Today's Telecom Pulse
SpaceX’s Starlink generates $3.3B in Q1 2026, 69% of quarterly revenue
SpaceX reported Starlink revenue of $3.3 billion in Q1 2026, representing 69% of its total quarterly revenue of $4.7 billion. In fiscal 2025, Starlink contributed $11.4 billion of the company's $18.7 billion revenue, while the launch segment generated $619 million in Q1 and $4.1 billion for the year. The AI division posted a $6.4 billion loss despite $12.7 billion in capital expenditures.
Also developing:
By the numbers: BizLink acquires Interplex Datacom for $850M
Bharti Airtel Achieves 650 Mn Subscriber Milestone
Bharti Airtel announced it has crossed 650 million subscribers worldwide, spanning its Indian and African operations. The telecom now ranks second globally by mobile customer base, behind China Mobile, with 386 million mobile users in India and 179 million in Africa. Airtel highlighted its expanding digital ecosystem, including 5G rollout, Airtel Business enterprise services, and the Airtel Money platform serving 52 million users. The company also announced a partnership with OneWeb and SpaceX to deliver LEO satellite broadband to remote locations.
Amazon in Talks to Buy Satellite Operator Globalstar
Amazon is in advanced talks to acquire satellite‑telecom firm Globalstar as it accelerates its low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) broadband project, Kuiper. Globalstar, valued at about $8.8 billion, saw its shares jump 24% to $85 after the news. The deal would give Amazon access...
Essex Awards £29m Network Contract to MLL
Essex County Council awarded a £29 million (≈ $36.8 million) managed network services contract to MLL Telecom. The agreement covers roughly 175 sites and serves about 9,000 council staff, public and guest users daily. It aims to modernize the enterprise network for hybrid...
Report: UK Broadband Market Flat
The UK broadband market held steady in Q4 2025, adding just 14,000 new connections to reach an estimated 28.96 million total lines. Full‑fibre (FTTP) penetration accelerated to 81.3% of premises, the fastest pace since the nationwide rollout began. Openreach contributed 571 k FTTP...
Russia Cracks Down on VPNs, Fines Users and Apple Delists Apps
Russia’s digital minister announced measures to slash VPN usage, including potential fees for heavy international traffic and penalties for non‑compliant platforms. At the same time, Apple has removed several custom VPN and proxy apps from its Russian App Store, prompting...
Verizon Waives Late Fees for Federal Workers as DHS Shutdown Hits 45 Days
Verizon announced it will waive late fees and provide flexible payment options for Department of Homeland Security employees forced to work without pay during the 45‑day shutdown. The move targets more than 260,000 federal workers and follows similar relief actions...
Verizon Shares Surge 24% in 2026 as Dividend Rises to $0.71
Verizon Communications saw its shares climb 24% year‑to‑date through March 27, 2026, after reporting record post‑paid phone additions, raising its quarterly dividend to $0.71 and finalising the Frontier Communications acquisition that expands its fiber footprint to over 30 million premises.
India's Telecom Imports From China Rise to $6.37 Billion in 2023-24: Pemmasani
India’s telecom imports from China climbed to $6.37 billion in the 2023‑24 fiscal year, up from $5.55 billion in 2019‑20. Total telecom‑equipment imports rose to $17.01 billion, reflecting a broader expansion in the sector. To curb dependence, the government introduced a public procurement...
AT&T Launches OneConnect Bundle, Merging Unlimited Mobile with Gigabit Home Internet
AT&T introduced OneConnect today, a single subscription that pairs unlimited mobile service with 1 Gbps fiber broadband for $90 to $225 a month. The plan is limited to new customers, includes taxes and fees, and could pressure rivals to rethink bundled...
NBN Delivers Steady Performance, but some Consumers Missing Out on Full Plan Speeds
The ACCC’s latest Measuring Broadband Australia report shows that most Australian households on NBN fixed‑line services achieved 98.5% of their advertised plan speeds during peak evening hours in December 2025. The newly introduced NBN Home Fast plan (500/50 Mbps) delivered an...
