US telco AT&T has completed its $48.5 billion (€44.2bn) acquisition of pay-TV provider DirecTV following the Federal Communications Commission’s approval – with conditions – of the deal. The FCC determined that granting the merger application was in the public interest. The newly-combined company will become the largest pay-TV provider in the United States and the […]

The head of New Mexico’s Spaceport Authority told a special US investigation committee that she was hoping Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic ‘SpaceShip Two’ sub-orbital space plane would start regular commercial flights next summer, but not before July. However, Christine Anderson added something of a sting in the tail of her answer by saying that […]

YahClick, the satellite broadband service of Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the UAE-based, Mubadala Development Company owned, satellite operator, has officially launched. Customers across Pakistan will now be able to instantly connect to satellite broadband via a small satellite dish and modem, without the frustration of congested networks and anywhere in the country, including […]

Intelsat has formed a “strategic alliance” with Greg Wyler’s OneWeb scheme to place 650 small satellites in orbit. Intelsat is investing $25 million in the project. OneWeb’s plan, in essence, is to bring improved broadband and Internet services to the planet’s underserved (on non-served) consumers. A joint statement reads: “The strategic partnership will result in […]

Akamai Technologies has released its First Quarter, 2015 State of the Internet Report.  Based on data gathered from the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the report provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds, broadband adoption across fixed and mobile networks, and IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation. “We saw generally positive results across all of […]

OneWeb is the audacious plan to girdle the Earth with 648 mini-satellites and thus deliver low-cost broadband and Internet services to the complete planet. The intention is to “provide high-speed internet connectivity equivalent to terrestrial fibre-optic networks”. OneWeb is Channel Islands-based and comes from founder Greg Wyler and systems director Brian Holz. Both were closely […]

UK quad-play operator Virgin Media has confirmed that the north-west city of Manchester is to be the first to benefit from ‘Project Lightning’, unveiled earlier this year. This major expansion of ultrafast connectivity to 4 million premises over the next five years is claimed as the single largest investment in the UK’s broadband digital infrastructure […]

ITU has established the overall roadmap for the development of 5G mobile and defined the term it will apply to it as “IMT-2020”. With the finalidation of its work on the “Vision” for 5G systems at a meeting of ITU-R Working Party 5D in San Diego, California, ITU has now defined the overall goals, process […]

At its 5G Symposium, held in Chicago, ATIS announced its agenda to advance the network’s evolution to 5G. Beyond traditional mobility services, 5G promises higher data rates for content delivery–imagine downloading a full HD movie in a matter of seconds–in addition to optimising cost-effective support for the Internet of Things, critical communications, and more. ATIS’ […]