You won’t find a better source for Market Intelligence about Telecom, Space Communications and AI, all in one place, for free, anywhere.

Be among the thousands of weekly readers.

🌎 What’s Happening on Earth

🪐 What’s Happening in Space

🤖 Enabling AI

🍳 This and That!

💡 Lean About..

If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it!

What’s Happening On Earth?

OpenVault Broadband Insights Report, Q3/24 - While the total volume of downstream and upstream usage continues to climb, the 3Q24 edition of the OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) report indicates a continuation of a trend that OpenVault analysis has identified throughout the modern broadband era: With the exception of the pandemic year of 2020, downstream growth rates have slowed each year, while the rate of increase in the upstream has trended steadily upward.

My Take: 5 TB power users? What are they doing?

Couple of other things of significance:

(1) Upstream traffic continues to grow. Does this pose a challenge for FWA and HFC networks with constrained spectrum? If this is the trend, how long can the FCC hold off on moving to a symmetrical universal service objective - the notion of which still receives pushback ftom constrained providers?

(2) Give the people what they want. Some have suggested that rural and remote subscribers make do with less bandwidth or don’t need it because it has been difficult to provision to communities. There’s nothing to suggest subscribers in rural and remote areas are less digitally engaged or need the same degree of digital connectivity and services as their urban counterparts. The chart below suggests rural customers will consume just as much as their urban counterparts, given the chance.

There are so many more insights and derived outcomes in the report.

Chinese Ship’s Crew Suspected of Deliberately Dragging Anchor for 100 Miles to Cut Baltic Cables - Investigators suspect that the crew of the Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier—225 meters long, 32 meters wide and loaded with Russian fertilizer—deliberately severed two critical data cables last week as its anchor was dragged along the Baltic seabed for over 100 miles.

My Take: Follow on the stories last week about the cable cuts and the monitoring of the Chinese vessel’s movements.

Neutral host network sharing in cities can slash costs by up to 47% – study - Compared with traditional 5G small cell sites, neutral host networks used for 5G densification in cities can cut deployment costs by up to 47%, while slashing energy consumption by as much as 38%. These are the findings of an ABI Research study commissioned by neutral host company Boldyn Networks.

My Take: Good article. Lots of examples. Makes sense. Already happening. Maybe I should sell a NetCO/ServCO t-shirt.

Differentiation in the fixed enterprise connectivity market is challenging, but operators do have options - We recently interviewed a dozen operators about their provision of fixed enterprise connectivity. During the interviews, we asked them to rate how important various factors are to enterprise choice of connectivity provider. The results indicated the importance to operators of providing good fault response and customer satisfaction, and highlighted ways that operators could gain a short-term advantage in the market, for example via technical innovation or provision of managed services.

My Take: Relationship, new services and ensuring things get fixed when they break. Go figure. I guess network and technology are becoming a dime a dozen, as they say. It’s not a surprise that differentiation matters and it’s not just speeds and blinky lights.

Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and Conference Board of Canada Release Report Highlighting $635 Billion Economic Impact of Closing Infrastructure Gap by 2030 - The Assembly of First Nations (AFN), in collaboration with the Conference Board of Canada, has released a new report revealing that Closing the Infrastructure Gap by 2030 offers a transformative opportunity for Canada’s economy. The report, “Benefits for All Canadians: Economic Impact of Closing the Infrastructure Gap,” highlights the potential of an estimated $350 billion federal investment, projecting a $635 billion increase in economic output, creating and sustaining over 338,000 jobs per year and generating $87 billion in government revenue over the next seven years.

My Take: I used to think $5.2B was outlandish, but not when one considers the lack of middle-mile infrastructure.

Fiber Broadband Association, Frontier study estimates $3 trillion value in U.S. fiber deployment - The U.S. is currently behind most developed countries in fiber deployment, with approximately 62 million broadband serviceable locations — including 56 million households — lacking fiber access. As the largest pure-play fiber internet provider in the country, we want to raise awareness of the economic benefits of expanding fiber access and highlight how directing existing public funding towards fiber deployment can maximize these benefits.

My Take: I guess that’s why Bell bought Ziply. Anyway, the message is clear that fiber is generational. I get it that there have been great advancements in FWA solutions to deliver “fiber like” connectivity, but the upgrades will continue. Anyone have any comparisons of FWA vs Fiber infrastructure valuations?

