Eurobites: Ericsson pokes MAGA bear with fresh DEI commitment - Light Reading

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Ericsson has pinned its 6G hopes on AI's rising 'uplink' demands

Humanoid robots, smart glasses and other AI gadgets may send more traffic than they receive, says Ericsson. But persuading telcos to invest will be a challenge.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: MTN formalizes Syrian exit; affordable phones for Africa; BICS hooks up with Syniverse for 5G SA roaming.

Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm has reaffirmed his company's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in a newly published 2025 annual report, possibly incurring the wrath of the Trump administration, which has made its opposition to DEI plain over the last couple of years and forced more than one US telco – Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile among them – to repudiate such policies. Writing in the report, Ekholm says: "Ericsson continues to invest in technology leadership, but it is not enough to just lead on technology, we must take the lead on culture as well. During the past year, we reinforced our culture to support and drive our strategy forward. We are convinced that diverse teams, where everyone feels included and safe, leads to better performance ... Our commitment to diversity and inclusion remains rock solid." Over to you, Team MAGA… (See AT&T scuttles DEI policies as FCC readies review of spectrum deal, Verizon's DEI and tower changes lead to Frontier approval, T-Mobile announces DEI changes in pursuit of Lumos and Carr says FCC is prepared to block deals over company DEI policies.)

South Africa's MTN Group has formalized its agreement to exit Syria immediately after a meeting between its CEO, Ralph Mupita, and a Syrian government minister. MTN first announced its decision to abandon its operation in Syria in August 2021, citing regulatory demands that made operating in the country "untenable." A year earlier, the operator had announced its wider plan to exit the Middle East as part of a long-term strategy to focus on its African operations. MTN finalized its exit from Yemen in 2021 and from Afghanistan in 2024. It is still looking to extricate itself from its 49% investment in Iran, but this, says the company, has been complicated by US sanctions.

The GSMA has named six African countries – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – to host initial pilots of "affordable" ($40) 4G smartphone projects this year to increase digital inclusion. The GSMA's Handset Affordability Coalition brings together mobile operators, OEMs, financial institutions and international organizations including the World Bank Group and the ITU. Its objective is to lower the cost of entry-level smartphones worldwide and accelerate digital inclusion in the face of rising device memory costs.

BICS, the international services arm of Belgian operator Proximus, has teamed up with US-based Syniverse ("the world's most connected company," it says here) to expand the reach of 5G standalone (5G SA) roaming. The two companies are integrating their 5G signaling hub offerings and establishing peering arrangements to bolster 5G SA roaming capabilities worldwide.

Telefónica has said that its 5G Cyber Defense Center will be integrated into the NATO Digital Foundry. The center, developed with the Spanish ministry of defense, currently protects communications between the country's defense assets like radar systems, weapons systems or drones, while also identifying issues with the tech's use in military contexts. The NATO Digital Foundry is an initiative that allows testing of member states' "cutting edge" technology solutions using NATO data, and expanding their use in military environments. It seeks to create new standards that will keep the alliance protected from emerging digital threats – assuming of course it won't implode in the meantime.

Zayo Europe its boosting its network presence in Italy with a new 400GE-enabled IP point-of-presence (PoP) in Rome. The new PoP, located at the NAMEX Internet exchange, complements Zayo's existing presence in Milan and, says the company, reduces reliance on congested Mediterranean data corridors.

Luxembourg-based SES is bringing connectivity to refugees at the Farchana refugee settlement in Chad via its emergency.lu platform, which is powered by its medium-Earth orbit (MEO) constellation of O3b mPower satellites. The emergency.lu platform has traditionally supported first responders and emergency operations; this deployment is designed to connect refugees and the humanitarian organizations, enabling services such as online learning, digital skills training as well as reliable day-to-day communications.

The UK government is to open a "Fundamental AI Research Lab" for blue-skies AI research that will be backed by £40 million ($53.5 million) in funding over six years. The lab, promises the government, will lay the foundations for AI that supports earlier medical diagnoses and more resilient infrastructure, among other benefits. (See UK leader Starmer can't see past the nice to the nasty of AI.)

Openreach, the network access arm of UK incumbent operator BT, has agreed a deal with supermarket chain Sainsbury's that will allow Openreach engineers to re-charge their electric vans at Sainsbury's EV charging hubs at "competitive rates." According to Openreach, one in three of its engineers is unable to install a home charger and around half of its EV drivers rely primarily on public charging.

Additional material by Tereza Krásová.

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