GoNetspeed Achieves 100% Fiber Coverage in North Hamden
GoNetspeed announced that North Hamden, Connecticut, has achieved 100% fiber‑optic internet coverage after a privately funded $6 million investment. The rollout will serve more than 8,000 residents and businesses with symmetrical speeds ranging from 500 Mbps to 6 Gbps. Construction continues neighborhood by...
Grain Looking to Market 800 MHz for Direct-to-Cell
Investment firm Grain Management has acquired T‑Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum and 600 MHz holdings for about $2.9 billion, aiming to lease or sell the airwaves to satellite operators for direct‑to‑cell (D2D) services. The companies seek FCC waivers to suspend build‑out deadlines and allow...
Meghalaya Govt Signs MoU With Starlink To Pilot Satcom Services
The Meghalaya government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Elon Musk’s Starlink to pilot satellite broadband in the state’s most remote areas, focusing on schools, health centres and farms. The pilot will test high‑speed internet reliability before a broader...
0.45-8 GHz 16-Way SMA Female Power Divider
URF Inc. launched a high‑precision 16‑way SMA female power divider covering 0.45‑8 GHz, featuring an ultra‑low 1.55:1 VSWR and ±0.4 dB/±8° balance. The unit delivers less than 4.2 dB excess loss, 16 dB isolation, and can handle up to 150 W peak power. Priced at...
Broadband Expansion Alone Won’t Close the Digital Divide, Panelists Warn
Industry leaders warned that expanding broadband infrastructure alone will not close the U.S. digital divide. While the $42.45 billion BEAD program has funded new networks, 24 % of seniors—about 19 million people—remain offline, and rural communities still face adoption hurdles. Panelists highlighted affordability,...
DWDM Multiplies Fiber Capacity, Accelerating Data Center Speeds
Dense wavelength division multiplexing can transmit multiple optical signals over a single fiber, greatly speeding up information transfer in data centers. https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-data-centers-dwdm-optics
CanarySat CEO Antonio Abad Outlines the Sovereign, Secure Approach Behind the Magec Constellation
CanarySat, backed by Spain’s Arquimea, unveiled its Magec constellation – a planned 264‑satellite Ka‑band LEO network aimed at sovereign, secure communications for governments, critical infrastructure and essential enterprises. The company, less than a year old, leverages five years of design...
Ligado Case Might Not Upend Spectrum Auction Certainty: Former NTIA Administrator
Former NTIA administrator John Kneuer told a Federalist Society webinar that the Ligado lawsuit is unlikely to destabilize the certainty surrounding FCC spectrum auctions. Ligado is pursuing roughly $40 billion in damages, claiming the Defense Department’s secret use of L‑band spectrum...
FCC Router Rules Shake U.S. Market: Ookla Data Reveals Top Vendors and Wi-Fi Upgrade Gap
The FCC’s new router rule forces any consumer router built abroad to obtain a waiver before sale, aiming to curb cyber‑attacks linked to foreign hardware. Ookla data shows the U.S. market is led by Eero, TP‑Link, Netgear and others, all...
Vodafone Idea Adds Users After 5 Years
Vodafone Idea posted a net gain of 21,927 subscribers in February, raising its total base to 198.4 million—the first positive addition in nearly five years. The modest growth follows extensive 4G and early 5G network expansion and comes after the Indian...
Tata Communications Unveils IZO™ Self‑Healing Network for AI‑Driven Enterprises
Tata Communications launched IZO™ Data Centre Dynamic Connectivity, a software‑defined, self‑healing network that spans five continents and targets AI‑driven workloads. The platform promises >99.99% service availability and up to 30% operational cost reductions through deterministic multi‑path routing and consumption‑based pricing.
Helios Towers to Expand Mobile Connectivity Across DRC
Helios Towers has secured a $110 million investment agreement with DRC’s ANAPI to expand its mobile tower infrastructure. The deal will fund new sites in urban and rural areas, improve network resilience, and incorporate sustainable energy and local skill programs. Helios,...
Helios Towers to Invest $110m on Telecoms Infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Helios Towers announced a $110 million investment to expand telecom tower infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal, signed with the government’s ANAPI agency, will fund new sites across urban and rural areas and improve energy resilience. Helios already...
