What’s up with… Critical infrastructure, Vodafone, NTT

• UK’s VodafoneThree explores subsea link to Norway
• Vodafone Group’s H1 numbers hold steady
• NTT and friends explore ‘mega-constellation’ opportunity

In today’s industry news roundup: UK telco VodafoneThree is to explore the potential of a subsea link from the UK to Norway to support critical infrastructure needs; Vodafone Group raises its full year forecast based on decent H1 growth; NTT is leading a Japanese consortium that is exploring the potential of a mega-constellation of space assets, including in-orbit datacentres; and much more!

Given the current state of the world, expect to hear a lot more about critical infrastructure and sovereign services in the coming months and years. Here’s the latest example… UK operator VodafoneThree, part of the Vodafone Group empire, is to undertake a “feasibility study into a new UK-Norway digital corridor, exploring a high-speed subsea cable route linking mainland Scotland to Shetland and onward to Norway,” a move that would connect two countries with significant datacentre deployments. The operator noted that, “the proposed route could deliver up to £8.2bn in economic value” in the first 10 years after the cable becomes operational, according to research conducted by consultancy firm WPI Strategy and commissioned by Vodafone Business. “The proposed corridor could strengthen the security, resilience and capacity of the UK’s digital infrastructure, supporting defence, critical national infrastructure and essential services. Analysis commissioned by VodafoneThree estimates it could protect up to £6.6m of UK economic activity for each day of severe disruption affecting multiple existing routes where traffic cannot be rerouted. This highlights the value of geographically diverse subsea infrastructure: an alternative northern route could bolster resilience as government identifies coordinated disruption to critical undersea infrastructure as a growing national security risk,” the operator added. The study, which is set to start mid-2027, will assess the Scotland-Shetland-Norway route and “examine how greater international connectivity could support businesses, public services, defence, datacentres and critical national infrastructure (CNI).” Nick Gliddon, business director at VodafoneThree, stated: “Reliable international connectivity is vital to the UK’s defence, strengthening our resilience to disruption and enhancing the security of the critical infrastructure on which our economy and public services depend. Norway is a strategically important partner, with a shared commitment to protecting infrastructure across the North Atlantic. A new digital corridor would strengthen the physical links between our countries, add vital route diversity and support secure, resilient connectivity for critical infrastructure on both sides of the North Sea. It could also unlock investment in datacentres and AI, creating skilled jobs and wider economic opportunities. This study will help establish the economic and strategic case for the route and identify the partnerships needed to deliver it.”

Vodafone Group is making progress with its strategy to generate growth and improve efficiencies, as its performance during the first half of its current financial year has enabled it to upgrade the guidance for FY27 that ends next March. For the six months to the end of September, Vodafone reported service revenues of €18.4bn, up by 12.8% on a reported basis due to the consolidation of various lines of business (including taking full ownership of VodafoneThree in the UK) but, even on a like-for-like basis, its service revenues were up by a healthy 5.8%. The operator, which has multiple operating businesses across Europe and Africa, also reported strong growth (its best ever year-on-year increase) for its business-to-business B2B division which services enterprise customers: Its organic service revenues were up by 6.6%, driven by strong demand for digital services (IoT, cloud & security services, software-defined networking, and digital solutions and communications). The telco’s main challenge remains in its single largest market, Germany, where progress is being made but further restructuring is required – which brings us to the efficiency side of Vodafone’s strategy. The telco is aiming to reduce its gross operating costs in Europe by €2bn by 2030. It noted that it has already cut €200m in gross savings during the past six months by reducing its overall headcount across Europe by 3,000 and that further savings will be achieved by cutting about 2,300 jobs in Germany, a move that was announced earlier this week. Group CEO Margherita Della Valle said: “We have made a strong start to Vodafone’s new growth chapter, with organic service revenue increasing by 5.8%. This included our best-ever growth in Vodafone Business, with a record performance in digital services as we focus on smart, secure and sovereign solutions for our B2B and public sector customers. I am very happy about our overall group performance, but Germany is not yet where it needs to be. We have a clear action plan in progress, which is structurally simplifying our German operations and improving customer satisfaction across all of our services… Today, we are upgrading our guidance for both profit and cash flow for the year, and we now expect to deliver over 20% organic adjusted free cash flow growth in year one of our multi-year double-digit cash flow growth trajectory.” Investors were satisfied with the progress, it seems, as Vodafone’s share price edged up slightly to 117.45 pence on the London Stock Exchange. The share price is up by 18.3% since the start of the year. 

