What’s up with… Vodafone, Telecom Italia, mobile network security

• Vodafone fast-tracks its ‘enhanced-power’ initiative
• Telecom Italia highlights smart infrastructure gains
• GSMA berates state of mobile security regulations

In today’s industry news roundup: Vodafone to bolster 10,000 critical mobile sites that support emergency services across Europe; Telecom Italia identifies major financial and operational gains from adding AI and IoT to Italy’s critical infrastructure; the GSMA warns that rising MNO cybersecurity spending is being undermined by poorly designed regulations that increase cost and heighten risk; and much more!

To counter the threat and impact of telecom and digital infrastructure outages, Vodafone Group says it has “fast-tracked the introduction of a new network resilience programme – the Vodafone Enhanced Power initiative.” The programme is “designed to boost resilience for emergency and critical online services, public safety, as well as maintain connectivity of vital services for its mobile customers across Europe and Africa, in the event of a major outage,” noted the operator. The telco decided to accelerate the launch of the initiative following the significant power blackout in April 2025 that “affected essential services, such as telecommunications, transportation and banking in Portugal and certain regions of Spain and France. At the peak of the power outage, about 60% of mobile users in Portugal lost connectivity or struggled to connect,” noted the operator – see Iberian outage highlights power security challenges for network operators. At the heart of the programme is a move to “further enhance the resilience in more than 10,000 critical mobile infrastructure sites that support emergency services across Europe. It is being rolled out throughout Vodafone’s European markets over the next two years, starting with Portugal,” noted the operator. “The initiative is based on both existing temporary backup systems and innovative software-based solutions using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict, control and conserve backup time as long as possible. Power supplies are designed to best handle an outage depending on its severity and size on local, regional and national levels. All the solutions also aim to reduce current CO2 emission levels,” it added. You can find out more about the extent of the initiative in this lengthy and extensive multimedia update.

Using AI and IoT to transform critical national infrastructure – such as road, water and energy networks – into smart networks to “make them more efficient, reduce waste, minimise risks and ensure greater resilience” could save Italy more than €54bn during the five-year period from 2026 to 2030, according to a new report from Telecom Italia (TIM). The savings could be achieved by monitoring roads in real time, predicting breakdowns in the country’s water and energy network infrastructure, and more, according to the findings of the Smart Infrastructure report (in Italian), which was produced by the TIM Research Centre in collaboration with the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, Politecnico di Milano’s 5G & Digital Connected Industry, and IoT Observatories and Comtel Innovation. “Artificial intelligence, drones and intelligent sensor and robotics technologies – supported by high-performance 5G connections and advanced cybersecurity solutions – can be a major driver of development to reshape Italy’s energy, water and road networks, while also reducing operating and maintenance costs of civil works by up to a third,” noted the telco. “The digital challenge of Italian infrastructure can no longer be postponed. It is the backbone of the country’s economic development,” stated Elio Schiavo, TIM’s chief enterprise and innovative solutions officer. “Investing in its digitalisation guarantees security, efficiency and sustainability, allowing us to transform our country into a ‘smart land’ – an essential step for the development of Italy. To innovate in this area, we have to network and create a collaborative ecosystem with startups and cutting-edge companies, so as to accelerate this technological revolution and strengthen skills,” added Schiavo. 

Mobile network operators (MNOs) are investing tens of billions of dollars each year on cybersecurity but are being hampered by poor and even potentially damaging regulation, according to the GSMA, the industry organisation and lobby group that represents the world’s MNOs. According to the GSMA, which has just published a report on this topic – The Impact of Cybersecurity Regulation on Mobile Operators – MNOs currently invest up to $19bn a year on “core cybersecurity activities”, with that figure set to rise to between $40bn and 42bn by 2030. But the MNOs are “impacted by poorly designed, misaligned or overly prescriptive regulation, which results in unnecessary costs, diverting resources from genuine risk mitigation and, in some cases, increasing exposure to cyber threats,” according to the industry group. Michaela Angonius, the GSMA’s head of policy and regulation, stated: “Mobile networks carry the world’s digital heartbeat. As cyber threats escalate, operators are investing heavily to keep societies safe – but regulation must help, not hinder, those efforts. This report makes clear that cybersecurity frameworks work best when they are harmonised, risk based and built on trust. When done poorly, regulation can redirect critical resources away from real security improvements and toward compliance for its own sake.” Read more.  

SoftBank Group, the Japanese technology and investment giant founded and run by its chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, says it has completed the $6.5bn acquisition of Santa Clara, California-based Ampere Computing. The deal, first announced in March, will boost SoftBank Group’s efforts to become a global leader in the AI infrastructure sector and strengthen its hand in the next-generation radio access network (RAN) tech sector. 

Optiva’s shareholders have approved the planned acquisition of the BSS vendor by its peer Qvantel, a takeover deal that was first announced in September. 

– The staff, TelecomTV