SK Telecom Builds AI Infrastructure Momentum with GPUaaS and the Haein Cluster

The growing demand for artificial intelligence computing is reshaping the role of telecommunications operators. As AI models become larger and more computationally intensive, the need for high performance infrastructure has moved into sharp focus. In response, SK Telecom is positioning itself not only as a connectivity provider but also as a key supplier of AI infrastructure through its GPU-as-a-Service offering.

At the centre of this strategy is the Haein GPU cluster, one of the largest AI computing platforms in South Korea. Built around more than 1,000 GPUs from NVIDIA based on the Blackwell architecture, the platform provides the computing power required for large scale AI training and inference workloads. The cluster represents a significant step forward from the earlier infrastructure based on NVIDIA H100 GPUs and forms part of SK Telecom’s wider sovereign AI infrastructure initiative.

The Haein cluster is hosted within the company’s Gasan AI Data Center in Seoul and is designed to deliver high performance computing capacity at national scale. The system supports intensive AI workloads including the training of large language models while also providing the flexibility required for enterprises and research organisations developing their own AI applications. The platform’s architecture allows large GPU resources to be combined into a single cluster while still being dynamically allocated to different users depending on demand.

A key component enabling this flexibility is SK Telecom’s proprietary virtualisation platform known as Petasus AI Cloud. The software layer allows the large GPU cluster to be partitioned and reconfigured dynamically, enabling customers to access the exact amount of computing power they require. This capability is essential for GPU-as-a-Service platforms where workloads can vary significantly, from small development environments to large scale model training that requires hundreds of GPUs operating simultaneously.

Alongside this, the company provides operational management through its AI Cloud Manager platform. This AIOps based environment supports the full lifecycle of AI services including development, training, deployment and operational monitoring. By combining infrastructure with operational tooling, SK Telecom aims to provide a more integrated AI computing platform rather than simply raw GPU capacity.

The Haein cluster also plays an important role in South Korea’s national AI strategy. The platform has been selected to support a programme led by the Ministry of Science and ICT that focuses on strengthening the country’s AI computing infrastructure and enabling the development of competitive national AI foundation models. Through this initiative, the cluster will contribute computing resources to projects developing sovereign AI capabilities tailored to the Korean language and domestic industries.

The name of the cluster itself reflects this national perspective. Haein takes inspiration from Haeinsa Temple, which houses the historic Tripitaka Koreana, a vast collection of Buddhist scriptures recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage archive. The naming reflects the ambition to create a modern repository of digital intelligence, supporting the development of AI knowledge and capabilities within the country.

Delivering infrastructure at this scale requires a broad ecosystem of partners. SK Telecom has worked with companies including Supermicro and Penguin Solutions to design and deploy the server infrastructure and integrated AI data centre solutions required for the cluster. These collaborations enable the rapid deployment of high density GPU servers and the supporting cooling, power and networking systems necessary to run large scale AI workloads.

The industry has already taken notice of the platform. The Haein GPU cluster was recognised at the MWC Barcelona 2026, where SK Telecom received the Best Cloud Solution award at the GSMA Global Mobile Awards. The recognition reflects the company’s continued progress in cloud and AI infrastructure development and marks the third consecutive year that its cloud related technologies have been acknowledged in this category.

For telecoms infrastructure professionals, SK Telecom’s GPU-as-a-Service strategy illustrates how operators are expanding beyond traditional connectivity services. By building large scale AI computing platforms inside their data centre footprint, operators can leverage existing strengths in infrastructure, power management and network integration to participate in the rapidly growing AI economy.

As AI adoption accelerates across industries, the demand for scalable computing infrastructure will continue to grow. With platforms such as the Haein cluster and its GPUaaS offering, SK Telecom is positioning its network and data centre assets as part of the core infrastructure supporting the next generation of AI innovation.

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Samsung Brings AI Across Every Layer of the Network to Power Next Generation Telecom Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a defining capability in modern telecom networks. As operators continue to expand 5G and prepare for the transition to 6G, the scale and complexity of networks are increasing significantly. In this environment, automation, efficiency and adaptability are becoming essential. Samsung is positioning artificial intelligence as a core technology that can operate across every layer of the network to help operators manage this complexity while unlocking new capabilities.

