Issue #28 - July 19, 2024

Welcome to Issue #28!

A sample of what’s inside:

🗯️ What if, in 10 years, young people don’t subscribe to fixed broadband at all?

🛰️ Starlink Now Has 400,000+ Active Customers in Canada

🛰️ SpaceX's Starlink Teases 8Gbps Downloads With Mobile Gateway Tech

☢️ Space Threat Assessment 2024

🤖 The Blurred Reality of AI’s ‘Human-Washing’

🛜 Getting into AI isn’t easy for ISPs – here’s why

🌎 Earth is wobbling, and days are getting longer — and humans are to blame

Learn About - Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies

..and an infographic, and a podcast and a movie review!

Remember to repost, share, like, and comment (good and bad).

Canada Broadband and Some US Stuff

CRTC to publish full Xona report on Rogers’s July 2022 outage after public interest group prodding

The CRTC has told Rogers in a letter it plans to publish the full Xona Partners report on the cable giant’s July 2022 major service outage, after receiving letters from public interest groups requesting disclosure of the full text of the report.

Read the full article

My Take: From the letter to Rogers - “Commission staff requests that Rogers review the report and identify, by highlighting in yellow, the information in the report that it deems confidential within the scope of paragraphs 39(1)(a) to (c) of the Telecommunications Act. Rogers is to submit a highlighted version of the report together with any claims of confidence to the Commission within 7 days from issuance of this letter, along with justification as to why disclosure of the information would not be in the public interest, including how any specific direct harm that would likely result from the disclosure would outweigh the public interest.”

I’d read it, as would many others.

Updated Connectivity Data for Northern Ontario

Since 2012 Blue Sky Net, a non-profit technology development corporation funded by FedNor, has collected coverage and speed information to map all of the Broadband (Internet) service availability in Northern Ontario.

This information has been developed into this public portal to present a clear picture of service availability directly to consumers at the property/address level. This is important for businesses investigating service options and residents looking for providers or availability. This is also important for communities, economic developers, organizations and researchers who are looking for broadband infrastructure information.

Visit Connected North

My Take: Great amounts of detailed data!

Varcoe: Alberta sizes up $100B data centre opportunity, but says 'bring your own electricity'

Come to Alberta — but be prepared to build or bring your own power.

“In the past 48 hours, I’ve been talking about nothing but data centres and AI,” Smith told out-of-town investors gathered Wednesday at an event held by Invest Alberta, the province’s economic development corporation.

“We’ve been watching what has happened around the world and it seems like it’s really exploded in the last few months, everybody talking about the electricity constraints that are leading to difficulties in this sector . . . Bring your own electricity, bring your own generation. Partner with a generating company.”

Read the full article

My Take: Alberta has lots of cows, don’t they? Maybe methane harvesting could give rise to a new type of natural gas-based power generation,. It would also keep the Climate people happy because cows are bad for the environment. Methane is responsible for about 25-30% of the current rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution. Mmmm. Beef.

What if, in 10 years, young people don’t subscribe to fixed broadband at all?

Can you imagine a future where everyone relies solely on their cellular connection, and they don’t subscribe to a fixed broadband connection at all?

Yes, it’s true that all wireless ends in a wire, but it’s also important to imagine how things might evolve over time.

Currently, the U.S. government is undertaking a big push to get everyone in the country connected to fiber broadband to close the digital divide. But ironically, a research group from the U.K. predicts that within 10 years a large contingent of young people will have never subscribed to fixed-lined broadband, and they’ll rely solely on their cellular connections for all their internet needs.

Read the Op Ed here

My Take: What if, in 10 years, we’re all driving around in flying hydrogen-powered cars, wearing Apple VisioPro goggles? Look, the world is moving to more wireless - cities taking on HotSpot projects, 6G around the corner (*cough, cough*), and big telcos using 5G to deliver residential FWA services. It’s not inconceivable that people could use their mobile device as their primary “Internet” connectivity source — as long as they can subscribe to an uncapped, high-speed tier of service, tether and cast to other screens as required.

