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Getting ready for Level 4 automation – Part 1: Consolidating, simplifying and optimising the OSS | White paper by We Are CORTEX

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Getting ready for Level 4 automation – Part 1: Consolidating, simplifying and optimising the OSS | White paper by We Are CORTEX

Telecom operators face challenges in automating their OSS due to legacy systems that are costly and impractical to replace. We Are CORTEX provides a structured three-stage approach: Consolidation, Simplification, and Optimisation.

Stage One focuses on integrating legacy platforms into automation frameworks, maximising their utility while preparing for eventual replacement. This allows operators to maintain operational efficiency, reduce costs, and bridge the gap to full automation.

By adopting reusable automation processes, operators can ensure that automation investments remain valuable even as infrastructure evolves. CORTEX supports legacy and modern interfaces, enabling operators to automate fault management, service assurance, and other processes without disruption. This approach accelerates progress toward Level 4 automation, allowing seamless integration with emerging AI technologies.

With this method, operators can modernise their OSS estate strategically, ensuring that automation extends across both legacy and future domains—without sacrificing existing functionality or incurring unnecessary costs.

Europe’s fibrecos move from land grab to monetising active links

Annie Turner
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Europe’s fibrecos move from land grab to monetising active links

FTTH Council Europe’s launches a slew of reports and resources at its flagship event in Amsterdam this week

Institutions lending money to fibre network builders are focusing their investments on homes ‘activated’ in an attempt to maximise returns. This is according to the FTTH Council Europe’s latest overview of fibre financing transactions in the March 2025 update of the Overview of fibre financing transactions in selected European Countries.*

The report says that after reaching “an all time high in 2022, the challenging market environment has led to FTTX financing markets experiencing less but stable activity over the past six months”.

“Companies involved in rolling out fibre networks across Europe remain strongly supported by the finance sector which continues to see the importance of FTTH and FTTX technologies,” noted the FTTH Council’s President, Roshene McCool (pictured). “Of course, increasing take-up is vital to generating revenue which is why the FTTH Conference 2025 has dedicated a session to exploring how the sector can better monetise their activities.”

Creating a truly open wholesale market

Also released ahead of the conference was a white paper from the FTTH Council Europe’s Open Access Working Group which set out five principles of am open access wholesale environment. They aim to define a ‘gold standard’ for open access as well as helping to foster a healthy and competitive market environment, independent of specific regional models or organisations.

“Over the past decade, billions of Euros of private investment has been channeled into building out fibre networks throughout Europe,” said FTTH Council’s Director General, Vincent Garnier. “To ensure these massive investments deliver for the end customer a fair and open competitive market is vital. We encourage stakeholders to consider the principles of Open Access as one potential approach to realising the benefits of a full-fibre approach.”

Optimising the last hop

In recognition of advances in home networking technologies such as Wi-Fi 7, Fibre to the Room (FTTR), Wi-Fi Mesh and containerisation, the Council released the third edition of the In-home Broadband Excellence (IBE) Guide. It covers three areas: how to extend fibre performance to the end device; how to manage the user experience; and how to add value and monetise it.

The Council’s goal is for the guide to become the standard reference for communication and internet service providers.

All in the planning

The Council’s Deployment and Operations committee released two white papers. The role of IT in accelerating FTTH Deployments and Operations covers IT solutions for challenges faced by operators in deploying and operating fibre networks and addresses FTTx pain points for the network at the plan, design, build and operate stages.

A case for end-to-end fixed access solution disaggregation explains the advantages of disaggregating solutions for end-to-end fixed access which is says is “a strategic shift from traditional vertically integrated, silo-based approaches to more open, standards-driven optical access networks”.

* It was produced by Macquarie on behalf of the Council and released at this week’s FTTH Conference 2025 in Amsterdam.

Brussels expands probe into alleged bribery of MEPs and staff by Huawei

Annie Turner
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Brussels expands probe into alleged bribery of MEPs and staff by Huawei

Lobbyists, MEPs and European parliamentary assistants are under investigation by Belgian authorities for allegedly accepting gifts in exchange for promoting the vendor’s interests

Politico and Follow the Money report that Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei made illegal payments to the eight Members of the European parliament (MEPs) who signed an open letter sent to three European Commissioners in January 2021.