Much of the industry conversation around AI integration in telecom networks has recently focused on the concept of AI-RAN. Within the AI-RAN Alliance, this is commonly described through three dimensions: AI for RAN, AI on RAN and AI with RAN. These categories describe how artificial intelligence can enhance radio network performance, support new edge-based services and enable the coexistence of AI workloads and network functions on shared infrastructure.

Samsung is actively involved in this industry effort, but its strategy extends beyond the radio layer alone. The company is promoting a broader approach to AI-powered networks that combines end-to-end software-based architecture with distributed computing capabilities. In this model, artificial intelligence is not limited to a specific part of the network. Instead, it is embedded across the entire infrastructure, from the radio access network to the core network and operational management systems.

A key element of this approach is Samsung’s focus on software-based and virtualised network architectures. Virtualised RAN deployments running on commercial off-the-shelf servers provide a flexible platform where both network workloads and AI functions can operate together. This allows operators to introduce AI capabilities without needing to completely redesign their infrastructure.

Through its network automation platform, Samsung is applying AI to a wide range of operational tasks. These include predicting traffic patterns, identifying anomalies in network performance, optimising radio parameters and balancing loads across spectrum bands. By analysing large volumes of operational data, AI systems can automatically adjust network behaviour to maintain performance and improve efficiency.

Energy optimisation is another area where AI-driven techniques are being applied. As mobile networks expand and traffic patterns fluctuate throughout the day, intelligent algorithms can determine when certain network features can be adjusted or scaled down to reduce power consumption without affecting user experience. These types of capabilities are becoming increasingly important as operators focus on both operational efficiency and sustainability.

Samsung is also exploring how artificial intelligence can improve radio performance directly within the protocol stack. Machine learning techniques can enhance channel estimation at the physical layer, allowing the network to reconstruct radio signals more accurately even in challenging environments. At higher layers, AI can support link adaptation by identifying optimal modulation and coding schemes for each user based on real time radio conditions. Even connection management processes can benefit from AI driven optimisation, improving both device battery efficiency and network resource utilisation.

Beyond improving the network itself, Samsung is also examining how telecom infrastructure can support AI workloads. Modern base stations and edge compute platforms contain significant computing resources. When network traffic demand is low, some of this capacity can remain unused. By running AI inference tasks on the same infrastructure, operators can make better use of these resources while supporting new services.

Edge based AI applications are particularly relevant in industrial environments. Real time video analytics, safety monitoring and automated quality inspection are examples of workloads that benefit from processing close to the data source. Running these applications on infrastructure that already supports radio functions reduces latency and avoids sending large volumes of data to central cloud platforms.

Samsung describes this convergence between communications infrastructure and computing capabilities as a shift towards networks functioning as distributed data centres. In this model, the network becomes both a connectivity platform and a processing environment capable of supporting AI driven applications. The concept combines two complementary perspectives: building networks that support AI workloads and using AI to improve how networks operate.

This architectural shift also has implications for the hardware layer of telecom infrastructure. Traditional mobile network equipment has relied heavily on specialised system-on-chip designs. However, the rapid development cycle of general purpose processors and accelerators is encouraging a more flexible approach. Samsung’s virtualised infrastructure strategy allows operators to deploy workloads on a mix of CPUs and GPUs, drawing on technologies from companies such as Intel, NVIDIA and Arm Ltd.. This enables operators to scale AI capabilities across different parts of the network depending on where computing power is needed.

As telecom networks evolve towards cloud native and software driven architectures, the role of artificial intelligence will continue to expand. By embedding AI across radio, core and operational layers, Samsung is highlighting how networks can move beyond traditional connectivity and become intelligent platforms capable of continuous optimisation.

With 5G Advanced deployments underway and early discussions around 6G gathering momentum, the integration of AI into telecom infrastructure is likely to accelerate. Samsung’s strategy suggests that the future network will not simply transport data, but will increasingly analyse, optimise and process it within the network itself, transforming the way operators design and operate their infrastructure.

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Reconfigurable Antennas and the Infrastructure Implications For 6G

Reconfigurable antennas have been a topic of academic research for many years, but as 5G networks continue to densify and the industry begins to look seriously towards 6G, their relevance to real-world telecom infrastructure is becoming increasingly clear. A recent presentation by Prof. Chenhao Qi from Southeast University, Nanjing, China, titled Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless Communications, offers a timely and technically rich overview of how antenna reconfigurability could influence future radio access network (RAN) design across sub-6 GHz, mmWave and, in the longer term, THz frequency bands. From an infrastructure perspective, the underlying message is straightforward: future networks will operate across far more diverse spectrum and deployment scenarios, and static antenna designs will struggle to deliver the required flexibility, efficiency and performance.