Carr says ‘important discussion’ needed about BEAD’s future - In his post, Carr wrote that Vice President Kamala Harris “led the $42 billion program for expanding Internet infrastructure into a thicket of red tape and saddled it with progressive policy goals that have nothing to do with quickly connecting Americans.”

My Take: Take the money and run now, if you can.

Ted Cruz hates a lot of the Infrastructure Investment law, including BEAD - Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) seems to hate many things about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which Congress passed in 2021 with bipartisan support. Cruz’s hatred could presage rocky times for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program next year because he is likely to head up the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee when Republicans take majority control of the Senate in January.

My Take: Is this about connecting people or political agendas? Rhetorical, of course.

New Mexico doesn’t want to just sit around and wait for BEAD - New Mexico’s broadband office requested $70 million in state funds to help connect 95,000 locations with satellite broadband in the next two years. Starlink would be involved, but other satellite providers (like Amazon’s Project Kuiper) may also be in the mix once the state kicks off its RFP process, said Drew Lovelace, acting director for New Mexico’s broadband office.

My Take: So that’s $737/subscriber. A far cry from $6,666.

Has cellular IoT failed? Is it destined to fail? Big questions after AT&T axes NB-IoT - Does AT&T’s decision to ditch NB-IoT in the US, confirmed in RCR Wireless last week, spell the end for this clever and brave little IoT network technology? Just as a technology, the answer is: no, probably not – at least until LTE, whose ‘guardband’ it occupies, is retired in the middle of next decade.

My Take:  NB-IoT and LTE-M. VHS and BETA. And now RedCap? What’s that? See Learn About below.

No wonder telcos are bitter about 5G - The latest Mobility Report from giant cellular infrastructure vendor Ericsson might make for frustrating reading if you’re a mobile service provider because, apparently, 5G is a runaway global success:

My Take: … when Taylor Swift is in town…

The Next Frontier in Spectrum Policy - Indoor Only sharing of Federal Bands - While unlicensed operations have been authorized, until recently the rules have not differentiated access rights based on indoor-only use. The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent authorization of low-power, indoor-only use across the entire 6 GHz band highlights the potential to authorize indoor-only use in many other bands, particularly federal bands, where users comply with requirements necessary to protect the primary licensees from harmful interference.

My Take: Pretty detailed article that I will sum up with this quote - “Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time—and consume more than 80 percent of their data—indoors.”

To really narrow digital divides, Canada should consistently fund adult education programs - Meaningful internet access goes beyond having easy and everyday access to broadband internet and digital devices. Equally important is whether Canadians can use their digital access for their benefit. That depends on their ability to acquire and apply the skills necessary to navigate the online world.

My Take: A recent study commissioned by Telus supports this as well. There’s a 65+ part of the population who doesn’t see a need for the Internet because they don’t know what they don’t know.

CRTC focuses last-mile fibre consultation on temporary order - The commission is asking whether it’s in the public interest to change its November 2023 decision that temporarily allowed competitors to force negotiations to access both the traffic transport and last-mile fibre facilities of Bell and Telus in those provinces.

My Take: Here’s the link to Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2024-292

Call for comments – Making it easier to choose a wireless phone or Internet service – Enhancing self-service mechanisms - In this notice, the Commission is seeking comments on how to ensure that wireless phone and Internet service providers offer Canadians ways to make changes to their cellphone and Internet service plans by themselves (self-service mechanisms). A complete list of questions can be found in the appendix to this notice.

My Take: Click to Cancel. That’s next. I bought a couple of eSIMs for some travel that’s coming up. Talk about easy (and inexpensive). If you’re Canadian, go file an intervention!

What’s Happening In Space?

What’s in Space This Week?

Get up to speed on "Star Trek's" first official streaming movie landing on Jan. 24, 2025.

My Take: That narration in the preview wrecked it for me :(

US agency approves T-Mobile, SpaceX license to extend coverage to dead zones - The license marks the first time the FCC has authorized a satellite operator collaborating with a wireless carrier to provide supplemental telecommunications coverage from space on some flexible-use spectrum bands allocated to terrestrial service. The partnership aims to extend the reach of wireless networks to remote areas and eliminate "dead zones."

My Take: Big news, and another step in the direction of terrestrial and non-terrestrial convergence. May be some other

Atlantic Canada’s aerospace industry is soaring: here’s why we should all take notice - Advancements are helping to secure our borders, monitor our waters, and support our military at home and abroad.

My Take: How cool would it be to be able to watch launches from Nova Scotia?