In the letter, the signatories argued against what they called the “politicisation of the deployment of 5G technology” and described security concerns “unsubstantiated fear of national security risks”. Huawei is not mentioned specifically.

Follow the Money says it is now suspected that illegal payment for the letter ran to “tens of thousands of euros”.

The letter was sent as an apparent protest against the banning of Huawei’s equipment in 5G networks by some governments across Europe and the wider world due to concerns about security. The anti-Huawei initiative, which included other Chinese tech firms like ZTE, was championed by the first Trump presidency.

A whistleblower alerted Transparency International, a non-governmental organisation, in 2021 claiming the signatories or their staff had been bribed for signing and sending the correspondence.

Expanding investigation

The investigation into possible corruption by members of the European parliament began earlier this month, triggered by Belgium’s intelligence services. The initial probe included a raid on Huawei’s offices in Brussels. Overall, more than 100 police officers searched 21 buildings. There have been suggestions that the alleged activity was sanctioned by top management at Huawei in Brussels.

Individuals were questioned about alleged bribes from Huawei like smartphones, several thousand euros and frequent tickets for football matches. The alleged payments were apparently disguised in travel expenses or the alleged bribes involved a number of intermediaries to hide their origin.

The Belgian police arrested five people, four on charges including corruption and being members of a criminal organisation. A fifth was arrested about money laundering but has since been released. Raids were also carried out in Portugal and a person was arrested in France.

Not a good precedent

The current Huawei scandal is not the first incidence of allegations of bribery, corruption and criminal enterprise.

In 2022, Eva Kaili, other MEPs and parliamentary assistants were investigated due to suspicions that Qatar and other countries had bribed EU legislators to cast a favourable light on them and make decisions in their favour.

The investigation has been engulfed in legal wrangling and no-one has yet been brought to trial regarding the accusations of money laundering, corruption and participating in a criminal enterprise. In January investigators arrested the former MEP Maria Arena as part of this investigation.

All the accused deny all of the charges.

MTN Group, Airtel Africa to share networks in Uganda and Nigeria

Annie Turner
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MTN Group, Airtel Africa to share networks in Uganda and Nigeria

This could be just the first such agreement between the two and could be extended to the RAN and fibre, but the partnership does not exclude deals with other parties

MTN Group and Airtel Africa have agreed to share mobile networks in Uganda and Nigeria to optimise investment while expanding their coverage.

MTN Group’s CEO, Ralph Mupita (pictured), said in a statement, “There are opportunities within regulatory frameworks for sharing resources to drive higher [operational] efficiencies and improve returns.”

Airtel Africa’s CEO, Sunil Taldar added, “As we compete fiercely in the market on the strength of our brand, services and our offerings we are building common infrastructure, with in the permissible regulatory framework, to provide a more robust and extensive digital highway to drive digital and financial inclusion at the same time avoiding duplication of expensive infrastructure to drive operational efficiencies and benefits for our customers”.

Other possibilities

MTN and Airtel Africa are exploring various opportunities in other markets, including Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda and Zambia. They are considering sharing RANs and establishing commercial and technical agreements to share fibre infrastructure and possibly the construction of fibre networks.

The statement also noted that, “This engagement does not preclude the parties from collaborating with other operators in any respective market”.

UK’s CityFibre acquires Connexin to gain east Yorks footprint

Annie Turner
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UK’s CityFibre acquires Connexin to gain east Yorks footprint

CityFibre takeover includes Project Gigabit contract

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent fibre platform, has announced the acquisition of Connexin’s fibre infrastructure. This gives CityFibre “a material foothold across Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire, with the possibility of expanding its footprint by up to 185,000 premises. Connexin’s shareholder, PATRIZIA’s European Infrastructure Fund II, will now become a minority shareholder in CityFibre.

The acquisition includes Connexin’s built network assets which currently pass more than 80,000 premises, as well as work in progress to a further 20,000 premises and options to extend further across Hull.

