What’s up with… Telstra, Verizon, AT&T

• Telstra failed to heed pre-outage warnings
• Verizon’s restructuring continues
• AT&T and Palo Alto offer quantum-safe SASE

In today’s industry news roundup: Telstra bosses admit they failed to heed warnings about an upcoming network issue that ultimately led to major service outages; Verizon continues to sell off retail outlets and lay off staff; AT&T and Palo Alto Networks are offering enterprises a quantum-secure SASE service; and much more!

Telstra’s recent nationwide mobile service outage could have been prevented if the Australian operator had heeded warnings from one of its suppliers that a software upgrade was needed on the network node that ultimately caused the service disruption, reports Channel News. Telstra had previously noted that the outage was caused by a software issue on a Symmetricom SyncServer S300, which manages network time settings, but the telco has now admitted to a government enquiry that it ignored a warning issued at the start of this year from Microchip Technology (which now owns Symmetricom) that a software upgrade or node replacement was required to avoid the timing system going almost 20 years out of synchronisation. Not only that – all of Australia’s telcos were warned of the issue and Telstra was, reportedly, the only one that didn’t take any action to remedy the situation.  

Verizon has unveiled plans to sell 274 company-owned retail stores to franchise operators ​and lay off about 500 corporate staff in its latest round of cuts, reports Reuters. The retail store sales will impact about 2,500 retail staff and will leave the US operator with 1,000 high street outlets as part of its portfolio: According to the Reuters report, Verizon told its employees that about 70% of retail staff affected by store sales will have continued employment with the franchise operators that take over the telco’s stores. The moves are part of the restructuring process being implemented by CEO Dan Schulman, who unexpectedly took over from Hans Vestberg last October. In November 2025, Schulman informed staff of a plan to cull more than 13,000 jobs, about 13% of the telco’s workforce, as part of a new cost-cutting programme.  

Targeting enterprises that use SASE (secure access service edge) to meet their data networking needs and might be considering how to address the current and future challenges of the post-quantum era, AT&T Business and security vendor Palo Alto Networks have launched the Quantum-Resilient SASE Fabric. The service combines AT&T’s international network with Palo Alto’s Prisma SASE “fabric”, in which post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has been integrated as a “native pillar”, according to the partners. “We recognise that quantum-readiness is no longer a distant milestone; it is now a strategic imperative,” noted AT&T, adding that “PQC is an operational mandate. Providing connectivity to the world’s most regulated industries means that security cannot be bolted on. Security must be an inherent property of the transport layer and the connectivity infrastructure itself.” For further details, see this announcement.  

BT has partnered with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society to demonstrate 5G network slicing at this year’s Royal Welsh Show, in the village of Llanelwedd in Powys, Wales. The Royal Welsh Show is Europe’s largest annual agricultural event, with more than 250,000 people attending every year to take part in livestock competitions and country sports, and showcase rural Wales. BT’s EE division is providing a dedicated 5G+ (5G standalone) network to support payments, livestreaming and other mission-critical services at this year’s event. The operator has enabled network slicing, with dedicated slices powering payments for two independent Welsh food and drink businesses – Radnor Hills and Fire and Flank – as well as supporting the Royal Welsh Show’s digital engagement activities, including live-streaming activities. It supported this by a recent upgrade to a mast in nearby Builth Wells as part of its wider investment in Wales.

Still with network slicing… Vodafone Albania and Nokia claim to have “successfully demonstrated how agentic AI could be used to dynamically and quickly create dedicated slices of network during emergencies, major public events or unexpected surges in user demand.” The pair’s demo combined the operator’s 5G standalone (5G SA) network with “AI capable of analysing both network conditions, such as traffic levels, as well as meteorological data, to make autonomous decisions that optimise performance instantly. Rather than relying on predefined configurations, the network can intelligently allocate resources where they are needed most, helping deliver more efficient, resilient and differentiated connectivity.” See this announcement for further details. 

