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In Today’s Issue

Jason’s Industry Insights, The Podcast

Episode #4 - The Straight Goods From A Starlink Integrator - Tim Belfall, WestEnd WiFi

In this episode, I chat with Tim Belfall from WestEnd WiFi in Stevenage, England. Tim is an expert in satellite broadband, and an authorized installer (integrator) for Starlink.

We discuss Tim's background in telecommunications, his real-world experiences with Starlink, how its performance has changed over time, and the upcoming pricing changes that will impact customers.

We touch on the competitive landscape with emerging players like Kuiper and Thousand Sails. The conversation also touches on the future of satellite internet, mobility solutions, and Tim's thoughts on orbital data centres.

Check it out on Apple, Spotify, or find us and follow on whatever player app you use.

What’s Happening On Earth?

🇨🇦 Trudeau Office Hit by Network Outage Day Before Tariff Deadline - A failed fiber-optic link crippled the computer network at the highest level of the Canadian government throughout the day on Jan. 31, but an investigation has found no evidence of deliberate sabotage, a spokesperson said.

My Take: This all just seems to have been swept under the rug. How does this happen?

🇨🇦 CRTC takes action to help bring fibre Internet to three communities in British Columbia and the Yukon - Through its Broadband Fund, the CRTC is committing over $14 million to CityWest Cable and Telephone Corp. to build approximately 250 kilometres of new transport fibre infrastructure

My Take: Ho hum, right? Well, no. Here’s some additional information - “Today, the Commission approves CityWest Cable & Telephone Corp.’s (CityWest) funding application for up to $14,849,784 to build approximately 253 kilometres of fibre infrastructure to bring high-capacity transport services to two communities in northern British Columbia and one in southern Yukon, which include approximately 113 households”. Seeing as the CRTC’s Broadband Fund primarily funds transport and not access networks, there’s likely additional costs borne by CityWest to connect the end users.

Quick math - that’s $131,000 per home. If we assume the 253km of transport will be used for nothing else, that’s quite a significant investment per home. These are likely examples of where LEO-based solutions would be better served, assuming capacity, footprint, etc.

🇨🇦 Wholesale access helps 'maximize' value of fibre internet infrastructure: Telus CFO - Telus Corp. plans to continue expanding its fibre internet network within the core regions it serves even while acting as a wholesaler elsewhere in the country, its chief financial officer says.

My Take: Don’t they have a 5-year forbearance from opening any new fiber to TPIA? Seems a little lopsided. Either way, I agree with Bell on this one - “makes no sense” to allow incumbents to resell internet service from each other.

I guess we’ll have to wait until the summer to find out.

🇨🇦 Starlink Crushes Cell Tower Internet for Rural Canadians, Says Report - Starlink’s download speeds outpace FWA in remote areas, making it the best option for those without access to traditional broadband. However, the satellite provider’s performance has seen a decline.

My Take: Here’s the full article from Open Signal

Netflix ISP Speed Index for December 2024 - Five percent of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) saw a 0.2 Mbps increase, 70% remained the same, and 25% experienced a decrease of 0.2 to 0.6 Mbps this month

My Take: Here’s the link to the Speed Index results

Some Red States Don’t Want Too Much Satellite for BEAD - Republican leadership in the Senate has assailed the Commerce Department's flagship broadband subsidy's preference for fiber, citing high per-location costs.

My Take: High per-location cost.. amortized over 50 years. That’s what they keep missing

Fiber Is a Good Long-Term Bet, Says Former FCC Chairman Pai - Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is bullish on fiber as a long-term investment.

My Take: Yes, this is true.

Former FCC Commissioner Predicts Court Battle Over BEAD’s Fiber Preference - The Biden-era national broadband expansion program could face major rewrites, one expert said at the State of the Net event on Tuesday. The panel highlighted intensifying debates over the fate of fiber.

My Take: Someone should make a musical and call it “BEAD”.

CTIA, 5G Americas launch new pro-FWA coalition to fight cable - CTIA and 5G Americas this week launched Spectrum for Broadband Competition, a new coalition advocating for spectrum policies that favor fixed wireless access (FWA) and not the cable industry.

