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In Today’s Issue

What’s Happening On Earth?

🇨🇦 Delayed close of Rogers infrastructure deal raises concerns - In October, Rogers announced plans to sell a minority stake in its wireless backhaul business to an institutional investor, later revealed to be New York-based private equity fund manager Blackstone Inc. Rogers plans to use the money to pay down a portion of its $44.9-billion of long-term debt and short-term borrowings.

My Take: :(

Comcast introduces astoundingly good low-lag internet for gamers and video callers - Comcast has partnered with Apple, Nvidia (and its GeForce Now cloud gaming) and Valve on its Steam game platform. The good thing for consumers: It will come at no extra cost for Comcast Xfinity Internet subscribers, and it will be rolling out to millions of eligible homes in the first quarter.

My Take: So, is this the benefit of not having a net neutrality mandate? My 2 cents, that’s what net neutrality does - stifles differentiation. This is great example of being able to differentiate a premium service.

🇨🇦 CRTC will not change course on interim FTTP decision - The CRTC said large provider access to the aggregated last-mile fibre facilities of mainly Bell but also Telus in Ontario and Quebec have proven to increase consumer choice and competition between internet service providers, rejecting a cabinet recommendation to impose a ban on Rogers, Bell and Telus (Big 3) from accessing those facilities.

My Take: Ok, so Telus can sell on Bell’s network in Ontario and Quebec, and we’ll find out in the summer if they can all reside on each other’s infrastructure across the country. Gone are the days of facilities-based competition with the focus on in-home ARPU using the Internet as the trojan horse. Or is this placating a Western provider who is now competing with a powerful new Rogers in the West and a mobility company well-managed and funded under Videotron? If this is the direction we’re going, let’s just have one huge coast-coast NetCo that everyone can share.

🇨🇦 Bell CEO slams CRTC, announces further slowdown of fibre network build - The parent company of Bell Canada no longer plans to meet its previous target of reaching 8.3 million homes through its fibre footprint by the end of 2025, CEO Mirko Bibic said on Thursday, adding the company would make further capital spending cuts this year.

My Take: Yea, they’re not happy. They’re also focused on their $5B investment into Ziply south of the border — a FTTH target rich environment, from what I understand.

A New Source of Broadband Funding - The Eliminating Barriers to Rural Internet Development Grant Eligibility (E-BRIDGE) Act, was signed into law in early January as part of the ‘larger Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024 (S. 4367).

My Take: Every little bit helps.

Zayo product chief: We saw AI-based capacity spike coming - 2024 brought on the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) coupled with increased demand for fiber. That development came as no surprise to Zayo, which recently unveiled plans to build 5,000 new route miles in the next five years to support AI and data center activity.

My Take: I’ve started reading “Bandwidth: The Untold Story of Ambition, Deception, and Innovation That Shaped the Internet Age and Dot-Com Boom.” Read it.

What C Spire's FWA launch means for Nokia, Comcast and others - C Spire – which is likely the biggest regional wireless provider in the US – is moving into FWA. That has implications for Nokia, Inseego, Charter, Comcast and others in Mississippi.

My Take: Why is everyone moving away from Nokia?

Hitron taps Aprecomm to bring AI to DOCSIS and Wi-Fi devices - Looking to help cable ops reduce customer care and truck roll costs, Hitron has stitched an AI engine in its latest DOCSIS devices. The deployment represents a breakthrough in the Americas for Hitron's AI tech partner, Aprecomm

My Take: If it’s for the customer’s benefit, then things like “I have a Playstation 3 I want to connect to the internet” and the router would turn on an ALG or build a firewall rule for TCP ports 80, 81, 443, 3478, 3479, 3480, 8080, 3074, 5223 and UDP ports 3074, 3075, 3478, 3479. I had to look those up, but that’s not the point.

Lumen eyes a $15B market by stealing share from carrier-neutral facilities - Lumen’s new product will replace the carrier-neutral facility with its own Lumen Multi-Cloud services powered by ExaSwitch.

My Take: Control it all. Cost, simplicity, redundancy, resiliency, speed, predictable latency.. It’s not a new concept.