Nvidia is working with Japanese multimodal foundation model developer Noetra Corp – a joint venture of multiple companies, including SoftBank Corp, NEC, Sony and Honda – to launch an Nvidia Vera Rubin AI factory with 13,750 Vera CPUs and 27,500 Rubin GPUs to enable national physical AI capabilities. “Supported by Japan’s AI and industry leaders, the initiative marks the world’s first national AI infrastructure for physical AI, strengthening the country’s AI ecosystem across manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, telecommunications and more,” noted Nvidia in this announcement. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated: “Japan invented modern manufacturing. Now, it is building the AI factories that will power the next industrial revolution. Nvidia is honoured to partner with Japan and its industrial leaders to build the AI infrastructure that will power the country’s industries, its economy and a new generation of innovation.”

Vodafone Group has shared a blog outlining what it believes is an ongoing imbalance in the way communications services are regulated in the European Union member states, with traditional service providers such as telcos subjected to rules that are not applied to digital platform operators that provide the same services (such as packet voice). The operator notes that the EC’s Digital Networks Act (DNA), which is still subject to change before it is finalised, currently fails to address that imbalance. “The Digital Networks Act is rightly framed as a once-in-a-decade chance to modernise Europe’s connectivity framework. It recognises the need for investment, simplification and greater consistency across the single market,” notes Vodafone. “But on regulatory symmetry, the DNA falls short. Core obligations remain largely confined to traditional telecoms providers, while the digital actors that shape traffic flows, user experience and service continuity remain largely outside [the] scope. The risk is that the DNA freezes a two-tier regulatory system into law. If the Act is to deliver on its ambitions, rules should follow what a service does and the control it exercises over outcomes, not the legacy category it happens to fall into. As the DNA text is negotiated, the test should therefore be practical rather than ideological. Where services perform comparable functions for users, obligations should be comparable too,” states the telco. 

Meanwhile, in the UK, Vodafone has settled a long-running legal dispute with retail franchise owners who had accused the telco of unjustly enriching itself at their expense, reports The Guardian. 

AST SpaceMobile’s plan to have its low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation in orbit by the end of the year and be able to provision direct-to-device services for the likes of AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone has suffered yet another delay, according to a new regulatory filing from the company. In announcing that it is raising $1bn from the issue of convertible notes, the company noted that “based on the company’s current expectations regarding launch availability, its launch campaign is targeting approximately 45 of its BlueBird satellites (BB satellites) in early 2027. The timing of the launch of the BB satellites is contingent on a number of factors, including satisfactory and timely completion of the assembly and testing of the BB satellites, readiness of the launch vehicle, logistics and other factors, many of which are beyond its control.” Previously, AST SpaceMobile had planned to have 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by the end of 2026, but it suffered a launch error hitch in April and then a more serious setback in late May when the New Glenn launch rocket operated by its launch provider, the Jeff Bezos-owned rocket company Blue Origin, exploded during ground tests.

Following Nokia’s significant announcement, we have more AI-RAN news… The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is making up to $53m of funding available to “accelerate the development, testing and commercialisation of secure, American-led AI‑enabled radio access network (RAN) architecture,” it announced. Arielle Roth, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information and NTIA administrator, stated: “Congress established the Innovation Fund to accelerate deployment of open, interoperable wireless technologies, and President Trump has directed the administration to promote an exportable American AI technology stack. This funding opportunity advances both objectives.” The funding process will prioritise projects that “demonstrate both the technical performance and commercial viability of AI-native RAN technologies”, noted the NTIA, adding that recipients must also “conduct real‑world demonstrations that generate data to confirm business case projections.” Applications for funding can be made until 9 September.   

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has published its Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence for Telecommunications Services which, while not legally binding, provide a “risk-based framework for the responsible use of artificial intelligence by telecommunications licensees and provide the NBTC’s expectations regarding AI governance, risk management and consumer protection within the telecommunications sector,” noted global law firm Hogan Lovells Cadwalader in this update. The guidelines “recommend that telecommunications licensees establish governance bodies or designate responsible personnel at both the policy and operational levels to oversee AI deployment and risk management. Roles, responsibilities and accountability should be clearly allocated across the AI lifecycle, including for third-party AI providers and outsourced service providers, with appropriate contractual provisions governing their obligations,” noted the law firm.   

– The staff, TelecomTV