Nokia on the Evolving Priorities of Emerging Market Operators
At Mobile World Congress Nokia’s SVP for the Middle East and Africa, Mikko Lavanti, highlighted the dual reality facing emerging‑market operators: conflict‑driven network disruptions and a surge of infrastructure investment. He emphasized AI’s immediate impact, citing a 30% performance boost...
ESN ‘on Track’ for 2030 Completion, UK Official Tells BAPCO
The UK’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) is back on schedule, with data‑only services potentially available to first responders as early as 2024. Full mission‑critical voice capability is slated for the second quarter of 2028, and a mass migration of users,...
North Carolina Directs $26M to Connect Rural Homes by 2026
North Carolina has allocated nearly $26 million in stop‑gap broadband grants to bring high‑speed internet to 5,161 homes, businesses and community institutions across 66 rural counties by the end of 2026. The program, funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act...
From 1G to 5G: The Road to 6G
Let Mallik Tatipamula and Vint Cerf take you on the journey of our mobile devices from 1G to 5G, and see what's coming with 6G in the near future: https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom-history-1g-to-6g
FirstNet Pushes AST Beta Launch to Later This Year
FirstNet announces that AST beta service is delayed to "later this year" instead of "the first half" of 2026 as they indicated in December. Hardly a surprise given the lack of satellites... https://t.co/6YGSWKm4sN
Pioneer Selected for Alaska OTTER Cable Project
Pioneer Consulting has been chosen by Copper Valley Telephone Cooperative to manage the Oceanic Tatitlek Telecommunications Enhancement Route (OTTER) submarine cable project in Alaska. The 50‑kilometer, repeaterless fiber link will connect Valdez to the remote villages of Tatitlek and Ellamar,...
FCC Rules May Stall U.S. Shift to Newer Wi‑Fi
Rroughly 28% of all Speedtest samples in the U.S. ran over Wi-Fi 5, and around 7% used Wi-Fi 4 or older. Additional FCC rules affecting router vendors could potentially slow U.S. adoption of newer Wi-Fi technologies. MORE: https://t.co/UBgJUHlay2 https://t.co/Nog9KRnqDa
SuperMobile Powers Secure, High‑performance Work Off‑site
The most effective teams today don’t sit at desks - they operate in the field, on-site, and on the move. SuperMobile supports performance and security where work actually happens, helping enterprises stay responsive even where traditional cell towers don’t reach. Learn more:...
Life Belarus Lauches 5G Network in Major Cities
Life Belarus announced the commercial launch of 5G services across five major Belarusian cities—Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Mogilyov and Gomel. The rollout leverages the state‑owned beCloud’s 5G infrastructure and is already active on more than 1,000 base stations. The deployment follows...
Starlink Lets Passengers Call on Flights, Ending Excuse
ts Time To Let Passengers Make Calls On Planes — Starlink Ends The Old Excuse - View from the Wing https://t.co/MU0lR5fhYP
Speedtest Rankings Reveal FCC‑Impacted Top 10 Router Vendors
MY LATEST Speedtest data helps highlight the Wi-Fi router vendors that will be most directly affected by the FCC's new rules. Here is a list of the top 10 Wi-Fi router vendors in the U.S. from January 2025 to March 2026,...
TIM CEO Presses for Quicker Regulatory Decisions
TIM chief executive Pietro Labriola warned that European regulators are still too slow, despite becoming “more sensible,” and urged faster decision‑making in the AI‑driven era. He highlighted how technology adoption has accelerated—from 75 years for 100 million phone lines to just two...
SpaceX Rumored to Acquire Globalstar at SatShow 2026
"Rumors that SpaceX will buy GlobalStar were the buzz at SatShow 2026 last week." https://t.co/YuUnHqkpoE “I think everyone’s convinced that there will be a sale of Globalstar,” @TMFAssociates , founder of the satellite research firm TMF Associates, told @malleven33
T2 Grows Online Sales Thanks to Integration with 2GIS Mapping Service
Russian mobile operator T2, a Rostelecom subsidiary, integrated its online storefront with the 2GIS mapping service. The move drove a 218% surge in sales generated through the platform. T2’s presence on 2GIS now reaches over one million users, highlighting rapid...
