What’s up with… nLighten, ZTE, Ofcom

• Europe’s sovereign trend fuels nLighten PoC
• ZTE gets US approval to buy Nvidia AI chips
• Ofcom unveils new rules to tackle scam calls

In today’s industry news roundup: European edge datacentre operator nLighten has conducted a sovereign cloud proof of concept in Europe with quantum-safe encryption specialist Arqit; US admin has authorised ZTE to buy AI chips from Nvidia but Beijing could still block the vendor’s purchase; Ofcom has launched new rules around how UK telcos tackle scam calls and texts; and much more!

European edge datacentre operator nLighten has teamed up with quantum-safe encryption specialist Arqit Quantum for a proof of concept (PoC) that, the partners claim, demonstrates how “organisations can use public cloud services while maintaining control over sensitive data and cryptographic assets.” Appealing to the growing demand for sovereign solutions, nLighten noted in this announcement that “for customers, the benefit is simple: They no longer have to choose between innovation and control. Organisations can take advantage of public cloud services, AI capabilities and on-demand scalability, while maintaining confidence that sensitive data remains protected, auditable and governed within a trusted European infrastructure foundation.” The PoC, which was conducted between nLighten’s Geneva datacentre and “one of the largest hyperscalers in the world”, showed how a workload can operate in a public cloud environment while remaining anchored to a sovereign European infrastructure foundation. “Customer data and cryptographic controls remain rooted within nLighten’s Geneva facility, while Arqit’s Symmetric Key Agreement Platform (SKA-Platform) extends that trusted environment securely into the cloud,” noted nLighten. 

Telecom vendor ZTE is among a number of Chinese companies that have received US government approval to buy Nvidia’s last-gen H200 Hopper chips, despite tension between the two countries over the race for AI dominance. Both the US and Chinese governments have introduced various limits on who can buy what AI chips from Nvidia but, according to a report from Reuters, ZTE, alongside server firm Maginfra, are the latest companies to join the likes of Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and JD.com as those with US clearance to buy Hopper chips. This, however, doesn’t mean ZTE will be able to buy them immediately: The vendor still needs permission from China itself, and Beijing has previously blocked or discouraged Chinese companies from buying foreign tech, as it looks to build its own homegrown alternatives. Earlier this year, we reported on how China was planning to put telcos at the heart of its $295bn AI infrastructure investment plan. Despite progress on this from companies including the likes of Huawei, earlier in the year Reuters said Chinese tech firms have more than 2 million H200 chips on order.

UK regulator Ofcom has announced new rules aimed at reducing the number of scam calls and text messages consumers receive on their mobile phones. Fraud accounts for an estimated 45% of all reported crime incidents in England and Wales and, in 2025, £1.28bn was lost to criminals, with four in ten mobile users in the UK claiming to have received at least one suspicious message in the past three months, Ofcom said. To tackle this, the regulator has published new measures for mobile providers to block, limit and disrupt scammers, which are built on existing industry initiatives, such as the mobile operators’ commitments under the Fraud Sector Charter. The new rules state that operators must collect information about scam messages, weblinks and phone numbers from their customers and anti-fraud organisations, and use this information to block numbers used by scammers and scam messages when in transit by earlier identification. Telcos will also need to set volume limits for pay-as-you-go/pre-paid SIM cards, and conduct upfront and on-going due diligence checks on business messages. These checks include preventing usage of fake sender names and applying incident management processes when a scam is identified. The regulator also published additional guidance for blocking international spoof calls. The new rules are published in full here.

Finnish operator Elisa has reported second-quarter revenues of €551m, almost exactly the same as the same period a year earlier, while its comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 1% to €201m. CEO Topi Manner noted that while Elisa, which has more than 5.2 million mobile and 1.3 million fixed broadband customers across Finland and Estonia, “saw an improvement in mobile KPIs [key performance indicators] , telecom service revenue was still negatively impacted by last year’s harsh competitive environment in mobile services. We saw solid growth of 3% in fixed service revenue, partly offsetting the negative development in mobile service revenue. Improved pricing in mobile takes effect with a delay, especially supporting Q4 telecom service revenue. We continued our cost-saving actions, securing continued improvement in EBITDA. The transformation programme is progressing according to plan and will deliver the targeted cost savings of €40m during the year. We continue to improve efficiency by leveraging AI and further simplifying operations,” the CEO added. 

Telefónica has announced its new five-year sustainability plan, including goals to reduce emissions by 56% and achieve zero waste by 2030. The Spanish giant’s Global Sustainability Plan 2026-2030, which has been approved by Telefónica’s board, is structured around four corporate goals that position sustainability as a source of growth, efficiency, resilience and trust, it revealed in a media announcement. Telefónica outlined several key milestones as part of the plan: It aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 90%, and its Scope 3 emissions by 56% by 2030, with a view to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, including across the value chain. To hit its zero waste goal by 2030, the telco plans to extend the use life of technological equipment and optimise the use of critical materials through reuse and refurbishment. Telefónica also set out how it plans to help customers make progress with their own decarbonisation, through the development of eco-smart technological solutions. It will also integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into senior decision-making, its supply chain and capital management, as well as promote a governance model for AI, alongside a comprehensive privacy and security framework.

Pakistan operator Jazz, the Veon group operation that is now badging itself as JazzWorld, has completed its acquisition of a controlling stake in TPL Insurance Ltd, a publicly listed insurance company in Pakistan. The move, which was first announced in March, saw Jazz spend 4.55bn Pakistan rupees ($16.4m) to acquire 76.33% of the issued share capital of TPL Insurance. Veon said the deal expands its digital financial services portfolio by adding insurance to its integrated ecosystem in Pakistan, alongside JazzCash and Mobilink Bank, under the JazzWorld brand. “Together, these platforms serve more than 100 million customers, creating one of the country’s largest digital channels for delivering accessible financial services,” noted Veon. Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of Veon and chairman of JazzWorld, noted: “For millions of people, true financial inclusion means the ability to connect, transact and borrow but also to protect themselves, their families and their livelihoods from unexpected events. By bringing TPL Insurance into Veon’s digital ecosystem, we are combining a technology-driven insurer with the country’s largest digital financial platform to make insurance simpler, more affordable and more accessible. This acquisition strengthens our strategy of building integrated digital operator ecosystems that create meaningful everyday value for customers while delivering sustainable long-term growth for our shareholders.

SK Telecom has added SK AX, which specialises in industrial AI transformation (AX) and manufacturing, and TechnoMetrics, which optimises AI models, to the consortium working on the South Korean government’s sovereign AI foundation model project, reports The Chosun Daily. SK AX will be responsible for discovering and validating B2B AX cases and establishing an industrial expansion framework within the consortium, while TechnoMetrics will handle the construction of AI operation and improvement systems in the manufacturing sector. The AI foundation model project, led by South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT to address dependency issues that result from a reliance on global AI models, undertook its first evaluation in January and has since been further developed by SKT, LG AI Research and Upstage to advance the model to the second phase, with a second evaluation scheduled for early August.

– The staff, TelecomTV