Know What's Happening in Telecom
Know What's Happening in Telecom
California launches $3.2B Middle‑Mile Broadband Network, Connecting Tribal and Rural Communities
The state’s Department of Technology has activated the $3.2 billion Middle‑Mile Broadband Initiative, the nation’s largest open‑access middle‑mile network. The first connection was made to the Bishop Paiute Tribe in Inyo County, marking the inaugural tribal customer. Governor Gavin Newsom aims to build 8,000 miles of fiber, with over 5,300 miles slated for completion by the end of 2026.
The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) confirmed that the UAE has retained its position as the world’s top provider of fiber‑to‑the‑home/business (FTTH/B) coverage for the tenth straight year. The achievement reflects sustained investment by local operators e& and du, whose network rollouts have expanded high‑speed broadband to the majority of households and enterprises. TDRA highlighted the seamless collaboration between regulators and service providers as a key driver of this milestone. The fiber dominance aligns with the UAE’s broader digital vision, reinforcing its competitiveness in the global telecommunications arena.
3GPP has launched a study (TR 21.802) to modernize the format and procedures used to develop its mobile standards as the industry prepares for 6G. The study highlights that the long‑standing Word‑based, document‑centric workflow is straining under increasingly large and complex...
Gotonomi and Embention have combined Gotonomi SATCOM terminals with Embention’s Veronte autopilots to create a reliable BVLOS communication solution. The Velaris‑200 terminal acts as an IP gateway, routing data through Viasat’s L‑band satellite network to VeronteCloud. Telemetry is limited to...
CMA Technology has partnered with Rivada Space Networks to resell its Outernet, a 600‑satellite low‑Earth‑orbit mesh that provides secure, low‑latency connectivity. Rivada reports over $19 billion in global business tied to the network, which routes data entirely in space via laser...
Amazon to FCC: Everyone Supports a Leo Satellite Launch Extension, Except SpaceX https://t.co/mzYuITGCAw #SpaceEconomy https://t.co/9rYGlrjkES
Amid a near‑total internet blackout in Iran, U.S.‑based activist groups are covertly supplying Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite terminals to keep Iranians online. NetFreedom Pioneers reports delivering more than 300 devices, while Holistic Resilience estimates over 50,000 terminals now operating inside...
SES announced a strategic partnership with K2 Space to develop the meoSphere medium‑Earth‑orbit broadband constellation. The rollout will begin with a Spring 2026 pathfinder on SpaceX’s Transporter‑16, scale to 28 satellites by 2029 and reach full operational capability in 2030, positioning...
Australia’s Cyber Security Centre, together with international partners, warned that commercial low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite operators can deliver connectivity to Australian users without a local footprint, leaving data outside the reach of domestic privacy laws. The advisory highlights that LEO constellations...
In the inaugural episode of Unbuffered, Chris Mitchell and a panel of longtime internet policy experts discuss whether technology—especially the internet and AI—is inherently harmful or simply mismanaged. They cite recent Pew and NBC surveys showing public concern over data‑center...
Federal spectrum reallocation studies now prioritize relocation costs, as the NTIA requires auction proceeds to cover at least 110% of those expenses. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the agency aims to identify 500 MHz of federal bands for auction, with 200 MHz due...
Broadband and its dynamics aren’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea. But they are a “tell” on how we live on the network, and how new behaviors emerge. Here is my latest article on how recent changes will manifest themselves. I...
https://t.co/nTJLK8qYkR quoted @jeffKAGAN: Industry analyst Jeff Kagan emphasized in a recent press release that it is crucial for telecom companies such as AT&T to remain innovative amid intensifying industry competition. “The ways we connect have always been evolving,” said Kagan. “In...
Rocket Lab is being positioned as the primary candidate to supply the satellite bus for Equatys, a joint venture between Viasat and Space42 targeting a 2,800‑satellite LEO constellation that delivers direct‑to‑device connectivity. The venture, backed by a $600 million investment from...
Interesting interview with a Sr Engineer in networking at AWS. Optical is ramping fast. Looking to shift to 1.6T but still can't get all the capacity they need at 800G. Diversified across vendors with InnoLight currently the most share....
LFT Fiber, the community‑owned broadband provider in Lafayette, Louisiana, has expanded its network to reach roughly 95,000 households and businesses. The firm has introduced residential symmetric 2 Gbps and 5 Gbps tiers, joining its existing 250 Mbps, 500 Mbps, and 1 Gbps plans. Expansion has...
