Telecom

Starlink and Amazon Could Gain Access to Europe’s Satellite Airwaves

The European Union plans to reserve most future satellite spectrum for regional firms while still allowing Starlink and Amazon to compete, reflecting Brussels' attempt to balance technological sovereignty with market openness in a strategically sensitive communications sector. more

Time Sovereignty: Internet Policy and Defense Frameworks for Critical Infrastructure Synchronization Under Geopolitical Conflict

As power grids depend on microsecond precision, states must treat time synchronization as sovereign infrastructure, hardening satellite, fiber and orbital defenses against hybrid attacks that could trigger catastrophic blackouts through resilient sovereign time defense frameworks. more

Iran Threatens Subsea Internet Cables in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran is seeking to monetize and potentially weaponize subsea internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz, exposing how modern geopolitical conflicts increasingly threaten the digital infrastructure underpinning global finance, communications and trade. 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

Inside Iran’s Shift From Internet Shutdowns to Tiered Connectivity

Iran's wartime internet restrictions transformed online access into a costly, unequal system, according to researcher Imad Payande, with black markets, selective connectivity and institutional privilege reshaping how citizens reached the global web. more

The New Space Race for Direct-to-Device Mobile Networks

Three decades after Iridium's costly collapse, falling launch costs and improved signal processing are reviving satellite-to-phone ambitions, as Starlink, Amazon and AST SpaceMobile race to build direct-to-device networks that could reshape mobile coverage and competition. more

Two Ways to Build the Internet in Space - China, Inc. vs Starlink Et Al

Starlink's rapid integrated model contrasts with China's coordinated, multi-constellation strategy, where specialised networks share roles. Though slower to deploy, this system could narrow the gap and reshape global satellite internet competition by 2030 significantly ahead. more

Building RIPE SEE: A Conversation With Jan Žorž About Community, Trust, and the Work Behind a Regional Event

Jan Žorž reflects on SEE RIPE's role in uniting a fragmented region, where trust built through informal exchange now underpins internet resilience and helps align engineers with policymakers as regulatory pressures intensify. more

Beyond Connectivity: How Submarine Cable Resilience Dictates Digital Sovereignty in the Age of Fragmented Governance

Subsea cables underpin global data flows, yet resilience, control and deep sea access now define digital sovereignty as governance fragments, hyperscalers consolidate ownership, and states prioritize survivability over efficiency in an increasingly contested geopolitical seabed. more

Africa’s Community Networks Offer a Local Path to Inclusive and Resilient Connectivity

Community networks, locally built and governed, are emerging across Africa as cost-effective tools to extend connectivity, bolster digital sovereignty, and improve cyber resilience, despite regulatory, financial, and technical constraints that hinder broader adoption. 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

Sovereignty Inversion: How RIRs Reduced National Sovereignty to a US$100 Liability Cap

Regional internet registries, once coordinators of technical scarcity, now effectively cap liability at $100 while retaining control over national numbering systems, shifting risk to states and entrenching a governance model critics argue today inverts sovereignty. more

Regional Internet Registries’ Thick Governance Turns Uniqueness Into Double Extraction

Regional Internet registries, built for coordination, now sit atop scarce IPv4 assets while bearing little liability, suppressing capitalization and imposing "double extraction" that weakens operators, distorts markets and threatens the stability of global internet uniqueness. more

Internet Number Resources Are Not Political Property

Internet number resources, once clerical entries, now underpin real economic value, exposing a mismatch between registry power and accountability, while misplaced political narratives obscure the case for decentralised, operator-led control. more