How China plans to put astronauts on the moon by 2030 (video) - The promotional video, published by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Nov. 21, shows not only animations of planned activities but also tests on hardware being developed to make the moon mission possible.

My Take: No comment, because any of the ten comments I’ve already erased, although factual, true and funny, may offend someone.

Space-Based Solar Power overview - Solar energy generation has grown far cheaper and more efficient in recent years, but no matter how much technology advances, fundamental limitations will always remain: solar panels can only generate power during the daytime, clouds often get in the way and much of the sunlight is absorbed by the atmosphere during its journey to the ground. What if instead we could collect solar power up in space and beam it down to the surface?

My Take: This is pretty cool. Collect it in space. Beam it down to earth as microwaves, extract it back into power.

Rivada Secures Nordic Access for Outernet Connectivity - Success in obtaining the national rights to establish and operate a new satellite communications network in low earth orbit is important for the Nordic region, particularly in the light of increasing attacks on shared critical infrastructure.

My Take: I’ve been following Rivada for a while. They’ve certainly had their ups and downs and still need a major funder to build and meet their ITU commitments.

10 predictions for the space economy in 2025 - Between Elon Musk’s close ties with the incoming president, a new administration that is expected to be strongly pro-growth and anti-regulation, and the emergence of Starship, a rapidly reusable rocket that will shake up all the givens of accessing orbit, we are on the verge of significant changes that accelerate the growth of the space economy.

My Take: New world order. Mars. Competition. Reusable rockets. The innovation continues. Exciting to watch it all happen.

Deutsche Telekom, Qualcomm, and Skylo Trial SMS Over Satellite - The companies report this was the first time in Europe that an operator’s terrestrial mobile network has been integrated into a satellite network for texting based on the 3GPP Release 17 specifications. 

My Take: Great progress, but a long way to go. There are still issues to deal with around satellite availability, and so on.

Here’s a great article supporting the need for these types solutions.

Direct-to-device satellites are being deployed in LEO and VLEO but scale is required for mainstream services - "Performance data from the SpaceX D2D constellation and AST SpaceMobile’s severely limited coverage highlight that significantly more scale is needed to operate the hundreds to thousands of LEO or VLEO satellites that are needed for continuous connectivity."

My Take: from the article, which also has some nice graphs and such - “The main conclusion from this predictive simulation was that, even with 222 satellites, users that needed to rely exclusively on the Starlink T-Mobile service would need to wait up to 15 minutes for a Starlink DTC satellite to become visible so that alerts and text messages could travel to T-Mobile’s core network (and more than 15 minutes in a few instances). Once a satellite became visible, it would be available up to 3 minutes 75% of the time, after which users would need to wait for the next satellite pass.”

International Space Station dodges 2nd piece of space junk in 6 days - ESA estimates that Earth orbit harbors about 40,500 objects at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) wide, 1.1 million pieces between 0.4 inches and 4 inches (1 to 10 cm) in diameter and 130 million that are at least 1 millimeter wide.

My Take: Dodge suggests it was quick. Seems more like they moved out of the way. 130 million pieces..

ISS astronauts open hatch to Russian spacecraft after strange smell delays cargo delivery - 'The odor likely was outgassing from materials inside the cargo spacecraft.'

My Take: Cleary, something celestial from Uranus.

Rocket Lab Launches 2 Missions from 2 Continents in Less Than 24 Hours - “Two successful launches less than 24 hours apart from pads in different hemispheres. That’s unprecedented capability in the small launch market and one we’re immensely proud to deliver at Rocket Lab,” CEO Peter Beck commented. 

My Take: A number of comment here.

(1) He’s hot after Elon

(2) watch the movie “Wild, Wild Space” to learn more about Rocket Lab. It’s excellent.

(3) Nice chart.

Satcom providers divided over licensing norms for satellite earth station gateways - Satcom service providers are divided over network-level requirements for setting up earth station gateways. Amazon's Kuiper, Canada's Telesat, and Tata’s Nelco have supported a separate authorization regime for SESG (satellite earth station gateways) that connect space communications with land-based networks.

My Take: Its fun watching emerging markets deal with all sorts of issues until standards and best practices are in place.

Enabling AI

Pretty much all Gen Z knowledge workers are using AI, survey finds - 93% of Gen Z respondents, age 22 - 27, said they were using two or more AI tools a week — such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, Otter.ai, and other generative AI products.

My Take: As they should be. Not a matter of fighting anything, it’s embracing what’s next.

