America has declared its intent to win the 6G race, casting next-generation wireless as vital to security and growth. Yet standards are global, vendors multinational, and the rhetoric looks like spectrum lobbying than technological rivalry.
Pew Research finds most Americans are online, yet access still tracks income, age and geography. Broadband gaps persist as subsidies fade, while smartphone dependence rises, reshaping how millions connect to work, services and civic life.
Iran's 2026 internet shutdown was not a glitch but a trial of digital sovereignty, revealing how easily connectivity can be weaponised to silence society, concentrate state power, and fracture the promise of a global internet.
Starlink is leveraging its growing dominance with data-hungry AI ambitions, regulatory demands, and space infrastructure plans. A merger with xAI could solidify its position as an unregulated gatekeeper of orbital connectivity and intelligence.
During California's devastating 2025 wildfires, Starlink, Tesla, and T-Mobile offered vital emergency connectivity. Their improvised response reveals both the promise of satellite-based disaster aid and the need for formalised coordination with public agencies.
Iran's deliberate disconnection from the global internet reveals a deeper crisis in digital governance, where state-led suppression and procedural legitimacy now threaten the foundational architecture and human rights principles of an open web.
Low Earth Orbit satellite networks are dismantling traditional IP address allocation models. As signals defy borders, Regional Internet Registries face challenges in geolocation accuracy, routing security, and the definition of digital territory itself.
Starlink expanded to 42 new countries in 2025, added 2.7 million customers, improved network speeds and latency, and continued satellite launches as it nears its first-phase constellation goal of 12,000 satellites.
Global internet use has surpassed six billion users, yet stark divides persist between regions, genders and urban-rural populations. Meanwhile, download speeds have surged and smartphones now dominate how people access the web worldwide.
What began as an emergency response evolved into critical wartime infrastructure. Ukraine's experience with Starlink reveals the strategic risks and benefits of relying on privately operated networks for national resilience and defence.