Mobile & Wireless Roundup No. 158

Welcome to the 158th edition of this newsletter. This week I attended the CCS Insight Predictions for 2026 and Beyond event, which once again offered sharp insights into how technology and consumer behaviour are evolving. Among the many interesting forecasts, one stood out for me: Subscription fatigue kills half of streaming services by 2028.

The reasoning behind it was clear. With too many competing services and household budgets under strain, the streaming industry is heading for consolidation. Inflation, rising churn, fragmented content and easier cancellation rules are pushing consumers to cut back. By 2028, only a few dominant platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video may remain intact, while many others will merge, narrow their focus or disappear altogether.

While the prediction focused on video streaming, I think subscription fatigue runs much deeper. A few years ago, while working with a small but established company, I often asked about the real value of various software and service subscriptions. After some honest evaluation, they ended up saving more than £4,000 per month by cancelling redundant services and switching to free or lower-cost alternatives.

I’m not immune either. I have my fair share of forgotten subscriptions that renew quietly each month or year. Sometimes I keep them for unfinished projects that have long since lost momentum. And new offers never stop coming. Adobe, for instance, constantly tempts me to “unlock” features that turn out to require yet another subscription.

With LinkedIn, most of your posts don’t get shown to others unless you are a Premium subscriber. If there isn’t enough to show, it reverts to displaying older posts from a couple of weeks back.

For those who don’t know me, I’m a technologist with over 25 years of experience in mobile and wireless technologies, working as an independent advisor, analyst, consultant and trainer. This newsletter is a summary of my posts and other industry updates that caught my attention since the last newsletter.

⦿ 6G

• 3GPP Release 20 Timeline for 5G-Advanced and 6G has just been published (link)

• Free 6G Training: Samsung’s Vision for 6G and the Rise of Native AI in Wireless Systems (link)

• Consultancy.eu: German 5G rollout was a big success – and a potential model for future 6G expansion (link)

⦿ 5G

• Understanding L1/L2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) Procedure in 3GPP Release 18 (link)

• T‑Mobile Launches ‘Edge Control’ and ‘T-Platform’: New Advanced Network Solutions That Redefine Mission-Critical Connectivity for Businesses (PR)

• Singtel launches 5G+ Mobile Workspace to redefine secure, seamless mobility for hybrid workforce (PR)

• Light Reading: China's 5G-for-drones and 6G appetite is the envy of Ericsson (link)

• CCS Insight: Raising Upload Performance for Mobile AI with FDD Massive MIMO (link)

⦿ 4G/LTE

• Chris Cockings on LinkedIn - Field Testing: PDN Connectivity Reject - Invalid APN in Action (link)

• Nick vs Networking - The Surprisingly Complicated World of SMS: Emoji SMS Reactions (link)

• Chris Cockings on LinkedIn: Japan’s New Regulation for Dual-SIM Emergency Calls (link)

⦿ 2G/3G

• Rudolf van der Berg on LinkedIn: "Australia has shutdown its 2G and 3G networks. Now it finds some VoLTE phones sold by its telcos can't make emergency calls when only Vodafone has coverage…" (link)

⦿ Open & Disaggregated Networks (including Open RAN, vRAN, etc.)

• AT&T Blog: Pushing Forward on Open RAN (link)

• TelecomTV: Vodafone builds internal Open RAN developer platform (link)

⦿ Spectrum

• Richard Haas on LinkedIn: "ICYMI: Late last week we published our analysis of the UK's 26 GHz & 40 GHz band and its prices. When I first plugged in the data, it appeared to be the cheapest award of 26 GHz we've ever recorded. This turned out not to be true…" (link)

• Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs: PolicyTracker Report on future trends in radio frequency (link)

• Kratos: LEO constellations trespass on GEO spectrum & each other’s every 5 minutes. Imagine when Kuiper, Chinese arrive (link)

• Space News: Lynk Global and Omnispace to merge in race for direct-to-device satellite spectrum (link)

• IEEE Spectrum: Terahertz Tech Sets Stage for “Wireless Wired” Chips (link)

• Cohere Technologies launches Pulsone Technology (PR)

• Developing Telecoms: Dialog Axiata Sri Lanks expands 5G trial coverage ahead of spectrum auction (link)