Tenth Project Gigabit contract

CityFibre will also take on Connexin’s Project Gigabit contract to roll out gigabit-capable broadband to more than 34,000 hard-to-reach premises in Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire. This will become the tenth Project Gigabit delivery contract secured by CityFibre1 and will unlock a future expansion to over 50,000 non-subsidised premises in the target regions.

CityFibre will immediately begin integrating Connexin’s XGS-PON network to bring CityFibre’s wholesale products, pricing and services across the footprint. CityFibre expects to complete the integration later this year, extending its nationwide network which already passes more than 4.4m premises.

CityFibre says the acquisition underscores its commitment “to actively engaging in market consolidation as part of its nationwide rollout to more than 8 million premises”. CityFibre acquired Lit Fibre in May 2024 and fully integrated it in less than nine months.

Connexin will now expand nationwide, across CityFibre’s network, building on its IoT base, including the deployment of out one of the UK’s largest LoRaWAN networks with contracts for over 2 million smart water meters. 

Outstanding network

Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, said, “Connexin has built an outstanding network and it’s a brilliant fit for CityFibre. Our mature wholesale model will now bring Hull’s homes and businesses increased choice and access to unrivalled connectivity products, services and prices. After our rapid integration of Lit Fibre’s network, we have demonstrated that this is an effective way to expand our footprint and we look forward to playing an active role in the sector’s accelerating consolidation in 2025.

“Given our major role in the government’s Project Gigabit rollout, we are also pleased to take on a further contract, delivering next-generation digital infrastructure for more hard-to-reach rural communities across Nottingham and West Lincolnshire.” 

Furqan Alamgir, CEO of Connexin, added, “We’re thrilled to partner with CityFibre as we focus on our national growth strategy. This partnership will bring the best of our combined expertise to consumers and businesses alike across the UK.

“The next phase of our growth is tremendously exciting as we accelerate…expanding our Smarter Home, Business, Enterprise, Public Sector and Utilities products and services across the UK, enabling these rapidly evolving markets to achieve ambitious goals through adopting smarter technology.”

Phoebe Smith, Managing Director, PATRIZIA Infrastructure, continued, “This agreement is a great step forward for infrastructure competition in Hull…We’re very proud of everything Connexin has achieved, and we look forward to continuing to support its growth as a leading provider of LoRaWAN and IoT infrastructure”

1 The nine Project Gigabit Lots won by CityFibre are:  

  • Cambridgeshire
  • Norfolk
  • Suffolk
  • Hampshire
  • Leicestershire and Warwickshire
  • East and West Sussex
  • Kent
  • Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes 
  • East Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire

BT sounding out Orange and AT&T as potential partners for global ops

Annie Turner
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BT sounding out Orange and AT&T as potential partners for global ops

The move, reported by Bloomberg News, is no big suprise given BT Group’s strategy to focus on home market and explore options for its global infra

BT has approached AT&T and Orange about a possible tie-up in what was its BT Global business unit according to Bloomberg News [subscription needed] citing unidentified sources.

This is no surprise since BT Group’s CEO, Allison Kirkby, took up the mantle about a year ago, the company’s strategy is to focus on its domestic business and explore options regarding its struggling international operations. This could include partnerships or sale of the unit, she has said.

This is despite the pioneering Global Fabric built by BT, under the leadership of it CTO Colin Bannon (pictured), which started commercial operations recently. Bannon* will be participating in the opening panel at our annual, virtual Telco to techco event next week. Register to attend for free here.

BT Global was combined with BT’s ailing domestic business unit under the umbrella of BT Business in December 2022, when Philip Jansen was BT Group’s CEO. Bas Burger was the long-serving CEO of BT Global then BT Business. In January it announced he would be superseded in that role by Jon James, who had reported to Kirkby when she was briefly CEO of Denmark’s national operator, TDC.

Burger, the press information stated, would be devoting “all of his time to the optimisation of BT’s international operations and explore options for the [former BT Global] unit”.

Neither AT&T nor Orange has commented on the story so far.

