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In Today’s Issue

UPDATE: Ian Baggley, CRTC Director General - Strategic Planning, Broadband Fund & Networks set to deliver opening Keynote at CRRBC East 2025!

What’s Happening On Earth?

Wi-Fi Alliance® commemorates landmark 6 GHz decision - Wi-Fi Alliance^® proudly marks the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) landmark decision to open the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, a pivotal milestone that continues to fuel innovation and connectivity through Wi-Fi^®. This bold April 2020 decision unlocked billions of dollars in economic value, positioned the U.S. as a global leader in unlicensed spectrum policy, and catalyzed international momentum toward enabling a next-generation Wi-Fi^® ecosystem worldwide.

My Take: Remember, Canada approved AFC before the US ;)

Chris Scharrer: Why Would SpaceX Need $20B from BEAD? - $3.5B can buy 6.4 million Starlink residential installations. Starlink is a practical short-term stopgap before fiber.

My Take: Yea, put 6.4 million kits out there and see how that goes.

Telecom groups want out of these FCC rules - The FCC’s regulatory overhaul prompted a massive public response from trade groups. They pushed back on rules they deem costly and time-consuming. Some groups also advocated for changes to Universal Service Fund (USF) programs

My Take: Everyone wants a reduced reporting burden, especially the smaller guys.

The broadband balancing act and the future of rural connectivity - The national broadband conversation is undergoing a big shift. Here’s where we are, how we got here, and what comes next.

My Take: No, one technology won’t solve the problem for everyone. Just get everyone to agree to their order of priority.

The Divide: Why states want the feds to 'get out of the way' of BEAD - Missouri State Rep. Louis Riggs and Benton's Drew Garner join the podcast to discuss their collaborative effort with over 100 state lawmakers to urge the Trump administration to let states proceed with BEAD.

My Take: 2026? 2027?

Former BEAD Director: Trump Admin Could Squander Once-in-a-Generation Fiber Broadband Investment - Proposed changes could raise LEO participation to 50–70% in some states, Feinman said.

My Take: Capacity for LEO isn’t there. Cost is one thing. Ability to deliver is another.

Test and Measurement: The rural/urban digital divide is getting deeper - More pervasive broadband expansion in urban areas and the loss of the ACP may be factors in deepening the digital divide, Ookla says

50 U.S. States Broadband Speed Performance

My Take: All the stats in the article. Some states saw the problem worsen.

🇨🇦 CRTC does not have jurisdiction over wireless attachments on municipal structures: SCC - The 7-2 ruling upholds a lower court’s decision and means the regulator does not have jurisdiction over wireless attachments on that property, forcing the telecoms to go directly to the municipalities that govern those structures to get access that they say they need to expand the next-generation 5G network.

My Take: Whatever…

🇨🇦 Telus tops watchdog’s telecom complaints ranking as overall gripes up 12%: report - A new report says Telus Corp. is the most complained-about telecommunications service provider in Canada so far this year, as overall grievances by customers continue to rise in the sector.

My Take: “ Rogers Communications Inc. has held that undesirable title for two straight full-year reports after overtaking Bell Canada. Complaints about Telus were up almost 63 per cent year-over-year, which the commission said was driven by issues around incorrect charges, breach of contract, and regular price increases on monthly plans.”

Toshiba brings quantum comms to the telecom network - Toshiba Europe has announced the successful completion of coherent, secure quantum communications over an existing telecom network using standard fibre optic cable at normal room temperature and completely without the need for any highly complex cryogenic components. 

My Take: Super secret messages at room temperature.

How AT&T learned to love DePIN - AT&T is supplementing its cellular network with Wi-Fi from several decentralized physical infrastructure network, or DePIN, companies. It's another signal that future wireless networks will stretch across multiple access technologies.

My Take: Ok, so now I finally understand what Karrier One does. Pretty cool concept.

Iberian outage highlights power security challenges for network operators - Network operators of all kinds are increasingly concerned about the impacts of cyberattacks but there are plenty of other security concerns to be considered too – just ask the telecom network and datacentre operators in Spain and Portugal about the impact of a national power outage, something that the Iberian peninsula has just experienced. 

My Take: Beam it down from space into big Tesla batteries. Problem solved.

Ericsson and Nokia were cutting 20,000 jobs as Huawei grew - About a tenth of jobs at Ericsson and Nokia have disappeared in just over two years, while Huawei has added 33,000 R&D roles since it came under US fire.

My Take: China builds. America spends.