The performance targets associated with 6G go well beyond those of current 5G systems. Improvements are expected not only in peak data rates and spectral efficiency, but also in latency, positioning accuracy, reliability and energy efficiency. Achieving these targets requires networks that can adapt dynamically to changing electromagnetic conditions and physical environments. Today’s RAN deployments already span multiple layers, from sub-6 GHz macro coverage to mid-band capacity and mmWave hotspots. As frequencies increase, propagation becomes more sensitive to blockage, orientation and interference, making adaptability at the antenna level increasingly important.

Reconfigurable antennas are designed to address this challenge by allowing key antenna characteristics, such as operating frequency, radiation pattern and polarisation, to be adjusted dynamically. This adaptability can be achieved either electronically or through physical changes to the antenna structure. Electronically reconfigurable antennas integrate RF components such as PIN diodes, FET switches or MEMS into the antenna design, enabling very fast reconfiguration on timescales suitable for live network operation. Structurally reconfigurable antennas instead rely on physical movement or deformation of radiating elements, including approaches based on movable parts, liquid metals or flexible structures. While these techniques can offer high flexibility, they also introduce mechanical complexity and slower reconfiguration speeds, which can limit scalability in large-scale infrastructure deployments.

From a network infrastructure standpoint, electronic reconfiguration is particularly attractive. Fast switching speeds, compact integration and long-term reliability make it well suited to dense antenna arrays and multi-band base station designs. The ability to support multiple reconfiguration modes within a single antenna system also opens the door to more efficient hardware utilisation. Frequency reconfiguration allows antennas to switch between bands as spectrum availability or traffic demand changes. Polarisation reconfiguration can improve robustness in both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight conditions by mitigating fading and misalignment. Pattern reconfiguration enables beam steering, null placement and coverage shaping without relying solely on external beamforming networks. In more advanced designs, these capabilities can be combined, allowing frequency, polarisation and radiation pattern to be adapted jointly.

The presentation also highlights how reconfigurable antennas interact with emerging RAN architectures, particularly in the context of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) and massive MIMO. One example is a dual-band reconfigurable antenna array, commonly referred to as a DBRAA, that supports both sub-6 GHz and mmWave operation within a shared aperture. This reflects a practical reality for infrastructure deployments, where different frequency bands offer complementary advantages and must coexist efficiently. By dynamically forming sub-6 GHz antennas from mmWave elements, the DBRAA architecture enables finer control over antenna spacing and improved performance compared to fixed-position arrays, while also reducing the need for separate antenna hardware.

Another concept explored is the use of reconfigurable pixel antennas to realise electronically movable antenna arrays, described as reconfigurable pixel antenna-based electronic movable-antenna arrays (REMAA). The key insight here is that radiation pattern reconfiguration can be equivalent, from a channel perspective, to physically moving antenna elements. Achieving this electronically avoids the mechanical complexity associated with motor-driven or fluid-based movable antennas. For dense sites and space-constrained installations, REMAA offers a practical path to improved interference management, better multi-user performance and more efficient use of available antenna real estate.

At mmWave frequencies, power consumption and RF chain count remain major concerns for infrastructure providers. Hybrid beamforming architectures have already been adopted to strike a balance between performance and complexity, but the presentation goes a step further by introducing tri-hybrid beamforming. In this approach, digital beamforming, analogue beamforming and electromagnetic beamforming enabled by reconfigurable antennas are jointly optimised. Radiation-centre selection becomes an additional degree of freedom in the beamforming process, increasing design flexibility while reducing the number of active antenna ports. For large-scale mmWave arrays, this translates into higher spectral efficiency and improved energy efficiency, particularly as array sizes grow.

Taken together, these concepts point towards a future in which antenna systems play a far more active role in network optimisation. Reconfigurable antennas have the potential to reduce hardware duplication across frequency bands, improve adaptability to changing propagation conditions and traffic patterns, and support advanced use cases such as ISAC without a proportional increase in cost or power consumption. At the same time, the presentation makes it clear that several challenges remain, including accurate modelling of reconfigurable antennas, their integration into practical beamforming architectures and a deeper understanding of their end-to-end energy efficiency.

