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What’s Happening On Earth?

CTIA’s new CEO is former FCC chair Ajit Pai - A former FCC chair, Ajit Pai will be president and CEO of CTIA starting April 1. He replaces Meredith Attwell Baker, who announced her retirement in December. Analysts say Pai is the right choice to lead the wireless lobbyist organization

My Take: A well-qualified addition to the CTIA.

Digital 2025: Global Overview Report - 2025 looks set to be another bumper year in digital, with rapid advances in AI, the evolving social media landscape, and broadening online behaviours all gearing up to reshape our connected lives over the coming months.

My Take: There is SO MUCH info in this report, broken down by country and in aggregate.

🇨🇦 Copper wire thief trap nabs suspect on snowmobile - Barbieri said since 2022, the company has seen cable stolen from its national network nearly 2,000 times.

My Take: The snowmobile is a nice touch.

🇨🇦 Local providers key to broadband rollout, CanWISP told - When rolling out internet connectivity to rural and remote areas, it is an advantage to be a local player, says Susan Church.

My Take: “Drawing on data from Blue Sky’s most recent study of the digital divide in northern Ontario, Church said merely getting funding does not guarantee projects will be developed on time. She pointed to a more than $70-million broadband plan for Manitoulin Island that was first announced in July 2021. It has been reintroduced four more times, most recently by Rock Networks last summer. The original finish date was set for December of this year.”

Op-Ed: Telco optimism springs at MWC with the hopes of AI at the edge - From this analyst’s point of view, there were two macro themes fueling the optimism: 1) A comeback in capital spending as 5G standalone (SA) deployments reach critical mass; and 2) The excitement about AI and what it means for telecommunications.

My Take: AV’s, IoT, network slicing, FWA, etc..

Policy expert Blair Levin: We need to look beyond the rural access divide - It’s “inevitable” the White House will declare it’s closed the rural access divide via the BEAD program, said New Street Research’s Blair Levin. But gaps in affordable broadband and digital literacy will persist, and the future of the Universal Service Fund (USF) is murky. State efforts to mandate low-income broadband – and the opposition from the industry are further complicating matters

My Take: Digital literacy. We don’t hear much about that.

Xplore launches 5G Ultra wireless home Internet for rural customers - Rural internet provider Xplore announced Monday the launch of 5G Ultra, which it says leverages 5G+ technology to offer wireless home internet speeds of up to 500 Mbps to Canadians in small towns and rural communities. 

My Take: ..and not a satellite in sight..

Ziply Fiber Pushes Back Against NorthWestern Energy Complaints - Ziply Fiber is urging the Federal Communications Commission to dismiss what it calls “vague and unsubstantiated” claims by NorthWestern Energy regarding its construction practices and rural broadband efforts.

My Take: Remember last week’s article? I guess Ziply doesn’t agress.

What’s new with BEAD? Here’s what we know so far - “Under my leadership, the Commerce Department has launched a rigorous review of the BEAD program. The Department is ripping out the Biden Administration’s pointless requirements,” said Lutnick. “It is revamping the BEAD program to take a tech-neutral approach that is rigorously driven by outcomes, so states can provide internet access for the lowest cost.”

My Take: Even more delays if States have to reapply.

Breaking: Carr kicks off regulatory slash and burn at FCC - The agency asked for the public's help on Wednesday in identifying FCC rules that are ripe for repeal and would help it “alleviat[e] unnecessary regulatory burdens" for the companies it oversees.

My Take: There is something to be said about solving problems and making changes without spending years investigating them.

Four reasons to be optimistic about telco AI - Is the telecommunications industry behind the AI curve? The industry says no, of course — but why?

My Take: Telcos have lots of data. Lots of unique data.

🇨🇦 Canada expands spectrum access for 5G innovation - By making this new spectrum available, Canada aims to enhance network performance, encourage innovation and drive productivity across various sectors

My Take: “Making new millimeter wave spectrum available will encourage the development of new and disruptive business models, drive ongoing investment in networks, increase competition and improve affordable connectivity options for Canadians across the country”

Telco Comments on MWC - OK, MWC is over, and most operators say that it didn’t have answers for them on how to increase their profits. “We had a lot of vendors telling us the same old things,” one told me. Is there no new thing? Must operators, to achieve their goals, finally start doing things they’ve been told they had to do all along, but wouldn’t accept? I had 19 operators offer fairly extensive comment on that point, and it’s worth looking at what they say.

