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AT&T, Rivian extend 5G partnership to next-generation vehicle

AT&T deepened its partnership with EV maker Rivian, confirming its 5G network will power connectivity inside its R2 model, which is slated for availability from 9 June.

The collaboration builds on a relationship dating to 2023, when AT&T became the connectivity provider for Rivian vehicles across the US and Canada.

With the R2 coming to market, the arrangement expands to cover the automaker’s next-generation platform, ensuring its more affordable mass-market model arrives with the same always-on network backbone as its predecessors.

The operator stated its 5G infrastructure will support faster over-the-air software updates, richer infotainment and real-time services which enable the R2 to improve performance and personalisation over time.

“Connectivity is increasingly central to how vehicles are designed, delivered, and improved,” stated Matt Harden, VP of connected solutions at AT&T.

At an automaker technology conference in the US state of Michigan, AT&T also revealed an expansion of its connected car platform in collaboration with Cisco and LiveOne, the parent of Slacker Radio.

The three-way arrangement is designed to simplify how automakers integrate premium entertainment into connected vehicles. AT&T’s wireless network provides the backbone, Cisco contributes multi-party billing infrastructure through its SIM management platform, and LiveOne will be supplying personalised audio content ranging from curated playlists to live programming.

Rather than requiring each automaker to negotiate separate connectivity deals with individual content providers, AT&T noted its platform acts as a single integration layer.

LiveOne joins existing AT&T partners including iM Media Labs and SiriusXM as part of a content ecosystem now reaching more than 60 of the world’s top automotive brands.

The post AT&T, Rivian extend 5G partnership to next-generation vehicle appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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EU sets out plans to reduce reliance on US cloud providers

The European Union has now published a set of measures aimed at boosting Europe’s tech industry to help reduce reliance on US and Chinese suppliers for AI, cloud, and semiconductors. The proposals include rules to restrict the use of US hyperscalers for certain public sector procurement purposes, but stop short of banning them outright.

“Technological sovereignty does not mean protectionism. Europe remains grounded in openness, partnership, and fair competition,” Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said in a statement Wednesday. “At the same time, Europe wants to be in the position to make its own choices, avoiding dependence on single dominant suppliers, especially from non-like-minded countries.”

The European Technological Sovereignty Package — released after several delays — includes two legislative proposals: the Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act (CAIDA) 2.0 and the Open Source Strategy and Strategic Roadmap for Digitalization and AI in Energy.

CAIDA aims to triple data center capacity in the next five to seven years by easing restrictions for deployments across the EU. It also includes rules that, if enacted, would require EU public bodies to meet certain sovereignty criteria for cloud service procurement related to certain sensitive workloads.

Amid ongoing trans-Atlantic tensions and a long-time deep reliance on US tech providers, European organizations have become increasingly wary of a “kill switch” that would cut off access to digital services. There are also concerns that US hyperscalers could be compelled to share data with US government under the CLOUD Act and Foreign Intelligence Services Act (FISA), even when data centers are located in Europe.

The CAIDA proposals include four levels of criteria for suppliers; the most basic includes data center infrastructure located and operated in the region – something  many US cloud suppliers already provide – with stricter rules around supplier ownership, full control over the software stack, and more stringent cybersecurity certification.

The majority of existing EU public sector workloads (70%) fall under the first level, with 20% at level 2, and 9% at level 3. Only a small proportion (1%) of the most sensitive workloads would require level 4.

Other proposals include the Chips Act 2.0, a follow-up to the 2023 legislation that sought to improve semiconductor production capabilities; the updated version now aims to boost research and spur demand for domestically produced processors. 

The legislative proposals must be negotiated by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union before adoption.

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Former DT exec migrates to US rival Verizon

Ex-Deutsche Telekom executive Abdu Mudesir resurfaced at US rival Verizon as EVP and president of the operator’s global networks, platforms and technology (GN&T).

The move to Verizon pits Mudesir in direct competition with T-Mobile US, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom.

Mudesir will succeed 30-year veteran Joe Russo, who is retiring over the coming months. He will sit on an 11-member leadership team reporting directly to CEO Dan Schulman.

Russo is currently EVP and president of global networks and technology.

A representative for Verizon told Mobile World Live (MWL) the company hired Mudesir following a thorough global search.