Cassava to upgrade data centres with NVIDIA super computers

Annie Turner
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Cassava to upgrade data centres with NVIDIA super computers

The firm says data centres will allow Africa to develop its own AI technologies, boost productivity, protect data within its own boundaries and support businesses

Cassava Technologies is to build Africa’s first “AI factory” — a secure data centre powered by NVIDIA’s technology. The plan is to give African businesses, governments and researchers access to “cutting-edge” AI computing capacity to help them develop AI products, streamline operations and stay competitive.

The intention is to provide the supercomputers and software needed to train AI while keeping data within Africa’s borders.

Cassava plans to deploy NVIDIA’s Cloud Partner (NCP) reference architectures at its data centres in South Africa by June 2025, and progressively roll out the tech to its other data centres in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria.

Cassava’s AI Factory will leverage the company’s pan-African fibre network using its sustainable data centres to deliver AI as a Service (AIaaS), the firm says.

The NVIDIA GPU-based supercomputers should enable faster AI model training, fine-tuning and “advanced” inference capabilities. Cassava aims to be the first to introduce the computing platforms to Africa as an NCP, playing a crucial role in the continent’s AI ecosystem.

AI economy

“Building digital infrastructure for the AI economy is a priority if Africa is to take full advantage of the fourth industrial revolution. Our AI Factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs — and now, they don’t have to look beyond Africa to get it,” said Strive Masiyiwa, Founder & Chairman of Cassava.

“Collaborating with NVIDIA gives us the advanced computing capabilities needed to drive Africa’s AI innovation while strengthening the continent’s digital independence.”

“AI is helping innovators solve our greatest challenges in agriculture, healthcare, energy, financial services and many other industries creating opportunity in Africa,” said Jaap Zuiderveld, VP EMEA at NVIDIA. “As an NVIDIA Cloud Partner, Cassava is providing essential infrastructure and software to help pioneering companies and organizations accelerate AI development to foster innovation across the continent.”

Arcep sees first evidence of EU Digital Markets Act working

Simon Dux
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Arcep sees first evidence of EU Digital Markets Act working


Despite the plaintive cries from big tech, the French regulator reports that users are seeing browser choices on handsets

The Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques, des Postes et de la Distribution de la Presse’s  (Arcep) latest digital barometer has once more revealed that users are addicted to their smartphones. But more interestingly, it provides some evidence that the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is making the US tech giants actually take action. 

Last week, both Apple and Google were targeted by EU action under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In preliminary findings against Google parent Alphabet, the EC stated that certain features and functionalities of Google Search treat Alphabet’s own services more favourably compared to rival ones. The Commission has informed Alphabet of its preliminary view that its app marketplace Google Play does not comply with the DMA, as app developers are prevented from freely steering consumers to other channels for better offers.

The EC also adopted two decisions under the DMA specifying the measures that Apple has to take to comply with its interoperability obligation. Apple will be required to open up support for non-Apple accessories on the iPhone. This means Apple will be required to provide other companies and developers with improved access to iOS for consumer devices like smartwatches, headphones or TVs.

Google warned darkly that the EU’s position “will hurt European businesses and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security, and degrade product quality”. It added that the Commission had created a “false choice”  between openness and security. 

While the smartphone is taking hold as an essential tool, handset, operating system (OS) and browser suppliers have become key players in free and open access to content and services. Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into force in March 2024, and seeks to guarantee open digital markets. Among its rules: operating systems are prohibited from imposing any software by default on their users. 

Arcep’s latest report found that four months after the DMA came into force, close to a third of smartphone owners report having been given the option of switching their mobile browser or being informed of these new provisions.

Connected society

The report – which was carried out with CREDOC on behalf of the regulator,  the Economic Council (CGE) and France’s National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT) – also found that in 2024, 98% of people in France aged 12 and up owned a mobile phone (up 4 points YoY). Of particular note, the already massively adopted smartphone has become virtually ubiquitous: 91% of people aged 12 and up own one, alongside computers which are owned by 89% of the population. 