My Take: “Did MWC answer telco’s questions on how to grow their profits, or at least stabilize them? Not based on the comments I got, but to be fair, I have to point out that telco comments don’t suggest that they attended the show with that as a goal. One particularly interesting comment was “We went to MWC like someone who goes to a supermarket to buy dinner fixings, but without any recipe in mind.”

OLT and ONT Interoperability: A New Path Forward - As fixed-line fiber optic networks continue their rapid expansion, operators face a persistent challenge: achieving true interoperability between optical network terminals (ONTs) or optical network units (ONUs) and optical line terminals (OLTs). While passive optical network (PON) technologies have advanced significantly, the promise of seamless multi-vendor integration remains largely unfulfilled.

My Take: Many have tried, but they end up being vendor-specific, finger-pointing support exercises. Multi-vendor/best-of-breed has always been an issue.

CoreWeave Closes $650 Million Credit Facility for AI Cloud-Computing Push - CoreWeave Inc., a cloud-computing provider that’s among the most valuable artificial intelligence startups, has closed a $650 million credit facility led by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley that is intended to be used to support growth. 

My Take: I keep hearing more and more about Coreweave. Their AI/GPU-forward focus separates them from the hyper-scalers.

🇨🇦 Northleaf Commits Initial C$100 million to Shared Tower in Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Portfolio Expansion - Northleaf Capital Partners ("Northleaf"), a leading global private markets investment firm, today announced a partnership with Shared Tower Inc. ("Shared Tower"). Funds managed by Northleaf have made an initial commitment of C$100 million to accelerate Shared Tower's vision of enhancing connectivity for Canadians under a shared infrastructure model.

My Take: Nothing to add to this one. Good company. Good group of people.

Verizon CTO: AI RAN doesn't make sense cost-wise today - Despite the hype around AI RAN at last week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) show, Verizon’s chief technology officer thinks that the Nvidia and Nokia-backed push to use graphical processing units (GPUs) – the AI chips used by hyperscalers in data centers – to run 5G radio workloads and more on servers in the field – literally – will not take off, at least not yet.

My Take: If it ain’t broke (vRAN), don’t fix it?

🇨🇦 Rogers Recognized as Canada’s Most Reliable Internet by Opensignal - Rogers Communications announced today that it has been named the most reliable internet in Canada by Opensignal, the leading global provider of independent network experience insights and market performance.  

My Take: Poor XPLORE. I was a Starlink user for almost two years. It was just as reliable as Rogers.

What’s Happening In Space?

What’s in Space This Week?

🇨🇦 Space Norway selects Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) connectivity solution. - Space Norway plans to integrate a multi-Gbps Telesat Lightspeed capacity pool into its services portfolio to provide secure, low-latency connectivity services for its defense, enterprise, maritime and land customers. The capacity pool, backed by Committed Information Rates (CIR) and a Service Level Agreement (SLA), will deliver maximum flexibility for Space Norway to tailor its service offerings. This includes prioritization of services and data rates to each remote site, and seamless modification of online services via Space Norway’s own infrastructure.

🇨🇦 Orange and Telesat sign multi-year partnership for Telesat Lightspeed LEO satellite connectivity and terrestrial infrastructure - Under the agreement, a Telesat Lightspeed Landing Station will be hosted at Orange’s teleport in Bercenay-en-Othe, France, and benefit from ground segment connectivity with their point of presence (PoP) located in Paris over Orange Wholesale International Private Line (IPL). Additionally, Orange signed a capacity commitment for Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) service, which will be integrated into its global portfolio of services for businesses and telecom operators.

My Take: Great to see Telesat generating some early MOU winds. Their capacity pool solution will help foster active-standby type of configurations.

