Today’s telecom news includes announcements on ZTE, Airtel Gabon, Starlink, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, India Mobile Congress, Saptang, among others.
ZTE and Airtel Gabon Deploy Commercial FDD-TDD Massive MIMO Solution
ZTE and Airtel Gabon have announced what they describe as the industry’s first commercial deployment of an FDD-TDD Massive MIMO solution on a live mobile network. The technology combines frequency division duplexing and time division duplexing bands in a single active antenna unit to improve spectrum utilization and network capacity. Following deployment, site-level user throughput increased 107 percent, traffic capacity rose 20 percent and physical resource block utilization efficiency improved 41 percent. At the 2.6 GHz layer, throughput increased 86 percent, capacity rose 92 percent and resource block efficiency improved 60 percent. The deployment supports Airtel Gabon’s network evolution, improving existing 4G performance while preparing infrastructure for future 5G services.
Indian Group Urges Government to Block Starlink Over Security Concerns
Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an influential organisation associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has urged the Indian government to block Elon Musk’s Starlink from launching satellite internet services, citing national security concerns. The group argues that satellite connectivity could complicate internet restrictions during emergencies and make it harder to ensure domestic routing of Indian internet traffic. The demand comes amid renewed scrutiny of Starlink’s four-year approval process and Musk’s allegations that regulatory delays favour Reliance Jio. India’s communications ministry says security assessments are underway for Starlink and competing satellite ventures backed by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, rejecting allegations that the approval process is discriminatory.
BSNL Prepares Indigenous 5G Rollout as 4G Expansion Continues
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is preparing to expand its indigenous 5G services as its nationwide 4G network continues to develop, a senior company official said at India Mobile Congress 2026. Vivek Dua, principal general manager at BSNL, said the existing 4G network was delivering expected results and that further coverage expansion was planned. BSNL also showcased Vani, an AI-powered customer support interface integrated with its core network to help subscribers troubleshoot connectivity issues in regional languages. The operator has partnered with cybersecurity firm Saptang to introduce indigenous data filtering within its core network and unveiled Bharat Sandesh, a digital platform enabling verified communication between citizens, government agencies, banks and utility providers.