Kids Off Social Media Act Divides Lawmakers on Senate Commerce Committee - A bill to bar children under 13 from accessing social media sparked the most controversy at a Senate Commerce Committee markup session on Wednesday.

My Take: Look at how Australia is doing with their ban. No idea, although I think policing it is the hardest part. Blame the parents, etc.

2024 Fiber Deployment Cost Annual Report - The Fiber Broadband Association and Cartesian have released the 2024 Fiber Deployment Cost Annual Report, which provides a detailed analysis of the evolving fiber broadband landscape in the United States, emphasizing both the significant progress made and the challenges faced by the industry

My Take: Read the full report. Lots of great info in there.

High End Router Market Forecast to Grow at 4 Percent CAGR - Dell’Oro Group‘s latest report forecasts the High End Router market to grow at a 4% CAGR, reaching $12.7 billion by 2029, driven by increasing demand for 400 Gbps and 800 Gbps Ethernet ports.

My Take: That’s encouraging.

What’s Happening In Space?

What’s in Space This Week?

U.S. Chamber Launches Space Leadership Council to Secure American Leadership in Space - Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched its Space Leadership Council (SLC), a strategic advisory board dedicated to maintaining U.S. leadership in space through private sector innovation and growth. The Council represents the full spectrum of the rapidly growing space economy, from ground infrastructure to launch, satellite communications (satcom), earth observation, data analytics, space infrastructure, and in-space servicing and manufacturing (ISAM).

My Take: Where’s Elon?

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin mimics the moon's gravity for NASA experiments during spaceflight - Blue Origin launched the 29 lunar technology experiments to the edge of space from West Texas. The company later confirmed that roughly two minutes of artificial lunar gravity were achieved by spinning the capsule 11 times a minute.

My Take: This is important, of course, to their integrated success for Kuiper as to build a much-needed market competitor.

🇨🇦 Ontario premier ‘ripping up’ contract with Musk’s Starlink over US tariffs - The leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, announced on Monday that he would be “ripping up” a contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink internet services in response to the US tariffs on Canada announced by Donald Trump.

My Take: Rip it up. Don’t rip it up. Can you even rip it up? Does Elon even care?

🇨🇦 Quebec’s ties to Elon Musk’s Starlink deeper than single contract - While the government of Premier François Legault said this week it isn’t prepared to sacrifice a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink to supply high-speed internet to unserviced remote regions of the province despite the United States’ looming 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, The Gazette has learned the Quebec government is set to deepen its ties to the American billionaire’s satellite internet system with a fresh contract.

..and then..

🇨🇦 Quebec working to unhook from Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service, CAQ MNA says - “We’re in the process of looking at a sovereign option. Canada has the competence — we can build satellites, we have aerospace, skills, engineers. What we don’t have are reliable satellite launchers.”

My Take: It’s the Quebec/Starlink hokey-pokey. A couple of things. First, I thought it odd that on the day Doug Ford “rips up” the Ontario agreement, Francois Legault says that not only is he keeping what they have, but they also want to expand services to the courthouses. That in itself made me scratch my head as I would think they would want to use something more sovereign and secure.

Days later, they’re looking at sovereign options. Maybe they saw my post on LinkedIn.

How The PLEO Contract is Driving Innovation Across the DoD - In July of 2023, the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced that it had awarded 16 Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contracts for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services on behalf of the United States Space Force.

My Take: Threats in space are real. This is important.

Fleet Operators ABS, Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat: Is Starlink’s Vertical Integration a Long-Term Competitive Advantage? - Satellite fleet operators ABS, Intelsat, SES and Eutelsat Group agree on the problem: finding the key to better compete with SpaceX Starlink and Amazon’s future Project Kuiper. It’s the solution they don’t agree on.

My Take: The GEO guys aren’t vertically integrated. That seems to be the issue as compared to those with build and launch capacity.

🇨🇦 Accelerating Innovation in Space: Telesat Lightspeed and the Trends Shaping 2025 - As the satellite industry continues its rapid transformation, several key trends are reshaping the landscape for connectivity, data processing, and communications

My Take: LEO, AI, laser-based communication (within space, space-ground) and virtualization.