My Take: “Big Mobile’s sham coalition is nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the fact that today’s wireless robber barons want to advance policies that will allow them to hoard more public spectrum for their exclusive use, denying access to other innovators and wrecking national security in the process,”

CPON: The future of access network service technology - Demand for higher data rates and the rapid growth of Passive Optical Networks (PON) have set the stage for the future of access network technology—100 Gbps Coherent Passive Optical Networks or CPON

My Take: Click the link. A very informative read!

Will telecom be priced out with Trump’s tariffs? - Equipment vendors are understandably keeping a close eye on how events unfold, because while wireline providers may be left unscathed the same can’t be said for the supply chain.

My Take: The answer is… yes.

Vecima warns of cable spending delays, tariff risks - Vecima said Q2 results reflect delays in cable and fiber spending, warning that 'demand volatility' could extend to coming quarters

My Take: Another data point - Harmonic shares slide as cable slows its roll on 'unified' DOCSIS 4.0

As the worlds of telcos and drone companies merge, business opportunities multiply  - These two worlds are coming closer than you can imagine. Telcos are now becoming drone operators with 24/7 flight management centers. Providing data to enable safe and scalable drone flights is not just a “service” from the telcos, it becomes part of a new business opportunity for them.

My Take: Can’t they just pus a GPS in the drone?

Ericsson Cradlepoint X20 5G Router enables differentiated Service Provider FWA with network slicing capabilities - The Ericsson Cradlepoint X20 delivers powerful, plug-and-play FWA 5G connectivity with advanced network slicing and security capabilities. Featuring cutting-edge routing, switching, and Wi-Fi 7, the X20 ensures robust, easy-to-maintain connectivity essential for critical business operations.

My Take: Looks like a pretty capable CPE, especially with the support for network slicing.

What’s Happening In Space?

What’s in Space This Week?

Blastoff! SpaceX launches 2nd Starlink batch in less than 24 hours, nails landing

My Take: A lot happens in 9 minutes.

Amazon’s Kuiper-1 launch brought forward - This will be the first operational launch for Amazon’s giant Project Kuiper mega-constellation, and it is expected to launch in the next two months aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket. This will be the first launch for the ULA rocket this year.

My Take: Was supposed to be Q3/Q4, so this is good news. Now that can start to steal every customer that has an Amazon/EERO device in their home.. because that worked so well for Starlink.. 🙄

🇨🇦 WildFireSat: $72 million for critical Canadian space infrastructure for wildfires - WildFireSat will consist of seven microsatellites tailored to monitor active wildfires across Canada on a daily basis

My Take: As with everything else, early detection is critical.

🇨🇦 MDA Space Receives $768M Contract to Manufacture Satellites for Globalstar’s New LEO Constellation - MDA Space signed a $1.1 billion Canadian dollar ($768 million) contract with Globalstar to be the prime contractor for the operator’s next generation Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation

My Take: See the Podcast section below.

China's CGST announces 100 Gbps space-ground laser transmission - The nation successfully attained a 100 gigabit per second data transmission rate in satellite-to-ground laser communication. This unprecedented speed — ten times faster than their previous record

My Take: So this in interesting. Big area of innovation and development. Moving away from RF, and a shared RF spectrum, means massive amount of bandwidth from space to ground - the bottleneck. Inter Satellite Links operate at 200Gbps. To truly deliver multi-gig services, space-ground later communication is required. So many things that can affect it, though, and likely a while before they figure out how to deal with clouds, dispersion, etc. We’re assuming they actually did it, of course.

Companies like Skyloom are looking to solve the problem

Elon Musk's Starlink is connecting hundreds of thousands of regional Australians to the internet - In Australia there are currently believed to be around 200,000 Starlink connections, according to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.

My Take: They’re concerned about Elon’s big “Off” button.

Is this really wireless vs. Elon Musk? - Establishing a modernized sharing framework for the upper C-band that welcomes multiple new entrants is essential to solidify American leadership in 6G, which will interweave terrestrial and satellite networks into a seamless customer experiences.

My Take: I have nothing to add to this..