As the industry moves towards 6G, antennas are likely to evolve from largely static components into adaptive, software-controlled elements that are tightly integrated with signal processing and network intelligence. Reconfigurable antennas are not a single solution to all future RAN challenges, but they are emerging as an important building block for next-generation telecom infrastructure. For operators, vendors and infrastructure providers, the ideas presented offer a useful glimpse into how antenna technology could shape deployment strategies and network evolution in the years ahead.

The slides of the presentation are available here and the video is embedded below:

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Powering Vodafone’s Mobile Network with Solar Energy in Germany

Iberdrola has brought its first solar park in Germany into operation, with the renewable electricity generated at the site now supplying Vodafone’s mobile network nationwide. The project represents a growing convergence between energy and telecom infrastructure, as mobile operators look to secure reliable and sustainable power sources to support expanding network demands.

The solar park is located in Boldekow in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and marks Iberdrola’s entry into onshore photovoltaic generation in the German market. The site covers an area equivalent to more than 65 football pitches and is equipped with around 80,000 solar panels. Once fully operational, the installation is expected to generate up to 53 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, with the entire output dedicated to Vodafone under a long-term power purchase agreement.

For Vodafone, the project provides a direct and predictable supply of renewable electricity for its mobile infrastructure across Germany. The annual energy output is sufficient to power around 3,000 mobile base stations, supporting the radio access network and associated systems that underpin nationwide mobile coverage. As networks continue to evolve to handle higher traffic volumes and increased densification, access to stable and locally generated energy is becoming a strategic consideration alongside spectrum, sites and backhaul.

The environmental impact of the solar park is significant. By replacing conventional grid electricity with solar generation, the project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 20,000 tonnes per year. Over an anticipated operational lifetime of around 30 years, this contributes meaningfully to emissions reduction targets while aligning network operations with wider sustainability objectives.

From an infrastructure perspective, the project illustrates a shift in how telecom operators source energy. Rather than relying solely on indirect mechanisms, such as renewable energy certificates, operators are increasingly entering direct supply agreements linked to specific generation assets. This approach improves transparency, strengthens energy security and creates a clearer relationship between network growth and renewable energy investment.

For Iberdrola, the Boldekow solar park complements its existing presence in Germany, where the company already operates offshore wind assets in the Baltic Sea. Expanding into onshore solar generation allows for a more diversified renewable portfolio and demonstrates how utility-scale energy infrastructure can be closely aligned with the needs of digital networks.

The project has also delivered local benefits, including regional investment during construction and long-term contributions to municipal revenues. This underlines how renewable energy developments tied to telecom infrastructure can support local economies while addressing national connectivity and sustainability goals.

As mobile networks progress towards higher capacity, lower latency and greater automation, their energy requirements will continue to grow. Projects such as Iberdrola’s solar park supplying Vodafone’s mobile network show how renewable energy is becoming a foundational element of modern telecom infrastructure, rather than a parallel or secondary consideration.

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Top 10 Posts for 2025

Telecoms Infrastructure Blog has been around since December 2012, and in February 2020 it moved to its current home. Since then the site has grown steadily to pass more than one million views in total, with nearly 500 thousand views recorded in 2025 alone. With over 400 posts now published, the blog continues to attract interest from readers across the industry who are looking for technical depth, real world deployments and infrastructure insights.

Rather than limiting this list to posts written in 2025, it felt more useful to simply highlight the ten most-read posts during the year, regardless of when they were originally published. Some older articles continue to attract strong readership, which shows how relevant many of these topics still are to today’s networks.

1. Decoding Starlink: The Technology Behind the Revolution, Jan 2025
2. Huawei's Lampsite, Jul 2014
3. Passive and Active Infrastructure Sharing, May 2020
4. Nokia's AirScale indoor Radio (ASiR) Small Cells, Jul 2020
5. Planning, Constructing, and Commissioning a Mobile Network Site, Oct 2024
6. Open RAN (O-RAN) RRU (O-RU) and DU (O-DU) Design, Feb 2021
7. Viettel’s Growing Influence in 5G, Private Networks and Open RAN, Jun 2025
8. FDD Tri-Band Massive MIMO: Unlocking Sub-3 GHz Potential for 5G Evolution, Apr 2025
9. Evolution of AT&T’s Flying COW (Cell on Wings), Feb 2023
10. Meta's Project Waterworth: The Next Evolution in Subsea Connectivity, Feb 2025

2025 has been another busy year for telecoms infrastructure. The mix of topics here reflects how fast the industry continues to evolve, from satellites and subsea connectivity through to Open RAN, indoor coverage and Massive MIMO. It is also encouraging to see that older posts are still being discovered and referenced, which reinforces the value of long-form technical content.