Vodafone makes world’s first space video call from an area of no coverage using a standard mobile phone and commercial satellites built to offer a full mobile broadband experience - Rowan Chesmer, Vodafone engineer, makes historic first space mobile video call from a remote area of Wales to Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, using satellites built to offer a full mobile broadband experience.

My Take: Watch the video.

Viasat Previews Potential LEO Network for D2D With ESA - Viasat has a new agreement to work with the European Space Agency (ESA) on direct-to-device capabilities, and previewed that this could lead to a new Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) network. 

My Take: Again, how many do we need for a competitive and differentiated market?

China’s DeepSeek AI signals faster path to space autonomy - The emergence of China’s DeepSeek has shaken up the artificial intelligence sector, promising new opportunities for space companies beginning to explore ways to leverage AI in space.

My Take: Mmmm hmmm…

The D2D satellite push takes off - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week announced a Special Temporary Authority (STA) for AST SpaceMobile to enable its operator partners – AT&T and Verizon – to test its Bluebird direct-to-device (D2D) satellite constellation over the United States.

My Take: There was some confusion around Apple working with Starlink when in fact, the phones will work with Starlink through T-mobile, not directly with Starlink.

South African president and Elon Musk discuss ‘misinformation’ after Trump aid threat - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to Elon Musk “on issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa,” the presidency announced on Tuesday

and then..

SpaceX formally withdraws from Icasa satellite hearings - The oral hearings, which have been called by communications regulator Icasa, kicked off in Pretoria on Wednesday, with SpaceX scheduled to make a presentation in the morning. But representatives of the Elon Musk-controlled SpaceX did not pitch up to present at its allocated timeslot.

My Take:  “The withdrawal by SpaceX follows a post by Musk on his social media platform X that asked President Cyril Ramaphosa why the country has what he called “openly racist ownership laws”.

Ofcom Grants Amazon Kuiper Licence to Boost UK’s Satellite Internet - The UK’s telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has granted a new licence to Amazon’s Kuiper satellite constellation to enhance satellite-based internet services. Alongside this, authorities have increased radio spectrum availability, paving the way for advanced satellite and fixed wireless connectivity.

My Take: A step forward to a new competitive market. Will they start with low-hanging residential service, or go for the higher value SLA-based services? Either way, with the whole Amazon ecosystem in tow I’m sure it will be something to watch.

Starlink Shines in Europe as Constellation Investments Boost Performance - While Europe may not represent the largest market for satellite solutions compared to other large landmass regions with lower fiber density and a greater share of the population living in rural areas, low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations have emerged as an important part of the connectivity toolkit in the region. 

My Take: More data, more data, more data. Some great trend data in the report. Latency, download and upload speeds, etc.

Recent satellite launches have improved Starlink’s performance in Europe, bolstering its credentials as a competitive broadband solution. - While Europe may not represent the largest market for satellite solutions compared to other large landmass regions with lower fiber density and a greater share of the population living in rural areas, low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations have emerged as an important part of the connectivity toolkit in the region. 

My Take: Maybe not so much, according to the article above?

Tracking US Mobile Satellite Service Spectrum - AST SpaceMobile announced a landmark agreement with Ligado Networks last month that will provide AST 40 MHz of L-band Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum across the US and Canada, as well as an additional 5 MHz of spectrum in the US. 

My Take: I’m just full of data this week.. or something. I also wrote a “Learn about MSS Spectrum” a few issues back. They must have read my newsletter.

What’s Happening SubSea?

Tips For Wholesale Buyers of European Long Haul Wavelengths - A 100G wavelength varies from the mid to upper 800 Euros per month to the mid 1500 Euros depending on term, route, physical diversity, latency, etc. Because rates are low focusing on price is a mistake

My Take: Sure beats $7,000/month for 10G in Ontario. Point of the article is that you get what you pay for.

FCC’s Carr could pursuade allies over new subsea cable regulation - The end of 2024 saw the FCC propose the first changes to their submarine cable regulation rules since 2001. These new rules focus primarily on altering the compliance obligations related to International Section 214, which relates to providing telecoms services between the US and other countries.

My Take: Maybe someone could persuade Total Telecom to spell “persuade” correctly. Fact-checking, and all.

