Vodacom Congo Staff Take Part in Emergency Response Volunteer Training
Vodacom Congo employees completed a three‑day emergency response training under the Vodafone Foundation’s Instant Network Mission – DRC Hub. The program equips local volunteers to deploy and manage vital connectivity during humanitarian crises. Around 20 staff participated from May 5‑7, focusing on rapid network restoration. The initiative strengthens Vodacom’s disaster‑response capability and community support in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ETSI Publishes Common Test Specification for Next Generation Emergency Networks
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has issued TS 103 480, a common test specification designed to verify interoperability of next‑generation emergency communications equipment. The methodology provides standardized test cases and an end‑to‑end framework applicable across 4G, 5G and future 6G networks....
BT Cyber Threat Protection Offers Norton to Protect up to 15 Devices
BT has launched a Cyber Threat Protection service for its broadband customers, powered by Norton. The complimentary package covers up to 15 devices across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, and includes antivirus, scam assistant, dark web monitoring, safe web, social...
Public Videos: Segment Routing 101
Jeff Tantsura’s 2017 "Introduction to Segment Routing" webinar and the 2026 ITNOG 10 "Segment Routing: From Theory to Practice" workshop are now available as free public videos. The webinar, originally a short IETF‑focused session, and the workshop, which drew roughly 100...
The Invisible Hand: Regaining Control of Service Quality From Outsourced Satellite Networks
Mobile network operators are increasingly leasing Low Earth Orbit satellite capacity from satellite network operators to fill coverage gaps, but the lack of direct control creates a trust gap and makes service‑level enforcement difficult. Researchers at Tsinghua University introduced Ripple,...
Optus and Ericsson Achieve 180MHz Across 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz Bands Using Carrier Aggregation on a Live 5G SA Network
Optus, together with Ericsson, demonstrated a world‑first 180 MHz carrier aggregation across the 2.3 GHz (n40) and 3.5 GHz (n78) mid‑band spectrum on a live 5G standalone network. The four‑component carrier aggregation (4CC CA) combined 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands, delivering up...
Mtel Germany Introduces 'Worry-Free' Tariffs with Wide Roaming
Mtel Germany has launched a new suite of “Worry‑Free” mobile tariffs aimed at travelers who move frequently between Germany, the Balkans and the wider EU. The core offering bundles unlimited data for the Balkans and EU, while an optional global...
T-Mobile US Launches New Pre-Paid eSIM Plans for International Visitors
T‑Mobile US is rolling out short‑term prepaid eSIM passes for international visitors starting 18 May. The new T‑Mobile Prepaid US Passes are offered in 7‑, 10‑, 14‑ and 30‑day durations at $25, $30, $35 and $50 respectively. Each plan delivers unlimited...
Portuguese Minister Calls for Faster Investment in Standalone 5G
Portugal’s Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, warned that the nation’s 5G rollout is far from complete, with only about 30 percent of the network fully upgraded. While commercial 5G services are available, most of the infrastructure still operates in non‑standalone...
Kyivstar to Disconnect Parts of 3G Network in August
Kyivstar announced it will disconnect its 3G network at selected sites on 4 August, covering locations in Vinnitsia, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Kherson. The freed radio frequencies will be reassigned to LTE services, expanding 4G capacity. The shutdown includes major cities...
Yes. Europe Is Lagging Way Behind in 5G, But...
The GSMA warns that Europe must invest roughly $216 billion to close a widening 5G gap, with current capital spending per mobile connection at $38—half the $76 spent in leading markets. Operator returns have slipped below 7% and fragmented regulations choke...
Aquiss Launches New Higher Contention 1Gbps Package on Full Fibre (and Other Offers)
Aquiss, a UK broadband reseller, has added two new Full Fibre products on the Full Fibre Ltd network: a 2.5 Gbps symmetric plan priced at £65 /month (≈$83) with the first three months at half price, and a “Flex” 1 Gbps burstable tier...