Starlink Now Has 400,000+ Active Customers in Canada

“Starlink is now providing high-speed internet to more than 400k active Canadian customers, connecting ~3% of homes across the country!” said the official Starlink account on X on Wednesday. Many Canadian customers replied to Starlink on X, particularly those in rural areas, thanking the company for its service.

Read the full article

My Take: They launched in Canada in 2020. I’m proud to have been one of the first batch of “better than nothing beta trial” customers in Canada. Not using it anymore because the fibre train rolled into cottage country, but I still have the kit sitting in the box. It will have a place in my museum one day.

400k is substantial. Not sure the industry expected that level of adoption in Canada, although their success has been propelled by provincial and federal broadband funding to serve the truly “unservable” people. I’d suggest many are using it for mobility-based applications, so the number is skewed a a 2nd service for many. Wait until the mini takes off in Canada.

SpaceX's Starlink Teases 8Gbps Downloads With Mobile Gateway Tech

The capability appears to be an expansion of SpaceX’s “community gateway” business for Starlink, which the company announced in January. For consumers, SpaceX currently offers a Starlink dish that can offer download speeds from 50Mbps to over 300Mbps. But for commercial customers, like an internet service provider, the company can also build an entire facility equipped with larger antennas to power 10Gbps broadband speeds. 

Learn About - Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies

Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies are a crucial set of systems and capabilities that provide accurate location, navigation, and time synchronization information. At the core of modern PNT systems is the Global Positioning System (GPS), a network of satellites operated by the United States that provides global coverage for positioning and timing services.

PNT technologies encompass three main components: positioning, which determines one's precise location on Earth; navigation, which enables finding routes between locations; and timing, which provides highly accurate time synchronization. These capabilities are fundamental to numerous critical infrastructure sectors, including transportation, telecommunications, energy, and financial services.

While GPS is the most well-known PNT system, there are other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) operated by different countries, such as Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo, and China's BeiDou. These satellite-based systems work by transmitting signals from space that receivers on Earth can use to determine their position and obtain precise timing information.

However, the reliance on satellite signals introduces vulnerabilities to PNT systems. GNSS signals are relatively weak and can be disrupted by both intentional interference (jamming or spoofing) and unintentional factors like solar activity or urban canyons. This has led to an increased focus on developing resilient PNT technologies that can maintain accurate positioning and timing even when GNSS signals are unavailable or compromised.

Resilient PNT solutions often involve a combination of different technologies and approaches. These can include terrestrial-based systems, inertial navigation systems, atomic clocks for precise timekeeping, and the use of alternative signals of opportunity such as cellular networks or Wi-Fi. Advanced techniques like sensor fusion, which combines data from multiple sources, are being employed to enhance the robustness of PNT solutions.

Emerging technologies are also shaping the future of PNT. Quantum sensors promise unprecedented accuracy in measuring gravity, acceleration, and magnetic fields, potentially enabling new forms of navigation. Bio-inspired navigation techniques, drawing inspiration from animals like bats and bees, are being explored for use in GPS-denied environments. Celestial navigation, an ancient technique, is being revived with modern technology to provide an alternative to satellite-based systems.

The importance of PNT technologies extends far beyond consumer applications like smartphone navigation. They play a critical role in synchronizing power grids, timestamping financial transactions, coordinating transportation systems, and supporting military operations. As our reliance on PNT grows, so does the need for resilient and diverse PNT solutions that can withstand potential disruptions and ensure the continuous availability of these essential services.

Governments and organizations worldwide are actively working to enhance PNT resilience. For example, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has developed guidelines and frameworks to improve the robustness of PNT systems in critical infrastructure. Similarly, other countries and international bodies are investing in the research and development of alternative PNT technologies and promoting standards for resilient PNT solutions

While satellite-based systems like GPS remain the primary source of PNT information, the development of complementary and alternative technologies is crucial to ensure the resilience and continuity of these vital services in the face of evolving challenges and threats.

Space

What’s in Space This Week?