Thank you for reading, sharing and supporting the blog. I will continue to cover new deployments, technologies and trends in the year ahead, and I hope you will keep visiting and contributing to the conversation.

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Architecting Resilient Global Networks with Amazon LEO

At AWS re:Invent 2025, a joint presentation from Amazon LEO and AWS Global Infrastructure Services offered a detailed look at how non-terrestrial networks are being engineered to operate as part of modern global infrastructure. Nick Matthews, Principal Solutions Architect at Amazon LEO, and John Phillibert, Principal Network Development Engineer at AWS, focused not on consumer broadband headlines but on the architectural foundations needed to deliver resilient, low-latency connectivity at global scale.

The session provided a rare infrastructure-level walkthrough of how a low Earth orbit satellite network is being integrated directly with AWS edge and backbone services, and why this matters for enterprises, operators and critical infrastructure providers.

A LEO network designed like cloud infrastructure

Amazon LEO is building a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit, operating at altitudes between roughly 590 and 630 kilometres. From an infrastructure perspective, the key distinction from traditional geostationary satellite systems is not just lower latency, but the need to manage constant motion, frequent handovers and highly dynamic routing.

Satellites orbit the Earth approximately 16 times per day, remaining in view of a given location for only tens of seconds at a time. Rather than treating this as a constraint, Amazon LEO has designed the network using cloud-scale principles. Satellite positions, terminal locations and gateway connectivity are all highly predictable, allowing routing, frequency allocation and handover behaviour to be pre-computed and continuously optimised.

The result is a system that behaves far more like a terrestrial fibre or mobile network than a traditional satellite service, with expected round-trip latencies below 50 milliseconds and enterprise-grade throughput.

Terminals as hardened network edge devices

A significant portion of the engineering effort has been invested in user terminals. From an infrastructure viewpoint, these terminals act as the true network edge, and Amazon LEO has designed them to be rugged, simple to deploy and economically scalable.

Three terminal classes were outlined. A compact nano terminal supports low-power and IoT-style use cases. A pro terminal offers higher throughput in a device comparable in size to a laptop. At the high end, an ultra terminal supports gigabit-class connectivity suitable for large enterprise sites, temporary campuses or even data centre backup.

All terminals use electronically steered phased-array antennas, eliminating the need for mechanical movement and enabling rapid satellite tracking. From a deployment perspective, installation is intentionally straightforward, using standard Ethernet into existing enterprise or operational technology networks.

Space lasers and ground gateways as resilience tools

Beyond basic satellite-to-ground connectivity, Amazon LEO is deploying inter-satellite laser links. These links create a space-based backbone that allows traffic to be routed between satellites before descending to Earth. This has two important infrastructure implications.

First, it extends coverage to locations far from ground gateways, including oceans and air routes. Second, it introduces path diversity at a global scale. If a ground gateway is unavailable due to weather, fibre damage or power issues, traffic can be dynamically rerouted through alternative gateways without service interruption.

Ground gateways themselves are treated as high-capacity aggregation points, converting radio frequency links into terrestrial fibre connectivity. Their placement is closely aligned with AWS edge locations, minimising backhaul distance and reducing overall latency.

Tight integration with the AWS global backbone

John Phillibert’s contribution focused on why AWS infrastructure is central to making this model work at scale. AWS operates one of the world’s largest private global backbones, interconnecting regions, edge locations and direct connect sites over millions of kilometres of terrestrial and subsea fibre.

By anchoring Amazon LEO gateways directly into this backbone, satellite traffic enters a network designed for high automation, rapid fault remediation and consistent performance. Most network events within AWS are resolved automatically, without human intervention, which is essential when extending connectivity into remote or harsh environments.

Security is also built in at the infrastructure layer. AWS encrypts traffic across its backbone using MACsec, while Amazon LEO adds its own end-to-end encryption from terminal to point of presence. Even physical access to gateways or satellites yields only encrypted data, an important consideration for critical national infrastructure and regulated industries.