Smart speaker ownership is also rising (33%, up 4 points) and their rate of daily use has overtaken that of landline phones. Other connected devices (health, security, home automation, household appliances) are found in 40% of households (up 3 points). Online storage services, whose free versions are the most widely used, have been adopted by 50% of the population. 

Fibre rules

Underpinning this trend is the increasingly widespread access to fibre. In 2024, 75% of people aged 12 and up with a fixed internet connection had a fibre or a cable plan (up 8 points YoY), whereas copper line access was still predominant in 2020. This percentage of fibre users is rising even more significantly thanks to a surge in the proportion of fibre customers in municipalities with a population of under 20,000, which reached 69% in 2024 and is nearing the fibre subscription rates found in large cities.

Addicted to phones

Queried about how much time they spend on their devices for personal use, close to three out of four people report spending more than two hours a day, and one in four report spending more than five hours a day on their screens. Average screen time is around four hours a day, or a quarter of people’s waking hours. Also queried about how they perceive their screen time, 42% of respondents said they feel that they spend too much time and, for 19% of them, far too much time on their devices. 

The youngest among them stand out for being the heaviest consumers, but also the most sensitive to their overexposure: 61% of 18 to 24-year-olds who spend more than three hours a day on their devices consider it excessive, compared to 31% of people aged 70 and over.

An apparently determining factor in this sentiment is the use of digital platforms with a business model based on capturing users’ attention: 59% of users who go on social media multiple times a day feel that their screen time is excessive. For equal screen time, regular social media users are two to three times more likely to feel that they spend too much time online compared to those who never use social media.

More for more plans

Unsurprisingly, given it is a global phenomenon, the percentage of mobile customers with a monthly allowance of more than 100 Gb has more than doubled in four years, going from 15% to 32%. Despite which, two thirds of people almost never consume their entire monthly allowance. It has nevertheless been observed that average data traffic on mobile networks (16.5 Gb a month per SIM card) continues to grow, albeit more slowly: an over 10% increase in 2024, compared to around 25% a year between 2020 and 2023. The results show that more for more plans may have a shelf life. 

Circular economy

Every household in France owns an average of around 10 digital devices with a screen, of which two are never used and could be recycled or sold. Smartphones in particular are kept after no longer being used: by more than half the population. People are keeping their smartphones longer, however. In 2020, only 16% of those queried kept their smartphone for more than three years. 

This percentage grew to more than a quarter in 2024 (27%), marking an 11-point increase in four years. Despite this trend, buying a new smartphone remains the norm, representing 78% of all handset sales, compared to 22% for used or repurposed smartphones. This latter statistic is hardly surprising given the enforced software obsolescence handset manufacturers inflict on the public making buying a refurbished older phone less straightforward.

Arcep also found that information has been available to mobile service users since January 2022 on their data traffic’s carbon footprint, but only a minority of users are aware of this fact, however: 40% are aware that this information exists, and 28% have consulted it. Among those who are aware, only a third say this information created an incentive for them to limit their data consumption, or 14% of all mobile phone owners.

e& UAE partners Motorola Mobility to provide enterprise solutions like MDM

Simon Dux
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e& UAE partners Motorola Mobility to provide enterprise solutions like MDM


The operator will used Motorola’s mobile device management for businesses large and small

e& UAE has signed a strategic partnership with Motorola Mobility which it said is designed to equip businesses with a B2B enterprise mobility solutions that streamline device management, boost productivity, and ensure robust security. Motorola Mobility, now part of Lenovo, offers a mobile device management (MDM) solution called Moto Device Manager that enables organisations to manage and secure their fleet of Motorola devices, including features like policy management, provisioning, and kiosk mode. 

Moto Device Manager meets the requirements of Android Enterprise Partner, so ensures compatibility with Android Enterprise managed configurations. e& said it will use the solutions for SMBs right up to large enterprises. 

“As the UAE solidifies its position as a global digital transformation hub, businesses face increasing pressure to adopt digital-first strategies that enhance agility and performance. Our partnership with Motorola Mobility addresses the rising demand for solutions that ensure operational efficiency, team connectivity, and sustainability,” said e& UAE SVP business marketing and innovation Oscar Garcia. 