What’s Happening In Space?

What’s in Space This Week?

🇨🇦 How many spaceports does Canada need? - With the first Canadian Space Launch Conference upon us, many questions will be asked and SpaceQ will be onsite to cover the news and pass along what we learn. For this story we’re asking the question, how many spaceports does Canada need?

My Take: Two. I want to see launches from both of them.

🇨🇦 Slingshot Aerospace Expands Global Footprint with New Canadian Headquarters in Ottawa - Slingshot Aerospace, Inc., the leader in AI-powered solutions for satellite tracking, space traffic coordination, and space modeling and simulation, has announced the opening of its new Canadian office in Ottawa. This strategic expansion reinforces Slingshot’s commitment to strengthening Canada’s sovereign space capabilities and supporting allied collaboration across the space domain awareness (SDA) ecosystem.

My Take: Space Domain Awareness, security, the Arctic, and all that.

Starlink Gives Away Residential Kit Worth $349 for Free but There Are Catches - The hardware deal is not available in all service areas, and a $100 demand surcharge may apply.

My Take: I like the demand surcharge in capacity strained areas. Does the money really make the problem go away? No. It’s like a ticket from a community speed camera.

Starlink Tackles Wi-Fi Dead Zones With $40 Router Mini: Do You Need One? - SpaceX offers a cheaper way for customers to form a mesh network inside their homes, rather than solely relying on the Gen 3 model.

My Take: Everyone needs a mesh, don’t they? It will end the posts on the Starlink forums about this exact topic using 3rd party product.

GITAI Lunar Robots at Work! - GITAI successfully demonstrated the construction of a 5-meter-high communication tower in a simulated lunar environment. This demonstration utilized GITAI’s lunar rover and three inchworm robots, highlighting the potential for autonomous construction of critical infrastructure on the Moon .

My Take: Watch the video!

The Free Press: Manitoba-made technology could transform internet access in the North - The team is building and testing high-altitude drones and airships that will act as mobile platforms to support and extend satellite internet coverage across the Arctic.

My Take: I posted about this before. HAPS are legitimate, and the article mentions something about a partnership with Telesat. Who knows. Maybe it’ll work? Have to dig into it some more.

Amazon launches its first internet satellites to compete against SpaceX’s Starlinks - The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket carried up 27 of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites, named after the frigid fringes of our solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellites will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 400 miles (630 kilometres).

My Take: In case you missed it..

Clash of Business Models? - Now that Amazon has launched its aggressive campaign to deploy over 3,000 Kuiper satellites, one area that is likely to attract growing attention is the divergence in distribution strategies and scaling models among the leading players.

My Take: Well, one has distribution, cloud and Prime.. and the other has Elon.

Amazon’s Disruption - But it won’t be too much longer before Amazon can begin to offer internet services – at least in the U.S. At 27 satellites per launch, Amazon can reach 578 satellites in about 20 more launches, which can be achieved before the end of this year, and Amazon has already secured its launch services to make it happen.

My Take: That’s like 2-3 launches per month. I wonder when they will announce their GTM plan?

Kuiper Launch - in a race of ecosystems - For many, this may feel like catching up but for those who’ve watched this market mature, Kuiper’s entry signals a new phase in the competitive dynamics of global connectivity.

My Take: Long way to go with many launches to get to where they need to compete. Great start with 27!

Should You Buy Amazon Stock as Its Secretive Space Project Kuiper Launches? - This launch is Amazon’s most significant bet outside its core e-commerce and cloud businesses. Kuiper could eventually connect millions of individuals in rural and underserved areas worldwide to the internet. The company is targeting the same market as SpaceX.

My Take: Make your own decision!

Rivada Expands Outernet Access to 33 Countries, Secures $16 Billion+ in Global Business - Rivada Space Networks today announced it has secured market access to its Outernet constellation in 33 countries and every continent, with Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Costa Rica among the latest nations to soon offer next-generation communications capabilities.

My Take: Now all they need is money to build, I guess?

TiVo report shows consumers want quality over quantity - TiVo’s 2024 Video Trends Report found that consumers in the United States and Canada have reduced their entertainment spending by nearly $20 year-over-year, with the average number of services used declining from 11.1 to 9.9 in the same period.

My Take: The average person has 11.1 services?

FCC opens new battlefront in satellite power struggle - The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted April 28 to review its satellite spectrum sharing rules, opening a new front in the power struggle between legacy operators in geosynchronous orbit (GSO) and non-GSO (NGSO) upstarts.