🇨🇦 Telesat awards development contract to QEST for Telesat Lightspeed Flat Panel Antenna for commercial aviation - Under the terms of the agreement, QEST will extend their patented FPA antenna technology for Telesat Lightspeed, including the development of the transmit and receive antenna apertures, RF components and the antenna control unit.

My Take: The antennas make up a significant part of the cost of the service. Standards and interoperability will hopefully help to drive prices down over timw.

🇨🇦 Government of Canada investment to bring 300 new jobs to Gatineau - There is enormous potential for global growth in the market for satellite services and the new space economy. That is why the Government of Canada is committed to bolstering the country’s leadership in satellite communications services and creating new jobs.

My Take: MDA is building for some impressive projects and are key to Canada’s space presence. I wonder is there are tariff’s in space?

MDA Space: 2nd-gen Globalstar/Apple satellites will be in production starting in 2026, alongside Telesat Lightspeed - Globalstar’s second-generation Apple-financed mobile communications satellites will be rolling off the production line starting in 2026, in parallel with the Telesat Lightspeed broadband constellation, prime contractor MDA Space said.

My Take: Apple invested $1B into Globalstar to get this done. I’m not here to give stock picking advice, but take a look at how some of the space-based equities have been performing during the space investment period.

Starship destroyed on second consecutive test flight - just after eight minutes into the flight, four of the six Raptor engines in the Starship upper stage shut down in quick succession. The vehicle immediately began to tumble but continued to relay video, showing the Earth spinning in and out of view.

SpaceX loses Starship rocket stage again, but catches giant Super Heavy booster during Flight 8 launch (video) - Starship's eighth test flight was a lot like its seventh. Cool Video!

FAA Requires SpaceX to Perform a Mishap Investigation

My Take: They do look pretty when they have “rapid unscheduled disassemblies” and burn up in the atmosphere. Either way, cool video of the booster being recovered. I wonder how much it costs Elon every time they lose one? All part of the development process.

Europe’s Great Space Delusion: Why OneWeb Can’t Replace Starlink (And Why Musk Might Dump Trump) - Enter Eutelsat OneWeb, the so-called "European alternative" to Starlink. If you listen to Eva Berneke, Eutelsat’s CEO, you’d think OneWeb is on the verge of replacing Starlink in Ukraine. Just one small issue: it’s not even close.

My Take: Check out the Podcast recommendation to understand why it likely isn’t. Fast forward 12 months and I think there are options.

What's Really Happening With Elon Musk and Those ‘Stranded’ Astronauts? - Two NASA officials have weighed in on the public dispute over when and how to bring home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been on the International Space Station since June.

My Take: I wonder how many meal vouchers they have? Is it all political?

🇨🇦 The Key To Consistent Customer Experience Is Within Reach - service providers will need to ensure the network service they are offering these customers is up to the task. If they consider a LEO-based solution, their chosen service should be standards-based and interoperable to accommodate other connectivity infrastructures already in use.

My Take: Telesat’s narrative is around MEF compliance for Carrier Ethernet, complete with SLAs as opposed to best effort. Rivada’s approach is MPLS end-to-end with LSO.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper Promised to Be a Big Starlink Competitor. When Will It Be Available? - Not all projected coverage areas will be immediately eligible for service at launch. Amazon hasn’t yet revealed which locations will be the first to receive eligibility, but did state that “regions will come online quickly as we add satellites to the constellation.”

My Take: 400Mbps, perhaps, they say. Not everywhere at launch, of course, but the real answer is “not soon enough”. Short of China’s Thousand Sails, there really isn’t another pure Starlink equivalent.

UK Greenlights Amazon Kuiper, Starlink Faces New Rival - Last month, Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s telecom regulator, granted Amazon’s Kuiper Systems a license to provide low-Earth orbit-based (LEO) broadband Internet in the country. The move places Kuiper systems in a rival position with the industry leader, and SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink Services.

My Take: Yea, so they just have to launch, and stuff like that. At least they have the financial backing to make it happen!

Star Catcher lands Space Florida support for satellite power beaming tests - Star Catcher Industries, a startup designing spacecraft to beam solar energy to other satellites in low Earth orbit, has secured funding from Florida’s aerospace finance and development authority to demonstrate the technology at a former Space Shuttle landing site.