“By integrating enterprise-ready mobility solutions, businesses can streamline everyday tasks, overcome operational challenges, and focus on driving growth. With advanced and reliable tools, we aim to empower organisations to confidently navigate this digital evolution and create lasting value,” he added. 

The partnership between Motorola Mobility and e& UAE will also involve several strategic initiatives. These include joint projects that use their combined strengths in enterprise mobility technology development, service enhancements and market expansion. Additionally, the companies will develop tailored enterprise mobility solutions to meet the specific needs of government, enterprise, and SMB customers in the UAE. Motorola Mobility and e& UAE will also collaborate on sustainability efforts, such as eco-friendly trade-in offers and increasing eSIM adoption.

Providing tools

“Motorola’s B2B enterprise-ready smartphones offer the latest advancements in digital technology, data security, and mobile device management,” said Motorola Middle East general manager Sharay Shams. 

“Our commitment to empowering businesses with solutions that enhance productivity and elevate performance is at the heart of this partnership with e& UAE,” he said. By providing tools that are not only advanced but also user-friendly, we aim to transform workspaces, enhance collaboration, and ensure device security.”

He added: “From streamlining workflows to safeguarding sensitive data, Motorola is dedicated to making business operations smoother and more accessible.”

Motorola Mobility’s B2B enterprise mobility solutions include a suite of services with desktop and multi-screen capabilities, secure device fleet management solutions, streamlined task and workflow management tools and “robust communication features” that facilitate seamless collaboration. Using ThinkShield for Mobile – the vendor’s mobile device security solution, Motorola said it ensures its devices are safeguarded against cyber threats, maintaining the integrity of business data. 

Satellite and mobile: not a match made in heaven…yet

Enrico Ottolini
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Satellite and mobile: not a match made in heaven…yet

MWC2025 finally had some strong interest from operators about non-terrestrial networks in general, and direct to device in particular, but which way will the market go?

At the recent Mobile Work Congress (MWC25) in Barcelona we could notice a strong increase in interest from the cellular industry in non-terrestrial network (NTN), and in particular Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite services, which will allow modified or unmodified cellular devices to connect seamlessly over both terrestrial cellular and satellite networks.

Almost one year ago at the Mobile World Congress, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association and Global Satellite Operators Association announced their cooperation to foster innovation and seamless terrestrial network/non terrestrial network (TN-NTN) integration. Over the past year, several providers of Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite services have progressed to the stage of beta testing or initiated a limited commercial launch of their services. 

So now is a good moment to evaluate the progress so far, and see what the status is of this merger between the terrestrial cellular and satellite industries, which, as I described in an earlier article, Satellites are from Mars mobile is from Venus, has the potential to bring global communication to a whole new level.

In general, this subject did catch the attention of many of the leading players from both camps, which is good news. Different associations, satellite and mobile operators, smart phone manufacturers, chip makers and network vendors are taking very different approaches on the subject. This will provide very interesting and useful new insights which can be leveraged to reach the stage of fully seamless TN-NTN integration. However, parties have to be critical in assessing the long-term technical and commercial feasibility of their planned solutions, looking beyond the limitations of their current specialism and assets. Only then will they be able to obtain a sustainable position in this new, promising market.

GSMA and GSOA cooperation programs

The cooperation between the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) and Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA) intended to create educational programs, workshops and events aimed at raising awareness and understanding of the benefits and opportunities presented by converging the satellite and terrestrial technologies. However, concrete results have been limited so far. 

For one, the GSMA has been most active so far in forging collaborations with satellite entities and associations like the European Space Agency (ESA) and the MSSA (Mobile Satellite Service Association). 

On one hand, the collaboration between the GSMA and ESA aims at bringing new possibilities for the telecommunications industry by leveraging ESA’s satellite network operations for the advancement of 5G and future 6G systems. This partnership is mainly focused on conducting comprehensive test programs, and its outcomes should provide the necessary input for developing fully integrated TN/NTN 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards. As such, this partnership will facilitate the launch of fully 3GPP-standardised D2D-services in four or five years. 