Don’t compete with or emulate SpaceX, investors urge - SpaceX’s dominance in the launch market means there’s little room for new entrants, particularly given the track record other startups have had in the sector, said investors and startup executives during a panel at the Smallsat Symposium here Feb. 5.

My Take: Don’t be like us ..they encouraged companies to focus on niche markets and unique solutions where they can differentiate themselves. They suggest the space industry is seeing increasing saturation, with many startups struggling to stand out.

SpaceX Crew Dragons swapped so ISS crew can go home early - The crew of the Boeing Starliner test mission is set to return to Earth ahead of schedule after managers decided to swap the Crew Dragon originally planned for the Axiom-4 flight with Crew-10.

My Take: And so… they go home in March.

Space Norway Invests in New Satellite THOR 8 - The satellite will be located at the 1 degrees West orbital slot. It will aim to meet the growing demand for connectivity and ensure continuity of Space Norway’s broadcasting service over a geographic coverage area from the Nordics to Central and Eastern Europe.

My Take: This will provide crucial broadband services for maritime operations, aviation routes, and remote communities—areas where connectivity remains a challenge

Opening Up the IFC Market: The Global Roaming Approach Behind SES Open Orbits - The aviation market is hotly contested in the satellite industry — it’s a prime area of opportunity for connectivity as airlines invest in new planes and fleet upgrades.

My Take: Multi-orbit solutions for seamless connectivity.

Direct-to-Cell Pricing Revealed, Market Impact: Analysis - T-Mobile announced the following pricing plans for Starlink’s no-dead zone connectivity. 

T-Mobile to sell SpaceX connections to AT&T, Verizon subs for $20/month - T-Mobile is launching commercial satellite messaging services in July through SpaceX. And the company will also offer those satellite connections to AT&T and Verizon customers for $20/month.

T-Mobile’s Starlink Beta Includes iPhones and Other Carriers - For a non T-Mobile customer to get T-Mobile Starlink service, they just need an unlocked phone with an eSIM. Because an eSIM is digital, it’s now possible for a wireless user to switch between two different wireless provider services on the same phone,” T-Mobile explained. 

My Take: This is all pretty interesting and a great way to provide something to the competitive subscribers that their carrier can’t yet provide. eSIMs don’t help the competitive threat as it makes it so easy to turn on, and off, services.

Blue Origin prepares for significant job cuts, Bloomberg News reports - Blue Origin is preparing for significant job cuts to reduce costs and focus on increasing rocket launches after years of research and development

My Take: So, they’re getting rid of all the R&D and Engineering people who go them to be launch-ready?

What’s Happening SubSea?

HEIST - Hybrid Space-Submarine Architecture Ensuring InfoSec Of Telecommunications - HEIST will result in augmented threat detection, fault diagnosis and communication resilience for submarine communication cables (SCCs). Currently, the absence of submarine situational awareness data fusion delivers sparse fault localization, whereas HEIST will achieve meter- range precision.

My Take: Cool looking web site with that “typewriter” font to make it look more official. Seems like a very necessary initiative based on recent incidents. ⚓️

Chile's Proposed Antarctic Fibre Optic Subsea Cable - Chile's government is investigating the idea of linking Chile to Antarctica via a subsea cable. This is part of a larger initiative to make Chile a major telecom and data center hub

My Take: Never knew Chile was looking to be a major data centre hub. Other than submarine-cable infrastructure and access to other regions.. ok, maybe climate as well, why else is a great location?

Enabling AI

Experts: Greater Energy Production Needed to Support AI - Subcommittee hearing discussed future energy needs for AI infrastructure.

My Take: Wow. Those experts…

I matched Mistral AI's new Le Chat app against ChatGPT, and it did surprisingly well - The French AI chatbot is smart and speedy

My Take: It’s way faster than ChatGPT and makes much better images as well. Same prompt.

The second wave of AI coding is here - A string of startups are racing to build models that can produce better and better software. They claim it’s the shortest path to AGI.

My Take: This new wave of AI-powered coding tools has the potential to significantly enhance productivity in software development, but it also raises questions about the future role of human programmers and the skills they will need.

