including a 5G standalone (5G SA) core, for deployment on the rail company’s live outdoor test tracks. Rainer Fachinger, head of telecom platforms at DB InfraGO (Deutsche Bahn’s railway infrastructure management subsidiary), stated: “Deutsche Bahn wants to benefit from modern 5G-based telecommunications to upgrade the railway communication infrastructure. Collaborating with technology experts like Nokia is key for DB to bring the latest innovations into our real-world operations. This deployment on test tracks builds on a successful pre-FRMCS 5G trial conducted with Nokia and aims to standardise our private mobile network as a foundation for further pilots and future rollout.” As you’d expect, Ericsson is also on track with its own FRMCS developments and relationships, including a trial with Trafikverket (the Swedish transport administration) and Telia. 

Honeywell is at the heart of a number of quantum computing-related developments right now. It has long been one of the major stakeholders in UK/US firm Quantinuum and participated in that company’s recent $600m round of funding, as we reported earlier this month, and now it has agreed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with space and defence tech company Redwire to “explore opportunities to mature and expand the use of quantum key distribution technology” as part of the ongoing efforts of the Quantum Key Distribution Satellite consortium (QKDSat), which was launched in 2024 and is being led by Honeywell. “The aim is to combine Redwire’s quantum platform technology with Honeywell’s quantum optical payload, creating a fully functional payload and platform by mid-2026. The collaboration aims to advance quantum-secured technologies that could help governments and defence agencies protect sensitive information from emerging cyber and quantum threats, while also accelerating next-generation quantum key distribution services for commercial customers,” noted Honeywell in this announcement. 

The Japanese government is to launch an investigation into whether local companies involved in the construction and maintenance of submarine cables are sourcing critical technology from Chinese companies, reports Nikkei Asia. The move comes only weeks after US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “adopted new rules to unleash the buildout of secure submarine cable infrastructure”. The watchdog noted: “Submarine cable systems carry roughly 99% of global internet traffic and are key to further extending America’s leadership in AI and next-generation technologies. The new rules streamline the submarine cable licensing process, give certainty to investors, and accelerate the timelines for building cables. To address the reality that foreign adversaries like China pose greater threats to submarine cable infrastructure than ever, the new rules emphasise protecting submarine cable infrastructure from foreign adversary threats.” 

– The staff, TelecomTV