“He has a brilliant track record in building 5G capabilities, scaling fibre architecture, and is a recognised pioneer in Open RAN, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven network automation,” the representative stated.

Mudesir, who served as Deutsche Telekom’s head of product and technology, left the company abruptly in late March 2026 after eight years in various roles.

Verizon noted it is still finalising the exact dates for the transition, but stated Russo remains fully in charge of GN&T for now and will be staying through Q1 2027 to ensure a seamless transition.

“Abdu is obsessed with the customer experience and network excellence,” Schulman said in an internal announcement to employees. “He will help drive the convergence of Network, Platforms, Technology, Products and AI, using our unrivaled connectivity and the transformative power of AI to define what comes next for our business and the customers we serve.”

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EU targets AI, chips in fresh sovereignty drive

The European Commission (EC) took the wraps off a sweeping new package outlining measures to boost the continent’s ambitions around semiconductors, AI, cloud and open source, as part of a bid to strengthen the bloc’s digital autonomy.

EC stated measures in the four areas will help Europe “become an AI continent”, established as a leader in research, development and adoption of AI.

It hopes the package will fast track ambitions around technology sovereignty and protect European digital independence, as part of a long-standing goal to reduce reliance on the US and Asia.

Starting with chips, the EC said it wants to secure the semiconductor base for Europe’s AI ambitions through the Chips Act 2.0, which is designed to speed up permitting, deepen cooperation with “like-minded partners” and introduce a new excellence label for Europe’s semiconductor regions.

It is an update of the original Chips Act, in force since 2023, which represented Europe’s response to vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain.

Secondly, a new Cloud and AI Development Act is designed to aid the buildout of new data centres, streamline conditions for deploying facilities across the European Union (EU) and introduce a single EU-wide framework to assess cloud and AI sovereignty. The wider aim is to triple the region’s data centre capacity in the next five to seven years.

Through open source, the EC wants to strengthen digital autonomy, scaling up alternatives in priority areas, invest in skills, startups and digital infrastructure while support greater use of open source in public administration.

Finally, the EC put the focus on digitalising Europe’s energy system, pledging to define a roadmap in the sector to ensure data centres are integrated, while building sovereign and secure AI models.

Technological sovereignty
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, said Europe “cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure”.

“This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, the industrial base and the Single Market. Together, we must turn these strengths into technological sovereignty.”

Before the package is put into force, the proposal will be negotiated by the European Parliament and Council of the EU. The commission will also launch a consultation process with member states.

Investment will be made through existing grants until 2028, while future funding is to be confirmed in the next EU budget. The EC has previously estimated a combined public-private investment of €120 billion by 2035 to rejuvenate the continent’s chip industry.

The post EU targets AI, chips in fresh sovereignty drive appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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Feature: Wirtgen Group paves the way for autonomous road building

Wirtgen Group is actively developing automated road construction vehicles as stepping stones for full autonomy using some of the same technology stack as parent company John Deere.

During a recent demonstration of its roadbuilding machinery at the company’s North American headquarters in the US state of Tennessee, company executives outlined the benefits of its specialised heavy machinery for road building.

Demand for roads and infrastructure keeps rising while contractors juggle labour shortages, climbing material costs, tighter project timelines and shorter paving seasons.

In the US alone, the construction industry is expected to need nearly 700,000 additional workers by 2031 just to keep pace with demand.

About 40% of the four million miles of roadways across the US are currently rated in poor or mediocre condition.

“As we talked with our customers, we learned a few things about some of their business challenges, which is simply to do more with less,” said Craig Lamarque, VP and head of digital products at Wirtgen America. “Every day our customers are responsible to ensure the safety of every person on absolutely every job site”.

“And they have to do that with increasingly less skilled and less experienced personnel.”

Lamarque explained customers must complete a greater number of projects on tighter timelines to stay profitable while coping with issues with materials, sustainability pressures, labour shortages, and the need to stay on budget and on schedule.

Wirtgen Group responded by introducing digital tools to help address those challenges.

He said Wirtgen’s digital strategy centres on three pillars: connected support to maximize uptime, job site intelligence to expose inefficiencies and improve decision-making, and smart automation to boost machine performance.

