Advanced Television

starlink

Germany Military halts Starlink talks

Germany’s Military (Bundeswehr) has ended talks over using Starlink despite reportedly successful test usage by the Cyber Innovation Hub der Bundeswehr. The Bundeswehr, in a statement, said that there has been a disagreement on certain “key issues”. Other national governments are also refusing Starlink access. Additionally there are reportedly fears that Starlink might present security […]

February 6, 2024By Chris Forrester

SpaceX reveals Starlink laser capacity

SpaceX now has a mega-constellation of some 5,400 Starlink satellites in orbit. Some of these are its Version 2 craft with sophisticated laser links and extremely rapid inter-satellite links. The 9,000+ installed laser links amount to a massive throughput for the fleet which Starlink says is 42 PetaBytes (PB) per day or 1260 PB/month. There […]

February 2, 2024

Filing explains SpaceX’s Direct-2-Cell service

Chris Forrester There’s considerable interest in what various heavyweight suppliers might be doing in terms of Direct-2-Cell satellite telephony. Apple, Google, AST SpaceMobile and others, including SpaceX’s Starlink, are very busy in this area. A filing with the FCC from T-Mobile on January 18th (which is linked with Starlink) explains their intentions, and the practical […]

February 1, 2024By Chris Forrester

Zimbabwe threatens arrest to Starlink users

Zimbabwe’s Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has issued a warning to users of Starlink broadband equipment that they risk being arrested for the illegal import and usage of the kit. Zimbabwe has not licensed Starlink. The threat extends to companies and individuals who are importing or advertising the equipment. The regulator says […]

January 31, 2024By Chris Forrester

Starlink eating HughesNet subs

EchoStar-owned broadband-by-satellite service HughesNet has reportedly lost more than 30 per cent of its subscribers over the past three years with Starlink seemingly picking up the cancellations. Some of the comments suggest that for HughesNet subscribers “in a deep valley with limited potential visibility of Starlink” they will have to stay with HughesNet. Other HughesNet […]

January 25, 2024

Starlink set for approval in India

Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system is reportedly set to receive regulatory approval “in the next few days” for operation over and in India. The Musk-backed satellite business has reportedly agreed to comply with a key regulatory issue to not “offer services to a bordering country,” (likely to mean Pakistan). A separate Indian company would need […]

January 22, 2024By Chris Forrester

Forecast: FWA equipment spend to surge

According to a report by Dell’Oro Group, a source for market information about the telecommunications, security, networks and data centre industries, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has surged in recent years to support both residential and enterprise connectivity due to its ease of deployment along with the more widespread availability of 4G LTE and 5G Sub-6GHz […]

January 17, 2024

John Deere orders Starlink connectivity

The John Deere brand is known to every farmer on the planet and is one of the largest suppliers of tractors and sophisticated farming equipment. The company has selected SpaceX’s Starlink in order to expand its existing connections for farmers – and their equipment. The agreement sees Deere & Company link with SpaceX to provide […]

January 17, 2024By Chris Forrester

BT considers Starlink for rural deployment

BT is looking to offer Starlink’s satellite kit as a gap-filler solution for its hard-to-reach rural customers. Investment bank BNPP, quoting TS2 Space, says that with Starlink’s existing network of about 5,000 satellites, the Elon Musk-backed business could provide BT with the technology to enhance mobile signals and broadband access in hard-to-reach locations. “The collaboration […]

January 16, 2024By Chris Forrester

Elon speaks “Reliability, Reusable Rockets”

Elon Musk addressed an ‘all hands’ staff Town Hall meeting at the SpaceX Starship site in south Texas on January 12th. He said that the “three Rs: Reliability, Reusable Rockets” were key to SpaceX’s success. Other news also emerged. Some mundane, others perhaps more important. The mundane was that there will be new restaurant, café […]

January 15, 2024