My Take: So, it’s like solar refuelling for other satellites. They want to eliminate the need for satellites to have large solar and battery arrays.

South Africa rejects Musk claim Starlink can't operate there because he's not Black - South Africa on Friday rejected a claim by multibillionaire Elon Musk that his Starlink satellite company could not operate in the country because he is not Black, and its telecoms regulator said Starlink had not applied for a licence.

My Take: Is there an ironic DEI comment to be made here, somewhere? Anyway, he’s absurd. Maybe they just don’t want to do business with him.

India's Jio and Airtel ink deals to bring in Musk's Starlink - India's largest telecoms company Reliance Jio and its rival Bharti Airtel have signed separate deals with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring the Starlink internet service to the country.

My Take: So the US threatens import tariffs with India, and then all of a sudden, the problems with Elon go away? Maybe?

United Airlines partners with Elon Musk's Starlink to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi - United Airlines is moving forward with a plan to offer free in-flight internet to its loyalty rewards members through a partnership with Starlink, the satellite internet provider owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

My Take: Good news. I had a review in the newsletter last week from someone who used Starlink’s IFC service on a 12-hour flight (on another airline). Seemed like a very positive experience.

Multi-Orbit Terminals and Service Make Progress, But Have Further to Go, Leaders Say - “Multi-orbit is a reliant capability. We are going through an interesting change in the industry. People have managed their own capability. It is now more an end-to-end service capability. It is tailored to the customer's needs. One size does not fit all. There is an awful lot of opportunity for all of us,”

Multi-Orbit Operators Pitch the Value of Resiliency and Network Optionality - Yahsat Space Services CEO Ali Al Hashemi spoke on the panel on Tuesday the same day that Yahsat’s parent company, Space42, announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Viasat to explore ecosystem partnership options for developing a 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) initiative. Al Hashemi said that while Yahsat mostly operates in Geostationary Orbit (GEO), the company is exploring direct-to-device applications and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations for the future.

Intelsat to Supply Satcom Solution to County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona for Border Security - The MLCS combines Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite service with 5G cellular and a police radio gateway to provide voice and broadband connectivity in unconnected areas along the U.S. southern border. The system plans to integrate satellite, cellular, and ground-tactical radio systems to ensure communication with the sheriff’s 911 dispatch center while supporting safety features, such as GPS-based “officer down” alerts.

My Take: Many stories about multi-orbit and multi-service solutions. As I was reminded, LEO/VLEO is also multi-orbit. The Arizona Border Security is just one of many examples of where these solutions are coming together. Satellite, 5G, etc. Bond them all together in one terminal solution (seems the simplest way to do it?) and the result is continuous connectivity. No WiFi in sight.

Ground Tech CEOs Talk Digitization, Standards, and Antenna Progress - What does the future look like for the main ground tech players? Via Satellite conducted a roundtable of leading executives in this sector. Taking part are: Don Claussen, CEO of ST Engineering iDirect; Joakim Espeland, CEO of Quadsat; David Gelerman, CEO of SpaceBridge; Daniel Gizinski, president of Comtech’s Satellite & Space Communications Segment; and Geoffroy Lerosey, CEO and co-founder of Greenerwave.

My Take: I’ve mentioned earlier how this industry reminds me of the telco space in the mid-2000s, where disruptive innovation was the name of the game and people chatted about the need for standards vs proprietary solutions. Space is on the same path and will get there. All you need to do is look at the D2D space and wonder if a winner will emerge. Case in point, see the next article.

DIFI Consortium Completes Work on Version 1.2.1 of Interoperability Standard - The new standard builds on version 1.2.0, which introduced mechanisms to enhance timing synchronization and buffer management by eliminating proprietary data flow dependencies. Version 1.2.1 includes improvements in synchronization and flow control, addressing issues identified during the PlugFest Europe event in 2024. 

My Take: It took DOCSIS to drive cable modem interoperability. As you read earlier (did you read it?), there’s still a need for ONT/OLT interoperability in the fiber world. Maybe Space can get it done sooner?

