Planes, trains, and automobiles: Starlink gets FCC greenlight for moving vehicle internet

This week, the FCC has approved Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to begin providing internet for moving vehicles throughout the US. 
Starlink currently comprises around 2,700 LEO satellites, providing high-speed internet services to around 400,000 subscribers in 32 countries, with global coverage expected to be achieved later this year.
All of these subscribers access internet services via Starlink terminals, which are delivered to consumers and deployed at fixed locations nearby…

This week, the FCC has approved Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to begin providing internet for moving vehicles throughout the US. 

Starlink currently comprises around 2,700 LEO satellites, providing high-speed internet services to around 400,000 subscribers in 32 countries, with global coverage expected to be achieved later this year.

All of these subscribers access internet services via Starlink terminals, which are delivered to consumers and deployed at fixed locations nearby. These terminals then act as an intermediary, facilitating a connection between the satellites and the user’s connected devices.

Currently, these terminals must be fixed in place to provide services, though Starlink also offers customers the opportunity to move their terminal to an additional location and receive services there for an additional fee. 

Accessing services whilst on the move, however, has thus far been prohibited by law; for example, earlier this year, Starlink began selling connectivity services to RVs (recreational vehicles), but could only legally deliver connectivity to them when they were stationary. 

Now the FCC’s ruling will allow Starlink to begin offering internet directly to moving customers, from within aeroplanes, trains, ships, and automobiles.

“Authorizing a new class of terminals for SpaceX’s satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while on the move, whether driving an RV across the country, moving a freighter from Europe to a U.S. port, or while on a domestic or international flight,” said the FCC’s statement. 

SpaceX already has contracts in place with various airlines, including Hawaiian Airlines, JSX and Delta Airlines, to trial its latest connected technologies. 

However, just because the FCC say that SpaceX can legally provide services to moving consumers does not mean that customers can tied their terminal to the roof of their car and expect to receive signal.

For one thing, as SpaceX and Tesla owner Elon Musk has pointed out, the existing “terminal is much too big” for use in most consumer vehicles, explaining that “this is for aircraft, ships, large trucks & RVs”.

Starlink’s website too seems to suggest that mobility remains something of a technical challenge. 

“While our teams are actively working to make it possible to use Starlink on moving vehicles, Starlink is not yet configured to be safely used in this way,” reads Starlink’s FAQ page on its website, noting that using the terminal whilst moving will also void its warranty. 

Starlink has yet to give a timeline for the rollout of these mobility services, but trials are currently ongoing.

This ruling comes amidst an ongoing regulatory battle between SpaceX and Dish Network, with the latter having sought to block Starlink from using the 12 GHz spectrum band for its services. With the new permissions from the FCC, Starlink will now have access to this contested spectrum (albeit sharing it with another satellite player, Kepler Communications), dealing a significant blow to Dish, which wants to use the spectrum to provide pay-TV services. 

How will the wider availability of Starlink impact the telecoms dynamics of the US market? Find out from the experts at Connected America 2023

Also in the news:
Game set and match – connected strawberries
Snoop no more: Court rules against UK security services’ free access to telecoms data
BT: We need more time to excise Huawei from our network

AIS bulks up broadband division through acquisitions

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TIM to shift almost half its Italian staff into NetCo

At the start of this year, in an effort to revitalise TIM’s lacklustre financial performance, new CEO Pietro Labriola masterminded a plan that would see the Italian incumbent operator’s network arm separated from its service arm. 
The new NetCo would comprise the company’s fixed access network as well as its international submarine cable unit…

At the start of this year, in an effort to revitalise TIM’s lacklustre financial performance, new CEO Pietro Labriola masterminded a plan that would see the Italian incumbent operator’s network arm separated from its service arm. 

The new NetCo would comprise the company’s fixed access network as well as its international submarine cable unit, Sparkle, leaving ServCo in charge of TIM’s mobile network and enterprise services. 

Such a divide has been hotly anticipated by investors, with reports suggesting that various private equity firms – including US-based KKR, which had their €10.8 billion takeover bid rebuffed – have expressed interest in taking a stake in both NetCo and ServCo. 

The separation is also expected help smooth the merger of TIM and Open Fiber’s respective fixed networks to create a single national network, with a formal preliminary deal between the two companies being signed back in May.

But despite the excitement surrounding this enormous restructure, more specific details of the plan have been slow to come to light, likely as a result of TIM waiting to see exactly how the merger negotiations with Open Fiber will ultimately play out.

Now, however, a report from Reuters suggests that around 21,000 of TIM’s Italian staff will be shifted to work at the newly created NetCo. With a current domestic workforce of roughly 42,500, this presumably means just over half of the company’s staff will remain to work at ServCo.

That said, the final staff numbers for both units could be considerably less than that. TIM is currently trying to cut costs by €1 billion by 2024, a process that will include significant job cuts. In February, rumours were already circulating that the restructure could see around 8,000 jobs eliminated in Italy alone.

Since then, the first hints of such job cuts are beginning to show, with TIM last month announcing that it would seek to remove around 1,200 jobs through a voluntary early retirement scheme

A framework for further job cuts has yet to be announced, but an update regarding the future of NetCo, ServCo, Open Fiber, and potential job cuts could be delivered later this week, with TIM’s Capital Market Day taking place on the 7 July. Whether this latest update will provide us with answers or simply more questions, however, remains to be seen.