• Arcep launches a public consultation to prepare for future radio frequency assignments to mobile operators in Metropolitan France (PR)

⦿ Private Networks

• Dell’Oro - T-Mobile’s ‘Edge Control’ Debut: Strategic Step or Hype? A Look Against China’s Edge Progress (link)

• Healthcare providers rapidly adopting Verizon Neutral Host and Private 5G combo networks (PR)

⦿ Telecoms Infrastructure, Small Cells, Antennas & others

• Light Reading: AT&T removes 40% of Nokia radios in vendor swap update (link)

• Peter Clarke on LinkedIn: "Magnificent Manchester Airport MOCN: VodafoneThree delivers dramatic uplift for Three UK customers through 4G and 5G access to Vodafone rooftop, replacing previous use of 3G from Three macro site…" (link)

• Paul Rhodes on LinkedIn - Tuesday Towers: Small Cell International Edition! (link)

⦿ Virtualization, Cloud & Edge

• Ookla: Revealing the Cascading Impacts of the AWS Outage (link)

• Inderpreet Kaur on LinkedIn: "Attended NetworkX and OpenInfra Foundation Europe Summit in Paris last week, multiple insightful sessions discussing cloud, AI, and sovereign aspects. Here are my slides providing our understanding of #cloud and AI 's progress in telco networks…" (link)

⦿ Security & Privacy

• IT and OT Convergence: Opportunities and Security Risks for Private Networks (link)

• Denis Laskov on LinkedIn - Cybersecurity in the internet of medical things (IoMT): one paper to rule 5 years of publications (link)

• Dmitry Kurbatov on LinkedIn: Nokia’s Threat Intel Misses the Point (link)

• Denis Laskov on LinkedIn - Lock-picking smart locks with Bluetooth: Using replay attacks to open apartments (link)

• Denis Laskov on LinkedIn - Hacking smart TVs via the HbbTV protocol: injecting URLs through unencrypted broadcasts (link)

⦿ Connected And Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs)

• Fierce Network: NTT Data keeps on (semi-autonomously) truckin' (link)

⦿ Smartphones, Devices, Wearables & Gadgets

• Counterpoint Research - NVIDIA's Robotics Strategy: Architecting the Future of Physical AI (link)

⦿ AI, ML & Automation

• 5G Americas Whitepaper: Enabling Intent-Based Autonomous Networks (link)

• Samsung Electronics and SoftBank Corp. To Collaborate on AI-RAN Technologies for Next-Generation Telecommunications (PR)

• Ruth Brown on LinkedIn: "…Heavy Reading (now Omdia) 2025 AIOps Network Operator Survey: From Ambition to Action is now live! …" (link)

⦿ Satellites, HAPS, Drones, UAVs & Space

• Centre for Space Futures, Saudi Arabia: The Future of Space Law White Paper (PDF)

• Viasat Demonstrates First Satellite SMS Messages on Android Smartphone in Mexico (PR) - The technology follows new global mobile 3GPP release 17 standards, which are being adopted by satellite operators, mobile network operators, handset and chipset manufacturers.

⦿ Wi-Fi

• IEEE Spectrum: How Wi-Fi Signals Can Be Used to Detect Your Heartbeat (link)

⦿ Quantum Networks & Technology

• AARNet: Australia’s breakthrough quantum-secure link protects data using the laws of physics (link)

⦿ Other News and Technology Stuff

• Yahoo/Reuters: Meet the AI chatbots replacing India's call-center workers (link)

• RCR Tech: A primer on digital twins (link)

• New User Trends on Wikipedia (link)

• 404 Media: The AWS Outage Bricked People’s $2,700 Smartbeds (link)

⦿ Picture of the week: A Starlink vending machine has appeared in an Iowa shopping mall, catching the attention of social-media users. Photos shared online show a self-service kiosk offering ready-to-set-up Starlink kits, reportedly located at either Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville or Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines. While there’s no official announcement from Starlink yet, the sighting hints at new ways the company may be experimenting with retail distribution for its satellite internet service.

Happy to hear your thoughts. Feel free let me know what worked, what didn’t, how I can make this better, etc. Get in touch over LinkedIn!

PDF version of this and previous newsletters are available here.