Rivada eyes U.S. government contracts as it prepares to deploy 600-satellite network - Rivada Space Networks plans to start deploying test satellites for its projected low-Earth constellation in 2026, the company announced March 10.

Also see this really good paper that defines how Rivada is very different than Telesat and others - The Outernet for Enterprise Networking Enabling Next-generation WANs with Cisco and Rivada Space Networks’ satellite network

My Take: I’ve been a fan of Rivada since I heard about them over a year ago. They’ve had their fair share of bumps in the road on the way to launch (can they still launch what they need to keep their licensing and status?. They have what looks to be a compelling point-point (or point-multipoint?) architecture that just meshes into existing MPLS framework and supporting LSO, from last I checked. As the graphic depicts, and to be tested and validated, of course, they have RTTs that are less than fiber in some cases. Light moves faster in the vacuum of space, and without the typical need to downlink and then transfer to terrestrial facilities (ie, Starlink L2 services), perhaps they can do what they suggest for sovereign, secure, and potentially latency-sensitive applications.

I don’t imagine it will be the type of service that is price-competitive with Telesat’s Lightspeed or others, as their value proposition isn’t necessarily the same. Also, will they have a mobile play? (not mobility, mobile)

2026 and 2027 are the years to watch. Seems so far away, but its not.

Complaints over Rivada’s ‘Outernet’ name - Rivada Space Network has been using the term ‘Outernet’ to describe its planned orbital satellite service for some time. But its use, especially as a potential trademark, is being challenged by the Outernet Council.

My Take: Who knew there was an “Outernet” Council?

10 Surprising Facts About the Governance of Space - Governance of space involves complex legal agreements, geopolitical negotiations, and scientific considerations. Many aspects of this domain remain relatively unknown to the general public. While treaties and policies provide a structure for how nations and private entities engage with celestial bodies and outer space resources, several unexpected elements shape this framework.

My Take: Spoiler: It’s pretty much a free for all. Want my research?

Elon Musk's billion-dollar headache as bitter battle erupts over international Starlink deal - Italian officials are wary of Elon Musk's partnership with President Donald Trump's administration as they slow down a government deal with Starlink for satellite communications.

My Take: More of the same.. “Tesler”, and all..

Elon Musk's Starlink has a growing footprint in the federal government - Starlink, the satellite internet service controlled by billionaire Elon Musk and his rocket company SpaceX, is expanding its footprint in the federal government weeks after the billionaire began slashing the federal workforce and agency budgets under President Donald Trump’s direction.

My Take: Conflict of interest? Scary? For the good of all mankind?

Fears over Elon Musk Starlink internet tech being deployed on Royal Navy warships - The Royal Navy is poised to deploy the Elon Musk-owned Starlink internet network on British warships, it has been revealed. The satellite service will be trialled on HMS Prince of Wales to allow sailors to contact family and watch TV shows during its upcoming voyage to the Indo-Pacific. According to reports, if the trial on the aircraft carrier is deemed successful, then Starlink could be introduced to the rest of the fleet.

My Take: Funny, since the EU has announced investments in military and space investments to build and maintain sovereignty. Maybe they should read the Inmarsat article below.

Operators Take Aim at Perception of Starlink Dominance in Satcom Market - “There is a narrative in the market that every time Starlink wins a deal, it's amplified. Yet if you look at the performance of every company here — we're all winning our fair share of big deals,” SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said, setting the stage for the Tuesday Opening General Session at SATELLITE 2025 on March 11.

My Take: Space is big enough for everyone, even though SpaceX told them all not to bother.

🇨🇦 A Starlink rival is lobbying Quebec as officials mull ditching $136-million contract - A rural internet service provider is lobbying Quebec to subsidize the building out of the province’s fibre-optic infrastructure as the government has suggested it may not renew its $136-million contract with Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company Starlink.

My Take: See the OpenSignal article above. Next, users already have subsidized terminals and a subsidized subscription plan. If this is just for expansion, then maybe it is OK if fiber is the better long-term solution. However, if Quebec didn’t renew the contract, they could still subsidize existing subscribers until Kuiper is ready and then swap them over. Is XPLORE suggesting it wants to replace Starlink or just take over the next phase of expansion? Is this another Capacity deal with Starlink?

