• Telefónica puts another operation up for sale
• Quantum software specialist Classiq raises $110m
• Airtel Q4 boosted by gains in India and Africa 

In today’s industry news roundup: Telefónica is reportedly seeking €1bn for its business in Chile as it continues its exit from Latin America; Quantum software specialist Classiq Technologies boosts its total financial backing to $173m with Series C funding round; Bharti Airtel reports strong Q4 growth driven by price hikes in India and a revenue rebound in Africa; and much more!

Telefónica is set to sell yet another of its Latin American operations, Movistar Chile, as it shrinks its regional portfolio, according to El Confidencial. The Spanish newspaper has reported that the telco has commissioned Citi to find a buyer for its business in Chile and that it is seeking €1bn for the unit. The move ties in with the plans outlined by Telefónica’s recently appointed CEO Marc Murta, who plans for the company to exit Latin America with the exception of Brazil. The operator has already sold its businesses in Colombia, Argentina and Peru and is seeking a buyer for its Mexico operations – see Telefónica offloads another LatAm unit.

Quantum software specialist Classiq Technologies, which aims to accelerate quantum-related innovation in networking and telecom as well as many other verticals, has raised $110m in Series C funding from a broad range of investors led by Entrée Capital and including Norwest, NightDragon, Team8, Samsung Next and QBeat. That takes its total funding so far to $173m. “We are building the Microsoft of quantum computing,” stated the company’s CEO and co-founder, Nir Minerbi, in this announcement. “In this new era of computing, Classiq is delivering the essential software stack to empower the development of real-world quantum applications,” he added. The company is collaborating with the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Nvidia and is already providing its technology to major enterprises such as BMW, Citi, Deloitte and Toshiba. Telecom operators and vendors alike are increasing their focus on, and investments in, quantum-related products and services – keep track of developments in our dedicated news channel. 

Bharti Airtel had a strong start to 2025. India’s second-largest telco, which also has substantial operations in Africa, has reported consolidated group revenues of 478.76bn rupees ($5.6bn) for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended 31 March, up by 27.3% year on year and “driven by strong underlying momentum in India, rebound in reported currency revenue growth in Africa and full quarter impact of Indus Towers consolidation”. That underlying momentum in India was helped by price rises for its mobile services. Its operations in India generated revenues of 367.35bn rupees ($4.3bn), up by 28.8% year on year. Group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) hit 149.5bn rupees ($1.5bn), up by 58.7%. Airtel ended March with 424.46 million customers in India (across all services), up by 4.5% from a year earlier, and just over 166 million in Africa, up by 8.7% year on year.  

SoftBank Group, the Japanese technology and investment giant that is founded and run by its chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son and is parent company of Japanese telco SoftBank Corp, has reported its first profit in four years as its AI investments started to pay off. The company, which is playing a key role in the high-profile, $500bn AI infrastructure venture The Stargate Project, announced in January, reported a 7.2% year-on-year increase in full financial year group revenues to 7.24tn yen ($49bn) and a net profit of 1.15tn yen ($7.8bn), compared with a loss in the previous year. The company, which recently acquired chip developer Ampere Computing for $6.5bn in cash and which is also providing up to $40bn in new funding for ChatGPT developer OpenAI (one of its Stargate partners), countered speculation that the Stargate Project plans were faltering: According to Reuters, SoftBank’s CFO, Yoshimitsu Goto, told reporters that SoftBank has identified more than 100 potential sites for Stargate datacentre facilities but it is still conducting due diligence and, therefore, it is too early to engage with additional investment partners. “I don't think our Stargate plans are being held up in a big way by the tariff situation,” said Goto.