We all know that Elon lost 20 this week due to a Falcon 9 failure. Since they never made it to their orbit and burned up in the atmosphere, I’m not sure if they would even be reported.

Space Threat Assessment 2024

Continuing past trends, 2023 saw foreign nations reach new milestones in space: record-setting launches, deployments of satellites, and missions to the Moon and other parts of the solar system.3 While not strictly advancing in counterspace weapons, foreign countries have shown progress in building and expanding the foundational capabilities needed to support both space and counterspace systems. China broke its national record for launches in one year and, for the third time, sent its reusable spaceplane into orbit.4 North Korea successfully launched a satellite into space, while Iran placed its third surveillance satellite into orbit.5 Over the last year, both India and Japan landed missions on the Moon.6 In February 2024, the world learned that Russia is developing a spacebased counterspace weapon involving nuclear technology, bringing more public awareness and policymaker attention to space security.

Listen to the audio brief and download the assessment document here

My Take: Cyber threats, Kinetic and Non-Kinetic weapons, space-based Nukes, and so on. Apparently, China and Russia are considered unfriendly and pose risks to space security.

Has VLEO’s Time Arrived? The Tech Advancements Enabling Constellations in VLEO

WASHINGTON — According to a new market report by Juniper Research, investment in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) is estimated to reach $220B by 2027, compared to $17B in 2024. This projected increase in VLEO funding and activity is poised to unlock cutting-edge and never-before-seen satellite capabilities and services that will only continue to expand as access to the space domain becomes easier and more affordable.

Because VLEO satellites operate at an altitude of just 150-450 km above the Earth’s surface, they are better suited to meet today’s service demands for higher-resolution imaging, faster communications speeds, more frequent revisit monitoring and greater space operational efficiency.

Read the full article

My Take: The FCC recently denied Starlink’s request for a VLEO constellation. They don’t want anything deployed below the ISS, which orbits as low as 370Km above the earth. Who knew?

SpaceX Seeks To Resume Starlink Launches While It Investigates Falcon 9 Failure From Last Week

On Thursday, a Starlink mission launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California experienced a significant anomaly. SpaceX’s Falcon 9’s second stage developed a liquid oxygen leak, causing the upper stage to malfunction and deploy its 20-satellite payload into an orbit too low for the Starlink units. The incident caused the Starlink satellites to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and subsequently incinerate. The malfunction triggered a comprehensive safety investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requiring the temporary grounding of the rocket.

Read the full article

My Take: “According to SpaceX, the issue was identified as a liquid oxygen leak that led to a buildup of ice on the upper stage, as observed during the launch.”. Ice. Bad for planes. Bad for rockets. Good for scotch, but only a little bit.

GPS startup bets on advanced signal to counter jamming threats

The startup oneNav developed an “L5 direct” receiver for commercial use in smartphones and internet-of-things (IoT) devices. The receiver directly acquires L5-band signals without first locking onto the older L1 signals, making it resistant to jamming attempts, said Steve Poizner, the company’s chief executive. 

Read the full article

My Take: Other PNT (positioning, navigation and timing) technologies seem to be the path forward.

AI

Getting into AI isn’t easy for ISPs – here’s why

We hear every day about how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used across different industries. In the comms industry, there is no shortage of news about communications service providers (CSPs) moving headlong into AI. However, when it comes to internet service providers (ISPs), they’ve still got a ways to go — and they have several approaches to take, according to Jason Presement, business advisor of market expansion at Canadian Fiber Optics.

Read the full article

My Take: I only added this into the newsletter as a self-serving nod to being quoted in the article.

Gamma’s AI creates beautiful presentations, websites, and more. No design or coding skills required.

See the Web Site

My Take: Haven’t tried it yet, but I will.

What happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution?

So far the technology has had almost no economic impact

Move to san francisco and it is hard not to be swept up by mania over artificial intelligence (ai). Advertisements tell you how the tech will revolutionise your workplace. In bars people speculate about when the world will “get agi”, or when machines will become more advanced than humans. The five big tech firms—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, all of which have either headquarters or outposts nearby—are investing vast sums. This year they are budgeting an estimated $400bn for capital expenditures, mostly on ai-related hardware, and for research and development.