By then, the partly 3GPP-standardised D2D satellite operators that will launch their initial services this year will have reached full global coverage and further developed their systems to meet more advanced 4G and 5G service needs. Because they will already have become the de-facto standards for full TN-NTN integration, this raises the question of whether the GSMA and ESA shouldn’t work closer together with these satellite operators.

However, the at the MWC25 by ESA and the GSMA Foundry announced new founding round to support 3 innovation challenges centred on 5G/6G innovation for D2D communications shows that for the moment ESA and the GSMA have no intention to do so.

On the other hand, the alliance between the GSMA and the MSSA will explore new approaches to integrating D2D and Internet of Things (IoT) services via Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) satellites. Particularly, the focus will be on how long-established satellite operators like Viasat, Iridium and Orbcomm can leverage their existing legacy satellite constellations to provide services to cellular devices.

Nonetheless, a limiting factor is that these constellations are only capable of providing rather basic D2D-service based on MSS-spectrum — like emergency SOS and messaging — and need substantial upgrades to be able to support more advanced 4G and 5G services. 

Within this panorama, it is remarkable that the program with ESA is directed to the (distant) future, whilst the alliance with the MSSA is more focused on the constellations from the past. At the same time, GSMA has not yet made any efforts to establish close partnerships with the soon-to-be launched D2D LEO-sat operators. For instance, AST Space Mobile, Starlink Direct-to-Cell (D2C) or LYNK, are all at the verge of starting to offer partly 3GPP-standardised D2D/C services, and are predicted to have a huge impact on the global cellular industry already this year. 

The GSOA so far has not developed any projects or collaborations in this area with cellular network operators or associations. 

This leaves the impression that, although both the GSMA and GSOA have shown their interest in D2D services and the associated merger of the satellite and cellular industry, the sense of urgency still appears to be missing within these two entities.

Legacy satellite operator and smart phone manufacturers

Among the legacy satellite operators, the further extension of the partnership between Globalstar and Apple and the establishment of a joint ownership of a new low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation has been the most noticeable achievement of the past year.

Through this partnership, Apple will invest $1.5 billion into Globalstar. This investment serves to build a new satellite constellation, named “Extended MSS Network”, and lease 85% of the network capacity to provide D2D-services exclusively to the owners of future iPhone releases. To provide these services directly to its iPhone users, Apple will be able to leverage, potentially on a global scale, Globalstar’s 10MHz bandwidth of Band 53/n53 spectrum located at 2.4GHz, as approved by the 3GPP. 

With this, Apple will bypass Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and exclude a large part of the MNO’s customer base who do not use an iPhone. In doing so, they will strongly limit their addressable market and spark strong rejection amongst MNOs.

Remarkably, though, is that, with this decision, Apple is reviving Steve Jobs’ old dream from 2007 to create his own network in the 2.4 GHz Band. Nonetheless, this decision was aborted years ago, based on the insight that it would have devastating consequences for Apple’s global MNO’s sales channels around the world. Why Apple believes the outcome will be different this time remains unclear.

A comparable, but much less far-reaching deal was closed between Ligado and Google, aimed at providing SOS services to Google Pixel 9 series smartphones. Besides that, Ligado has also tested SMS-service over geostationary orbit (GEO)-satellite in cooperation with Qualcomm and T-Mobile.

Taking into consideration the very basic characteristics of these D2D services of the legacy satellite operators, and the limitations of these satellite constellations to keep up the pace with the fast-developing requirements for the increasingly more advanced 5G services, a crucial question emerges. Namely, will these services be only used by the smart phone manufacturers for short- term product differentiation, or are they meant to be a starting point for more advanced services in the future?

Within this perspective the recent alliance formed by the SES and Lynk Global is the first case where a legacy and a new partly 3GPP-standardised satellite operator join forces to bring more advanced D2D-services to the market. As part of this agreement SES will invest in Lynk Global, provide a suite of integrated services over its MEO/GEO-constellations and ground network to enhance capabilities of Lynk’s services, and will also become a strategic channel partner for Lynk Global.

