What’s up with… KPN, Vodafone & Iridium, Hansen

• KPN preps €5bn strategic investment
• Vodafone IoT hooks up to Iridium
• Hansen is acquiring Digitalk

In today’s industry news roundup: Dutch national operator KPN is to invest €5bn in 5G, AI, cybersecurity and fibre by 2030; Vodafone IoT is to use Iridium’s upcoming NTN Direct service; network API aggregator Aduna signs up another telco partner; and more!

During its strategy update this week, Dutch telco KPN unveiled plans to invest €5bn in 5G, AI, cybersecurity and fibre by 2030 in order to “better protect businesses and consumers against cyber threats and further improve customer service”. As part of this strategy, it is amending its fibre coverage target to 85% of households by 2030. The original plan had been to reach 80% fibre coverage by the end of 2026, but the operator has recognised that this will take longer to achieve. It currently covers 70% of households together with fibre joint venture Glaspoort. Under the rather peculiar motto of “fewer orange sprouts, more green households” (which apparently refers to the temporary orange antennas sticking out of pavements before fibre is installed in the home), the plan is to focus more on “actually connecting and activating customers to meet strong demand”. Meanwhile, KPN is now halfway through its Connect, Activate & Grow strategy that was launched two years ago. According to CEO Joost Farwerck, “at the halfway point of our four-year plan, we have achieved market leadership in both fixed and mobile, further expanded our world-class quality networks and maintained a clear financial trajectory. Our strategy creates sustainable value for our customers, employees, shareholders and all other stakeholders.” KPN also aims to achieve €100m in net indirect operating expenditure savings by 2030, and maintains its outlook of around 3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation after lease (adjusted EBITDAaL) expenses in the 2024-27 period. Capital expenditure will fall below €1bn in 2027 and remain stable thereafter. In the third quarter of 2025, the telco reported a 2.4% increase in revenue to €1.45bn. Adjusted EBITDAaL rose by 4.4% to €672m. For more information on the results, see this press release.

Following a similar deal with Deutsche Telekom (DT) in September, US satellite operator Iridium Communications has now signed up Vodafone’s internet of things (IoT) division as a customer for its upcoming Iridium NTN Direct service. Iridium NTN Direct is a 3GPP standards-based service that aims to provide narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) and direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity. It was unveiled in September 2024 and is due to enter commercial operation in 2026. In the meantime, Iridium has been busy signing up telco customers, with an initial focus on expanding its IoT connectivity footprint. Suppliers such as Mavenir, Nordic Semiconductors and Syniverse have also been brought in to support the new service. Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium, said NTN Direct offers mobile network operators “an unmatched combination of truly global coverage, reliability and capability. This collaboration will help transform the landscape of global connectivity by providing uncompromised scalability and advancing our shared vision to connect and empower enterprise assets and people everywhere”. Erik Brenneis, CEO of Vodafone IoT, added that the new partnership with Iridium “opens the door to a new generation of IoT connectivity. By using satellite connectivity, customers will benefit from truly global coverage – meaning they can reliably connect their devices in corners of the world where they can’t today. This marks a significant step in our mission to connect everything, everywhere”. Vodafone and DT also work with other satellite providers, of course. For instance, Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile recently launched their SatCo joint venture to offer satellite D2D services to European mobile operators starting in 2026. DT collaborates with the likes of Intelsat and Skylo, while T-Mobile US has tied with Starlink on D2D. Notably, Iridium has been involved in tests of low-cost global IoT networking since at least 2015 following the demonstration of long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) backhaul communications for IoT devices via satellite. It also collaborated with Qualcomm on the development of technology to enable direct satellite-to-smartphone communications, but that arrangement collapsed in 2023. Iridium then pursued a different path under the Project Stardust initiative that eventually produced NTN Direct. This was facilitated by 3GPP’s acceptance of Iridium’s request to extend the functionality of NB-IoT for non-terrestrial networks (NTN) into the work plan for 3GPP Release 19. 

Telecom software specialist Hansen Technologies has agreed a binding agreement to acquire Digitalk Group Holdings, a provider of mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and carrier-grade platforms for the global communications industry. The company says, “Digitalk serves approximately 150 customers across more than 30 countries with solutions that are highly complementary to Hansen’s Global Communications Suite, enabling integration and unlocking cross-sell opportunities.” Hansen’s global CEO and managing director, Andrew Hansen, stated: “Digitalk is a highly complementary acquisition for Hansen – technologically, commercially and culturally. It expands our recurring revenue base and unlocks new growth avenues in MVNOs and wholesale voice. We’re very excited to welcome the Digitalk team and accelerate value creation for our combined customers and stakeholders. We look forward to discussing this acquisition in more detail at our upcoming annual general meeting on 20 November 2025.”

Network application programming interface (API) aggregator Aduna has struck a new partnership with Zain Group‘s API monetisation arm Dizlee that will broaden its exposure across the Middle East. Aduna said Dizlee will serve as the gateway between Zain and Omantel, enabling faster rollouts of advanced APIs, such as Number Verification, SIM Swap Detection, Identity, and Fraud Prevention across multiple countries. Omantel owns a 21.9% stake in Zain, and the two companies have also formed a joint venture under Zain Omantel International (ZOI). Anthony Bartolo, CEO of Aduna, said the partnership with Dizlee marks an important milestone in Aduna’s expansion across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). By connecting Zain’s extensive footprint and Omantel’s reach with Aduna’s global aggregation platform, we are unlocking the full value of standardised network APIs. Together, we will accelerate innovation, protect end users and empower enterprises to deliver next-generation digital services across the region and beyond”. Malek Hammoud, chief digital and investment officer at Zain Group, added that the agreement with Aduna “not only opens new revenue opportunities for our B2B clients – such as fintech, insurance, e-commerce and government agencies – but also reinforces our role as a regional leader in the fast-growing network API economy”.

Nokia has secured another deal with longstanding customer SoftBank Corp that will see the Finland-based vendor provide “advanced” 4G and 5G equipment to the Japanese telco. In this press release, Nokia said the agreement encompasses the “modernisation of existing network infrastructure and the expansion of 5G standalone coverage” using its AirScale portfolio. The deployment will take place across Western Japan. Specifically, Nokia will deploy its AirScale radio access network (RAN) solutions, featuring Habrok massive MIMO radios and AirScale baseband equipment, underpinned by ReefShark system-on-chip technology. Hideyuki Tsukuda, executive vice president and CTO at SoftBank, particularly highlighted that the enhanced partnership with Nokia “helps us to build a unique and high-quality 5G network powered by AI. The upgraded network will improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and deliver a superior user experience to our customers”. Nokia and SoftBank have been working together for a number of years. For instance, the operator selected Nokia AirScale for its 5G network back in 2019 and the duo now collaborate on AI-RAN and 6G technologies. In March, Nokia rival Ericsson also forged a strategic partnership with the telco with a focus on cloud RAN, AI, extended reality (XR) and 6G technology. It’s worth noting that all three companies are founding members of the AI-RAN Alliance. 

– The staff, TelecomTV