EXCLUSIVE: April 2026 Update on Broadband Availability Across the UK, Nations and Regions
The May 2026 Thinkbroadband update shows UK gigabit broadband availability reaching 90.62% nationwide, with Wales climbing to 88.14% and overtaking the South East’s 87.89%. Full‑or‑part fibre coverage now exceeds 99% in every region, while premises with two or more FTTP options have...
Chief Telecom Taps Radware to Drive DDoS Protection in Taiwan
Radware has teamed up with Chief Telecom to launch Godshield Pro, a DDoS protection service tailored for Taiwanese enterprises. The solution combines Radware’s AI‑driven mitigation with Chief Telecom’s local backbone, delivering in‑network scrubbing that cuts latency versus traditional cloud‑only defenses. It...
Serbia Enters the 5G Era as Operators Accelerate Nationwide Upgrades
Serbia’s three nationwide operators—Telekom Srbija, Yettel and A1—activated commercial 5G networks in December 2025 after a €300 million ($327 million) spectrum auction. Telekom remains the market leader with a 42.7% share, while Yettel holds roughly 33% and A1 about 24.3%. Yettel topped...
On ARP and MAC Aging Timers
Arista’s default network timers—four‑hour ARP timeout and five‑minute MAC aging—trace back to the early days of Ethernet when memory and CPU were scarce. ARP’s long timeout minimized broadcast traffic, while MAC aging kept bridge tables clean to avoid misdirected frames....
Community Fibre — 25% Off Promotion for May 2026 (but 2027 Increase up From £2 to £3/Month)
Community Fibre, the London‑focused ISP owned by Altnet, rolled out a 25% discount promotion from May 7 to June 3, 2026, with free installation and mandatory 24‑month contracts. The deal reduces the 2.5 Gbps standard plan to £32.25 (~$41) per month and the...
Extreme Networks Deploys Wi‑Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be) at University of Florida’s “Swamp”
Extreme Networks has rolled out the first Wi‑Fi 7 network in a U.S. college stadium, deploying the technology at the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (“The Swamp”). The system is engineered for up to 90,000 concurrent users, leveraging Multi‑Link...
Starlink MVNO, but Why?
SpaceX plans to launch 10,000 Starlink satellites by May 2026 and has filed for a million more, positioning the constellation for a mobile‑virtual‑network‑operator (MVNO) model. The article argues that pure satellite‑to‑phone service cannot replace 5G small cells because signals cannot penetrate...
The Lifeline Program’s Afterlife Problem
The FCC’s Lifeline subsidy, intended to keep low‑income households connected, is plagued by fraud involving deceased subscribers. An OIG audit revealed providers collected nearly $5 million for over 116,000 dead enrollees, with about 40 % dying before ever joining. As the Universal...
Lifecell Reports 37% Higher LTE Traffic
Ukrainian mobile operator Lifecell said its LTE network delivered an average of 12 GB per user in April, a 37 percent year‑on‑year increase. VoLTE traffic surged 152 percent over the same period, and LTE now carries roughly 29 percent of all voice calls on...
Megafon Offers Free Data for Transfers From iCloud After Apple Accounts Blocked
Russian telecom operator Megafon announced a limited‑time promotion offering customers free mobile data to transfer iCloud files to local storage via its Cloud Mail app from May 13 to May 19. The move follows a government‑mandated order that, effective April 1, blocked Apple...
New Wi-Fi 7 Network Installed at University of Florida Stadium
Extreme Networks has installed the United States' first collegiate stadium Wi‑Fi 7 network at the University of Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The system delivers ultra‑fast gigabit speeds, sub‑10‑millisecond latency, and the capacity to handle tens of thousands of simultaneous connections. Coverage spans...
Antevia, Ontix Partner to Support Hybrid 5G Networks
Antevia Networks, a UK provider of in‑building 5G solutions, has teamed up with Onix, a neutral‑host operator, to launch commercial hybrid private‑public mobile networks. The collaboration merges Onix’s Neutral Host Service Gateway, Nexus platform, and Service Enablement Model with Antevia’s...
Kcell Invests in Private Networks Projects
Kazakhstan’s leading mobile operator Kcell announced that it completed more than ten private LTE and 5G network projects in 2025. The company disclosed a 2025 network investment of KZT 102.8 billion (about $219 million) and said it has installed 2,242 5G base stations...