The European Commission introduced the Digital Networks Act (DNA) in January 2026 to replace the 2018 Electronic Communications Code and modernize EU telecom rules. The legislation targets accelerated deployment of 5G/6G, fiber, and secure, resilient infrastructure to meet soaring AI‑driven...
SpaceX marked a milestone this week by lofting its 10,000th Starlink satellite into low‑Earth orbit, extending the company’s broadband constellation. The added capacity is already delivering reliable high‑speed internet to remote outposts, such as a Norwegian polar expedition across Ellesmere...
Direct Communications rolled out mobile services in roughly 60 days by leveraging the AI‑driven OSS/BSS platform from gaiia. The rollout builds on the company’s 2025 migration of its broadband operations to the same platform, allowing mobile to share billing, product...
Cisco disclosed four vulnerabilities in its widely deployed Catalyst 9300 series switches, two of which (CVE‑2026‑20114 and CVE‑2026‑20110) can be chained to elevate a low‑privilege Lobby Ambassador account into maintenance mode, effectively causing a denial‑of‑service outage. The chain requires only...
The FCC announced a ban on future consumer Wi‑Fi routers that are manufactured abroad, citing national‑security concerns. Existing routers can remain in use and receive firmware updates through March 1 2027, but no new foreign‑made devices will receive FCC authorization. The rule...
Netmore Group has partnered with Brazil‑based Allcom Telecom to broaden its IoT footprint, merging Netmore’s LoRaWAN network with Allcom’s NB‑IoT services. The joint offering delivers a hybrid low‑power wide‑area network that includes satellite backhaul for remote or underserved locations. Customers...
El Salvador's 2026 public investment plan earmarks $278.2 million for two flagship projects: a $81.24 million subsea cable and the Pacific International Airport in La Unión. The cable, 1,800 km long, is slated for completion in the second half of 2028 and will link...
India’s telecom regulator, TRAI, has leveraged a flexible tariff framework and robust competition to keep mobile service prices among the world’s lowest, according to a Ministry of Communications statement dated March 25, 2026. The regulator permits service providers to set...
Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, won the Maritime Mobility Innovation award at the MSUA 2026 Satellite Mobile Innovation Awards for its fully managed bonded connectivity service, NexusWave. The solution aggregates multiple satellite links to deliver up to 340 Mbps downlink and...
Irish households could face up to €600 (≈$660) in extra costs due to annual telecom price hikes. Since 2022, providers have used inflation‑linked formulas, now shifting to flat‑rate increases that push SIM‑only plans up by about €2.50 (≈$2.70) per month....
Internet services in the Philippines have become markedly cheaper, with mobile data dropping from over 2 % of gross national income per capita in the mid‑2010s to under 1 % today. Fixed broadband speeds have surged from single‑digit megabits in 2016 to...
Hostile drones are increasingly using commercial mobile networks, embedding cheap consumer SIMs to blend with legitimate traffic and bypass line‑of‑sight limits. The European Commission’s Action Plan on Drone and Counter‑Drone Security urges precise, proportionate defenses, emphasizing targeted, device‑level interventions over...
Telecom operator A1 Belarus has rolled out a new 10 GB data roaming package for customers traveling across 14 Eastern European and nearby countries. The offering is available as a one‑off monthly bundle and as a recurring subscription, targeting both consumer...
Rostelecom announced that, under the second stage of Russia’s federal digital‑divide programme, it has extended GSM and LTE mobile coverage to 1.8 million residents across 7,881 villages. The rollout, carried out with its subsidiary T2, began with the first base station...
Ericsson has entered a research partnership with Germany's Juelich Research Center to develop artificial‑intelligence models that improve core network operations, network management and the next generation of Radio Access Networks. The collaboration will explore AI techniques for faster execution, scalability...
PBS Cellular announced a partnership with Qvantel to launch a mobile‑virtual network operator (MVNO) targeting Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the United States. Qvantel will supply its BSS platform and MVNE managed services, handling core cellular functions and ensuring...
Edge inference is increasingly motivated by data‑sovereignty rules rather than latency, especially in telecom, finance, healthcare and public‑infrastructure sectors. Simultaneously, internet number resources are being framed as operational assets, not political property, reshaping governance debates. A Pew study shows over...
