• National net neutrality rules culled by US court
• SK Telecom CEO warns of ‘unprecedented crisis’
• Reliance Jio IPO expected in H2

In today’s industry news roundup: US national net neutrality rules are deemed invalid by an appeals court; SK Telecom’s CEO hopes AI-fuelled innovation will overcome negative market trends in 2025; India’s financial market is gearing up for a massive Reliance Jio IPO later this year; and much more!

The obituaries are being written for national net neutrality in the US after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet Order (the full and proper name for US net neutrality regulations), which had been reinstated in 2024 by the FCC. The court, which described the rules as a “heavy-handed regulatory regime”, decided that the FCC “lacks the statutory authority to impose its desired net-neutrality policies through the ‘telecommunications service’ provision of the Communications Act” because internet service providers (ISPs) provide an information, rather than a telecom, service. As a result, the court decided to “set aside” the Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet Order. The move will be greeted with cheers by the large broadband service providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, which have always been vehemently opposed to the rules, as they aim to render all internet traffic equal by preventing ISPs from slowing down or throttling some traffic or prioritising traffic accessed via more expensive ‘premium’ services. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat who led the reinstatement of net neutrality last year and who is to step down from the role on 20 January, has called on Congress to impose net neutrality via federal laws, as regulatory rules have now been deemed inappropriate for broadband services. Rosenworcel issued the following statement: “Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair.  With this decision, it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.” But her fellow commissioner (and rival), Republican Brendan Carr, who will take over as FCC chairman once Rosenworcel has cleared her desk, had a somewhat different take on the court’s decision. “Today’s decision is a good win for the country,” he noted in this statement. “Over the past four years, the Biden Administration has worked to expand the government’s control over every feature of the Internet ecosystem… Rather than focusing on a broadband agenda that would bridge the digital divide, the Biden administration chose to waste time and resources imposing these unnecessary command and control regulations. I am pleased that the appellate court invalidated President Biden’s internet power grab by striking down these unlawful regulations. But the work to unwind the Biden administration’s regulatory overreach will continue. I welcome the chance to advance a policy agenda that will deliver great results for the American people.” It should be noted that a number of US states have their own net-neutrality rules and that the court’s decision does not do away with those, but it strikes a hammer blow to anyone who regards such rules as vital to consumer protection. Telco groups, though, are all in favour of the court ruling. USTelecom, which represents broadband service providers, is one of a number of industry bodies that welcomed the court’s decision, noting that the ruling is a “victory for American consumers that will lead to more investment, innovation, and competition in the dynamic digital marketplace. Since the birth of the internet, bipartisan administrations and policymakers have recognised the virtues of a light-touch approach to broadband regulation. Today’s ruling will cement the United States’s position as the world’s most advanced digital marketplace.”  

SK Telecom’s CEO, Ryu Young-sang, has shared his prospects for 2025 and it’s not a positive take. The coming year is “expected to be one of unprecedented crisis” as the “market outlook is bleak due to geopolitical issues such as global economic instability, and the domestic economy is also expected to face various difficulties such as a domestic economic slowdown,” noted the CEO in his new year address (in Korean), though he made no mention of the current political crisis in South Korea. So Young-sang has urged his company, which has a new strategy that hinges on AI, to “go beyond OI [operational improvement] and achieve OE” (operational excellence). “We need to eliminate unnecessary elements by considering both short-term profitability and long-term growth potential (sustainability), and strengthen competitiveness by utilising AT/DT [AI transformation/digital transformation] technology. Ultimately, we will completely transform the paradigm of the existing telecommunications business through AI,” noted the CEO, who also stressed the importance of achieving visible business results with AI and establishing “a fierce, solid, yet flexible corporate culture”. SK Telecom has been positioning itself as an AI company for more than a year and has now transformed its corporate structure and operations based on AI and recently even abandoned its metaverse efforts to focus its resources on its AI transformation – now Young-sang has tasked his colleagues with delivering positive financial results, fuelled by AI. The rest of the telco sector, as well as SK Telecom’s investors and domestic rivals, will be watching with interest. 

Speaking of domestic rivals… Hong Beom-sik, the recently appointed CEO of LG Uplus, has also published a new year message (in Korean), noting that the “core value” that will help the operator become a “growth-leading AX [AI transformation] company” is “creating a brighter world through customer satisfaction”. LG Uplus, like SK Telecom and KT Corp, has put AI at the heart of a revamped corporate strategy.

The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of India’s mobile market leader Reliance Jio is on course to take place in the second half of this year, giving the telco a value of $120bn, according to reports in the local media, including this one in The Hindu Business Line. According to the report, Jio Platforms, the tech unit of conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is working with banks and investors with a view to listing shares later this year in what looks set to be India’s biggest ever public listing. It’s unclear from the reports, though, whether the offer would be of shares in Jio Platforms, of which Reliance Jio is part, or shares in Jio alone (and not the broader Jio Platforms operation). Whatever is on offer, it looks set to be an IPO bonanza. Reliance Jio has long been the mobile market leader in India: With 460 million mobile connections, it ended October 2024 with a 40% share of India’s total mobile market of 1.15 billion cellular lines. Jio also boasts the most 5G connections in India, with 148 million at the end of October. 

Still in India… Vodafone Idea (Vi), the country’s third-largest mobile operator, is on course to launch its 5G services in March and, according to this Economic Times report, kickstart a pricing war by setting its entry-level 5G prices at way below the levels currently on offer from Jio and Bharti Airtel, which have been offering their 5G services for way more than a year already. 

While no one might be able to hear you scream in space, there will have been some very loud groans on terra firma at the start of this year as low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite operator OneWeb suffered a 48-hour outage of its broadband service starting on 31 December. OneWeb’s parent company, Eutelsat, noted in this statement, issued on 2 January, that the “root cause was identified as a software issue within the ground segment. Eutelsat was fully mobilised and worked with the vendor to restore full service, while maintaining a constant dialogue with affected customers. The constellation is operating nominally once again.”

– The staff, TelecomTV