Read the full article

My Take: How many of you will actually try and read this and realize you can’t?

The Blurred Reality of AI’s ‘Human-Washing’

VOICE ASSISTANTS HAVE become a constant presence in our lives. Maybe you talk to Alexa or Gemini or Siri to ask a question or to perform a task. Maybe you have to do a little back and forth with a voice bot whenever you call your pharmacy, or when you book a service appointment at your car dealership. You may even get frustrated and start pleading with the robot on the other end of the line to connect you with a real human.

That’s the catch, though: These voice bots are starting to sound a lot more like actual humans, with emotions in their voice, little ticks and giggles in between phrases, and the occasional flirty aside.

Read the full article

My Take: Good question - “Can you trust a bot that insists it’s actually human?”

Tidbits

Earth is wobbling and days are getting longer — and humans are to blame

The length of Earth's days and the orientation of our planet are being thrown out of balance as human-caused climate change continuously alters Earth's spin, new research suggests.

Initially, these changes will be imperceptible to us, but they could have serious knock-on effects, including forcing us to introduce negative leap seconds, interfering with space travel and altering our planet's inner core, researchers warn.

Read the full article

My Take: Of course, as with everything else, Climate Change is to blame. Days are getting longer because of Climate Change. Mmmm hmm..

The earth is wobbling funny because there are too many people in India and China - there’s too much weight from all the people. It’s like balancing a car tire. We just need to redistribute things, and we’ll all be fine.

People Are Sharing The Disturbing Facts They Wish They Could Unlearn, And I Wish I Could Go Back In Time To The Person I Was Before I Read These

Oh, my. The title of the article says it all.

Fascinate yourself here

My Take: #30. Eww.

Infographic Of The Week

Stop investing in EV infrastructure and technology. Learn from Betamax's failure. Nobody wants EVs, and nobody wanted Betamax.

Podcast Recommendation

The Mortified Podcast

New episodes every other Sunday. The Mortified Podcast features adults sharing the embarrassing things they wrote as kids, surprise celebrity guests, and interviews that pick up where the stage show ends. PS: It totally likes you.

Its very entertaining.

See the episode library

Movie/Streaming Recommendation

Wild Wild Space

IMDb: 7.7/10

JMDb: 9/10 (10/10 if more shit blew up)

HBO's new documentary "Wild Wild Space" offers a captivating glimpse into the modern-day space race, where private companies are vying for dominance in the satellite-launching business. Directed by Ross Kauffman, the film follows three ambitious startups - Astra Space, Rocket Lab, and Planet Labs - as they navigate the thrilling and perilous world of commercial space exploration.

The documentary kicks off with a bang, introducing us to the charismatic and slightly reckless Chris Kemp of Astra Space, setting the tone for an adventure that's equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking. As we follow these companies' journeys, we're treated to a mix of triumphs and failures, with rockets soaring into orbit or crashing spectacularly back to Earth.

What makes "Wild Wild Space" particularly engaging is its focus on the eccentric personalities behind these ventures. From the self-taught New Zealand genius Peter Beck of Rocket Lab to the more traditional tech nerd Will Marshall of Planet Labs, the film paints a vivid picture of the diverse characters shaping our future in space.

While the documentary does an excellent job of capturing the excitement and high stakes of this new frontier, it also raises important questions about the implications of commercializing space. Issues of privacy, national security, and the potential dangers of space debris are all touched upon, adding depth to what could have been a simple tale of technological achievement.

"Wild Wild Space" manages to be both informative and entertaining, offering a unique perspective on a rapidly evolving industry. It's a wild ride that will leave viewers marvelling at human ingenuity and pondering the future of our relationship with the cosmos. Whether you're a space enthusiast or just curious about the next big thing, this documentary is definitely worth a watch.

I wonder what Elon thought of it?

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]