“We have a deep need and desire to connect. Everything in the history of communication technology suggests we will take advantage of every opportunity to connect more richly and deeply,” says Peter Morville, president of Semantic Studios.

Orange Business Services, a global integrator of communications products and services for multinational corporations has announced details of an exciting Internet of Things (IoT) collaboration with European car rental company Hertz. The innovative project which has been launched by Orange will be rolled out across Europe - and will provide 'connectivity' for all Hertz enterprise vehicles.

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region has seen an accelerated development in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Even though it is still adopted in limited verticals, stakeholders are exploring and identifying key areas of growth.

Turkey is set to become home to the first ever 'completely digital' airport in the world. Istanbul International Airport has formally unveiled its construction plans that will see it become the envy of other airports all over the world.

The Jordanian region of Saraya Aqaba is the first in the country to get Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) connectivity. The luxury mixed-use tourism and leisure destination located on the shores of the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan was fitted with the infrastructure by R&M, A Swiss producer of products and systems for communication and data networks.

A South Korean 'smart glass' solutions company has expanded its operations with the formation of a European firm that will be headquartered in the UK. G-SMATT, announced that the new European arm of the company will be called G-SMATT Europe and will be spearheaded by Dr. Orhan Ertughrul. The HQ for the firm will be in Oxford.

A prominent executive for Samsung Electronics in India has claimed that locally manufactured devices are critical to fueling the projected explosion of IoT technologies in the country.

Large areas of London are set to be upgraded from copper cables to full fibre optics using the Tube network and public buildings, thanks to a £10 million investment launched by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. The plans represent the largest investment in connectivity City Hall has ever made.

Vodafone has plans to install 4G and 5G equipment underneath thousands of manhole covers across the UK to boost connection speeds in busy urban areas.

Commuters have warmly welcomed the announcement made by city authorities that it will provide 4G connectivity for passengers using the London Underground from 2019 onwards. This latest program represents the latest in a series of initiatives being spearheaded by city officials, who are aiming to make London one of the world's 'smartest cities'.

Millbrook Proving Ground has started working on deploying advanced 5G network as part of the AutoAir project which groups 5G testbed partners led by Airspan Networks. As reported by Millbrook, this is the "UK's first transport 5G network" and it will help building the future of testing and validation of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies.

After having put in place an advanced mobile network infrastructure prior to the FIFA World Cup 2018, Moscow is now aiming to launch a 5G pilot next year.

A consortium of German network solutions providers has combined their expertise and capabilities in a bid to accelerate the deployment of IoT network rollouts across Germany. Telent, which is an organization that specializes in networks systems for critical infrastructure has formally announced that it aims to accelerate the deployment of LoRaWAN and enterprise IoT solutions for smart city, transport, energy and Industry 4.0 sectors all over the country.

Finnish telecommunications powerhouse Nokia has expressed his frustrations with its connected car project in Europe. The head of Nokia's V2X program, Uwe Puetzschler, has warned that Europe 'is not as happy as it should be' and derided the poor quality of networks available to them in their bid to advance the connected car sector.

In Finland, Nokia is working in partnership with Telia to offer new and innovative solutions for end customers.

Nokia today signed a EUR 500 million loan transaction with the European Investment Bank (EIB), supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a key element of the Investment Plan for Europe, also known as the Juncker Plan.

Project Loon, a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to extend Internet connectivity to people in rural and remote areas, developed by Alphabet subsidiary 'X' (formerly Google X), has been working with satellite company SES to restore 4G/LTE connectivity to disaster-stricken Puerto Rico.

An initiative which has been specifically designed to position the UK as a global leader in the development, deployment and adoption of 5G technology has been backed by the Tory-led coalition government in Westminster.

US chip firm Qualcomm has announced that it has released a chipset which has been specifically designed based on 3GPP cellular standards for the 'connected cars'. In a statement issued to the press, Qualcomm introduced the 9150 Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) chipset which combines LTE network connectivity with direct communications in the internationally harmonized 5.9GHz band.

A report conducted by London's lawmakers has claimed that the city is currently not equipped to facilitate the forthcoming self-driving revolution.