Infrastructure patterns for resilience and continuity

Several architectural patterns emerged repeatedly during the session. One is the use of Amazon LEO as a physically diverse connectivity path. Fibre cuts, natural disasters and power outages remain common failure modes in terrestrial networks, even in developed markets. A non-terrestrial path introduces true geographical and physical diversity, rather than simply logical redundancy.

Another pattern is rapid site enablement. In many industrial or logistics environments, waiting months for fibre or microwave links is not viable. A satellite terminal that can be shipped, installed and operational in days enables faster deployment of digital infrastructure, with terrestrial connectivity added later if required.

For more mature environments, Amazon LEO can complement existing architectures such as SD-WAN, private interconnects or direct cloud access. Integration with AWS Transit Gateway and Direct Connect allows traffic to remain private end to end, avoiding exposure to the public internet.

Extending compute and control to the edge

The infrastructure implications extend beyond connectivity alone. Reliable, high-bandwidth links enable changes in where compute and control systems are located. The session highlighted scenarios where local data centres exist solely because connectivity is unreliable. With improved resilience, workloads can be shifted to cloud regions, local zones or managed edge platforms.

In operational technology environments, this supports new models for monitoring, analytics and remote operation. SCADA systems, industrial sensors and video feeds can be securely backhauled to central platforms for analysis, while still maintaining local control loops where required.

This is less about replacing existing infrastructure overnight and more about enabling gradual architectural evolution, starting with connectivity and extending into compute placement and operational models.

A non-terrestrial network built for infrastructure scale

What stood out from the presentation was not just the technology itself, but the way it is being engineered. Amazon LEO is not positioned as a standalone satellite service, but as an extension of cloud and network infrastructure, designed using the same principles of automation, resilience and integration that underpin hyperscale data centres.

For telecom infrastructure professionals, the message was clear. Non-terrestrial networks are no longer niche overlays. When tightly integrated with terrestrial backbones, edge platforms and security frameworks, they become a foundational component of global connectivity strategies.

As Amazon LEO moves through its enterprise preview and towards service launch in 2026, its impact is likely to be felt less in marketing headlines and more in the quiet redesign of how resilient networks are built, extended and operated at global scale.

The talk is embedded below:

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Nokia and Citymesh Bring Drones-in-a-Box to Life Across Belgium

Belgium is emerging as a true pioneer in aviation, public safety and telecom convergence, thanks to the nationwide Drones-in-a-Box network delivered through the partnership between Nokia and Citymesh. What began as small-scale trials in ports and industrial zones has now grown into one of the most ambitious drone grid deployments in the world. It blends 5G connectivity, automated drone operations and remote command capabilities to support emergency response and critical infrastructure monitoring.

Citymesh, now well established as Belgium’s newest mobile operator and a European leader in private networks, has been championing the idea of safety drones for several years. The company has already proved the concept in locations such as Brussels Airport, the Port of Antwerp Bruges, Kortrijk and Genk. These pilots demonstrated how much time is lost in the first moments of an incident when responders are unsure of what they will face. A drone that can be airborne in seconds and provide live video, thermal analysis and AI-assisted insights significantly improves situational awareness.

Nokia’s Drone Networks platform is central to the national rollout. The agreement covers 70 Drone in a Box units which are positioned across 35 emergency zones. When integrated with Nokia’s 4G and 5G connectivity, the drones can be remotely launched from one of Citymesh’s Remote Operations Centres. These centres operate around the clock and ensure that flights remain compliant with aviation rules while delivering reliable coverage during both planned and unplanned missions.

The platform is engineered for demanding environments. Each drone carries high definition and thermal cameras capable of identifying smoke, fire boundaries and people. Twin 4G and 5G modems maintain real time links, and the Nokia MX Industrial Edge keeps sensitive data processed and stored locally. A presentation by Citymesh at Portcomms 2025 highlights additional elements such as certified parachutes, environmental control in each docking station and a robust API framework that allows further integration with port systems, security platforms or smart city tools.

Operationally, the SENSE network is already proving its value. In the first years of service the drones have supported more than a thousand beyond visual line of sight flights and hundreds of flight hours. The system has been validated across busy urban environments, coastal zones and industrial complexes. With three Remote Operations Centres and certified pilots, Citymesh has created a repeatable operational model that blends telecom expertise with aviation-grade processes.

The impact goes beyond emergency response. Ports and industrial plants are using drones for inspections, environmental monitoring, perimeter detection and asset management. The presentation shared at PortComms 2025 outlines how ports benefit from fast inspection of quays, cranes, buoys and fumigation zones, as well as pollution detection and situational awareness for safety teams. Similar gains are emerging across utilities, transport operators, municipalities and even defence, where civil and security use cases can share the same network.

