What’s up with… Jio’s IPO plans, Bell Canada, SK Telecom ​​​​​​​

• Jio board agrees to IPO
• Bell Canada, Cohere and partners announce AI infrastructure deal
• Reports link SK Telecom to Anthropic’s foreign AI ban

In today’s industry news roundup: India’s biggest telco Jio is set to launch an IPO that could be one of the biggest listings in the country’s history; Bell Canada strikes a major AI infrastructure partnership with AI developer Cohere; reports have emerged claiming the US imposed export controls on Anthropics AI because of its partnership with SK Telecom; and much more!

India’s Jio Platforms, which counts India’s largest mobile operator, Reliance Jio, as its crown jewel, is set to launch one of the country’s biggest ever IPOs after the board of parent company Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) approved a draft prospectus at its annual shareholder meeting, reports the BBC. It is just over a decade since India’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, launched Reliance Jio as a direct competitor to his brother’s telco Reliance Communications and Jio has gone on to become India’s largest operator, with more than 500 million subscribers. According to reports from India, the long-expected IPO – which will see up to 20 million shares issued – could raise around $4bn, although details of the offer price and valuation (expected to be around $180bn) have not yet been disclosed. This would make it bigger than recent listings, such as Hyundai Motor India's $3.3bn share sale two years ago. RIL holds a 66% stake in Jio Platforms, which as well as offering a range of connectivity and media services also develops network technologies: Other investors in Jio Platforms include Google and Meta. 

Sticking with India, regulators in the country have banned messaging app Telegram over concerns it is being used for cheating during exams. Millions of students will retake the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) on 21 June – the exam was previously cancelled after it was alleged a draft paper had been released. India’s National Testing Agency welcomed the government’s decision to block Telegram, according to the BBC, saying it was being used “by cheating rackets to defraud candidates”. Reuters said a New Delhi court had declined the app’s bid to have the block overturned, ruling that the government’s actions were reasonable and legal. The ban is set to run from 16 June to 22 June. Telegram has around 150 million users in India.

Bell Canada, AI developer Cohere, AI computer infrastructure developer Hypertec and BUZZ High Performance Computing (HPC), a subsidiary of Hive Digital Technologies, have struck “a major AI infrastructure deal, marking a significant step forward in the development and deployment of advanced AI workloads on sovereign Canadian infrastructure,” according to the Canadian telco. The partners will combine Bell AI Fabric’s datacentre and connectivity foundation, Cohere’s secure enterprise-grade AI solutions and large language model capabilities, and BUZZ HPC’s scalable accelerated computing infrastructure, which is based on Nvidia’s DSX AI factory platform and built on hardware manufactured in Canada by Hypertec. “Together, the four companies will build the conditions needed to conduct the critical R&D needed for AI models – using Canadian infrastructure, with Canadian partners – reinforcing Canada’s digital sovereignty and economic resilience,” noted Bell Canada.  

Earlier this week, we reported that the US government had blocked Anthropic from giving foreign entities access to its latest AI models. But according to reports from Wired and the Washington Post, South Korean telco SK Telecom has been dragged into the affair and reportedly cited as the catalyst for intervention by Trump administration officials. Citing people close to the US regime, Wired claims that just days before Anthropic took its most advanced AI models offline, the White House had ordered the AI company to revoke SK Telecom’s access to Claude Mythos, over the telco’s alleged ties to China. Earlier this month, SKT was one of 150 companies given access to Mythos – which is Anthropic’s most advanced model to date – as part of its Project Glasswing. This prompted US officials to ask Anthropic to revoke the access, a demand it complied with, according to the sources. It is important to note that no evidence of wrongdoing has ever been publicly disclosed and the White House did not mention SKT in a letter sent to Anthropic by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (published here by Bloomberg). The Washington Post had previously reported that Trump officials were concerned to discover an unnamed “South Korean telecommunications company” was among those foreign entities given access to Mythos, but the article did not name SKT. However, in response to that article, the Korean telco told a local newspaper that the “anonymous insider’s remarks in foreign media lack verified facts, and our company has no ties to China.” What adds to the intrigue is that SKT has invested in Anthropic several times, including a $100m investment in 2023, when it announced a commercial partnership with the AI firm. It isn’t the only Korean company involved in Project Glasswing either – Samsung and Korea’s Internet and Security Agency are also members.

SpaceX has taken aim at the European Union over its proposals to reserve part of its spectrum band that supports direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services currently used by Viasat and EchoStar, claiming the plan could harm services in Ukraine. A report from the Financial Times claims Elon Musk’s space company wrote to European officials warning them that the proposals will leave European citizens with less or no access to D2D services if they opt to reserve the 2GHz frequency band. In a document the FT claims to have seen, SpaceX, which enables D2D services via its Starlink Mobile satellite constellation argued the EU plan prioritises “an operator’s country of incorporation above economic, technical and regulatory realities”.

– The staff, TelecomTV