Virgin Media invests in 400 new roles
UK multiplay operator Virgin Media is to hire more than 400 new employees in graduate, intern and apprenticeship roles in 2021, marking a 163 per cent increase from 2020. New…
Forecast: 179m smart homes in Europe & US by 2024
According to a research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the number smart homes in Europe and North America reached 102.6 million in 2020. The most advanced smart…
Starlink goes global
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system is inviting potential subscribers to sign up for its service almost anywhere on the planet, provided the country of residence has granted permission for Starlink to…
Report: Pandemic drove 51% rise in broadband traffic in 2020
Traffic on US broadband networks rose by more than half and average broadband usage approached one-half a terabyte at the end of 2020, according to the Q4 2020 OpenVault Broadband…
Telesat commits to LEO Lightspeed fleet
Ottawa-based Telesat has committed to its own mega-constellation of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. Telesat needed to put its own financial affairs in order first as well as review its…
Eutelsat wins €100m EGNOS contract
Paris-based Eutelsat says it has won a contract to add a EGNOS payload onto an upcoming Hotbird satellite (13G) which will be launched in H1/2022. The contract comes from the…
Report: BT adds £24bn to UK economy
Multiplay telco BT Group is responsible for generating £1 (€1.14) in every £75 produced in the UK economy, according to an independent report, The Economic Impact of BT Group in…
SES, Boeing invest in Isotropic
UK-based Isotropic Systems designs and manufacturers antennas for high-throughput satellites including low Earth orbiting satellite constellations. It has just raised a further $40 million (€33m) in funding from a series…
Wi-Fi 6 CPEs debut on OpenSync
Together with leading Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE) partners – ADTRAN, Askey, CIG, Hitron, Kaon, Sagemcom, Sercomm, Technicolor, and Zyxel Communications – Smart Home Services specialist Plume has confirmed the availability…
Bigblu opens in New Zealand
Bigblu Broadband is to offer high speed broadband-by-satellite to users in New Zealand. Bigblu sold its European business to Eutelsat last year. Its new service will use capacity from the…
European Court suspends Galileo contract signings
The European Court has suspended a massive $1.8 billion (€1.47bn) manufacturing contract with Airbus and Thales Alenia for production of Galileo sat-nav satellites. The Court is looking at allegations of…
Starlink: 10,000 beta-users
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service is now supplying capacity to more than 10,000 beta-users. The news emerged in a filing to the FCC. Moreover, SpaceX says that it has registered “hundreds…
Viasat optimistic as vaccine rolls out
Viasat of California, which already operates broadband-by-satellite services to businesses and consumers around the world, reported a 4.2 per cent drop in revenues (but Q3’s net income grew 4 per…
Avanti secures extra $30m in financing
February 8th was when London-based speciality satellite operator Avanti Communications needed to refinance its $145 million debt (Super Senior Facility/SSF) or extend the period of borrowing which it has achieved,…
SpaceX aims for quadruple success
Elon Musk will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief at the end of this weekend when, if all goes to plan, his second Falcon 9 rocket orbits the second…
BT Q3: Fibre, 5G progress
In reporting its results for the nine months to December 31st 2020, multiplay telco BT has claimed progress in its fibre and 5G deployment. Its digital infrastructure subsidiary Openreach’s FTTP…