Today’s telecom news includes announcements on Airspan, Gogo, Adani Group, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, among others.
Airspan and Gogo Switch on Commercial 5G Air-to-Ground Network
Airspan Networks has enabled the launch of Gogo’s 5G Air-to-Ground (ATG) network, bringing high-speed broadband connectivity to aircraft across the United States and parts of southern Canada. Following in-air validation, the service is live for business, general, and government aviation. The network is powered by Airspan’s In-Motion 5G technology, designed to maintain reliable performance at high speeds and altitudes. Beyond improving passenger Wi-Fi experiences, the cloud-native platform supports critical mobility use cases such as unmanned aerial vehicle operations, emergency response communications, and defence applications.
Airport Signal Row Escalates as Telcos Accuse Adani Group of Monopoly
A high-profile dispute has erupted between India’s leading telecom operators and the Adani Group over mobile connectivity at Navi Mumbai International Airport. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea allege that the airport operator is blocking telcos from installing their own network equipment and forcing them to use a centralised “neutral host” system. The operators claim the mandated fee of ₹92 lakh per month is excessive and anti-competitive. The standoff has resulted in poor mobile coverage inside the airport, leaving passengers unable to receive OTPs, access Wi-Fi, or use ride-hailing apps. Telecom companies argue that the restrictions violate fair competition norms, highlighting growing tensions between infrastructure owners and service providers in India’s digital ecosystem.
Intel and Samsung Prove General-Purpose Chips Are Ready for 5G at Scale
Intel and Samsung have delivered a major challenge to traditional telecom hardware by demonstrating that general-purpose processors can now support high-performance 5G networks. The advance is driven by Intel’s Granite Rapids Xeon 6 processors, which enable operators to run RAN and AI workloads on a single server. Samsung has achieved a commercial deployment using this architecture on a major U.S. network, signalling readiness for large-scale virtualized RAN adoption. The shift allows operators to reduce hardware complexity, energy consumption and costs, accelerating the transition to flexible, software-driven 5G networks built on standard IT infrastructure.
Shafana Fazal