Innovation and R&D
All the latest news, insight and analysis regarding the latest innovations and research and development initiatives by BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone.
DT backs German drones player in latest defence push
Operator draws capital from its €2bn Tech Fund to back Quantum Systems and set up collaboration on development of solutions to protect critical infrastructure. Move sees DT press forward with wider defence industry expansion …
Telefónicawatch: another JMAP-era exec exits; Gayo gets buying; IT vendors net handouts
Analyst Briefing: Round-up of the latest developments at Spain’s re-morphing incumbent, as 2025’s dramatic strategy and personnel changes continue all the way up to the end of the year. Finance chief Laura Abasolo’s departure is confirmed, as part of another top exec layer rejig. And partnerships with Prosegur and Nato move forward as Group targets tech growth. Read more…
Can AI-RAN succeed without open RAN? ‘Yes and no’, says Alliance Chair Choi
Interview: AI-RAN Alliance Chair (and ex-DT CTO) Dr. Alex Jinsung Choi assures that operators have a route to scaled adoption of the tech — no matter their level of legacy. T-Mobile US is seen as having ‘unique’ springboard for AI-RAN rollout given its ‘greenfield-like’ position in 5G era, post-Sprint, and is expected to use the 2028 Olympics to showcase early wins.
Telefónica deploys fresh AI assistants to up German security
Telefónica Deutschland launches AI-powered assistants to protect customers against online fraud, bulking up its consumer security portfolio…
DT to co-create new AI products with OpenAI
Deutsche Telekom is to get early access to an ‘alpha‑phase’ OpenAI model, although details remain scarce.
Optimising Orange offloads fleet management business
Orange Business offloads Océan, its French fleet management unit, in the Group’s latest strategic move to offload non-core assets and refocus on traditional telecoms offerings…
Orangewatch: AI takes centre stage at third edition of Orange OpenTech
Orangewatch Analyst Briefing: bringing together the latest from around TelcoTitans and beyond. Orange’s annual OpenTech event takes place for the third time, with senior execs going on stage to talk up under-the-hood transformation of the operator’s platforms.
Orange tests Africa-focused LLMs to the Max
Orange’s super-app is integrating languages such as Wolof for AI‑based voice interactions.
‘Not invented here’: overcoming the obstacles to telco digital twin deployments
Is the ‘not invented here’ mindset holding back digital twin adoption in telco? Major satco and long-time practitioner SES joined SI partner Celfocus to argue that strategic collaboration is key to unlocking transformative potential and accelerate journey towards network autonomy.
SES pencils in early-2030s for enterprise quantum comms rollout
Capacity Europe 2025: Satco preparing “fully fledged constellation” for QKD services, with launch of EAGLE-1 satellite quickly approaching. However, SES’ Emin Allagui notes the industry must address capacity and security concerns to bring the technology to maturity…
30 years down, 5+ to go before BT’s quantum vision comes to life
Capacity Europe 2025: Senior Research Manager Andrew Lord remains optimistic about quantum secure communications, but sought-after commercial use cases still five-to-ten years away. QKD a valid ‘stepping stone’, and satellite may boost momentum, but supply chain ‘fragility’ remains a stumbling block…