My Take: Equivalent Power Flux Density? Where’s Doc Brown?

FCC to Review of Spectrum Sharing Rules to Unleash Space Innovation - The Federal Communications Commission today initiated a review of the decades-old spectrum sharing regime between different types of satellite systems. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted today begins a formal proceeding to enable greater and more intensive use of spectrum for space activities in the United States.

My Take: PDF

Tumbling Russian Sat Highlights Counterspace Threat - A prototype anti-sat weapon Russia launched into orbit in 2022 is tumbling out of control, according to commercial SSA companies who spotted it. That’s a sign the spacecraft is no longer functional.

My Take: Things tumbling out of control in space doesn’t sound like something that has a positive outcome.

“Elon Musk Under Massive Pressure”: China Develops Groundbreaking Tech to Hijack Starlink Satellites and Unmask Stealth Aircraft Worldwide - In a groundbreaking development that could redefine global military strategies, Chinese researchers have reportedly harnessed the power of SpaceX's Starlink satellites to detect stealth aircraft, raising significant implications for both national security and international aerospace surveillance.

My Take: This is pretty interesting, and likely something that no one thought of? Maybe? It’d like fiber sensing, except it’s RF instead of light.

Direct To Device

FCC Grants Lynk Global License Modification for Commercial Direct-to-Device Service in U.S. - Modification allows Lynk to provide commercial services with partner DOCOMO Pacific, Inc within U.S. Territories, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands

My Take: Things are moving quickly..

T-Mobile Cuts Price on Starlink Satellite Messaging, Service to Start in July - T-Mobile is setting the price at $10 per month, and is offering the service to AT&T and Verizon customers as well, CEO Mike Sievert told investors on Thursday. Customers on the premium plans Experience Beyond and Go5G Next have access to satellite messaging for free. 

My Take: Cut the price in half, get competitors to pay you as well. Get their data. Market to them. Good plan. Great differentiation.

Witness history. The world's first smartwatch supporting 3GPP IoT NTN has just successfully connected to Skylo's satellite network - The watch is only 55mm in diameter and uses a built-in LDS antenna to support two-way transmission of text, voice packets, pictures and sensor data. It also supports two-way transmission of NTN messages and global SMS

My Take: Very cool. I’m sure things will miniaturize over time.

Enabling AI

Meta launches stand-alone AI app to take on ChatGPT - The new AI assistant offering will run on Meta’s Llama AI model, the company said Tuesday. It includes a Discover feed that shows how others are interacting with the tool and offer prompts.

My Take: ..not to be outdone.

🇨🇦 Alberta's eye on AI - The province wants to attract massive data centres to power generative AI. But current infrastructure can’t handle their near-endless demand for electricity

My Take: That’s why they chose Alberta. Alternate fuel sources. “There are 21 requests for electricity from proposed data centres to the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), which plans and manages the grid. Some facilities are aiming to come online in the next two years. These projects are asking the AESO to be connected to 11,634 MW of electricity, not counting Wonder Valley. That’s more or less enough to power another Alberta. (Some requests may relate to the same facility, but broken into different phases.)”

The state of AI: How organizations are rewiring to capture value - Organizations are beginning to create the structures and processes that lead to meaningful value from gen AI. While still in early days, companies are redesigning workflows, elevating governance, and mitigating more risks.

My Take: Download the McKinsey report!

Motorola’s Latest Razr Phones Are All In on AI - Perplexity? Gemini? Copilot? The Razr Ultra will have it all optimized for its flippy, folding screen.

My Take: Last ditch effort to try to get people to buy these things? Are people buying these things?

'Gradually Stop Using Contractors': Duolingo Is Replacing Contract Workers With AI - Duolingo is taking an "AI-first" approach, meaning it will assign AI tasks previously completed by human workers.

My Take: Spotify. Duolingo. Who’s next?

OpenAI upgrades ChatGPT search with shopping features - When ChatGPT users search for products, the chatbot will now offer a few recommendations, present images and reviews for those items, and include direct links to web pages where users can buy the products. OpenAI says users can ask super-specific questions in natural language and receive customized results. To start, OpenAI is experimenting with categories such as fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics.

My Take: Affiliate marketing and referral links to pay the power bills.

Sycophancy in GPT-4o: What happened and what we’re doing about it - We have rolled back last week’s GPT‑4o update in ChatGPT so people are now using an earlier version with more balanced behavior. The update we removed was overly flattering or agreeable—often described as sycophantic.

