This Week's Top Five Stories in the Telco Industry

SpaceX Plans to Target US Consumers With New Mobile Service

SpaceX’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Gwynne Shotwell, has told investors at a recent IPO roadshow that it is considering launching a new Starlink mobile service for US consumers and might build its own terrestrial mobile network in the US, according to an article in the Financial Times.

In a bond offering prospectus seen by the paper, SpaceX says that while it expects a Starlink Mobile service “to be most impactful for customers in remote areas uncovered by terrestrial mobile networks”, it suggests that it would “compete to be the preferred connectivity experience to [its] customers no matter where they are located, whether in rural, suburban or urban areas”.

FCC Reaps More Than US$3.5bn From AWS-3 Spectrum Auction

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that its AWS-3 spectrum received bids exceeding US$3.5bn. It adds that it is on schedule to meet Congress’s deadline to have a competitive bidding system for at least 100MHz in the Upper C-Band by July 2027.

The auction covered 200 spectrum licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands.

All three of the country’s national mobile operators – AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon – were present within the list of 17 qualified bidders, as was SpaceX.

KDDI: Can Digital Twins Kickstart the 6G Era?

KDDI and KDDI Research have launched an initiative to develop a high-fidelity RAN Digital Twin. They will do so in collaboration with NVIDIA, Keysight Technologies and Samsung Research America.

The project’s backers are aiming to deliver a prototype by the end of March 2028. By the end of FY2030 they are seeking to extend the project to support many use cases and validate the RAN Digital Twin’s performance on KDDI’s commercial network.

NTT DOCOMO Deploys Nokia’s Tech to Boost Network Automation

NTT DOCOMO has deployed Nokia's MantaRay AutoPilot system. Through doing so, the operator intends to achieve Autonomous Networks Level 4, as defined by the TM Forum.

To ensure rapid deployment, the operator implemented MantaRay AutoPilot on a public cloud, which NTT DOCOMO claims is a world first. The company adopted Nokia’s MantaRay SON in November 2025, reducing manual workloads and enabling faster and more precise network quality improvements. 

Ookla’s Tour De France Report: Orange is Ahead of the Pack

Luke Kehoe, Lead Analyst at Ookla – which has recently been acquired by Accenture – has analysed 2025 Speedtest Intelligence data to gauge how French and Spanish mobile operators are likely to hold up during the three-week stress test created by the 2026 Tour de France and to help them target areas for additional support during the race.

The analysis shows that across the French route, Orange is the most consistent performer, as it leads or co-leads at a majority of French stage start and finish cities from a mobile experience perspective. 

In addition, the operator’s Speedtest Connectivity Score drops below 70 out of 100 at just four of the 33 French stage locations with reportable data.