This is the existing arrangement:

• Effective until June 15, 2025.

• Includes Starlink transmission equipment (antenna, router and service wires) at $0 ($749 value).

• Monthly subscription (standard package) to high-speed internet service up to 150 Mb/s download and 25 Mb/s upload (preferential rate at $100/month, including $40 reimbursed by the Quebec government based on the pricing of June 15, 2022).

China expands secretive satellite series with launch of TJS-15 - A Long March 3B rocket lifted off at 12:17 p.m. Eastern (1717 UTC) March 9 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success within an hour of liftoff. While the launch was anticipated due to airspace closure notices, the payload was unknown. CASC’s announcement revealed the mission payload to be communication technology experiment Satellite-15, or Tongxin Jishu Shiyan-15 (TJS-15).

My Take: Secret satellites. Excellent.

Chinese “Starlink” launching in over 30 countries — and South Africa could be on the menu - An incoming Chinese-run rival to SpaceX’s Starlink service could beat the Elon Musk-owned company to launching satellite broadband services in South Africa. SpaceSail, also called “Qianfan,” the “Thousand Sails Constellation,” or “G60 Starlink”, is a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband service that aims to offer worldwide Internet coverage in the coming years.

My Take: For those countries that haven’t kicked Huawei out of their telecom infrastructure, this could be a good thing. For everyone else, Kuiper is next.

Intelsat ESA fitted to over 100 jets; LEO/GEO live on most - Intelsat’s multi-orbit electronically steered antenna (ESA)-based inflight connectivity hardware has been installed on over 100 aircraft, and most have seen both the geostationary (GEO) satellite service and Eutelast OneWeb Low Earth Orbit (LEO) service switched on.

My Take: Look, they used an Air Canada plane in the article - and for good reason - Intelsat Selected by Air Canada for Expanded Fleet Connectivity

Leaders See Collaboration as the Key to Expanding Access to Space - Global cooperation in space, both between nations and between government and commercial efforts, is the key to a resilient and sustainable future for the sector, panelists told SATELLITE attendees Wednesday.

My Take: Yes, of course. When there are no rules, there’s strength in numbers ;)

Inmarsat verifies unparalleled 340 Mbps NexusWave download speeds to demonstrate power of network bonding for Maritime market - Real-world tests of NexusWave confirm power of bonded connectivity for ships at sea: substantiating superior maximum, minimum and average download and upload speeds as network availability averages over 99.9%.

My Take: See, there’s more than just Elon ;)

Direct to Device

FCC allows a power boost for SpaceX’s direct-to-smartphone service - SpaceX secured permission March 7 to provide direct-to-smartphone satellite services at higher power levels to improve connectivity beyond the reach of cell towers across the United States.

Here’s the latest on T-Mobile’s D2D service with SpaceX/Starlink - Over objections from AT&T and Verizon, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday granted SpaceX’s request for a waiver to operate Starlink at a higher power to serve T-Mobile’s direct-to-device (D2D) satellite offering.

SES and Lynk Global Announce Strategic Partnership for Direct-to-Device (D2D) Services - SES and Lynk Global have announced a strategic partnership to address the high-growth direct-to-device (D2D) segment. As part of the agreement, SES will provide Series B funding for Lynk Global’s D2D constellation and provide a suite of integrated services that will enhance Lynk Global’s capabilities

Space42 and Viasat Announce Partnership to Explore Shared Global 5G Non-Terrestrial Network Initiative - Space42, (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE based AI-powered SpaceTech company with global reach, and Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a leading global mobile satellite services (MSS) operator in L- and S-band spectrum, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore ecosystem partnership options for developing a 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) initiative. This collaboration between Space42 and Viasat is a major step towards expanding global satellite connectivity, enabling both companies to address the growing opportunities in direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications to smartphones, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), as well as existing and next-generation MSS services.

Direct-to-Cell Shows Promise for Military Applications - Direct-to-cell (D2C) connectivity will be available soon to many different military and commercial users, but the issue of who uses it and how it will be used is still being explored.