The legislative environment in Belgium currently restricts nationwide beyond visual line of sight operations to emergency services, but future expansion into commercial use cases is expected. As demand grows for automated inspections, border surveillance and environmental assessment, the Drone-in-a-Box network provides a ready-made foundation for new services.

For Nokia, the project reinforces its role in mission critical communication systems and industrial digitalisation. For Citymesh, it marks the evolution from smart city experimentation to a smart country approach where aerial intelligence becomes a first line tool for public services.

Belgium’s nationwide drone network is an example of how telecom infrastructure continues to evolve. Private 5G, edge computing and automated platforms are increasingly central to public safety and industrial operations. The Nokia and Citymesh partnership shows what is possible when connectivity, aviation technology and real operational requirements come together with a clear purpose. 

Vodafone’s 5G Advertising Pillars Bring Connectivity to Urban Streets

Vodafone Germany is giving a new lease of life to an old part of the cityscape. The familiar advertising pillars found across German cities are being transformed into 5G mobile base stations, delivering high-speed connectivity in areas where traditional masts are difficult to install.

In Düsseldorf, more than 100 such columns are already operational, providing 5G coverage across the city. Each pillar houses three compact antennas and all the equipment normally found on large masts, integrated neatly within the structure’s roof and concrete body. The design, developed in partnership with Ilg Outdoor Advertising, allows each pillar to cover an area of about 400 metres. The system is connected via fibre optics, ensuring low latency and data speeds of up to 1 Gbps.

This approach offers a practical solution to one of the biggest challenges of urban network expansion: finding new sites for antennas. Rooftop locations are often limited and subject to complex planning processes. By reusing existing structures, Vodafone has found a way to speed up deployment while blending infrastructure discreetly into the urban environment. The entire installation process for a 5G pillar takes less than half the time required for a conventional mobile base station.

The benefits of the project are already clear. In Düsseldorf, each 5G advertising pillar supports around 6,000 connections per day and handles roughly 200 gigabytes of data every week. The network, built with Ericsson’s equipment and operating on Vodafone’s standalone 5G+ technology, offers minimal latency and improved reliability. These compact sites helped strengthen coverage ahead of the European Football Championship, ensuring stable service in and around the stadium, fan zones and transport hubs.

Following the success in Düsseldorf, Vodafone is now extending the concept to other cities. Stuttgart recently became the first city in Baden-Württemberg to host a 5G advertising pillar, with five more due to follow by the end of the year. In total, up to 100 of Stuttgart’s 600 advertising columns could eventually be upgraded to 5G, enhancing coverage across busy streets, squares and landmarks such as the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the MHP Arena.

Each Stuttgart pillar uses Ericsson’s antenna technology and can deliver download speeds of up to 500 Mbps. The initiative is supported by local authorities who view it as a sustainable and space-efficient way to boost digital infrastructure. The combination of heritage and high technology brings a modern function to an iconic feature of German cities that dates back to the 19th century.

Vodafone’s 5G advertising pillars represent a clever mix of innovation, design and practicality. By making use of existing street furniture, the company is not only accelerating the rollout of next-generation connectivity but also showing how urban infrastructure can evolve to meet the digital needs of modern life.

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ZTE’s Magic Pole Brings Smart Infrastructure to Kazakhstan

Beeline Kazakhstan and ZTE have taken another step in transforming the country’s connectivity landscape through the launch of the Giga City 2.0 initiative. The collaboration builds on the earlier Giga City project from 2024 and aims to create a new generation of smart, green, and AI-enabled telecom infrastructure across Kazakhstan.

At the heart of this initiative is the introduction of ZTE’s Magic Pole, installed in the centre of Astana. It marks the first deployment of this smart infrastructure solution in Kazakhstan. Designed as a multifunctional unit, the Magic Pole integrates a mobile base station with street lighting, offering both enhanced network coverage and a platform for future smart city applications. Its compact and modern design allows it to blend into the urban environment while improving connectivity in dense city areas.

The Magic Pole reflects the growing trend of infrastructure convergence, where telecom functions are seamlessly embedded into existing urban structures. Instead of constructing traditional tower sites, operators can deploy these smart poles to provide 4G and 5G coverage while supporting IoT sensors, environmental monitoring, or even public Wi-Fi in the future. It’s an example of how telecommunications infrastructure can evolve to serve broader urban development goals.