Cellular network vendors

In the cellular network vendor market, we see a wide variety of approaches taken by the different players to merge terrestrial and satellite services. Particularly, each of them takes a specific approach somewhere between the opposite pathways that Ericsson and Nokia have been taking in the past year.

On one hand, Ericsson, by completely ignoring the partly 3GPP-standardised D2D services, like SpaceMobile and Starlink D2C, has placed itself outside of the first wave of the soon-to-be launched serious providers of D2D services. Instead, Ericsson is only working on its alliance with the MSSA to develop D2D services on legacy MSS satellite systems and initiated close cooperation with ESA targeting the development of 3GPP TN/NTN standards for the future. Consequently, Ericsson will not be an active player at this stage. As such they have placed themselves in a less favourable starting position to benefit from future market opportunities for fully 3GPP standardised D2D services.

On the contrary, Nokia went in deep with Space Mobile, playing a crucial role in delivering its AirScale Single RAN equipment, including its AirScale base stations powered by its latest generation of Nokia’s ReefShark System-on-Chip chipsets. Additionally, Nokia will also provide SpaceMobile with its NetAct solution for network management and seamless daily network operations, as well as optimisation and technical support services. This close partnership between Nokia and SpaceMobile could also be witnessed at the MWC25 by Nokia hosting SpaceMobile on their booth.

As such, Nokia has become a leading player in providing network solutions to D2D LEO operators. This will enable them to further leverage this position, and thus obtain a preferred position for the next wave of D2D constellations.

The new operators of partly 3GPP-standardised D2D services

Also, very different approaches are taken between the different new operators of partly 3GPP-standardised D2D LEO services, as exemplified by Starlink and Space Mobile.

Starlink has outraged the global MNO community over its out-of-band (OOB) emissions waiver request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its D2C LEO satellite messaging system. Particularly, this is causing serious interference problems with the services of mobile and other satellite operators. Besides that, Starlink is trying to obtain its own spectrum with the objective of bypassing local MNOs and thus providing its services directly to the end-users. 

In sheer contrast, Space Mobile has obtained full support for its constellation from all the leading MNOs around the world, offering a model where the MNO is in the lead towards the customer and receives a full revenue share. Additionally, Space Mobile will provide its MNO partners in the U.S. with 45 MHz of additional premium, lower mid-band spectrum to offer Space Mobile D2D services to their clients. Besides this, Space Mobile received major investments and has board members from various leading cellular players like AT&T, Verizon, Google, American tower, Vodafone and Rakuten.

A clear proof of this close collaboration between these companies is the joint announcement by Vodafone and SpaceMobile at the MWC25 that they have signed an agreement to create a jointly owned European satellite service business to serve mobile network operators (MNOs) in all European markets.

With the key involvement of these renowned global cellular players, Space Mobile takes terrestrial cellular networks as a starting point for its systems and constellation design, and can, as such, guarantee the best possible match between terrestrial cellular and satellite services. 

What sort of relationship will evolve?

Overall, the different satellite and cellular associations, entities and companies are all taking very diverse approaches to D2D-services. Apart from just a few cases, where parties from the satellite and cellular industry work together in full partnership with a joint objective, in most cases there appears to be a desire by the cellular or satellite entity to be in full control, be in the lead, or take the most benefits. However, this competitive mentality is hindering players from both terrestrial and satellite industries to go all the way together. Only through a more collaborative approach will all relevant stakeholders be able to obtain their fair share of the business and achieve real big things together.

The merger of the satellite and mobile industry is not yet a happy marriage — in fact, it has not yet passed the stage of a Living Apart Together (LAT) relationship. Nonetheless, we believe truly promising avenues can emerge from this merger. Perhaps all that is needed is simply more time and faith in one another to move to the next stage and make this a marriage made in heaven.

Enrico Ottolini is co-founder and executive director of Planet Earth Connect. He has more than 25 years of extensive international experience in both the mobile and satellite communications industries. He guides telecom operators and solution providers through the rapidly changing and fragmented LEO-sat landscape. Currently, he and his team are in the process of creating a platform that will merge both these technologies into one fully integrated and seamless Terrestrial Network / non-TN enterprise solution.

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