Enabling AI

Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons, surveillance - Google has removed a pledge to abstain from using AI for potentially harmful applications, such as weapons and surveillance, according to the company’s updated “AI Principles.”

My Take: So this is pretty big, don’t you think? Is it because governments and defence departments pay massive amounts of money for things? What could possibly go wrong?

DeepSeek’s Safety Guardrails Failed Every Test Researchers Threw at Its AI Chatbot - Security researchers tested 50 well-known jailbreaks against DeepSeek’s popular new AI chatbot. It didn’t stop a single one.

My Take: Do I need to say it?

OpenAI launches new AI tool to facilitate research tasks - Deep research is powered by a version of the upcoming OpenAI o3 model optimized for web browsing and data analysis.

My Take: I’m starting to get confused with all these purpose specific models

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says everyone should get an AI tutor right away - He has one essential piece of advice for those wanting to keep up with the future, and not fall behind: Start using the digital educator sitting in your back pocket, naming Grok and ChatGPT. 

My Take: So much free consumable content out there. Some of it is garbage. Some is good. Everyone is a master prompter. You learn by using the garbage so see what it doesn’t do.

OmniHuman-1: Rethinking the Scaling-Up of One-Stage Conditioned Human Animation Models - We propose an end-to-end multimodality-conditioned human video generation framework named OmniHuman, which can generate human videos based on a single human image and motion signals

My Take: Check out the site for some video samples, all created from a single image..

Google Q4 2024 Earnings: CEO Pichai Says DeepSeek Models Less ‘Efficient’ Than Gemini’s - 'The cost of actually using it is going to keep coming down, which will make more use cases feasible,' Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai says.

My Take: Well, of course it is.

Google launches new AI models and brings ‘thinking’ to Gemini - Google launched its much-anticipated new flagship AI model, Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental, on Wednesday. The announcement was part of a series of other AI model releases. The company is also making its “reasoning’ model, Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking, available in the Gemini app.

My Take: The more they reason, the smarter they get. And then they take over.

The Fastest Way to Create Social Media Carousels - Crafting visually engaging carousels for social media can be daunting for non-designers. Our user-friendly tool simplifies the process, allowing you to boost your online presence without design expertise, while AI helps you write the content.

My Take: I’m going to try this out and will post the results on LinkedIn. Carousels are everywhere these days.

Learn About

Tokens Decoded: The Building Blocks of AI Language

Imagine you're texting with a super-smart robot friend. This robot breaks down everything you say into tiny pieces called tokens. These tokens are like the building blocks of language for artificial intelligence (AI) systems known as large language models, or LLMs for short.

Tokens aren't just words. They can be parts of words, single letters, or even punctuation marks. For example, the word "tokenization" might be split into "token" and "ization". This helps the AI understand language more efficiently.

When you type a message to an AI, it first splits your text into these tokens. Then, it uses its training to predict what token should come next, kind of like a very smart autocomplete on your phone. It keeps doing this, with each new token influencing the next prediction, until it finishes its response.

The number of tokens an AI uses can greatly impact its performance. More tokens usually mean more detailed responses, but they also require more processing power and time. It's like the difference between writing a short note and a long essay – the essay takes more effort and resources.

Different AI models can handle different numbers of tokens. For example, GPT-4, one of the most advanced models, can process up to 8,192 tokens at once. That's about 6,000 words! This allows for longer conversations and more complex tasks. However, some specialized versions of GPT-4 can handle up to 32,000 tokens.

While it might seem like more tokens are always better, that's not always the case. Sometimes, being concise is more effective. Using fewer tokens can make AI responses faster and cheaper to generate. This is especially important for businesses that use AI a lot, as even small savings per message can add up to big cost reductions over time.

Let's look at how different AI models compare in terms of token usage:

1. GPT-3: 4,096 tokens

2. GPT-3.5 (used in ChatGPT): 4,096 tokens

3. GPT-4: 8,192 tokens (or 32,000 for some versions)

4. Claude: 100,000 tokens

5. PaLM: 8,192 tokens

These numbers show how much text each model can consider at once. Claude, with its massive 100,000 token limit, can process entire books in one go!

