SpaceX launched another 60 of its Starlink broadband-by-satellite craft into orbit at 8.25am Florida time on October 18th. This was the 14th batch of Starlink launches and takes the delivered total of Low Earth orbiting satellites to 835 (although some have been deorbited). The 60 satellites on board were deployed into a near-circular orbit some […]
A UK opposition MP has savaged the UK government’s involvement in satellite company OneWeb, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation. The UK is putting at least £400 million into the company (with India’s Bharti matching the investment). OneWeb is likely to emerge from bankruptcy before the end of this year. Chi Onwurah, a Labour party […]
Carlos Placido, a Northern Sky Research (NSR) Senior Analyst, says that the new Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite mega-constellations, while not providing data-rates as high as fibre when connecting major cities but when adding in other delays the satellite-based systems will be able to offer lower latency than fibre across long distances, a situation that […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that 386 applicants are qualified to bid in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. Phase 1 of the auction opens October 29th. In a Public Notice, the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, Office of Economics and Analytics, and Wireline Competition Bureau identified the qualified applicants and […]
Netgem has launched ‘Super WiFi’, a new service designed to improve WiFi coverage in consumers’ homes through customer experience whilst bringing best in class service management tools for the Customer Service operations of Telecom Operators. With more than 15 devices connected per household on average in Western Europe, and speeds up to 1Gbit/s offered via […]
Worldwide pay-TV market growth has slowed over the past few years due to the shift from video consumption to online streaming. The Covid-19 pandemic is further accelerating the cord-cutting trend, resulting in higher pay-TV churn in many markets. Global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, forecasts
Facebook is now operating its own satellite. The single craft was launched back on September 2nd on an Arianespace Vega rocket which carried 53 small satellites. The Facebook “experimental” vehicle weighed just 138 kgs and was built by Maxar technologies. Facebook is not saying much about the mission other than that the satellite has “broadband […]
In-Flight broadband specialists Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation back in July with around $1.1 billion of debts. It owed many key operators in the satellite industry considerable sums: SES ($26.6 million), Intelsat ($9.8 million), Abu Dhabi’s YahSat ($3.6 million), Hughes/Echostar ($3.1 million), Telesat ($2.5 million) and Asiasat ($960,000). The business […]
The continued strong interest and engagement from the investment community in the UK’s independent network sector must be sustained if the UK wants achieve status as a gigabit nation, according to trade association the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA). A Point Topic report commissioned by INCA shows over £1.76 billion (€1.95bn) worth of private funding […]
Elon Musk’s satellite constellation Starlink has registered a business in Australia. Starlink Australia Pty Ltd has been created out of a pre-registered company – Tibro Australia Pty Ltds. Tibro (‘orbit’ backwards) in Australia was granted a telecommunications licence in Australia (by the Australian Communications & Media Authority) on August 7th. There has been no formal […]