What’s up with… CommScope (as was), Plume, Telefónica & OpenAI

• CommScope is now smaller and called Vistance Networks
• Plume hoovers up Sweepr
• Telefónica teams up with OpenAI for ChatGPT Plus offer

In today’s industry news roundup: CommScope has a new name following the sale of its CCS business, and it’s also reportedly attracting M&A attention; Plume adds Irish AI-enabled customer care orchestration specialist to its portfolio; Telefónica is offering ChatGPT Plus to its Spanish mobile subscribers for free; and more!

CommScope has completed the sale of its Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS) business to Amphenol Corp. for $10.5bn, as announced in August last year, and will use the proceeds to pay off debts and return money to shareholders with a special dividend of no less than $10 per share. In addition, because the CommScope name has transferred to Amphenol, the vendor has adopted the new name of Vistance Networks and will trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol VISN starting from 14 January. The vendor now comprises its access networks solutions unit, which has been rebranded as Aurora Networks, and its well-known Ruckus Networks unit, a specialist in enterprise wireless (Wi-Fi) access solutions. Vistance Networks CEO Chuck Treadway stated: “CommScope has a long history as an industry leader in networking solutions across a broad portfolio. With the sale complete, CCS is positioned to do well under Amphenol, and Ruckus Networks and Aurora Networks will continue to execute a clear vision on next-generation solutions.” 

But will Vistance Networks shrink even further? Bloomberg reports that enterprise networking vendor Extreme Networks is lining up a $1bn bid for Ruckus Networks. 

Managed Wi-Fi platform specialist Plume has acquired Sweepr, “an AI-powered customer-care orchestration platform built for service providers,” for an undisclosed sum, the company has announced. According to Plume, the Dublin, Ireland-based company “processed more than 1 million customer interactions in 2025, helping operators deliver outstanding digital care experience to subscribers”. Sweepr’s customers include Irish telco eir and Canada’s Telus. Plume, meanwhile, has relationships with more than 400 broadband service providers and manages almost 500 million end user devices via its cloud-based, AI-enabled platform. According to Plume, the acquisition combines its “real-time, device-level network intelligence and Sweepr’s AI-native, no-code orchestration engine that connects into the systems providers already rely on.” It adds: “The combined platform helps ISPs move from seeing an issue to solving it faster, often without a call. Using real-time home network context, AI recommends the next best action, guides agents and subscribers, and safely automates resolution.” Plume president and CEO Dan Herscovici stated: “With Sweepr, we’re connecting AI to the moments that matter, like when a subscriber needs help. By combining Sweepr’s care orchestration with unmatched visibility across Plume’s global dataset, we’re turning network intelligence into action at scale. This is a landmark shift in how providers reduce costs, improve reliability and build trust that drives long-term subscriber value.”

Telefónica has hooked up with OpenAI to offer ChatGPT Plus to its mobile customers in Spain without charge for the next six months. The operator, which uses its Movistar brand for its mobile services in its home market, says the deal “advances its goal of providing value-added services as a pioneering operator in democratising the use of AI tools for the residential market in Spain… With this agreement, Movistar adds ChatGPT Plus to its ecosystem of artificial intelligence solutions, providing its customers with complementary and widely used tools accessible from anywhere. Furthermore, it reaffirms its commitment to leading technological innovation in service of an accessible, useful and secure experience on Telefónica’s leading telecommunications network in Spain.” The operator also claims to be the first mobile services company to offer ChatGPT Plus to users in Spain. The move comes just a few months after the telco’s operation in Germany, O2 Telefónica, made ChatGPT Plus available to its mobile subscribers without charge for three months.  

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit that could remove the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s ability to levy fines against major US telcos. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile US challenged the regulator’s ability to issue fines against them, claiming they have a right to a jury trial instead, with the US’s top court agreeing to assess the merits of this argument. The appeal comes after the Supreme Court ruled against another regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house civil fraud enforcement team, saying they had violated defendants’ constitutional jury trial right in a case involving conservative radio host George Jarkesy. The telcos challenged the FCC after the regulator hit them with combined fines of more than $196m for selling customer location data without their users’ consent. Verizon petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn its fines, while AT&T saw its fines thrown out by the US Court of Appeals 5^th Circuit – a decision that has been appealed by the FCC and the US Justice Department. The Supreme Court confirmed it would hear arguments over the fines, and the FCC’s right to levy them, with oral arguments to be held, and a ruling likely to come in the summer.

– The staff, TelecomTV