Using tokens has several advantages. They allow AIs to understand context better and handle different languages more easily. Tokens also help AIs deal with new or misspelled words by breaking them into familiar parts.

However, there are challenges too. The way words are split into tokens can sometimes affect the AI's understanding. Also, languages that use a lot of characters, like Chinese, might need more tokens to express the same idea compared to languages like English.

The number of tokens directly affects how much computing power and energy an AI needs. Processing more tokens requires more calculations, which means more electricity and more powerful computers.

For example, if processing 1,000 tokens uses about 0.1 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, then processing 10,000 tokens would use about 1 kWh. This might not seem like much, but for companies running millions of AI conversations, it adds up quickly.

Scientists are always looking for ways to make token use more efficient. One exciting development is called "Mixture of Tokens," which could make AIs learn and respond even faster. As AI technology advances, we might see new ways of processing language that are even more efficient than current token systems.

Understanding tokens helps us grasp how AIs "think" and process language. It's a key part of making AI systems that are smarter, faster, and more cost-effective. As we continue to improve these systems, tokens will play a crucial role in shaping the future of AI communication.

This and That!

Record-breaking 5.6 Tbps DDoS attack and global DDoS trends for 2024 Q4 - Welcome to the 20th edition of the Cloudflare DDoS Threat Report, marking five years since our first report in 2020.

My Take: Great information and stats in link.

US reports 1st outbreak of 'highly pathogenic' H5N9 virus in poultry. Should we worry? - Nearly 119,000 birds have been culled at a farm in California after a bird flu called H5N9 was detected among the poultry.

My Take: Watch the price of eggs go through the chicken coop roof.

Cybercriminals Court Traitorous Insiders via Ransom Notes - Ransomware actors are offering individuals millions to turn on their employers and divulge private company information, in a brand-new cybercrime tactic.

My Take: Well, this will be an interesting one to deal with..

Amazon Plans to Unveil Next-Generation Alexa AI Later This Month - Amazon today sent out invites for an AI-focused event that will be held on February 26, and according to Reuters, the company plans to introduce its next-generation Alexa generative AI service.

My Take: “Hey, Alexa. Make me spend more money on things so you can collect more data about me”

Better male birth control is on the horizon - Men could have more options within five to 10 years — if regulatory hurdles are cleared

My Take: “The benefit of occlusion gels, Mills says, is the very low potential of adverse side effects compared with a hormonal contraceptive. The hydrogel is inert, acts only locally in the vas deferens and — at least theoretically — can be easily reversed with a second injection to break down the gel. The main risk comes with the injection, which needs a highly skilled provider to avoid unintended damage or entering the wrong spot.”

“Here’s the major snag: regulatory approval.”.. I’m no researcher, but I would think another major snag would be “the injection, which needs a highly skilled provider to avoid unintended damage or entering the wrong spot.”

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: They’ve outdone themselves, although clearly not the first time,

Podcast Recommendation

`Former ATF agent Jay Dobyns (author of No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels) lived this reality for 27 years, most notably during his deep infiltration of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. Shot just four days into his career, Jay turned what could have been a career-ending tragedy into valuable street credibility, setting the stage for years of high-stakes undercover work. Through his eyes, we discover the intricacies of “street theater” — elaborately staged criminal scenarios that build trust through direct participation rather than mere storytelling. From strategically placed baseball bats and bulletproof vests in his undercover home to his carefully crafted persona as a gun runner and debt collector, Jay reveals how the most convincing lies are the ones people think they’ve discovered for themselves.

Listen Here! (Part 1 and Part 2)

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

IMDb: 7.3/10

JMDb: 7/10 (they could have gotten into the scandal a little bit.. )

"She Said" is a powerful and meticulously crafted drama that chronicles the New York Times investigation that exposed Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse. Directed by Maria Schrader, the film features stellar performances from Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor.

The narrative unfolds with a deliberate pace, focusing on the painstaking process of uncovering the truth rather than sensationalizing the scandal. While it may lack cinematic flair at times, the film's strength lies in its respectful handling of sensitive subject matter and its tribute to journalistic integrity. "She Said" serves as a timely reminder of the importance of speaking truth to power, even if its box office performance was underwhelming

A Word From Our Partner

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