Zoom reveals major rebrand — dropping video as it goes all-in on AI - Zoom has rebranded itself in a major shift away from the video conferencing solution that we’ve all come to know and "love" – and the company now wants you to know it as an “AI-first work platform for human connection.”

My Take: Interesting rebrand, except I’m not sure AI and Human Connections should be in the same sentence.

The big telco AI challenge—the right data for the right use case - Communications service providers (CSPs) are all-in on AI; makes sense given macro issues around a lack of effective network monetization despite a massive capital outlay which is putting pressure on automation as the primary path to opex reduction

My Take: Network planning and Root Cause Analysis. Two great use cases.

Scoop: Trump eyes AI czar - Elon Musk won't be the AI czar, but is expected to be intimately involved in shaping the future of the debate and use cases, the sources said.

My Take: Grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.

Learn About - 5G RedCap

Understanding 5G RedCap: A New Frontier in Wireless Technology

5G Reduced Capability (RedCap), also known as 5G NR-Light, is an innovative variant of 5G technology designed to cater to mid-tier use cases that don't require the full capabilities of standard 5G

Introduced in 3GPP Release 17, RedCap bridges the gap between high-performance 5G and lower-tier connectivity solutions, offering a balanced mix of throughput, battery life, complexity, and device density

Origins and Development

The concept of RedCap emerged from the need to address a growing market segment that fell between high-end 5G applications and traditional IoT devices. As 5G technology matured, it became apparent that many use cases didn't require the full spectrum of 5G capabilities but could benefit from improved performance over existing solutions. This realization led to the development of RedCap, which was standardized in 3GPP Release 17 and is set for implementation in new and upgraded 5G systems by the end of 2024

Key Features and Benefits

RedCap devices are designed to operate on 5G standalone networks, offering enhanced reliability, lower latency, and improved performance compared to their predecessors

They support bandwidths of 20 MHz in frequency range 1 (FR1) and 100 MHz in frequency range 2 (FR2), which is significantly reduced from the 100 MHz and 200 MHz bands required for full 5G devices

This reduction in bandwidth requirements, along with other optimizations such as fewer receive antennas, contributes to lower device complexity and cost

The technology enables peak data rates of 150 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink, striking a balance between performance and efficiency

These optimizations result in more cost-effective devices with longer battery life and smaller footprints, making RedCap suitable for a wide range of applications

Applications and Use Cases

RedCap technology is poised to revolutionize both consumer and industrial IoT sectors. In the consumer space, it's particularly well-suited for wearables like smartwatches and health monitoring devices, as well as augmented and virtual reality applications

The industrial IoT sector stands to benefit significantly from RedCap, with applications in smart manufacturing, video surveillance, and inventory management

Market Positioning and Competition

RedCap occupies a unique position in the wireless technology landscape. It competes indirectly with existing IoT-focused technologies like LTE-M and NB-IoT, offering higher performance while maintaining efficiency. In the broader 5G ecosystem, RedCap complements rather than competes with full-fledged 5G, addressing use cases that don't require ultra-high bandwidth or extremely low latency

The technology is gaining traction globally, with Asia (particularly China) and North America leading the adoption for various use cases

As the installed base of cellular IoT connections continues to grow worldwide, RedCap is expected to play a crucial role in expanding the 5G ecosystem.

Impact on the 5G Landscape

The introduction of RedCap is set to enhance existing 5G use cases and enable new ones, particularly in mid-tier applications

For communication service providers, RedCap opens up new monetization opportunities in both consumer and industrial spaces. It allows for the introduction of services beyond enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) on 5G standalone architecture, potentially leading to new subscription models and service offerings

RedCap's ability to efficiently support a wide range of devices with varying capabilities is expected to accelerate the transition from 4G to 5G for many applications. This transition is particularly significant for devices that previously relied on LTE technology but can now benefit from the improved performance and efficiency of 5G networks

As the technology matures and gains wider adoption, it's likely to spur innovation in device design and application development. The reduced complexity and cost of RedCap devices could lead to a proliferation of new 5G-enabled products and services, further expanding the reach and impact of 5G technology across various industries and use cases.

This and That!

The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year 2024  is… - Manifest…

My Take: I thought “demure” would win for sure.

Elon Musk’s Neuralink receives Canadian approval for brain chip trial - Elon Musk’s Neuralink said on Wednesday it has received approval to launch its first clinical trial in Canada for a device designed to give paralyzed individuals the ability to use digital devices simply by thinking.