Those capabilities are embedded across its road construction equipment lineup and are supported by hardware and software in collaboration with John Deere.

A legacy built on family names

The Wirtgen Group was a privately held German company before it was acquired by John Deere in 2017.

Earlier in its history, the Wirtgen Group bought asphalt paving company Vogele (in 1996) ahead of purchasing soil and asphalt compaction company Hamm three years later. Vogele was established in 1836, one year prior to John Deere.

Kleemann was acquired in 2006, which expanded Wirtgen’s reach into mineral processing with mobile crushing and screening plants.

The Wirtgen Group bought a 70% stake in Benninghoven in 2014, adding asphalt mixing plants to the ecosystem and enabling Wirtgen to offer the entire cycle of road construction equipment from mixing and paving to milling and recycling.

Wirtgen America was established in 1984 and now includes 300 employees across the Tennessee campus.

“Every one of those names of the brands is a family name, much the same as Deere,” said Wirtgen America president and CEO Jim McEvoy. “From that standpoint, we have a long legacy of being early in these markets, being leaders in these markets and being very innovative in these product spaces.”

Here’s a look at three of the roadbuilding machines and technologies showcased in Tennessee across asphalt milling, paving and compaction.

Wirtgen milling machine
The milling machine removes old asphalt or concrete surfaces while using automation and digital guidance technologies to improve precision, efficiency and performance tracking. It is designed for high-output work on freeways, highways, airports and other major infrastructure projects.

The W210XF is equipped with a 2.5 metre-wide cutter drum which removes asphalt and concrete prior to loading the material into a truck. It uses automation and digital guidance technologies across eight cameras to improve precision, efficiency and machine performance tracking.

“Simple diagnostics, intuitive instructions on the display and backup components built into the machine make it easy to keep going,” Lamarque said.

WPT Milling documents job and machine data for billing and emissions tracking. Smart Level Pro is a fully integrated differential milling system which scans the surface about to be milled.

The process begins with a high-speed survey scan of the existing road surface, either by the customer or a third-party surveyor, without closing the road. The resulting digital model is then georeferenced and logged using GNSS.

After scanning, the road profile is refined to meet specifications, then uploaded to the John Deere Operations Centre and Work Planner, where cutting depths can be checked in advance which saves time compared with milling first and verifying later.

Utilising two John Deere StarFire receivers connected by cellular service, Lamarque said the mill goes to work, “precisely milling the design depth and slope, leaving the best possible surface”.

StarFire GNSS Guidance is Deere’s satellite technology which helps machines maintain highly accurate positioning, alignment and paving guidance throughout the roadbuilding process.

Mill Assist is an automated system on the milling machine that uses real-time machine data to optimise performance, improve efficiency, and reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Vogele asphalt paver
The asphalt pavers are packed with highly specialised automation, levelling and material handling technologies.

Smart Pave is an advanced digital control and automation system developed by Vogele for its asphalt road pavers. AutoTrac technology helps the paver hold its direction of travel and paving width with precision.  

RoadScan is Vogele’s proprietary, non-contact thermal imaging and temperature measurement system mounted directly to the asphalt paver.

Hamm asphalt roller
The double-drum asphalt roller machine compacts fresh asphalt to the target density required for long term durability, using real-time density monitoring and intelligent compaction technology to hit the mark.

It focuses on preventing over-compaction, maximising operator efficiency and providing proof of compaction quality to contractors, state and federal authorities.

The roller uses a combination of vibration and oscillation to compact material to the desired density. Smart Compact Pro and Track Assist help road crews compact more efficiently, cost-effectively and safely while also meeting intelligent compaction specifications.

Intelligent compaction is data collection of the roller using GPS compact mapping, temperature sensors which map and report asphalt surface temperature and an accelerometer sensor that reports stiffness.

From automation to autonomy
Jason Ambroson, VP and managing director of Wirtgen International, explained running the same technologies, connectivity and data sensors across the various roadbuilding machines enables customers to be more productive using fewer employees and fewer resources.

“We are moving from automation to autonomy,” he said.

That trajectory of connecting machines, data and operators into a single intelligent system was what the Tennessee demonstration was ultimately built to show.

The post Feature: Wirtgen Group paves the way for autonomous road building appeared first on Mobile World Live.

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