Here’s the latest on T-Mobile’s D2D service with SpaceX/Starlink - Over objections from AT&T and Verizon, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday granted SpaceX’s request for a waiver to operate Starlink at a higher power to serve T-Mobile’s direct-to-device (D2D) satellite offering.. The waiver is significant on a number of levels.

My Take: “Independent research studies project the size of the satellite segment of the D2D market to reach $50B in 2032[1], in addition to more traditional enterprise and government MSS market segments that also hold substantial growth potential.”

Very many things going on in this space, especially with the SATELLITE show this past week. Is Elon getting some special treatment?

What’s Happening SubSea?

BT Study On Causes Of UK Subsea Cable Outages: - The Anchor Connection
An enlightening study showing how anchors are replacing fishing as the number one cause of subsea cable damage. Also indirectly debunks the cable-dragging must be sabotage hypothesis. Many examples of ships knocking out three or more cables by dragging anchors for hundreds of kilometers.

My Take: Maybe it’s intentional.. maybe it’s not.

Roderick's Top Ten Subsea Cable & Technology Forecasts for 2025/2026 -

My Take: I have no idea who Roderick is, but he makes 10 predictions.

Anchors Damaging Cables..............is such a Drag. - The recent incidents in the Baltic have brought subsea cables into the forefront of the mainstream media. For decades subsea cables have silently connected the world. Most of the global population thought the internet was transported by satellites or had not really given it much thought.

My Take: Accidents, or not?

Enabling AI

Introducing Gemma 3: The most capable model you can run on a single GPU or TPU - Today, we're introducing Gemma 3, a collection of lightweight, state-of-the-art open models built from the same research and technology that powers our Gemini 2.0 models. These are our most advanced, portable and responsibly developed open models yet. They are designed to run fast, directly on devices — from phones and laptops to workstations — helping developers create AI applications, wherever people need them.

My Take: I can only imagine with the next number of years will be like when everyone has an AI-enabled device…

China’s Manus Follows DeepSeek in Challenging US AI Lead - Manus AI last week launched a preview version of what it called a general AI agent capable of screening resumes, creating trip itineraries and analyzing stocks in response to basic instructions from the user. The company said its service performed better on some fronts than OpenAI’s Deep Research, another recently released agent.

My Take: “Truly autonomous” but takes longer than OpenAI, it says,,

McDonald’s Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover - The fast-food giant’s new initiative uses artificial intelligence to target order accuracy and help restaurants detect equipment issues before they fail

My Take: I don’t eat at McDonanlds, so I have nothing to McSay about this McStory.

Detecting misbehavior in frontier reasoning models - Frontier reasoning models exploit loopholes when given the chance. We show we can detect exploits using an LLM to monitor their chains-of-thought. Penalizing their “bad thoughts” doesn’t stop the majority of misbehavior—it makes them hide their intent.

My Take: I wonder if someone can monitor my chain of thought, and exit some loopholes..

ServiceNow wants telcos to unlock the power of agentic AI - ServiceNow is launching AI agents tailored for the telecom industry. The agents were designed with tech from Nvidia, which has been fairly vocal about agentic AI being the next big thing for enterprises. In the telecom space, ServiceNow has worked with operators like BT, Bell Canada and Verizon.

My Take: Agentic AI continues to be all the rage.

This and That!

Mississippi Passes Bill Banning Lab-Grown Meat -
Three states have now passed legislation making it illegal to manufacture, sell, or distribute cultivated meat.

My Take: MMmmm.. Manufactured meat. Do hotdogs count? Cultivated mean, indeed.

What will happen during the total lunar eclipse of March 2025? - Observers across most of the United States will have front-row seats to the spectacular total lunar eclipse overnight on March 13-14. Here's what to expect.

My Take: Not as exciting as a solar eclipse.

🇨🇦 Bell Media Leads the Way in Sports Advertising with New Live Connected TV Offering - Bell Media today announced a major advancement in sports advertising with the launch of live CoTV inventory on TSN, Canada’s Sports Leader. This innovative offering combines the reach of traditional television with the precision targeting of digital advertising, providing brands with unparalleled access to Canada’s most engaged sports fans.