The Fiber Broadband Association released a report showing roughly 24% of residents on Tribal lands lack reliable internet, far above the national 7% average. The study argues fiber is the most durable and scalable solution to close this digital divide,...
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has approved a draft set of baseline criteria for IMT‑2030 6G radio candidates. The draft defines minimum performance thresholds—such as latency, data‑rate and spectral efficiency—to create a uniform benchmark for evaluating emerging 6G radio technologies....
Air Arabia, the UAE‑based low‑cost carrier, has begun operating Panasonic Avionics' Ku‑band multi‑orbit inflight connectivity (IFC) solution across its Airbus A320 family fleet. The system uses Gilat’s Sidewinder electronically steerable antenna to switch between Panasonic’s geostationary satellite network and Eutelsat...
AT&T, together with Boldyn Networks, has activated cellular service in additional tunnel segments of the MTA’s 4/5 lines between Bowling Green and Fulton Street and the Crosstown G line between Bedford‑Nostrand and Hoyt‑Schermerhorn. This rollout follows earlier go‑live in the Joralemon...
Hayo announced the launch of voice, messaging and digital solutions in Rwanda, expanding its East African footprint. Rwanda’s internet penetration has risen to 34.2 % in 2023, reflecting a rapid digital adoption trend. The company will offer industry‑specific services across mobile,...
Vodafone Italia has rolled out Wi‑Fi calling, known as VoWi‑Fi, for all iPhone users, completing a staggered launch that began with Samsung and Google devices a month earlier. The service is available to both residential and business customers, routing voice...
Turkish Airlines is upgrading inflight connectivity on more than 100 narrow‑body aircraft by deploying Anuvu’s Dedicated Space AI‑powered network management and the new Modman‑D modem. The upgrade delivers roughly a nine‑fold increase in throughput, four times faster upload speeds and...
Nigeria’s sole communications satellite, NigComSat-1R, has been operated from China’s Kashgar ground station since 2018 after a lightning strike crippled Nigeria’s Abuja control facility. The Chinese contractor, CGWIC, claims Nigeria owes $11.44 million for technical support services that have gone unpaid...
What if provisioning a full phone extension took seconds, not steps? In this demo, we use VoipNow Provisioning MCP to automatically build a complete VoIP hierarchy, ending with a fully configured 📞 extension. 🧠 AI decides. 🤖 MCP executes. ✅...
In public safety, cyber security can’t be an add-on. It needs to be designed into the network. @T_Priority on T-Mobile’s 5G network isolates threat traffic at the network layer, so priority communications stay secure. Resilience should be built in, not bolted on....
NXGSAT and ETL Systems demonstrated a fully productised, interoperable 5G non‑terrestrial network (NTN) solution that combines NXGSAT’s software‑defined UE modem with ETL’s GENUS Digital platform via the Digital IF Interoperability (DIFI) standard. The showcase proves that open, virtualised, modular satellite...
.@ATT and @Verizon are bleeding unbundled wireless market share. Carrier growth now relies on their local fiber footprints. Here is the concrete data exposing the raw economics of the convergence battlefield. 🚨🧵
Some deep discounting on eero routers right now. Both the Prime Week or whatever this is discount plus a stacked discount for upgraders without recycling current ones. Do I pull the trigger? https://t.co/qEkHzuI46y https://t.co/J1UQ0jkhHL
The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, announced that all routers manufactured abroad will be placed on its “covered list,” effectively requiring conditional approval before they can be sold in the United States. Approval must come from the Department of...
Today at #CableNextGen Comcast's network chief Elad Nafshi said that AI data on the company's network today is: text=97.1% images=2.6% videos=0.3% This is all noteworthy amid the collapse of OpenAI's Sora video generator app: https://t.co/9dkJoqn3VY https://t.co/hwXpM3TwfH
STL (Sterlite Technologies Ltd.) announced the launch of India’s first hollow‑core fibre (HCF) cable, a breakthrough that routes light through an air‑filled core and delivers roughly 46% faster transmission than conventional glass fibres. The hybrid cable integrates HCF with G.654.E...
Namibia’s Communications Regulatory Authority rejected Starlink’s applications for a telecom service licence and spectrum access, citing failure to meet ownership and compliance criteria. The regulator found Starlink complied with only three of six statutory requirements, notably lacking the mandated 51 %...
