During the period from August 12th to 18th, 2025, the following international news occurred:
1. Rakuten Mobile adds 2,930 base stations in Q2
Japan’s Rakuten Mobile deployed 2,930 new base stations in Q2 2025, with plans to install over 10,000 sites annually to expand coverage. The company achieved EBITDA profitability for two consecutive quarters (¥5.6 billion), grew subscribers to nearly 9 million, and increased ARPU by 3.8% to ¥1,773. It also announced collaborations with Cisco and Nokia to deploy a 5G SA core network and launched a next-gen AI agent platform.
2. Movistar expands 3.5 GHz 5G network to 8,178 sites
Movistar, a subsidiary of Telefónica, continues to expand its 5G network deployment. As of July 2025, the number of base stations in the 3.5GHz band reached 8,178, an increase of 1,229 from March, maintaining an industry-leading position. Meanwhile, the number of base stations in the 700MHz band increased to 11,934, fulfilling the government's spectrum license requirements. Currently, Spain's 5G population coverage rate has reached 96%, and rural area coverage has reached 80%.
3. India at a crossroads – private 5G setback as telcos push back?
India’s private 5G spectrum policy is deadlocked, with telecom operators strongly opposing the government’s proposal to allocate spectrum directly to enterprises. Industry body COAI insists operator-led models suit India best, while tech firms warn current policies hinder industrial digitization. The government is assessing enterprise demand, but slow progress on operator-led solutions (e.g., spectrum leasing or network slicing) may impact the "Make in India" strategy.
4. VodafoneThree boosts coverage by sharing network access
UK’s VodafoneThree has enabled automatic network sharing for Vodafone and Three users, integrating 600 sites with plans to reach 9,000 within a year. The merged network has improved 4G speeds by 20% (40% in some areas) for 7 million users and aims to eliminate 16,500 km² of coverage gaps. By year-end, 71% of the population will have 5G access, supported by an £11 billion investment to build Europe’s most advanced 5G network.
5. BSNL inks partnerships to launch 5G, AI training hub
India's state-owned telecom company BSNL signed cooperation agreements with Ericsson, Qualcomm, Cisco, and Nokia to establish a 5G, AI, and cybersecurity training center in Jabalpur. The center will train 2,000 technical personnel annually, covering cutting-edge technologies such as 5G network construction and AI network optimization, helping the "Digital India" and "Skill India" programs, improving the country's telecom talent reserve, and supporting India's digital transformation strategy. BSNL plans to launch national 5G network construction after completing the deployment of 100,000 4G base stations and ensuring network stability.
6. China Unicom’s profit climbs in H1 as costs ease
China Unicom's net profit in the first half of 2025 increased by 5% year-on-year to 14.5 billion yuan, mainly benefiting from reduced financial expenses and a 15% decrease in capital expenditures. The digital transformation has achieved remarkable results, with digital application revenue growing by 26% to 45.4 billion yuan and cloud business revenue reaching 37.6 billion yuan. The number of 5G package users reached 213.5 million, the number of IoT connections increased by 22% to 685.1 million, and the 5G-A network covered more than 330 cities.
7. Coherent: 1.6T optical modules delivered and generating revenue
Coherent reported FY2025 revenue of $5.81 billion (up 23.4% YoY), with data center/communications accounting for 59%. Its 1.6T optical modules are now shipping revenue-generating units, alongside new thermal management materials. Despite a record Q4, weaker-than-expected guidance triggered a 19% after-hours stock plunge.
8. Report: Global 5G private network market to exceed $5B by 2028 with 41% CAGR
The latest report from SNS Telecom & IT predicts that global 5G private network investment will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 41% from 2025 to 2028, and the market size will exceed 5 billion US dollars by 2028. Manufacturing and process industries are the main drivers, and 5G private networks have achieved significant benefits such as 20%-90% improvement in production efficiency. Spectrum opening policies and operator participation are accelerating market development.
9. China adds 104 million 5G subscribers in H1
China's four major operators added 104 million 5G users in the first half of 2025, with the total exceeding 1.1 billion, accounting for 61% of the total number of mobile users. As of the end of June, the total number of 5G base stations nationwide reached 4.55 million, an increase of 298,000 from the beginning of the year. China Mobile leads with 599 million 5G users, and the 5G-A network has covered more than 300 cities. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology plans to achieve the goal of 5G user penetration rate exceeding 85% by 2027.
10. du, Huawei launch 5G-Advanced in UAE
UAE telecom operator du and Huawei cooperated to deploy a 5G-Advanced network, adopting 3.7GHz and 2.6GHz dual-band 64T64R AAU technology, with a peak rate of 5.4Gbps and an average rate increase of 33%. The network supports 8K video, real-time conferences, smart cities and other applications, while improving edge coverage and uplink rates, helping the UAE's digital transformation and sustainable development goals.
11. Pioneering 5G, Envisioning 6G: ZTE’s Continued Leadership in Massive MIMO Technology
In June 2025, the formulation of 6G standards was launched, and the world believes that large-scale array technology is the core of 6G. ZTE took the lead in deploying large-scale array technology in the 6425-7125MHz frequency band in the formulation of 6G standards. Its 5G base station peak capacity has increased by 10 times, and energy efficiency has been reduced by 90% compared with 4G, winning the German IF Design Gold Award. The D3-ELAA solution launched for the low-altitude economy solves the problems of interference and handover. The company has nearly 7,000 families of 5G standard patents, 30% of which focus on green energy conservation, continuing to lead communication technology innovation.