Poland Updates Spectrum Plan for 700 MHz, Upper 6 GHz Bands
Poland’s Government Legislation Centre has released a draft regulation amending the National Spectrum Allocation Table, earmarking the 6,425‑7,125 MHz range for mobile use. The change expands the pool of frequencies available for 4G, 5G and prospective 6G networks. By formally identifying...
Worth Reading 050626
A RIPE Labs analysis reveals how five leading DDoS mitigation providers use BGP scrubbing, distinguishing always‑on from on‑demand defenses. An ACM opinion argues that AI is now a prerequisite for any meaningful privacy protection in today’s hyper‑complex data landscape. Researchers...
Millimeter Wave Broadband
Ookla’s latest RootMetrics report shows that Verizon’s millimeter‑wave (mmWave) spectrum now powers 2.2% of its cellular speed tests, while AT&T registers only 0.2% and T‑Mobile is negligible. The data confirms that mmWave can deliver gigabit‑plus speeds but only within roughly...
£15 a Month Gigabit Service From DIGI UK Surfaces in Letchworth and Hitchin
DIGI UK, the European low‑cost broadband player, has launched three fiber plans in the UK, starting at £15 (~$19) per month for 1 Gbps, £20 (~$25) for 2.5 Gbps, and £25 (~$32) for 10 Gbps. The service is currently available only in the Hitchin and Letchworth...
VIAVI Unveils CyberFlood CF1000 Appliance for Validation of Multi-Terabit Security
VIAVI Solutions introduced the CyberFlood CF1000, a 2‑RU appliance that delivers native 400 G security and application performance testing up to 1.2 Tbps. The platform combines massive encrypted traffic generation, TLS throughput of 500 Gbps, and AI inference workload emulation without external switches....
More Standalone 5G for Wales as O2 Switches on Its 5G+
O2 has begun rolling out its standalone 5G+ network across Wales, covering nine major towns, 18 smaller towns and 133 villages. The launch reaches roughly 800,000 residents—about a quarter of the Welsh population—with a minimum of 90% signal coverage. Backed...
Lumen to Acquire Alkira to Accelerate Its Push Into Multi-Cloud and Data Center Interconnect Services
Lumen Technologies announced a $475 million cash acquisition of cloud‑networking platform Alkira, slated to close in Q3 2026 pending regulatory approval. Alkira’s carrier‑agnostic, cloud‑native platform lets enterprises manage connectivity across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on‑prem environments via a single control plane....
Nomad Made an Ultra-Rugged Starlink Mini Power Cable, Available Starting Today
Nomad has launched a rugged, 50‑foot power cable designed specifically for the Starlink Mini satellite internet system. The cable features a Kevlar‑29 aramid fiber and nylon weave, an aluminum adapter compatible with 12V or 25V vehicle sockets, and built‑in temperature...
Vodafone to Buy CK Hutchison’s 49% VodafoneThree Stake for £4.3bn
Vodafone has agreed to buy CK Hutchison’s 49% stake in the UK VodafoneThree joint venture for £4.3 bn (about $5.5 bn), valuing the combined business at roughly £13.85 bn ($17.7 bn). The transaction is slated to close in the second half of 2026, pending...
The Aramid Shield: Snare Drones for an Active Undersea Defense Capability
The article proposes an "Aramid Shield"—autonomous drones equipped with aramid‑fiber snares—to actively protect undersea internet cables from gray‑zone sabotage by Chinese and Russian maritime militia. Recent incidents in Taiwan and the Baltic illustrate how traditional naval vessels and coast‑guard fleets...
EuNetworks Launches New Frankfurt-Strasbourg Fibre Route
euNetworks has completed a new 247‑km long‑haul fibre route linking Frankfurt and Strasbourg, the latest addition to its Super Highway network. The line provides direct, low‑latency connectivity to more than 76 data centres in the Frankfurt metro area and integrates...
Vodafone Named Best Mobile Network in London by Net Check
Vodafone UK topped Net Check’s latest London mobile network benchmark with a score of 957.73 out of 1,000. The study measured network quality, connection stability, service availability and data/voice performance across more than 1,109 km on 24 routes, with tests run...
