• STC deploys Green Telco Cloud
• Trump blocks Anthropic’s AI outside the US
• Mistral seeks €3bn in new funding

In today’s industry news roundup: STC teams up with Huawei to roll out a new, greener telco cloud; US officials ban foreign nationals from accessing Anthropic’s newest AI models; Mistral AI is looking to raise an additional €3bn; and much more!

Saudi telco giant STC Group says it has successfully deployed its Green Telco Cloud, which it describes in this announcement as “a new cloud-based platform designed to deliver telecom services using fewer physical resources and significantly less energy.” Built using Huawei’s cloud-native architecture, the platform “integrates energy-efficient servers equipped with dynamic power management and adaptive central processing unit (CPU) frequency, scaling into a unified, automated and converged infrastructure” that combines compute, storage and networking technologies. The cloud platform is “managed through a centralised dashboard that provides full-stack telemetry, carbon impact analytics, and automated shutdown of idle resources,” noted the telco. Engineer Bader A. Allhieb, VP at STC Infrastructure, stated: “Sustainability and innovation are key pillars of our transformation journey. This deployment, in collaboration with Huawei, represents a shift in how we design networks for long-term impact. We are embedding sustainability into the core of our operations, building systems that support future growth, serve our customers better, and align with the Kingdom’s digital and environmental priorities.”

The Trump administration has banned foreign nationals from accessing the most advanced version of Anthropic’s AI models, citing national security concerns. The US tech firm has been forced to restrict access to its Claude Mythos 5 and Claude Fable 5 models (after US national security authorities issued an export control directive suspending access for any foreign national (including those who work for Anthropic), according to a statement from Anthropic. Claude Fable is a version of Mythos that has strict guardrails and had been released to customers for only a few days prior to the ban. “The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers to ensure compliance,” the company wrote. It comes in the middle of a legal dispute between the AI firm and the US government over whether or not government agencies can use Anthropic’s AI tools. According to its statement, the US authorities had not identified specific concerns, but Anthropic said that the government had suggested it had found a way to bypass Fable 5, which could make it vulnerable to hackers. Numerous telcos have established partnerships with Anthropic. Just last week BT became the first UK business to sign up to its Project Glasswing, gaining early access to Anthropic’s Claude Mythos, but it remains unclear how this development will impact these relationships.

If Europe is to become more self-sufficient in terms of AI (any aspect!), it is going to need scale and that requires capital. With that in mind, reports suggest that French  developer Mistral AI is seeking to raise €3bn in a new funding round that would value the company at about €20bn, according to Bloomberg. While that would still make it a minnow compared with its US peers, such as Anthropic and OpenAI, it would be a significant step up from the €11.7bn valuation it boasted when it attracted new funding in September last year.  

Ukrainian president Vladimir Zleneskyy has introduced sanctions against 10 Russian telecom firms accused of operating in occupied Ukrainian territories. Zelenskyy signed a decree enacting the relevant decision of the National Security and Defense Council. The sanctions list includes Luhansk Communications and Mobile Communication Systems, satellite communications operator Amtel-Svyaz, Satellite Communications Company, and Kosmichny Zvyazok, all of which enable secure communications connections for Russian troops stationed in occupied areas. The Ukrainian president’s office noted that authorities will pass information about the sanctioned companies to international partners and will help them to introduce restrictive measures in other jurisdictions.

University College Dublin has been named as one of the leading partners in a new €8m EU research project that aims to advance the foundational security, reliability and resilience of future 6G networks. Shield-6G was first announced at Mobile World Congress in March and brings together 19 international partners from 10 countries, across industry, academia and small- to medium-sized enterprises, but the project only kicked off this week with Associate Professor Madhusanka Liyanage – who is director of UCD NetsLab (Network Softwarization and Security Labs) at the UCD School of Computer Science – given the reins. Shield-6G will aim to create a cyber threat intelligence platform capable of identifying vulnerabilities in 6G networks. The project was the sole awardee under the European Union’s public-private partnership, the Horizon Europe Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking. 

ETSI has published its initial standards to support the rollout of the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, which is set to enable EU citizens and residents to prove their identity using their mobile devices. Under rules introduced in 2024, every EU member state must offer at least one compliant EUDI wallet to its citizens and residents, which will include attributes such as age, diplomas or authorisations, making security paramount to any deployment. ETSI has now published more than 24 technical specifications, which cover the full EUDI ecosystem, from wallet-specific attestation profiles to certificate policies and trust list formats, and from remote signing to identity proofing. The standards organisation said its technical committee will continue to work for the rest of this year and next to convert the specifications into full European standards.

According to industry group the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association), there are 2,003 organisations worldwide, spanning 88 countries, that are deploying private mobile networks (4G/LTE or 5G) with a contract value above €100,000. “Manufacturing continues to be the leading sector by number of deployments, followed by education and academic research and mining, reflecting the importance of private networks in industrial automation, testing and mission-critical applications,” noted the GSA in the June edition of its Private Mobile Networks market update (registration required). It added: “5G adoption is increasing, accounting for more than half of deployments announced since 2022.” Geographically, deployments are “concentrated in high- and upper-middle-income markets,” with the US, Germany and the UK leading the way. “A strong correlation persists between private network adoption and the availability of dedicated or shared spectrum, reinforcing the role of regulatory frameworks in shaping market development,” noted the GSA.

Of course, that stat refers only to private network deployments of a certain scale. Earlier this year, Berg Insight, another trusted and valuable source of industry data, estimated there was a total of 6,500 private networks (4G/LTE and 5G) deployed around the world at the end of last year. It expects that number to increase significantly in the next few years and hit 32,600 in 2030. 

One of the companies trying to bump that number up is Ericsson. Its private wireless networking solution, Ericsson Private 5G, is now available through Verizon Business private wireless deployments outside the US, the vendor announced. The move “enables global enterprises already using Ericsson technology in Verizon Business private 5G networks in the US to extend these capabilities to their international campuses,” noted Ericsson. Robb Juliano, VP of 5G acceleration at Verizon Business, the B2B division of giant US operator Verizon, noted: “Verizon Business is proud of our expanding private wireless portfolio and we’re committed to providing the best possible private wireless experience to our customers around the world. By extending the availability of Ericsson Private 5G outside of the US, we’re offering enterprises more flexibility in driving innovation, enhancing security, and optimising operations with private wireless networks on a global scale.”

– The staff, TelecomTV