• DT outlines its AI-related revenue and cost-cutting goals
• Open Cosmos shares plans to launch a 192-strong LEO constellation
• Airtel Business launches telco-grade intelligence solution for enterprises

In today’s industry news roundup: Deutsche Telekom provides an insight into how AI is impacting its financials and operations during an AI Investor Day; Open Cosmos is planning for a 192-strong constellation while Sateliot adds five satellites to its own constellation; Airtel Business launches an intelligent messaging and communications gateway for enterprises in India; and much more!

Deutsche Telekom, one of the industry’s AI-native telco frontrunners, expects its AI-related revenues from enterprise and government customers outside the US to increase from an expected €250m this year to €800m in 2030, while AI services are also expected to boost revenues from consumer customers, the telco told shareholders at its AI Investor Day in Bonn, Germany, on Monday morning. The operator used a series of presentations during the day to talk through its AI-native strategy, which has a focus on “generating additional revenue, reducing costs, and delivering even higher quality to customers”. In terms of generating incremental revenues, which is now the main focus for AI-native telcos around the world, DT pointed out, in particular, that it regards “Europe’s need for sovereign AI as a major business opportunity”. In terms of potential cost savings, DT noted that it expects AI and automation to generate gross savings of €1.1bn outside the US by 2027 compared with 2023, and that by 2030 its indirect cost savings are expected to hit €2.5bn (again compared with 2023). DT’s CEO, Tim Höttges, noted: “AI is fundamentally transforming Deutsche Telekom. It makes our networks even better and smarter, our service more personalised, and opens up new business models: From AI assistants during phone calls to a sovereign infrastructure for European industry. What matters most is that technology delivers measurable value, for our customers and for our company.” Watch out for more in-depth coverage of DT’s AI strategy over the next few days. 

Deutsche Telekom’s numbers will be of great interest to other telcos, all of which are trying to figure out what kind of impact their investments in, and use of, AI will have on their financial performance and operating efficiency. Other operators are starting to share such information: Globe Telecom in the Philippines, for example, recently reported that, according to its internal calculations, it has achieved a 2.8x return on its AI investments to date. Both Deutsche Telekom and Globe are among the 56 operators around the world that are being tracked and analysed for TelecomTV’s AI-Native Telco Index reports, the first of which has just been published – see New report identifies the AI-native telco frontrunners.

European space operator Open Cosmos has revealed more details of its planned low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation after recently receiving €300m of backing for the project. The UK-based firm said it plans to build 192 satellites that will form the foundational core of its connectivity backbone, which it will call ConnectedCosmos. Initially, Open Cosmos plans to launch 96 satellites, which should be in orbit by the end of 2028, with plans for global coverage to go live by 2030. The plans would make open Cosmos the second-largest LEO connectivity provider in Europe, behind Eutelsat’s OneWeb. The firm is pitching itself to European governments, businesses and operators by offering a European alternative to the likes of Starlink, delivering nationally governed network capacity and coverage to customers that require it for critical applications. The company is building ConnectedCosmos through its own European manufacturing capacity, which is capable of producing one satellite each day. The constellation will use optical inter-satellite-links (ISL) to create a point-to-point gateway-less “sovereign space mesh”, bypassing terrestrial and subsea routes. Rafel Jordà Siquier, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos, said: “After much anticipation, we can finally reveal that 192 satellites will form the core connectivity backbone of our ConnectedCosmos constellation, giving our customers and partner nations a picture of the global, resilient network we’re constructing.”

Sticking with European space firms, Barcelona-based Sateliot has launched five new satellites as part of its Draconis mission, taking the number of satellites in its 5G non-terrestrial internet of things (IoT) network to 11. The satellites, which were built by Alén Space, weigh 10kg each and were deployed as part of the most recent SpaceX Falcon 9 mission. They are designed to reduce the interval between satellite passes and increase connection opportunities for IoT devices, noted Sateliot. The Draconis mission, which aims to increase the capacity and connection frequency of its 5G non-terrestrial IoT network in areas that lack terrestrial mobile coverage, will involve the launch of more than 500 spacecraft, though the lifecycle of these satellites is short – just five years, according to the firm. 

Sateliot is targeting a clear growth opportunity, it seems. Research firm Berg Insight, which specialises in the IoT market, notes that “only about 10% of the Earth’s surface has access to terrestrial connectivity services, which leaves a massive opportunity for satellite IoT communications. Satellite connectivity provides a complement to terrestrial cellular and non-cellular networks in remote locations, especially useful for applications in agriculture, asset tracking, maritime and intermodal transportation, oil and gas industry exploration, utilities, construction and governments.” The team at Berg Insight notes in this announcement that the global satellite IoT subscriber base surpassed 7 million in 2025 and that it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.1% to reach 42 million units in 2030. 

Airtel Business has launched a new communications platform designed to support businesses managing multiple communication channels and services with secure messaging services. Airtel IQ Gateway is a vendor-neutral telco-grade network intelligence platform that allows Indian businesses to combine SMS, WhatsApp, rich communication services (RCS), voice and number verification in one place. Airtel’s customers will be able to manage their communications at scale, the Indian telco claims, through a single control centre, which also leverages Airtel’s fraud protection service and integrates a native message template system that allows for automatic switching to back-up service providers and intelligent routing across multiple platforms. It also includes Airtel’s built-in network intelligence and trust layers for enterprise use, such as IQ Verify for fraud protection and Silent Authentication for SIM-based login to protect against fraud losses.

Huawei and Qualcomm have struck a multi-year reciprocal patent licence agreement covering IP (intellectual property) in fields including 5G, compute, AI and networking. The two vendors did not disclose exactly which patents are covered in the transaction (which will require regulatory approval), but Qualcomm’s EVP and GM of licensing, John Han, said the deal “reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm’s 5G technology leadership”, suggesting that 5G was a major part of the negotiations. Indeed, Huawei noted that this is the first 5G patent licensing agreement signed between the two companies. Executives from each company praised the other’s portfolio and willingness to work together under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. “This agreement not only demonstrates the value of Huawei’s innovations but also recognises Qualcomm’s foundational contributions to modern communication technologies,” said Huawei’s chief intellectual property officer, Alan Fan.

– The staff, TelecomTV