Access Providers

SpaceX Deploys First 26 Starlink V3 Satellites on Starship

SpaceX deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Starship’s first orbital mission, beginning a network expansion whose promised capacity gains depend on the spacecraft completing checkout and entering service. more

SpaceX Wants to End Rural Broadband Subsidies

SpaceX argues that Starlink makes rural broadband subsidies obsolete, but questions about speed, universal availability, voice service and affordability complicate its case for eliminating high-cost Universal Service Fund support. more

Russian Attack Disrupts Internet and Digital Services Across Kyiv

A Russian attack disrupted Internet access for about 100,000 Kyiv-area households and affected data centers, hosting and court services, exposing disruptions across multiple infrastructure layers while leaving possible shared dependencies unclear. more

Remote Work Is Here to Stay, but Rural Broadband Gaps Remain

Remote work remains far above pre-pandemic levels, but rural participation trails urban areas as job mix and inadequate broadband limit opportunities for working from home. more

Study Finds Tribal-Built Broadband Network Linked to 4% Income Gain

A tribal-built broadband network on Washington's Colville Reservation was associated with a 4% income increase, offering evidence that connectivity can produce economic gains even without substantial growth in household broadband subscriptions. more

The Missing Privacy Debate Around IPv6

IPv6 solves the Internet's address shortage and simplifies networking, but its technical elegance may carry a hidden cost: shifting privacy protections from architectural constraints toward policies controlled by Internet providers, corporations and governments. more

Wi-Fi 7 Adoption Is Accelerating

Wi-Fi 7 is spreading rapidly across America, promising faster speeds, greater capacity and fewer connectivity headaches. With big internet providers driving adoption, the technology is reshaping home broadband even as Wi-Fi 8 approaches.
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China’s Qianfan Emerges as a Satellite Internet Option for Cuba

China's Qianfan satellite constellation could bring high-speed internet to Cuba, where Starlink remains banned, deepening Beijing's digital influence while giving Havana a connectivity upgrade designed to preserve the government's control over online access. more

SpaceX Wants to Handle the World’s Broadband - Here’s Why That’s Unlikely

SpaceX wants to expand Starlink to 100,000 satellites and eventually carry most of the world's internet traffic. Ambition is not the problem. Market competition, geopolitics and the resilience of fiber networks make that goal implausible. more

Community Networks Offer a Durable Route Across the Digital Divide

An ITU report finds that community-owned networks, backed by reliable technology, flexible financing and supportive regulation, can bring affordable, meaningful internet access to remote populations that traditional providers have struggled to reach at lasting scale. more

Economic Stress Is Testing Broadband’s Recession-Proof Reputation

Mounting signs of consumer distress, from unpaid utility bills to rising loan delinquencies, are raising uncomfortable questions for internet providers about whether broadband remains recession-proof as households increasingly trade home connections for cheaper wireless alternatives. more

No Safe Harbor: SCOTUS Scuttles the DMCA

America's Supreme Court, in Cox v Sony, recast online copyright liability, effectively sidelining the DMCA safe harbor and replacing it with a narrow inducement standard that leaves service providers little obligation to meaningfully police infringement. more

Concerns Over America’s WiFi Router Ban

America's FCC has barred new foreign-made consumer routers on security grounds, tightening supply for ISPs and households while raising costs and risking technological lag unless domestic manufacturing or approvals quickly expand in coming years significantly. more

Rising Costs of Broadband Construction

Despite steady expansion of fibre networks, the cost of building them is rising. New survey data show labour-heavy construction, higher aerial costs and persistent inflation pressures likely to push deployment expenses higher in 2026. more

Iranians Outsmart Internet Blackout to Broadcast Airstrikes

After US and Israeli strikes, Iran imposed a near-total internet blackout, yet citizens used satellite links and decentralized tools to share footage, undermining state control and exposing a growing contest over information in wartime. more