Anritsu Deploys Wireless Test Infrastructure at CERT Tunisia to Support Device Certification
Anritsu has installed a comprehensive wireless test infrastructure at Tunisia’s national testing authority, CERT. The solution spans 2G through 5G NR, including IoT and WLAN, enabling full‑spectrum device validation. With this platform, CERT can certify all wireless equipment entering the...
Polish Municipal Wi-Fi Market Stable in 2025
Poland’s national telecom regulator UKE reports that municipal Wi‑Fi hotspots reached 6,337 by the end of 2025, matching the 2023 level and edging up slightly from 6,277 in 2022. The market has essentially plateaued over the past two years. UKE...
Charlotte Douglas Airport Deploys Airspan MobileAccess 6000 Platform
Airspan Networks and Wireless Services have installed the Airspan MobileAccess 6000 Digital DAS platform throughout Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The system supports every sub‑6 GHz cellular band and the C‑band, delivering consistent, high‑speed in‑building wireless connectivity. This deployment is a key component...
Mexico's Telcel and AT&T Disconnect 1 Mln Mobile Lines in Year to Date
Mexico's two largest mobile carriers, Telcel and AT&T, have disconnected more than 1 million prepaid lines in the first quarter of 2026. AT&T alone deactivated 577,000 numbers, while Telcel cut 483,000. The mass disconnections stem from a new regulatory mandate that...
Meo Tests Network Slicing on 5G SA Network
Portuguese operator Meo has begun testing network slicing on its standalone 5G network, branded 5G+. The trial, called Meo Priority Pass powered by 5G+, gives select private and business customers pre‑access to sliced connectivity. Slicing enables the operator to allocate...
ARP Issues in EVPN Centralized Routing Design
The article dissects ARP failures in a centralized EVPN routing design that uses IRB (integrated routing and bridging) with MAC‑VRFs. It shows that the spine must advertise its VLAN MAC/IP as an EVPN MAC‑IP route, otherwise traffic floods across the...
Questioning the IPv8 Proposal
The IPv8 draft attempts to combine routing, address management, authentication and service configuration into a single Layer 3 protocol, but it falls short of a production‑ready design. It proposes a single global route per ASN and uses OAuth2 JWT tokens, DHCP8,...
D2D
The article revisits the early failure of Iridium’s $5 billion satellite phone venture, attributing its collapse to regulatory pushback and high handset costs. It then outlines how falling launch prices, improved digital signal processing, and new business models have revived interest...
Unused Fibre Optic Capacity Can Boost Quantum Security Networks
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have introduced an opportunistic quantum key distribution (QKD) framework that taps idle spectral capacity in existing 80‑channel wavelength‑division multiplexing (WDM) fiber. Monte‑Carlo simulations reveal that 45‑65% of unused spectrum can be repurposed for...
Supreme Court Signals Doubt About Challenge to FCC’s In-House Penalty Process
The U.S. Supreme Court signaled reluctance to overturn the FCC’s internal penalty process during oral arguments brought by AT&T and Verizon, who challenge privacy‑related fines exceeding $100 million. The dispute centers on whether agencies must provide greater judicial review before imposing...
Non-Cellular, 5G Wireless Standard Shows Interoperability for Smart Buildings
The DECT Forum showcased the world’s first New Radio (NR+) interoperability demonstration, featuring components from Legrand and Schneider Electric. NR+ is an open, non‑cellular 5G wireless standard that operates in the 1.9 GHz “golden frequency” band, targeting massive IoT deployments in...
Satellite Frenzy: Show Me the Money
The satellite communications industry is accelerating, with more than 120 telco partnerships and capital expenditures topping $100 billion as firms race to dominate Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband. While the broader satellite market generates roughly $293 billion in annual revenue, the LEO...
Top-to-Bottom Review of USF
The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to overhaul the Universal Service Fund’s High‑Cost program, which subsidizes rural broadband. The NPRM offers three reform paths: update existing mechanisms, create a new fixed‑support model, or let current A‑CAM subsidies phase...