Elon Musk-Led Group Makes $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of OpenAI - Unsolicited offer complicates Sam Altman’s plans to convert OpenAI to a for-profit company

My Take: Didn’t they used to be friends? Another X in the making?

Amazon planning $100 billion AI infrastructure spend in 2025 - Amazon is working to further capitalize on what CEO Andy Jassy called a “really unusually large, maybe once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity.”

My Take: Now that he’s letting all those Blue Origin people go, he’ll have extra money for this. I wonder how much cloud infrastructure will be tied to Project Kuiper?

AI systems could be ‘caused to suffer’ if consciousness achieved, says research - Artificial intelligence systems capable of feelings or self-awareness are at risk of being harmed if the technology is developed irresponsibly

My Take: Well, then don’t.

Scarlett Johansson Urges Government to Limit A.I. After Faked Video of Her Opposing Kanye West Goes Viral - In a statement to PEOPLE, Johansson denounced what she called "the misuse of A.I., no matter what its messaging."

My Take: The misuse of AI is the challenge and obfuscates the important message, in this case. Isn’t this exactly what all the actors are concerned about? Being replaced by AI?

Apple is reportedly exploring humanoid robots - Apple is exploring both humanoid and non-humanoid robotic form factors, according to a new scoop from longtime Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo

My Take: I’ll bet they name the robot “Siri”…

This and That!

🇨🇦 Canada should ban TikTok—even if Trump backs down in the U.S. - So long as TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, it will remain a dangerous vector for Beijing’s information warfare and a national security threat to the West. Canada should therefore follow the United States’ lead and ban the social media app, unless it is sold to an American buyer.

My Take: Whatever. People will just go to RedNote, as they did in the US. Even less secure.

The AI Data Center Reality Check: Cutting Through the Hype - This article is a wake-up call to cut through the hype surrounding AI data centers and focus on what’s real. AI customers need to be more informed than ever when selecting a data center partner, because the decisions made today will echo for years in either success or regret.

My Take: Good article. The hype is real, especially around power.

LLM Hijackers Quickly Incorporate DeepSeek API Keys - Sophisticated "LLMjacking" operations have obtained stolen access to DeepSeek models, just weeks after their public release.

My Take: I don’t think security was high on the development list to begin with.

Odds of an asteroid impact in 2032 just went up. Here's why experts say you shouldn't worry - The odds of the asteroid 2024 YR4 impacting Earth in 2032 have increased to 1 in 43. Despite this, you still shouldn't worry about the potential impact of this asteroid.

My Take: I think I saw this movie. Twice. Didn’t end well for Bruce Willis.

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: Per the note, Canada is actually #2. The 51st state would be bigger than all of the other states combined. Moot point, though. Will never happen.

Podcast Recommendation

MDA Space Strikes $1.1B CAD Partnership with Globalstar - with MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley

Globalstar, which provides the space-based emergency services for Apple’s iPhones, is tapping MDA Space to build satellites for its next-gen communication satellites. MDA CEO Mike Greenley joins Morgan Brennan to talk about the new contract, the future of connectivity, and how the 🇨🇦 Canadian company is navigating the possibility of tariffs.

Listen Here!

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

IMDb: 7.7/10

JMDb: 8.5/10 (fuggetaboutit)

"Donnie Brasco" (1997) is a top-notch crime movie that shows the harsh world of the mafia without making it look cool. Director Mike Newell tells a gripping story that feels real and raw. Johnny Depp does a great job playing Joe Pistone, an FBI agent who goes undercover and starts to lose himself in his fake identity. But it's Al Pacino who really shines as Lefty Ruggiero, a tired old hitman.

The movie is all about loyalty, betrayal, and tricky moral choices. We see how hard it is for Pistone to live a double life as it starts to mess with his head. The movie nails the look and feel of the late 1970s, and the way people talk sounds super authentic.

"Donnie Brasco" is one of the best gangster movies out there. It makes you think about the dark side of chasing the American dream. If you like movies that make you think while also keeping you entertained, you've got to see this one.

You should check them out. Very cool AI-based Powerpoint presentations.

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.

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