Kenyan Parliamentary Committee Evaluates USF-Supported Connectivity in Garissa County
Kenya’s National Assembly ICT committee conducted on‑site visits in Garissa County to evaluate connectivity projects funded by the Universal Service Fund (USF). MPs met directly with residents to gauge how the initiatives are being rolled out. The USF‑backed deployments are...
AgileTV Makes DACH Move with LIWEST IPTV Launch
AgileTV has entered the DACH market through a partnership with Austrian operator LIWEST, launching a next‑generation IPTV platform that merges linear TV, streaming and app‑based entertainment. The service features super‑aggregation, an open content system for third‑party integrations and regionalisation tools...
Yettel Hungary Extends Portable Internet Option for Easter Holiday
Yettel Hungary is extending its OtthonNet Anywhere Mode, allowing home‑internet subscribers to take their router on the road. The carrier will automatically add ten free days of the portable service for OtthonNet and OtthonNet Basic users, with the promotion running...
Plus Cuts Unlimited Package to PLN 60 on 2-Year Contract
Polkomtel, operating under the Plus brand, announced a 24‑month promotion that slashes its unlimited L post‑paid plan to PLN 60 per month (≈ $14.4), down from the regular PLN 100 (≈ $24). The same deal reduces the 60 GB M plan to PLN 50 (≈ $12) and...
Russia Bans Apple ID Payments to Curb VPN Use
Russia's Ministry of Digital Development has ordered mobile operators to disable Apple ID payments in a bid to make accessing VPNs harder. https://t.co/oKO2qFNeHk
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MTN to Invest $1.3B in South Africa by 2028
MTN South Africa announced a R21.8 billion ($1.3 billion) investment plan through 2028 to expand its ICT infrastructure, building on a $404 million network spend in 2025. The rollout targets broadband connectivity, entrepreneurship and digital‑skills development across the country. MTN highlighted its $321 million...
Chinese Captain Sentenced for Taiwan Cable Damage
A Chinese captain was sentenced to three years in prison for deliberately damaging the Taiwan‑Penghu No. 3 submarine communications cable by anchoring in a restricted zone. The court ordered him to pay NT$18.22 million (about US$570,000) in damages to Chunghwa Telecom. The...
Delta to Equip 500 Planes with Amazon’s Leo Satellite Internet by 2028
Delta Air Lines announced it will install Amazon’s Leo low‑Earth‑orbit satellite broadband on 500 aircraft beginning in 2028. The rollout targets domestic narrow‑body jets, promising faster streaming, larger entertainment libraries and new onboard commerce options.
Comcast Is Vistance Networks' Top Customer… by a Lot
Vistance Networks, now owned by Amphenol, disclosed that Comcast accounted for about 35% of its 2025 revenue, up from 21% in 2024, making it the company’s dominant customer. Aurora Networks, Vistance’s cable‑access arm, saw revenue climb 47% to $1.2 billion, driven...
AT&T One Step Closer to Ambient Connectivity
AT&T introduced a new consumer plan that bundles 5G mobile, fixed‑wireless access, Wi‑Fi, and satellite services into a single subscription, branding it as “ambient connectivity.” The offering automatically switches devices between networks to keep laptops, phones, TVs and emerging IoT...
(PR) NVIDIA Invests $2 Billion in Marvell and Expanded NVLink Fusion Partnership
NVIDIA announced a $2 billion investment in Marvell Technology and an expanded NVLink Fusion partnership. The deal links Marvell’s silicon to NVIDIA’s AI factory and AI‑RAN ecosystem, giving customers broader options for next‑generation infrastructure. Both companies will also co‑develop silicon‑photonic solutions....
FCC Competition Cuts Prices with AT&T 1Gb Converged Plans
Conclusion: @FCC competition policy is driving communications service prices down -- make that way down -- as shown by @ATT new converged mobile-1 Gig home Internet plans. These OneConnect offers are flexible, save a ton of money each month, and...
A New Kind of Geosynchronous Orbit
The article introduces On‑Earth Orbit (OEO), a proposed satellite architecture that operates at ground level while remaining geosynchronous, promising near‑zero latency for internet services. By staying close to users, OEO eliminates the 300 ms lag typical of GEO and avoids the...