My Take: I think I wrote about this before. This is all a grand plan to turn everyone into 5G micro cells so they can act as edge compute nodes for Tesla automation. What we really need is Common Sense implant.

Russian Spies Jumped From One Network to Another Via Wi-Fi in an Unprecedented Hack - In this newly revealed case from early 2022, Volexity ultimately discovered not only that the Russian hackers had jumped to the target network via Wi-Fi from a different compromised network across the street, but also that this prior breach had also potentially been carried out over Wi-Fi from yet another network in the same building—a kind of “daisy-chaining” of network breaches via Wi-Fi, as Adair describes it.

My Take: This is quite the story about a vert sophisticated attack. Everyone. Read this!

Why are the Northern Lights so supercharged lately? - Every 11 years, our Sun goes through a cycle of higher and lower activity. The number of sunspots gradually increases, as does the number and intensity of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, and the normally sedate flow of the solar wind becomes broken up by more 'blustery' streams. Roughly halfway through the cycle, all of this activity reaches a maximum. Then, afterward, it all decreases until it reaches a minimum and the cycle ends.

My Take: You mean it’s cyclical? Like everything else in the Universe? The pendulum swings.. Greta’s in jail. She’s out of jail. She’s in jail. She’s out of jail.

This New Apple Feature Will Help You Find Lost Luggage—Learn How to Use It Before Traveling for the Holidays - It’s called the Share Item Location feature, and with Apple’s latest iOS 18 update, you’ll be able to find it in the Find My app on your iPhone. This new feature will let you securely share an AirTag’s location with airlines and other third parties by quickly generating a URL (web link) showing the AirTag’s location, a map and a time stamp. The recipient of the URL, such as one of the supported airlines, can tap to see the info in any web browser.

My Take: Some of the airlines already have functionality in their apps that relieves the stress of wondering if your luggage is going on vacation with you. What it doesn’t do is stop your luggage from being tossed around like a lawn chair in a hurricane before it gets placed in the plane.

Would you like 2%, oat milk, or fish milk? - The Berikan Protein Initiative, an Indonesian nonprofit, is turning fish into “milk” through a chemical process called hydrolysis, per The Wall Street Journal.

My Take: Ummm…

Don’t sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes, doctors warn - The open oval-shaped toilet seat compresses the buttocks, keeping the rectum in a lower position than if you were sitting on the couch. With gravity pulling the lower half of the body down, the increased pressure affects your blood circulation.

My Take: Oh, so it has nothing to do with sending unnecessary Instagram reels to people. Whew!

Infographic Of The Week

The Worlds’s Most Powerful Supercomputers

My Take: ESG be damned.

Podcast Recommendation

Demystifying AI: Essential Concepts for Network Operations

AI can support network operations, but it can also be complex, mysterious, and steeped in vendor hype.

On today’s episode, guest Phil Gervasi clarifies some of the terminology and concepts of AI, including distinctions among concepts like generative AI, general AI, and large language models (LLMs). Phil shares tips for getting beyond the hype to see AI’s potential to automate and support network management. He also tackles legitimate challenges to AI adoption such as AI hallucinations and trust.

My Take: This is a great episode.

Listen Here!

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

The Helicopter Heist - Netflix

IMDb: 7.5/10

JMDb: 8.5/10 (Would have been a 9 if it was an original English-language movie)

"The Helicopter Heist" is not a movie, but rather a gripping Swedish limited series on Netflix that premiered on November 22, 2024. Based on true events, this eight-part thriller recounts the audacious Västberga helicopter robbery of 2009, Sweden's largest attempted heist.

The series follows childhood friends Rami (Mahmut Suvakci) and Michel (Ardalan Esmaili) as they plan and execute a daring cash depot robbery using a helicopter. With exceptional performances, particularly from Suvakci, the show delves deep into the characters' motivations and personal struggles.

Directors Daniel Espinosa, Jonas Alexander Arnby, and Anna Zackrisson maintain a taut narrative, expertly balancing intense action with character development. The non-linear storytelling adds layers of intrigue, while the synth-heavy soundtrack amplifies the tension.

"The Helicopter Heist" stands out for its visceral portrayal of the crime, showcasing the physical and emotional toll on the perpetrators. It's a must-watch series that combines thrilling heist action with compelling human drama

Until Next Time

Comments here are my own and do not represent the opinions, views or thoughts of any person, company or organization that I may be associated with.

Feedback, comments and ideas are welcomed. Message me on LinkedIn or contact me at [email protected]