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
Rocket Lab Emerging as Potential Bus Provider for 2,800-Satellite Equatys Constellation
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 the UAE‑based AI SpaceTech firm and leveraging over 100 MHz of L‑ and S‑band spectrum, aims to share infrastructure across multiple mobile operators. Rocket Lab’s recent $1 billion capital raise could fund an equity stake and support high‑cadence bus production. A confirmed partnership would shift Rocket Lab from launch‑only services to a full‑scale satellite prime role.
Broadband Shifts Reveal Emerging Online Behaviors
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...
AI Drives Next Telecom Innovation Across All Competitors
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...
Lafayette’s LFT Fiber Steadily Expands, Offers Even Faster Speeds
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...
Optical Supply Gap Hits 20‑30% Amid Rapid 800G Demand
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....
Europe’s Digital Networks Act: A Foundation for the AI-Driven Economy
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...
Wtih SpaceX's 10,000th Satellite, We Have Great Remote Internet -- and Inescapable Light Pollution
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 Launches Mobile in 60 Days with Gaiia
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...
Chained Vulnerabilities in Cisco Catalyst Switches Could Induce Denial-of-Service
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 United States Router Ban, Explained
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 Expands Connectivity in Brazil Through Strategic Partnership with Allcom Telecom
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 Eyes $80M Subsea Cable Investment
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...
Government Policies And Regulatory Framework Have Resulted In India Having One Of The Lowest Tariffs
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’s NexusWave Wins Award for Maritime Mobility Innovation at MSUA 2026 Satellite Mobile Innovation Awards
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 Be €600 Out of Pocket From Annual Price Rises on Broadband and Mobile
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 Connectivity Now a Basic Utility, Group Says
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...
Mobile Networks Are Now Part of the Battlespace — Here Is How to Defend Them
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...
A1 Belarus Launches 10GB Data Roaming Pack for Eastern Europe
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 Covers 1.8 Mln Residents with Mobile Network Under Federal Programme
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 Works with Juelich Research Center on AI Models to Support Network Evolution
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...
Qvantel Powers New HBCU-Focused MVNO for PBS Cellular
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...
Worth Reading 032526
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...
Fiber Group Says Broadband Key to Closing Connectivity Gap on Tribal Lands
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,...
ITU Adopts Draft IMT-2030 Baseline Criteria for 6G Radio Candidates
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 Debuts Panasonic Avionics Multi-Orbit IFC
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 and Boldyn Networks Complete Cellular Service in Additional Tunnel Segments of the MTA’s 4/5 and G Lines
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 Expands to East Africa
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 Launches Wi-Fi Calling on iPhones
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...
Press Release: Turkish Airlines Enhances IFC with Anuvu Dedicated Space
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...
Who Controls Nigeria’s only Communications Satellite? Inside a Growing $11.4m Dispute with China
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...
Instant Phone Extension Provisioning with AI‑Powered Automation
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. ✅...
Built‑in Cyber Defense Keeps Public Safety Communications Uninterrupted
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....
ETL & NXGSAT Demonstrate Interoperable End-to-End 5G NTN Solution Powered by DIFI
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...
AT&T, Verizon Lose Wireless Share; Fiber Drives Growth
.@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. 🚨🧵
Deep Discounts on Eero Routers: Upgrade Now?
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
Brendan Carr Tries To ‘Ban’ All Foreign Routers In Lazy, Legally Dubious Shakedown
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...
Comcast Traffic Remains Overwhelmingly Text, Video Still Negligible
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 Redefines Optical Connectivity with India’s First Hollow Core Fibre Cable for Data Centre Networks
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...
Why Namibia Slammed the Door on Starlink
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 %...
Ericsson Eyes up Supercomputer for 6G Research
Ericsson has signed an MoU with Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich to explore supercomputing‑driven research for future 6G networks. The collaboration will tap Jülich’s JUPITER supercomputer, Europe’s most powerful, to benchmark AI, neuromorphic and modular HPC solutions aimed at ultra‑low energy consumption....
Airbase Emerges From Stealth With $5M to Automate Spectrum Allocation
Airbase announced its emergence from stealth with a $5 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, joined by Squadra Ventures and Founders You Should Know. The startup aims to automate the Federal Communications Commission’s outdated, manual spectrum‑allocation workflow that relies on...
Duos Edge AI and Seimitsu Partner to Strengthen Digital Infrastructure Across Georgia
Duos Technologies Group, through its Duos Edge AI subsidiary, announced a strategic partnership with fiber provider Seimitsu to build edge computing infrastructure across Georgia. The collaboration will embed modular Edge AI nodes onto Seimitsu’s 25‑terabit low‑latency fiber network, delivering ultra‑low...
U.S. Ban on Imported Consumer Routers Forces Domestic Sourcing for Network Hardware
U.S. regulators have announced a ban on the import of specific consumer routers, requiring manufacturers to source network hardware domestically. The move aims to tighten supply‑chain security and could ripple through the GovTech sector, affecting vendors, federal agencies and end...
FCC Adds All Foreign‑Made Consumer Routers to Covered List, Banning New Imports
The Federal Communications Commission placed every consumer‑grade Wi‑Fi router manufactured outside the United States on its Covered List, effectively banning the import and sale of new foreign‑made models. The move, driven by a national‑security determination, threatens the supply chain of...
Orange in Advanced Talks to Sell Globecast to Verdoso, Deal Targeted for 2026 Close
Orange SA has entered advanced talks with Verdoso to sell its Globecast media services business, with the transaction expected to close by the end of 2026. The move could reshape Orange’s B2B portfolio and free capital for core network investments,...
PTA Gives Green Light to Ufone-Telenor Merger
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has given technical approval for the merger of Ufone, a PTCL subsidiary, with Telenor Pakistan, creating the country’s second‑largest mobile operator. The combined entity will control just over 70 million connections, trailing Jazz’s 73.9 million users. Legal clearance...
BharatNet Phase 3: Pratap Technocrats Signs ₹8,025 Crore Contract with BSNL for Three Packages
Pratap Technocrats has secured an approximately $980 million contract with state‑run BSNL to design, build, operate and maintain the middle‑mile fiber network for BharatNet Phase 3 in Rajasthan, Haryana and Assam. The deal, covering three packages worth ₹2,839.25 crore, ₹836.78 crore and ₹831.61 crore respectively,...
Reliance Jio Launches Rs 365 Affordable Plan with Bulk Data, Check Benefits
Reliance Jio has quietly introduced a new Rs 365 (≈$4.40) prepaid affordable pack, offering 25 GB of high‑speed data, unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS per day for 30 days. The plan bundles a three‑month JioHotstar subscription, 50 GB of JioAICloud storage and an 18‑month...
Preparing Your IoT Connectivity for the Future
IoT has shifted from experimental pilots to essential infrastructure across logistics, energy and smart‑city services, yet most firms still rely on legacy SIMs designed for occasional handset use. This mismatch creates hidden costs and operational rigidity as device fleets scale...