My Take: Precision targeting comes from users just hitting that “click to accept” button on EULAs and pricy policies, I would suspect.

6G apps will be enabled by digital twins and FWA, says NGA - ATIS’ Next G Alliance (NGA) announced the release of two new white papers pivotal in shaping the 6G future: 6G Digital Twins Use Cases and Requirements and Fixed Wireless Access.

My Take: Hmm. Seems folks made all sorts of predictions around 5G as well.. that we’re still waiting on.

Naturally occurring molecule rivals Ozempic in weight loss, sidesteps side effects - A Stanford Medicine study taps artificial intelligence to find a naturally occurring molecule called a peptide that suppressed appetite and led to weight loss in mice and pigs.

My Take: I thought people like their pigs nice and fat? Anyway, not the point. Surprised the pharmaceutical industry didn't tamp this down.

World's 1st modular quantum computer that can operate at room temperature goes online - Scientists have built the first networked quantum computer using photons, demonstrating that room-temperature modules can be connected and scaled up.

My Take: Room temperature? Seems to resolve the cooling problem, and perhaps some of the power problem?

🇨🇦 Canada is a supercomputer laggard. Here's why that's needs to change - In the past half-decade, other developed economies have blazed ahead of Canada in shoring up their computing power and digital infrastructure — a crucial pillar of competitiveness that has only grown in importance with the recent generative AI boom. Canada now stands alone as the only G7 nation without a supercomputer in the top 25. 

My Take: Looks pretty bad for Canada when you see it on that chart.

Reactive cyber-security measures are much more expensive and less effective than a proactive approach - "The most expensive part of a cyber attack is not always the immediate damage, but rather the lost opportunities, reputational harm and costly recovery process – consequences that can be avoided with a proactive cyber-security strategy."

My Take: Preventive maintenance and actions are always less than reactive remediation. So many examples of this in our daily lives, including installing security software on devices to protect from expensive negative outcomes.

NASA's SPHEREx science probe heads to orbit | Space photo of the day March 12, 2025 - SPHEREx will study the universe in infrared light to observe objects that are invisible to the human eye. The probe will map the entire sky in 102 wavelengths of infrared light, collecting data on up to 450 million galaxies and over 100 million stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.

My Take: Should be some cool pictures!

Infographic Of The Week

My Take: What? Pascal and Fortran-77 didn’t make the list? 🙂 All that data science and AI contribution is propping up Python. It’s a relatively straightforward language.

Podcast Recommendation

In this episode, Christopher Baugh, Partner and head of the space research practice, Lluc Palerm, Research Director and head of the Satellite–Telecoms Integration programme, and Carlos Placido, independent adviser, discuss the potential for European satellite constellations such as Eutelsat OneWeb to replace Starlink in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Geopolitics are causing turbulence in the satellite communications (satcom) sector, but Europe is stepping up its space connectivity plans in terms of its commercial and sovereign solutions.

The conversation touches on the potential for a European-backed constellation to replace Starlink in Ukraine specifically and the strategies that European space players will follow.

Listen Here!

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

IMDb: 6.9/10

JMDb: 7.5/10 (I liked her pictures.)

Kate Winslet delivers a tour de force performance in "LEE," embodying the remarkable Lee Miller with fierce determination and vulnerability. This biographical drama chronicles Miller's transformation from Vogue model to a fearless war photographer, capturing history's darkest moments during WWII.

Director Ellen Kuras, herself an accomplished cinematographer, crafts visually arresting scenes that honor Miller's extraordinary photographs while never shying away from war's brutal realities. Winslet's nuanced portrayal reveals a complex woman driven to document truth at great personal cost.

The supporting cast shines, with Andy Samberg surprisingly effective in a dramatic turn and Marion Cotillard delivering emotional depth in limited screen time. While the film occasionally suffers from conventional biopic trappings, its power lies in showing how Miller's lens became our witness to both humanity's greatest horrors and resilience.

"LEE" isn't just a history lesson—it's a testament to those who risk everything to ensure we never look away from inconvenient truths. In Winslet's capable hands, Miller's legacy burns bright for a new generation.

Until Next Time

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