TeckNexus: Only 6 of 40 Global Operators Lead in Physical AI

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 29, telecom industry research firm TeckNexus released the "Physical Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Connectivity Leadership Report 2026," evaluating the physical AI business deployments of 40 global telecom operators and 24 technology suppliers based on 220 publicly available evidence records. The report classified 6 operators as leading companies, grouped 13 into a category with actual activity in a single domain, placed 5 in the business preparation stage, and noted that another 16 have not yet demonstrated verifiable physical AI activity.

Deutsche Telekom, Korea's KT, Japan's NTT DOCOMO, Korea's SK Telecom, Japan's SoftBank, and U.S.-based T-Mobile were named among the report's leading operators. The research combined evidence of each company's public network connectivity, AI computing, robotics applications, and technology partnerships to analyze the different ways operators participate in the robotics, drone, and autonomous device value chains.

After analyzing the public activities of 40 operators, TeckNexus found that more than 60% of operators' related records focused on network connectivity and computing infrastructure supply, with approximately 12 companies already directly involved in robotics applications. The report categorized operators' businesses into six types: connectivity services, AI computing, robot management platforms, robot products, internal robotics applications, and investment incubation.

Deutsche Telekom's industrial AI cloud in Munich began opening to customers in February 2026, providing computing resources needed for robot and industrial AI model training and simulation. Japan's SoftBank is advancing AI radio access network and edge computing businesses using its AITRAS platform, and has demonstrated with Ericsson a technical solution for offloading robot task computing to the network side. U.S.-based T-Mobile has partnered with Figure AI to provide eSIM connectivity for humanoid robots and is conducting edge AI trials.

China Unicom's Gewu platform already supports connectivity, control, and task scheduling for more than 30 types of robot devices, with the company reporting more than 70 customers. Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) has partnered with Unitree Robotics to deploy quadruped inspection robots with visual AI capabilities for a concrete and aggregates production enterprise in Hong Kong, providing installation, training, and maintenance support services.

Other operators are also conducting robot validation in industrial scenarios. Australia's Telstra has partnered with John Holland to test 5G-connected quadruped robots in the Melbourne metro tunnel project, collecting gas and air quality data in underground confined spaces. Vodafone tested an AI-controlled robotic arm in Tirana, Albania, for adjusting mobile communication base station antennas, with the operation taking approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

TeckNexus identified robot AI field trials in commercial networks in 2027 as the next phase of observation focus, including the migration of robot computing tasks to operators' edge facilities, network performance assurance services for robotic devices, and actual deployment results jointly announced by operators and industrial customers.