• Major Euro telcos prep joint satellite spectrum bid
• Telecom Italia has a new CTO
• STC maps out its AI-native telco path

In today’s industry news roundup: Europe’s four major telcos – DT, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone – plan to jointly apply for a mobile satellite services spectrum licence in Europe in a bid to support a sovereign direct-to-device (D2D) ecosystem in the region; now under new ownership, Telecom Italia appoints a new heads for its technology group and its enterprise service operations; Saudi Arabia’s STC unveils its plan to become an AI-native telco and introduce autonomous network operations by 2030; and much more!

Confirming reports that have been swirling since early September, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone have “signed a letter of intent to explore a potential joint bid for the future allocation of spectrum for mobile satellite services (MSS) in Europe” with a view to having greater control over the provision of direct-to-device (D2D) services by mobile service providers across the region, the telcos announced. The quartet are not planning to invest in any satellite constellations: Instead they plan to jointly hold spectrum licences and develop the terrestrial infrastructure and systems that would support a regional wholesale D2D operation and team up with an appropriate satellite network operator. They note that they have a “clear ambition: To meet customer demand for universal coverage in underserved areas, strengthen the resilience of public networks, protect critical communications, and support the development of a European constellation”, so expect a number of satellite companies to be very vocal about the potential of their European coverage, and their sovereign credentials, in the coming months in an effort to be in partnership contention. The telcos have joined forces at a critical time. As communicated in May this year, the European Commission is preparing to reallocate mobile satellite services spectrum in the 2 GHz band once the current licences (held by US companies Echostar and Viasat) expire in May 2027, with one-third of the spectrum to be assigned for government use, another third allocated to European Union-based new entrants for commercial services (including D2D), and the final third allocated to any operator (including those from outside the EU) for commercial services. The telcos noted: “The initiative supports the European Commission’s ambition to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty, security and resilience in critical connectivity infrastructure. It will ensure responsible European governance of key space infrastructure. In addition, it will provide all mobile network operators with open and non-discriminatory access to offer direct-to-device services to their customers. These services would be offered through a model designed to foster competition, reduce market fragmentation and expand consumer choice across Europe.” As part of their joint plan, the four telcos plan to “establish key ground network infrastructure as well as critical coordination and monitoring functions in Europe, without investing directly in a satellite constellation. This will be provided by a satellite partner still to be selected.” The telcos note that their planned joint bid for MSS spectrum does not replace existing satellite partnerships: Vodafone, for example, is working very closely with AST Spacemobile through their Satellite Connect Europe joint venture and DT is preparing to offer next-generation D2D services in partnership with Starlink Mobile. The news comes only weeks after the three main telcos in the US – AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon – formed a joint venture that will enable them to pool valuable resources (in particular spectrum) in an effort to improve connectivity coverage across the US and reduce their reliance on third-party providers.

Telecom Italia (TIM), which is now owned by Poste Italiane following the recent completion of the takeover, has appointed a new CTO and a new chief enterprise officer after the incumbents decided to leave the telco following the change in ownership. With immediate effect, Claudio Ongaro, who has been at Telecom Italia for almost seven years, takes on the CTO job, replacing Leonardo de Carvalho Capdeville: Ongaro hands over his chief strategy and business development role to TIM’s CEO, Pietro Labriola, on an interim basis. In addition, Mirko Mischiatti, who has been head of digital, technology and operations at Poste Italiane since 2020, has moved across to Telecom Italia to become the new chief enterprise and innovative solutions officer, replacing Elio Schiavo.  

Still in Italy (and related to Telecom Italia).... The European Commission (EC) has ruled that private equity firm KKR “provided incorrect and/or misleading information during the 2024 commission’s investigation of KKR’s acquisition of NetCo”, the fixed access network operation of Telecom Italia that, following approval from the EC, was acquired by KKR in a deal valued at up to €22bn in early July 2024. The EC opened an investigation into the matter in July 2025 following “complaints by various third-party operators” that KKR wasn’t sticking to the promises made to the EC when it sought regulatory approval for the acquisition. Now the EC has announced it has taken the “preliminary view that KKR, at least negligently, submitted incorrect and/or misleading information on the terms of its existing long-term agreements for wholesale access, including on the fact that their existing terms would continue to apply since they could only be changed by mutual agreement with the third-party operators. Such information, key for the commission’s assessment of the transaction, was provided in replies to requests for information by the commission under Article 11(2) of the EUMR [EU Merger Regulation].” KKR now has the opportunity to examine the EC’s documents, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present its arguments.

Saudi Arabia’s STC Group has unveiled plans to evolve towards an AI-native network and autonomous operations by 2030 by embedding AI “directly into its network’s design and operations to support emerging digital services and improve reliability”. The telco noted in this announcement that it “continues to advance its network capabilities to support AI-driven applications and changing connectivity needs. The group is upgrading its core network, which manages user connections and delivers communications services. By integrating AI deeply into this infrastructure, STC Group aims to help the network adapt to changing service requirements and resolve issues with less manual intervention.” In a whitepaper, the operator “highlights how advances in AI and 5G-Advanced, the next stage of 5G, are increasing network complexity. Services such as AI-enabled calling and immersive communications require faster, more responsive connectivity. AI agents, software systems that carry out tasks on users’ behalf, also need networks to coordinate communications and computing resources around each task.” To address these requirements, STC plans to “develop the infrastructure needed to run AI, embed intelligence within network functions and automate more operations. These capabilities would help the network allocate resources more efficiently and recover from faults faster, while allowing engineers to focus on service improvement and oversight.”

If you’re wondering why London Mayor Sadiq Khan has just unveiled a new plan to help improve mobile connectivity in the UK capital, Ookla, which captures connectivity data and produces reports on the state of network services, has published a report that answers any such questions. According to Ookla’s analysis, London, which was among the first of Europe’s capitals to get 5G services, has fallen from seventh to last place among a ranking of European capitals based on median mobile download speed. While the median download speed in London rose almost sevenfold from the first quarter of 2018 to reach 109.43 Mbit/s in the third quarter 2026, download speeds in other capitals improved faster: Now London ranks behind Rome (125.26 Mbit/s) and offers well below the 172.22 Mbit/s median download speed of the other capitals. In addition, since early 2023 London has also had the slowest upload speed of those 18 capital cities every quarter – in Q3 it hit just 11.4 Mbit/s – and, at 2,204 milliseconds, the highest latency “under load” for the worst 10% of samples. The UK’s mobile operators might struggle to improve those stats much, as Ookla notes that adding mobile network capacity in London is getting harder: “Applications for new street masts in London have fallen by more than four-fifths since 2022, almost three in four decided since 2019 were refused, and 5G phones in neighborhoods fully covered by conservation areas spend about 4 percentage points less time on 5G,” noted the research firm. There’s a lot more about that capacity crunch problem, and a lot more stats, in the excellent-as-ever Ookla report.   

Ethio Telecom has appointed its current CTO, Tariku Demissie, as interim CEO following the departure of the former chief executive, Frehiwot Tamru, who moved to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology following a government announcement on 8 October, reports Tech Review Africa. The leadership transition comes as state-owned Ethio Telecom, which has about 90 million customers, looks to expand its services portfolio into digital financial services and enterprise applications, according to the report. The operator provided an update on the progress it is making with its current strategy, Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028 strategy, in early September.

– The staff, TelecomTV