August was an action-packed month, despite the holidays, witnessing some big trends in telecoms around the world, from consumer devices to AI in infrastructure, writes Contributing Editor Annie Turner.

Vodafone became the first operator in Germany to launch standardised tariffs for 5G network slicing. There are two new options – Campus Flex Exclusive and Campus Flex Starter. According to Vodafone, they offer a kind of “network insurance” to secure stable connections for critical applications.

Campus Flex Exclusive provides a dedicated slice of Vodafone’s 5G+ network at the customers’ location, creating a private virtual 5G campus network for data-intensive or mission-critical use cases like automated production or autonomous vehicle control, with data rates of up to 20Mbps uplink and 80Mbps downlink. It costs from €2,000 a month on a flat-rate basis, per site.

Campus Flex Starter offers a preconfigured slice shared by multiple customers. It is available across Germany, at a speed of about 1Mbps, for use cases like wireless payment terminals at events, or push-to-talk communications for emergency services and public transport. Billing is per participant at €10 per month on a 12-month contract, or €20 per month with cancellation options.

Orange adds new tech capabilities across entire footprint wit OpenAI

Orange expanded its partnership with OpenAI, adding new technical capabilities and deployment options for data control, regulatory compliance and language inclusion – across 26 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Orange is one of the first global partners to deploy OpenAI’s new open-weight reasoning models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, across its trusted infrastructure.

These models will be hosted and operated within Orange’s data centres, meaning it can offer sovereign AI operations tailored to local regulatory landscapes. This latest phase builds on an agreement first announced in November 2024, when Orange said it would work with OpenAI and Meta to fine-tune open-source models to understand regional African languages, beginning with Wolof and Pulaar.

OpenAI’s open-weight models will allow Orange to customise models for use cases, including network management, enterprise solutions and customer service, while keeping sensitive data within its own infrastructure.

Orange’s Chief AI Officer, Steve Jarrett (above), noted, “This strategy drives new use cases to address sensitive enterprise needs, help manage our networks, enable innovating customer care solutions including African regional languages, and much more.”

End of the era of app-based smartphones?

Deutsche Telekom (DT) has introduced its first AI-integrated consumer devices, the T Phone 3 and T Tablet 2, in Germany and nine other European countries in a coordinated regional push to embed AI assistants in affordable, own-brand devices. Prices start at €149.

They incorporate the Perplexity Assistant for natural-language interaction via voice or text, which is integrated into the devices’ operating systems. It is activated by a dedicated button or power-key shortcut for online and device-based tasks, like summarising text to drafting email, translation, planning itineraries and app-based actions such as booking services or initiating calls.

DT outlined its plans for AI-enabled devices replacing app-based smartphones back at MWC 2024. The devices have been developed by DT working with chip maker Qualcomm and Brain.ai. This commercial launch of the T Phone 3 and T Tablet 2 is the first large-scale implementation of this strategy in DT’s retail portfolio.

Foldable phones bounce back, high

AI-enabled is not the only big trend in handsets. According to research house Counterpoint, the global market for foldable phones surged 45%, year on year, in Q2 2025 “marking a significant recovery”. It was driven by the continued strength of demand in China and soaring interest in the US market where Motorola’s latest Razr 60 series clamshells is proving hugely popular with prices starting at $699.

Apple and Jio enable RCS in India

India’s Economic Times reports that Apple and the country’s largest mobile network operator, Reliance Jio, have partnered to enable Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging on iPhones. Subscribers will be able to send and receive RCS texts that contain high-resolution media over mobile or Wi-Fi networks no extra cost.

Jio has more than 494 million subscribers so the partnership should boost the adoption of RCS messaging in India, which could rival the supremacy of WhatsApp. The over-the-top messaging application is owned by Meta and India has more than over 500 million WhatsApp users. RCS messaging could help revive SMS-based services, with features like group chats, read receipts and file sharing.

As yet, India’s second-largest service provider, Bharti Airtel, has not yet teamed up with Google or Apple to offer RCS services.

According to a study published in February 2024 by technology consultancy Skyquest, the global RCS market will grow from being worth $8.5 billion in 2023 to $31 billion by 2031 – see diagram below.

New solution for 5G on trains

Connectivity on trains is famously variable but Nokia hopes to address this with a new AirScale 5G radio. It is built to enable railways to migrate to 5G alongside legacy systems like GSM-R without disruption.

The vendor says this is the industry’s first commercial 5G radio for the 1900 MHz (n101) band, and used in tandem with Nokia’s Core Enterprise Solution for Railways, Nokia hopes to accelerate the sector’s digital transformation. The 5G Standalone core supports the suite the Future Railway Mobile Communication System FRMCS functionalities

FRMCS is designed to offer built-in security and high reliability, greater automation, new digital applications, better passenger services and secure cross-border communication. Mass deployment is expected to start around 2029-2030, after standardisation is completed, with front-runner railways implementing the technology between 2028 and 2035, when it is scheduled to become obsolete.