TELECOM PULSE

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Market Intelligence for Telecom Professionals

🎯 Today's Telecom PulseUpdated 3h ago

Amazon to acquire Globalstar for $11.57B, boosting satellite connectivity

Amazon announced an $11.57 billion acquisition of Globalstar, securing low‑Earth‑orbit spectrum and satellite assets for its Project Leo network. The purchase gives Amazon direct‑to‑device connectivity and underpins a partnership with Apple to power emergency SOS features on iPhones and Apple Watches.

Also developing:

By the numbers: AfDB approves $200M loan to D‑VIBE for Nigeria fiber expansion

⭐ Big Story of the Day

Amazon Buys Globalstar and Does Satellite Deal with Apple

Amazon announced it will acquire Globalstar, folding the satellite operator’s fleet, spectrum licenses, and infrastructure into its Amazon Leo business. The deal secures Globalstar’s existing 85% capacity allocation to Apple, while Amazon and Apple signed a new agreement to keep iPhone and Apple Watch satellite features running on the combined network. Amazon Leo plans to launch a direct‑to‑device (D2D) constellation in early 2028, promising higher spectrum efficiency and support for hundreds of millions of endpoints. The acquisition also dovetails with Amazon’s recent aviation antenna launch and Delta in‑flight connectivity contract.

Source: Telecoms.com

💰 Telecom Fundraising

AfDB Approves $200M Loan to Nigeria's D‑VIBE Fiber Expansion Project

The African Development Bank approved a $200 million loan to Nigeria’s Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment (D‑VIBE) project, known as Project Bridge, to expand the country’s fiber‑optic network. The funding will help extend Nigeria’s national fiber backbone from about 30,000 km to roughly 120,000 km, boosting broadband access across all local government areas.

Debt FinancingDeal Source

💬 Top Telecom Social Posts

Tweet by @Teriradichel

I finally had a chance to look at why I keep getting directed to a UK address on Netgear M7. I wanted to use my physical Verizon sim but even though Netgear is advertising it would be ready by the end of March it wasn’t working. I went ahead and got a temp eSIM for traveling. The eSIM from Netgear looks like it is coming from Verizon or AT&T but it I just noticed my public IP is in 94.x range and immediately know that is not a US network. Been doing this too long. So I look it up in ARIN and it’s an Israeli company. Sparks Communications LTD. I’m sure it’s a good company but that has various legal, privacy, and latency implications. Netgear is advertising that Verizon certification would be ready by end of month and promised me my sim would work by then but does not. I am not sure what impact new US regulations on devices from companies outside the US has on this. So let’s say Netgear is a US company with an eSIM baked into the device but the service comes from Israel? How does that work with the new law? I also read the device had a firewall of sorts on it which appealed to me. Turns out you have to connect to it using a phone app so that increases the attack surface. And I’m not finding the firewall. What am I missing? I wish someone could create a truly secure mobile hotspot with a *good* firewall. I have ideas how I would do that but the hardware engineering and embedded systems and all is not something I really want to undertake. But like when I was frustrated with hosting CVS in machine in my rack at the data center and wished someone would just offer a hosted solution for that (hello GitHub) maybe someday someone will build a really secure and performant mobile hotspot. It’s a good idea whose time has come - years ago actually. Why do we still not have one? Based on the reviews for a lot of the models out there shouldn’t be hard to beat. It would help if you could monitor your network traffic in such a way that you could accurately pinpoint the source of connectivity issues as well. Dare to dream.

by Teri Radichel•

Amazon Acquires Apple’s Satellite Partner ↦

[Amazon](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-globalstar-apple): > Today Amazon.com, Inc. and Globalstar, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Globalstar, enabling Amazon Leo to add direct-to-device (D2D) services to its low Earth orbit satellite network and extend cellular coverage to customers beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. In addition, Amazon and Apple announced an agreement for Amazon Leo to power satellite services for iPhone and Apple Watch, including Emergency SOS via satellite. This deal had been recently rumored. Amazon acquiring Globalstar gives them a leg up in its attempt to take on Starlink, which is the biggest player in this space. But Apple previously [sank a pretty billion-dollar-plus investment into Globalstar](https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/11/apple-sinks-1-1-billion-into-globalstars-satellite-network-takes-ownership-stake/), whose system underpins its satellite features. That stake seems to have bought Apple some assurances, including support for not only current but future devices. The ongoing question for Apple’s satellite features is whether users will ever end up paying for them, something that the company has been happy to [continually kick down the road](https://sixcolors.com/link/2025/09/iphone-14-and-15-users-will-get-another-year-of-free-satellite-features/). It’s possible the deal is structured in such a way that Apple doesn’t have to pass on the cost to its users, at least for some period of time, but we’ll see what happens this year when the latest round of iPhones come out. As for Apple getting in bed with one of its competitors, Amazon hardly the only other major tech company that Apple now has a close tie to: we know it’s [using Google’s Gemini for its forthcoming AI models](https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/01/apple-will-base-its-foundation-models-on-googles-gemini/) and, of course, it’s long depended on components made by Samsung. As tech companies get larger and larger, it’s harder and harder for them not to be collaborators. [Go to the linked site](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-globalstar-apple). [Read on Six Colors](https://sixcolors.com/link/2026/04/amazon-acquires-apples-satellite-partner/).

by Six Colors•