The wasp drill and dropbot are among the robotics innovations that could help countries to slash their multi-billion-dollar spending on fiber rollout.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: UK's telecom bills aren't shocking, says study; Ericsson does fronthaul Down Under; Apple's DIY device repair service arrives in Europe.

Airtel and Meta will work together on bringing 2Africa Pearl to India, improving open RAN efficiency and integrating WhatsApp with Airtel's IQ.

Reports signal there could be a 'substantial base' of 5G SA infrastructure in 2024. The expected potential of network slicing remains a key focus despite efforts to temper the hype.

National public-private broadband scheme has already brought fiber to 87% of premises.

A streamer that merges HBO Max and Discovery+ is set to debut next spring. But adding another brand to the mix could cause more confusion for consumers who are already juggling an array of streaming services.

Cable's outsized share of industry net adds is creating a 'crowding out' problem for incumbent mobile service providers, according to MoffettNathanson.

Manon Brouillette, appointed by Hans Vestberg to head up the Verizon Consumer Group, is out. Now, Vestberg himself said he will lead the business.

Here are some of the broadband policy matters facing the outgoing and incoming US Congress that will help determine the implementation of BEAD and more.

'On the MEC [multi-access edge compute], what we are finding is demand is taking a little longer to go,' explained Verizon Business CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath during a recent event.

Rising tariffs and device prices do not bode well for the Indians who live in economically disadvantaged parts of the country.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: OneWeb set to launch more satellites with SpaceX; ThinkAnalytics lands Magyar Telekom deal; UK's Labour Party joins mid-contract price rise ruckus.

Nick Read will step down at the end of the year, leaving his eventual successor with a huge list of challenges for 2023.

IDC initially expected the global smartphone market to grow by 1.6% during the course of 2022. After several revisions, the firm now expects the industry to decline by 9.1%.

Light Reading editors discuss SES and Boeing's medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellite launch planned for later this month, Dish Wireless' plans to rule 6G, the FCC's release of its national broadband map and more.

The Ohio Supreme Court has joined others in ruling that Netflix and Hulu aren't 'video service providers' under state law and therefore don't have to pay the same franchise fees that cable and telcos do.

Light Reading is delighted to announce the winners emerging from hundreds of entries and dozens of finalists in the 24 categories that make up this year's Leading Lights Awards program.

The overall rate of decline in the third quarter of 2022 reached a worst-ever -6.2%. It could be up to Disney and Bob Iger to save the legacy pay-TV biz from itself, says MoffettNathanson.

The market share of the top five RAN vendors has fallen by less than one percentage point since last year, according to Dell'Oro Group.

West Central Wireless announced it 'has entered into a transaction with Verizon that will result in us discontinuing our mobile and fixed wireless operations.'