• We’re highlighting our most read articles of the year
• We’ve already revealed the first half of the countdown
• Now let’s see which stories topped this year’s list

It’s that time of year when we look back to see which of our articles attracted the most eyeballs during the year in the hope that AI doesn’t completely dominate our community’s interests.

We’ve already looked at the first half of the countdown – see TelecomTV’s top 10 stories 2025 (part 1).

And now it’s time to see which were the top five most read stories. The good news is that while AI certainly features, there’s still plenty of interest in other developments, especially those involving senior executive changes and developments in the radio access network (RAN). 

So let’s take a look at the second half of our top 10 most popular news items…

5. SoftBank, Tech Mahindra unveil ‘large telco models’

19 March 2025: One of the key challenges still facing the telco community is how to best capitalise on the vast volumes of valuable data they have at their digital fingertips. This isn’t a new challenge but it’s one that is now very much in the spotlight as operators devise and implement their AI strategies. Companies all over the world are developing plans and platforms to help the telcos, and in March we reported that Japan’s SoftBank and India’s Tech Mahindra had developed so-called “large telco models” (LTMs) – customised, multimodal large language models (LLMs) trained specifically on telco network data – that can be used to introduce automated processes, improve productivity and enable operational efficiencies. SoftBank’s LTM was trained on “diverse datasets, ranging from [its] huge network data to the design, management, and operational know-how the company has accumulated over many years. The LTM enables advanced inference in the design, management, and operation of cellular networks,” noted the operator, adding that it had “also developed specialised AI models by fine-tuning the LTM, which is specifically designed to optimise base station configurations that enable advanced cellular network operations. The fine-tuned models were tasked with predicting configurations for actual base stations that had been excluded from the training phase, and their predictions were later verified by in-house experts to have over 90% accuracy. Compared to manual or partially automated workflows, the LTM-led approach reduces the time to make these changes from days to minutes, and with similar accuracy, indicating the potential for huge operational time and cost savings, in addition to reducing human error,” stated the Japanese operator. Read the full story about the development of the LTMs.   

4. Telefónica shareholders overthrow Álvarez-Pallete, appoint new CEO

20 January 2025: Telefónica shocked the industry at the start of the year by replacing its CEO of more than eight years, José María Álvarez-Pallete, with Marc Murtra, who had been chairman of Spanish defence and tech firm Indra. Local reports suggested the Spanish government’s investment company, Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), which became a significant shareholder in Telefónica in 2024, was behind the sudden move. Murtra proceeded to appoint a new top team and start a reorganisation of the giant telco, which has operations in Europe and Latin America. In November, Murtra introduced Telefónica’s new strategic plan, which included a greater focus on the company’s four main markets (Spain, Germany, the UK and Brazil) and cost-cutting measures designed to reduce annual costs by €3bn. But the changes have not impressed shareholders – Telefónica’s share price on the Madrid exchange currently stands at €3.37, down by more than 15% since the start of 2025. Read the full story about Telefónica’s CEO swap. 

3. Deutsche Telekom preps RFQ for 30k RAN sites

4 November 2025: Deutsche Telekom used its appearance at the annual FYUZ event, run by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), to announce an upcoming major request for quotation (RFQ) process. The German telco’s senior VP of RAN disaggregation and enablement, Thomas Lips, was participating in an Open RAN-focused panel discussion when he shared the news that DT plans to plans to issue a request for quotation (RFQ) document for 30,000 radio access network (RAN) sites at the beginning of 2026, with Open RAN as part of the mix. Lips noted that DT’s initial Open RAN deployment in Germany (3,000 sites) is going well, thanks in part to the commitment of vendor partners Nokia and 1Finity (Fujitsu), but will not be completed until 2027. Read the full article about DT’s major upcoming RAN RFQ.   

2. Telstra to form AI joint venture with Accenture

15 January 2025: Australian national operator Telstra announced plans to form an artificial intelligence (AI) joint venture with global professional services giant Accenture in order to “rapidly accelerate” its “data and AI roadmap to further extend its network leadership, improve customer experience, and help its teams operate more efficiently and effectively”. The joint venture (JV) is 60% owned by Accenture and 40% owned by Telstra, though the telco said it will “retain control over its data and AI strategy and roadmap, which the JV would help deliver”. Both parties  contributed staff to the venture for its planned seven-year term, including “specialists from Telstra and Accenture’s Data & AI teams to build on Telstra’s work creating a world-class data and AI ecosystem, modernising its data and AI platforms, and embedding responsible AI by design.” The partners subsequently launched a Silicon Valley hub to “accelerate Telstra’s foundational AI architecture that will power AI use cases and unlock business intelligence”. AI also featured prominently in Telstra’s new five-year strategy (Connected Future 30), which was unveiled in May. Read the full story about Telstra and Accenture’s AI joint venture. 

1. Nokia – ‘We’re not quitting the private 5G sector’

20 November 2025: Remarkably, the most read article this year was not about AI but about Nokia’s shift in its private wireless network strategy, which it failed to communicate adequately during its Capital Markets Day strategy presentations and which then subsequently led to some confusion about its future in a market where it is regarded as one of the more successful tech suppliers. As part of its portfolio assessment, Nokia decided that its enterprise campus edge unit, which has been part of its private wireless networks pitch to large businesses, was ‘surplus to requirements’ and was duly placed in its Portfolio Businesses segment, which houses the parts of the company that Nokia plans to sell or shutter. This led to reports that Nokia had abruptly abandoned the private 5G sector, where it had amassed hundreds of customers in recent years. When questioned by TelecomTV, Nokia was adamant that its “commitment to the private 5G market remains unchanged” as it “continues to sell radios for private wireless deployments together with Nokia and third-party core [platforms].” Storm in a teacup, or strategic hash? You decide. Read the full Nokia private wireless networks strategy story. 

So that’s it! Thanks for reading TelecomTV’s coverage of the telecom sector during 2025 and there’ll be plenty more in 2026, when we’ll be expanding our editorial team. In the meantime, happy holidays!

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV