Community Fibre Is Flying High in the UK's Crowded Altnet Sector
Community Fibre, backed by Warburg Pincus and DTCP, announced a major fiber expansion to 2 million premises and the launch of an unlimited 5G mobile service priced at £15 ($17) for existing broadband customers. The London‑focused operator now serves about 450,000 customers, delivering a 33% take‑up rate that outpaces the 18% average for UK altnets. In 2025 revenue rose 48% to £113 million ($152 million) and adjusted EBITDA jumped 530% to £50 million ($67 million) with a 90% gross margin. The firm plans a £180 million ($242 million) investment to add 600,000 premises, directly challenging BT Openreach’s dominance.
Indonesia's New SIM Rule: Facial Biometrics Mandatory From July 1
Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs will make facial biometric verification mandatory for all new SIM card registrations starting July 1, 2026. A five‑month trial involving Telkomsel, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and XL Axiata registered 1.4 million numbers in under two minutes per...
Amazon Leo Satellite Network Coming to Taiwan Through Far EasTone Partnership
Amazon Leo, the low‑Earth‑orbit broadband venture formerly known as Project Kuiper, has appointed Far EasTone Telecommunications as its authorized distributor in Taiwan. The deal hinges on regulatory clearances that could take nine to twelve months, with a target commercial launch...
Mediacom DOCSIS Upgrades Pave Path to 5-Gig Speeds
Mediacom announced a new 5‑Gigabit residential tier delivering 5 Gbps downstream and 1 Gbps upstream, initially available to more than 500,000 homes across ten states. The rollout leverages a 1.2 GHz DOCSIS 3.1 upgrade, a high‑split upstream band and node densification, while reclaiming 350‑400 MHz...
Asian Telecom Giants Partner on Philippine Smart City Blueprint
Globe Telecom and its parent Ayala Corporation have signed an MoU with Japan's KDDI and Mitsubishi Corporation to launch a joint study on an "Intelligent City" platform in Makati, the Philippines' premier business district. The initiative will leverage AI, IoT,...
Starlink Could Reach 100M Subs by 2034 – Forecast
New Street Research projects Starlink could reach 100 million subscribers by 2034, up from about 10.3 million today. The forecast hinges on deploying up to 20,000 V3 1‑Tb/s satellites and eventually a 10‑Tb/s V4, expanding capacity roughly 29‑fold. SpaceX’s connectivity unit generated...
Broadcom Launches 50G PON Portfolio
Broadcom unveiled the BCM68850, the industry’s first 50 Gbps ITU‑PON home‑gateway SoC that integrates a neural processing unit and native Wi‑Fi 8 support. The chip offers symmetric 50 Gbps throughput, edge‑AI inference, self‑healing bandwidth optimization and post‑quantum security. It completes Broadcom’s wireless‑broadband portfolio,...
AT&T Earmarks $19B to Spur Program to Retire Copper in California
AT&T announced a $19 billion investment to expand fiber and wireless networks across California through 2030, part of a $35 billion ten‑year commitment. The plan includes bringing fiber to more than 4 million additional households and businesses, boosting total fiber sites to over...
NTCA Calls on NTIA to Release BEAD Performance Tests
The Rural Broadband Association (NTCA) has formally asked the NTIA to make the performance test results of each BEAD grant subgrantee publicly available. In a May 19 letter, NTCA CEO Michael Romano urged the agency to post download/upload speeds, latency and...
SK Telink Brings Starlink to Five South Korean Shipping Firms
SK Telink has signed agreements with five major South Korean shipping firms—Hyundai Merchant Marine, Pan Ocean, H‑Line Shipping, SK Shipping and KSS Line—to equip their operational fleets with SpaceX’s Starlink low‑Earth‑orbit satellite internet. The service promises up to 250 Mbit/s download...
AT&T's Mass-Markets Chief: Consumers Aren't 'Chomping at the Bit for 6G'
AT&T’s mass‑markets chief Jenifer Robertson said the carrier’s future hinges on a fiber‑first strategy, targeting 60 million fiber‑served homes and businesses by 2030. The plan includes retiring the copper network by that year while supplementing gaps with the Internet Air fixed‑wireless...
Fiber Broadband Association Pitches Framework for HFC-to-FTTP Upgrades
The Fiber Broadband Association released a technical white paper urging cable operators to consider migrating hybrid fiber‑coax (HFC) networks to fiber‑to‑the‑premises (FTTP). The report claims FTTP cuts operational expenses by roughly 50% and outlines deployment models, PON options, and cost...
Former EE Boss Mourns UK Passing of Huawei and 5G Failures
Former EE chief Olaf Swantee praised Huawei’s rapid fault‑fixing and technical edge, recalling that the Chinese vendor once supplied roughly two‑thirds of EE’s network. He lamented the UK ban that forces removal of Huawei gear from 5G sites by the end...
Why the Big Three Telcos' Satellite Joint Venture Is Good for America
AT&T, T‑Mobile and Verizon announced a joint venture to create a unified, standards‑based direct‑to‑device (D2D) satellite platform. The venture pools spectrum and technical resources, allowing any compliant satellite constellation and handset to work across all three carriers. Existing carrier‑satellite agreements...
The Buildout: Nextlink, Vistabeam Start BEAD Activations
Nextlink activated the nation’s first BEAD‑funded fixed‑wireless tower in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, unlocking service for 104 locations and tapping $18.5 million of state funding. The company has secured a total of $95.6 million in BEAD grants across 11 states, backed by AMG...