Beyond city centres, Beeline and ZTE are also testing hybrid-powered sites along the Astana-Borovoe national highway. These autonomous towers operate completely off-grid using a combination of solar and wind power. The hybrid design provides reliable signal coverage even in areas without access to electricity, significantly reducing environmental impact and operational costs. This approach highlights how renewable energy and telecom infrastructure can work hand in hand to extend digital connectivity into remote regions.

The Giga City 2.0 programme also includes demonstrations of ZTE’s Qcell solution for improving indoor coverage. A pilot installation at the Mega Silk Way shopping mall showcased how the system eliminates indoor coverage gaps and delivers consistent high-speed connectivity for users in busy commercial spaces.

ZTE and Beeline’s efforts align with Kazakhstan’s national vision for digital transformation, which emphasises sustainability, resilience, and inclusivity. From the Magic Pole in Astana to the off-grid sites along major highways, these projects showcase a model for how infrastructure modernisation can be both technologically advanced and environmentally conscious.

With initiatives like Giga City 2.0, Kazakhstan continues to position itself as a regional leader in smart and sustainable connectivity. For ZTE, the Magic Pole represents more than just a new product—it’s a glimpse into the future of how cities and operators can collaborate to build integrated, intelligent, and green digital ecosystems.

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The Subsea Cables Infrastructure Keeping the World Connected

The internet may feel wireless, but most of the world’s connectivity depends on cables running deep beneath the ocean. Vodafone’s short documentary 'Making Connections: Subsea cables' takes viewers beneath the surface, exploring the complex world of subsea cables that carry almost all of the world’s data traffic.

The film highlights how this invisible infrastructure keeps everything from social media and cloud computing to financial systems and video calls running smoothly. Despite the rise of satellites, fibre-optic cables laid across the seabed remain the backbone of international communication. Vodafone operates or partners on more than 70 subsea cable systems spanning over 100 countries, connecting more than 700 million people worldwide.

At Vodafone’s cable stations in Cornwall, engineers monitor and maintain multiple systems that land on the UK’s southern coast. Each cable carries vast amounts of data at the speed of light through glass fibres thinner than a human hair. The documentary shows how these operations combine technology, precision and resilience. When a cable is damaged, locating and repairing it can be an immense challenge, involving ships that cost tens of thousands of dollars a day to operate and weeks of work at sea.

Subsea cables have a long heritage in the UK. The first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid in the 1800s, connecting Ireland and Newfoundland. The same site in Cornwall where Vodafone operates today once belonged to the Eastern Telegraph Company, later Cable & Wireless, and now forms part of Vodafone’s global network. The industry has evolved from transmitting a handful of words per minute to streaming millions of 4K videos simultaneously across continents.

The film also features partners such as Alcatel Submarine Networks and Ciena, whose technologies underpin and scale Vodafone’s subsea systems. Modern cables use optical amplifiers and repeaters to boost signals across thousands of kilometres, while intelligent monitoring systems detect issues before they disrupt service. Recent advances, such as spectrum sharing and higher-capacity modems, are extending both performance and flexibility.

The documentary pays particular attention to the 2Africa project, a monumental cable system encircling the African continent and landing in dozens of countries. Led by Vodafone and its partners, it represents one of the longest and most ambitious subsea builds ever undertaken, designed to bring affordable and reliable connectivity to hundreds of millions of people.

Maintaining such systems comes with real challenges. Natural events such as mudslides and turbidity currents, as well as human activity like fishing and anchoring, can threaten cables. Engineers describe how they bury and armour cables near shore and collaborate globally to ensure resilience and quick restoration when damage occurs. They also work with researchers to study environmental effects and improve sustainability, including using sensors embedded in cables to monitor ocean conditions and detect seismic activity.

Beyond technology, Making Connections highlights the people behind this critical infrastructure. Vodafone’s engineers, apprentices and early-career professionals are shown learning and innovating together. With a small but highly skilled global workforce, the subsea industry is investing in developing the next generation of talent to sustain and grow this essential network for decades to come.

Subsea cables may be out of sight, but their impact touches every aspect of modern life. Vodafone’s documentary is a reminder that the strength of our digital world depends on the cables stretching quietly beneath the oceans—connecting continents, economies and people around the globe.

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