NTT Group has teamed up with one of its divisions, NTT Docomo Business, as well as Mitsubishi Electric, MUFG Bank and the Development Bank of Japan, to “explore comprehensive collaboration on the development and operation of a mega-constellation – an integrated system in which numerous satellites operate in coordination to provide services covering broad areas of the Earth – and on the provision of services utilising the constellation,” the giant Japanese telco announced. The five partners will “examine the technical and business feasibility of commercialising a diverse range of services enabled by mega-constellations,” including: Communications; Earth observation; satellite-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT); and space-based datacentres. NTT and NTT Docomo Business will conduct technical studies on the overall system design and communications integration of the mega-constellation. “Based on customer needs, they will also examine optimal methods for coordinating intersatellite, satellite-to-ground and ground-to-ground communications, while exploring the development of a concrete system concept that combines NTT’s R&D technologies, including IOWN [innovative optical and wireless network], with the technologies and services of partner companies in Japan and overseas, as well as the possibilities for collaboration and future commercialisation,” noted NTT. Kengo Nagase, executive VP at NTT Docomo Business, stated: “To connect the vast amounts of data obtained in space to value for industry and society, it is important to link the communications that deliver the data with the ICT infrastructure responsible for processing and analysis. Drawing on the knowledge cultivated under IOWN and the ‘AI-Centric ICT Platform’ concept – a next-generation ICT platform optimised for the AI era – NTT Docomo Business will explore, together with the other companies, the potential for commercialising satellite communications, space datacentres and other services. Aiming to create a communications and data utilisation platform that connects space and the ground, we will contribute to companies’ use of AI and the development of new businesses.”

A new report from the GSMA claims businesses expect to invest around 19% of their digital transformation spending in AI but 5G connectivity remains a priority, with devices and custom networks taking up around 16% of such spending. The Global Digital Transformation Survey 2026 found that enterprise decision-makers expect to spend around 9.6% of their revenues on transformation between 2026 and 2032, highlighting that there is a big opportunity for telecom operators. But they also anticipate huge returns on this investment – an average of 207% of their spend, to be exact. This is despite the fact that seeing a return is complex, with only 6% of respondents saying they face zero implementation challenges. The cost of implementing digital transformation was identified by respondents as the biggest barrier, at 41%, followed by the challenge of integrating new systems into legacy systems (39%). Telecoms policy and regulation also affect enterprises’ ability to realise returns on their investment. Despite 61% of enterprises saying telecom policy and regulation supports digital transformation, some 24% have reported a negative impact on projects in the past 24 months. For the survey, the GSMA spoke to 6,342 enterprise decision-makers in 50 countries, across 10 sectors. Pablo Iacopino, head of research and commercial content at GSMA Intelligence, said: “Enterprises do not see AI, 5G, 6G and sovereignty as separate bets. They see one connected story about trust, resilience and return. They are backing AI with their budgets because they expect it to make them more secure and more efficient. They rely on 5G because it gives that AI a secure foundation to run on. And they are willing to pay extra for 6G and sovereign technology because trust and control matter as much as performance.”

Telenor’s internet of things (IoT) division, Telenor Connexion, which was spun off into a joint venture earlier this year, has named former Ericsson executive Thomas Bergström as its new CFO. Bergström most recently served as CFO of Sortera and has previously held CFO and senior finance roles at Net Insight, Aastra Telecom and Ericsson. “We are very pleased to welcome Thomas to Telenor Connexion. His experience from M&A, transformation and private equity environments is a strong fit with our ambitions as we continue to scale the business and strengthen our position as a leading global IoT service provider,” stated Mats Lundquist, CEO of Telenor Connexion. Bergström joined Connexion on 1 November and his appointment comes just over a month after the completion of a deal that saw Verdane buy 50% of the company from Telenor, valuing Telenor Connexion at $809m.

Telia’s Estonian operation is set to trial Adtran’s 50G PON technology on its fibre broadband network, alongside its existing GPON and XGS-PON services. The 50G PON solution establishes a practical path to higher-capacity access over existing infrastructure, according to Adtran. Telia will leverage the vendor’s SDX 6400 Series 50G PON platform, which allows several passive optical network generations, including GPON and XGS-PON, to coexist on a common infrastructure, meaning operators can boost capacity without the need to replace the physical network systems. “Today, we cannot yet accurately predict which services we’ll be using in 10 or 20 years’ time. What we can already see, however, is that AI solutions, cloud services and ever-growing data volumes require a robust and future-ready network,” said Janno Kriiska, CTO of Telia Estonia. “The 50 Gbit/s test conducted together with Adtran demonstrates the significant potential of modern technologies and fibre-optic networks, while helping us prepare for the rollout of the next generation of digital services. The successful test is also good news for consumers, as this technology could enable the future delivery of home internet services to the mass market.”

– The staff, TelecomTV