My Take: Just like me - overly flattering or agreeable. 😁

This and That!

‘Vibe coding’ using LLMs susceptible to most common security flaws - “Vibe coding,” a recent trend of using large language models (LLMs) to generate code based on plain-language prompts, can yield code that is vulnerable to up to nine out of the top 10 weaknesses in the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), according to Backslash Security.

My Take: Well, that’s not good.

The Best Mesh Wi-Fi Routers - Forget about patchy internet connections and dead spots in the house. These WIRED-tested multiroom mesh systems will get you online in no time.

My Take: Best is all relative, of course. Many are now including security and parental controls free of charge.

Car Subscription Features Raise Your Risk of Government Surveillance, Police Records Show - Records reviewed by WIRED show law enforcement agencies are eager to take advantage of the data trails generated by a flood of new internet-connected vehicle features.

My Take: I wonder if they can detect and repotrt on poor parking habits?

Lab-grown teeth could offer alternative to fillings and implants, scientists say - Scientists in the U.K. have developed a new material that may allow them to grow teeth in the lab, which could provide an alternative to fillings and dental implants someday.

My Take: Chew on that for a while.

Starbucks Says It’s Making Progress on Quest to Fulfill Orders Faster - A technology pilot at dozens of U.S. locations has shaved two minutes off the average time to make a beverage ordered inside cafes. Starbucks said three-quarters of orders at the test cafes’ busiest times were completed in four minutes or less, nearing its service-time goal, while not delaying mobile orders. 

My Take: Four minutes seems long, doesn’t it? And now they’re complaining about the new uniform mandate.

TikTok parent company eyes 900MW data centre project in Brazil - ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is considering a multi-billion-dollar investment in a data centre project in Brazil, according to sources familiar with the matter.

My Take: That’s some powerful dancing.

Your cat’s microchip could carry malware - When Seth, a veterinarian, glanced at his computer screen he didn’t expect to see a weird glitch. The RFID tag reader had just pulled up the wrong address for a pet. At first, he thought it was a minor hiccup – maybe a system lag or a mistyped number.

My Take: Didn’t the mean Meow-ware?? HAHAHAH

🇨🇦 Two cities stopped adding fluoride to water. Science reveals what happened - Warren Loeppky has been a pediatric dentist in the Canadian city of Calgary for 20 years. Over the last decade, he says, tooth decay in children he’s seen has become more common, more aggressive and more severe. Many of his young patients have so much damage that he has to work with them under general anesthesia.

My Take: Why take it out? Maybe is a conspiracy with the dentists to make more money ;)

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: These costs were calculated based on cloud compute rental prices, which can rake up millions of dollars quickly since companies rent out thousands of supercomputers that run nonstop for weeks. By contrast, the DeepSeek-V3 reportedly cost $6 million to train, however this cost remains disputed. Apparently it’s bad for climate things as well.

Podcast Recommendation

In this episode, Martin Scott, Research Director and expert in consumer telecoms and media, talks with Dongye Liu, Research Analyst, about how leading broadband providers are minimising churn in their customer bases.

They discuss the main strategies that operators are relying on, such as maximising the impact of the migration of customers to fibre, improving the quality of experience, fixed–mobile convergence and bundling value-added services. They consider best-practice examples of how operators have implemented these strategies and discuss how operators might develop sustainable strategies to maintain low broadband churn rates and improve customer satisfaction.

Listen Here!

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

IMDb: 5.8/10

JMDb: 7.5/10 (“ultra-violent action thriller”.. are you sensing a trend?)

Gareth Evans’ Havoc (2025) is a relentless, ultra-violent action thriller starring Tom Hardy as Walker, a corrupt detective navigating a rain-soaked city teeming with crime and double-crosses. The film’s plot-centered on Walker’s desperate mission to rescue a politician’s son after a drug deal goes awry-serves mostly as a springboard for a barrage of bone-crunching fight sequences and shootouts, with Evans’ signature kinetic choreography on full display.

While the cast is stacked, Hardy delivers a bruised, brooding performance, and Forest Whitaker and Timothy Olyphant add gravitas. The characters are thinly drawn, and the story is formulaic, often feeling like a patchwork of genre clichés. Still, the film’s set pieces, including a wild nightclub brawl and a bloody cabin siege, are executed with visceral flair, making Havoc a must for action fans, even if its grim tone and shallow narrative leave little lasting impact.

Shallow narrative, ultra-violent action thriller.. What else do you need in a movie? 😁

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