• Satellite newcomer Rivada boasts $16bn in advance orders
• Samsung reports its biggest ever quarterly sales
• Fintech firm Revolut preps MVNO launch in Germany and UK

In today’s industry news roundup: Rivada has agreed access to its satellite constellation with 33 countries; Samsung battles global ‘headwinds’ to report record sales and a profit increase; Revolut seeks to leverage its digital services experience and customer base in the UK and German mobile markets; and much more

Rivada Space Networks, which is building a constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites designed to transport data across a wireless optical mesh network in space, has announced it now has network agreements with 33 countries and has secured advance service contracts worth a staggering $16bn. The company’s network, dubbed Outernet, will, once in place, comprise a constellation of 600 LEO satellites interconnected by secure point-to-point laser connections. That plan has already attracted Colt Technology Services as a partner and, according to Rivada, resulted in a flood of advance orders. “We are committed to ensuring that the Outernet is available globally to help solve essential connectivity and networking challenges and open up new business opportunities around the world,” stated the company’s CEO, Declan Ganley. “Businesses and governments across the globe have signed connectivity agreements worth more than $16bn to date, underlining the demand and need for the secure communications capabilities of the Outernet, which is now poised to provide access in 33 countries and across every continent.” Rivada’s first satellites are due to launch this year and network tests are due to begin in 2026. 

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics has reported its highest ever quarterly sales, 79.14tn Korean won (KRW) ($55.5bn) for the first quarter of this year, due to “strong sales of flagship Galaxy S25 smartphones and high-value-added products” the company announced, as customers raced to place orders ahead of the potential international trade impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy. The vendor also reported a 1.2% year-on-year increase in operating profit to KRW 6.7tn ($4.7bn) “despite headwinds for the DS Division [device solutions – chips and displays], which experienced a decrease in quarterly revenue,” the vendor noted. And the company is confident that it can grow over the course of this year. “Despite the growing macroeconomic uncertainties due to recent global trade tensions and slowing global economic growth, making it difficult to predict future performance, the company will continue to make various efforts to secure growth. Additionally, assuming that the uncertainties are diminished, it expects its performance to improve in the second half of the year,” noted Samsung. That could be a very big assumption.   

Still with the South Korean vendor… Its mobile network equipment division, Samsung Networks, is hedging its bets when it comes to chip partners for its virtual RAN (vRAN) portfolio, the vendor has revealed in a blog authored by June Moon, executive VP and head of R&D at Samsung’s Networks Business division. In addition to its long-standing relationship with Intel, including multi-cell tests earlier this year using Intel’s Xeon 6 system on chip (SoC), it has also conducted multi-cell tests using AMD’s latest processors and is “evaluating options” using Arm-based processors, including the Nvidia Grace CPU. Samsung Networks is also one of the system vendors engaged with Nvidia on AI-RAN tests. According to Moon, Samsung Networks, which counts Verizon, Vodafone and Telus among its RAN customers, is on course to have its vRAN software running in 53,000 commercial cell sites by the end of this year. For further details, see Moon’s extensive blog.  

The imminent merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK, which will reduce the number of network-owning UK operators from four to three, appears to be making the UK mobile market even more attractive for competitive digital service provider newcomers. Fintech firm Revolut, which has 50 million customers around the world for its financial services and applications, is entering the mobile services markets in Germany and the UK as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). The move follows the success of the company’s eSIM offer, which was launched last year in the UK. “Proving extremely popular, Revolut customers have since created millions of data plans that have been used in more than 100 locations worldwide and eSIM is now Revolut’s number one non-banking product in terms of usage,” noted the company. The company’s mobile plans, which will offer monthly contracts starting at £12.50 in the UK, will be rolled out later this year, “with operating partners to be confirmed,” the company stated. Hadi Nasrallah, Revolut’s general manager and telco and retail director, stated: “The massive success of our eSIM product launch has proven mobile offerings are ripe for disruption. In our view, consumers are suffering with traditional network offerings due to a lack of transparency with hidden fees, painful customer experience and old, difficult-to-navigate UX [user experience]. We’re looking to solve all three, providing Revolut customers with a tech-led experience, the best value and no fixed contract commitments. It’s yet another step for Revolut into the consumer telecommunications arena where innovation is desperately overdue and we look forward to bringing this update to consumers in more markets soon.” The news comes only days after speculation emerged that popular UK utilities firm Octopus Group is set to launch its own MVNO.  

United Arab Emirates (UAE) telco du has become the first telco in the Middle East to strike a partnership with the FreeMove Alliance, the industry body run by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telia and Telecom Italia (TIM) that brokers connectivity deals between major enterprise users and mobile operators. The move marks a “significant enhancement in du’s service offerings to multinational corporations (MNCs). The collaboration aims to expand accessibility to premier telecommunication services worldwide, ensuring MNCs have the best possible support as they navigate global markets,” stated the operator. Karim Benkirane, chief commercial officer at du, noted in this announcement: “We are thrilled to join forces with the FreeMove Alliance, marking a milestone in our journey to provide comprehensive global connectivity solutions. This partnership will help us enhance our service portfolio and strengthens our mission to serve the international business community with unparalleled telecommunications support.”

– The staff, TelecomTV