Passenger Wi-Fi on moving trains is not new. Hitherto, it has been provided via mobile connectivity routers, the most advanced of which exploit multi-carrier cellular connections, intelligently aggregating bandwidth from multiple networks to ensure consistent, uninterrupted broadband and internet mobile phone access at high speeds across diverse geographical landscapes. Well, that’s the theory but, as far too many train travellers know only too well, theory and practice are two very different things. That’s why it is good to report on an interesting technology development north of the border (the English border that is) where geography has made connectivity from moving trains a particularly persistent problem to the point that the Scottish government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, and the Scottish Futures Trust have been working to provide better comms services throughout the more rural communities within the country. And now there is a possible solution. ScotRail (Rèile na h-Alba in Scottish Gaelic), the publicly owned train operating company managed by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish government, is trialling passenger Wi-Fi using the satellite technology of Elon Musk’s Starlink low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite system. According to Railway News, the test will last for six months in the first instance and is important because it is a demonstrably genuine real-world use case for satellite broadband as compared to traditional mobile Wi-Fi as LEO satellite constellations proliferate and the communications links, services and apps they provide become more reliable. Partnering with Clarus Networks, a company that sells Starlink access services in the UK, Scotrail has equipped six ‘158 Class’ trains operating out of Inverness, the largest city and the cultural capital of the Scottish Highlands, with equipment that connects the trains and their carriages to the Starlink system and it is hoped that consistent connectivity of between 200 Mbit/s and 400 Mbit/s per Starklink terminal, with a latency of under 400 milliseconds, will be achieved. Passengers on services to Aberdeen, the Kyle of Lochalsh, Thurso and Wick will be able to make test Wi-Fi calls. ScotRail is understandably proud that it is the first railway in the UK to trial the new onboard passenger Wi-Fi system and has said that if it is successful, it could be deployed to other Class 158 trains and rolled out across the entire Scotrail fleet including rural lines, such as the beautiful but remote West Highlands as well as across to Stranraer and Dumfries and way down south to the counties of the Scottish Borders. A total of 40 ScotRail Class 158 trains are currently in service. Also known as “Express Sprinters”, they comprise two- or three-car diesel-electric units, primarily used for regional express and long-distance rural services across Scotland. They were built between 1989 and 1992 and Scotrail has already said the result of the Starlink tests will strongly influence the likelihood of the technology being fitted as standard when new trains are procured. Scott Prentice, strategy and planning director at Scotrail, commented, “The project addresses the long-standing challenges we’ve had for train connectivity in the region, and we hope it will lead to a future rollout of the technology across other rural routes in Scotland.” 

The search for better battery technology continues with the news that a team of scientists at Dongguk University in South Korea has come up with a new design featuring a graphene coating that, if you’ll forgive the pun, ‘supercharges’ zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). Such batteries are regarded as extremely promising technology for all manner of energy storage applications, but they continue to use traditional ‘current collectors’ that act as supports for electrode materials and conduct and bridge the flow of electrons between the active material and the external battery terminals. That makes ZIBs difficult to scale – and that currently limits their industrial applications. Nonetheless, they are generally regarded as a potentially highly viable alternative to other battery technologies and a lot of research money is being ploughed into their further development. Unlike today’s ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries, zinc-ion batteries use readily and relatively cheaply available materials and they are very much safer than lithium-ion alternatives. They are also non-toxic and their inherent eco-friendliness and excellent safety parameters will make them an evident option for various industry sectors once they get past the developmental stage. Thus, various companies are experimenting with their use in mobile base stations because they are so safe and can operate in harsh environmental conditions. Experimentation is also underway into designing ZIBs for mobile phones and a wide range of other mobile devices. That said, a major challenge must be surmounted before they can be used in mobile handsets – ZIBs have considerably lower energy density and voltage compared to lithium-ion batteries. Meanwhile, a water-based zinc battery, that has been developed by the University of Maryland in the US, seems promising for use in consumer electronic devices, again due to a ZIB’s properties of safety and longevity with no power or material degradation. Of course, among the most keenly anticipated uses for ZIBs is in the electric vehicle industry, as reliable and safe back-up in datacentres, and in the stabilisation of energy grids. The new Dongguk University contribution to ZIB development is a current collector comprising graphene-coated stainless-steel foil. The new solution provides for high electrochemical performance and superior cycling stability that would be ideal for industrial-scale systems. The team of South Korean scientists at the university’s Department of Energy and Material Engineering is led by Professor Geon-Hyoung An and the team’s findings have been published in the latest edition of the academic journal Advanced Energy Materials. According to Professor An, “The core innovation of the present study is the use of graphene-coated stainless-steel foil as a current collector for zinc-ion batteries. Unlike conventional collectors, our material can be produced through a simple graphene coating and heat treatment for surface oxide removal. This enables both industrial scalability and high electrochemical performance.” The development overcomes the common challenges of corrosion and poor conductivity seen in water-based systems allowing it to operate stably, even under high-mass loading conditions. It is also durable in the long-term, a quality essential for practical use. It is hoped that the research will help in the global shift toward clean energy systems.

– The staff, TelecomTV