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscribe to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here

Also in the news:
Game set and match – connected strawberries
Snoop no more: Court rules against UK security services’ free access to telecoms data
BT: We need more time to excise Huawei from our network

MTN appoints new African unit chief executives

MTN Group has announced CEO appointments in its Cameroon, Rwanda and Uganda units to support its digital-focused Ambition 2025  strategy for growth.

The pan-African group revealed in a statement, starting September 1, MTN Rwanda CEO Mitwa Ng’ambi will become CEO of MTN Cameroon, replacing Stephen Blewett, who is leaving the operator group.

Ng’ambi led the public offering of the Rwanda unit and established its fintech subsidiary, she was also credited with strengthening stakeholder engagement and worked at MTN’s Benin and Zambian operations.

MTN South Africa chief consumer officer Mapula Bodibe will step up as MTN Rwanda boss, with a background in commercial strategy and consumer marketing, and 15 years’ experience within the group.

MTN Group poached Safaricom chief consumer business officer as its CEO at MTN Uganda, replacing Wim Vanhelleputte, who will take on the newly created group-level role of operations executive covering Liberia, Guinea-Conakry, Guinea-Bissau and Congo-Brazzaville effective August 1. 

“The appointment of these executives, all with strong track records of execution and results, adds to our confidence on delivery of our Ambition 2025 strategy,” said MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita. 

“My thanks to Stephen for his valuable contribution to the MTN Group over the years and I wish him well as he journeys to new opportunities outside of the African continent. I welcome Sylvia to the Y’ello family and look forward to working with her, as well as with Mitwa, Mapula and Wim in their new roles, as we continue to execute on our Ambition 2025 strategy.”

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FTTH lessons for the UK market from French and German experience

Between 2021 and 2026, the FFTH Council Europe estimates that fibre homes passed will grow from 7 million in 2021 to 25 million by 2026. This places a major onus on the whole industry, from operators to suppliers.
By 2021, France already had 21 million homes passed with FTTH. Omelcom has been a key stakeholder in France’s FTTH rollout strategy, selling several hundreds of thousand Aerial subscriber nodes, several million FTTH outlets,& …

Between 2021 and 2026, the FFTH Council Europe estimates that fibre homes passed will grow from 7 million in 2021 to 25 million by 2026. This places a major onus on the whole industry, from operators to suppliers.

By 2021, France already had 21 million homes passed with FTTH. Omelcom has been a key stakeholder in France’s FTTH rollout strategy, selling several hundreds of thousand Aerial subscriber nodes, several million FTTH outlets,  Fiber optic connections and multimedia in home distribution cabinets.

The lessons from the French market are simple: when the rollout accelerates, the stakes in terms of cost optimization, speed of installation and installation quality become paramount.

This phase is a true “Industrialization” of FTTH deployments. The challenge here is to continue the rollout in an « industrial » way, allowing to perform fast and massive FTTH building connections at the optimum costs while using the best-in-class products. Rollout methods must evolve to take into account these new constraints. Equipment that is used for the connections is a critical element in the overall performance: not only in terms of the cost, but ease of installation and speed are also major elements.

The cost of connecting a new building can be reduced by shortening average installation time as well as rationalizing the number of boxes within the dwelling. At the same time, the connection quality has to be ensured and guaranteed through well-devised products that are comprehensive and intuitive in terms of fiber management.

Omelcom has now brought this expertise to Germany with great success, the other major growth market in Europe alongside the UK, and already made significant inroads there. In Germany, the development of the optical fiber is mainly done underground, using micro-conduit cables, high tech IP68 underground boxes, compact multi dewelling boxes and OTO’s (Optical termination Outlets) that Omelcom produces and in the end will facilitate the use and deployment.

This experience of the French and German markets is now being brought to the UK. In the UK, the existence of Openreach’s PIA (Physical Infrastructure Access) data means that operators will utilise the existing infrastructure in terms of poles and ducts to minimise costs where feasible.

A number of operators including Openreach are using micro-ducts to speed up the roll-out of their new Gigabit capable FTTP technology. This can cause problems for the industry, with particular emphasis on the need to provide effective sealing. Our experience of micro-ducts in Germany has enabled us to ensure that we often provide the sealing as an integrated element in the connectivity box. This has led to developing larger boxes for the German market than we have traditionally supplied in France and we are therefore very well placed to meet the needs of the UK market.

With its strong focus on innovation, supporting the customers in their quest for excellence, Omelcom has already systems adapted to the UK market and is always seeking to develop new ones for its customers and in general for the UK market.
 

Are UK telecoms operators deploying fibre fast enough to hit government targets? Find out from the operators at this year’s live Connected Britain event 

Startup Stories – Go West

Tell us about your start up RunFibre is an internet service provider in the West of UK that is rolling out fibre infrastructure and partnering with other fibre operators to reduce the digital divide. What is your USP?
We work collaboratively with communities…

Tell us about your start up
RunFibre is an internet service provider in the West of UK that is rolling out fibre infrastructure and partnering with other fibre operators to reduce the digital divide.

What is your USP?
We work collaboratively with communities, other ISPs, and carriers to serve the hardest to reach areas.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
RunFibre have a good relationship within the industry and because of this we are able to bring partners together to work more collaboratively.

How have you got to your current stage of development?
RunFibre’s leadership team represents a unique combination that could be a first for an ISP of our nature. The CEO of our company is a highly driven individual with years of experience in the industry. Together with our CTO’s vast experience in software and programming, we have been able to accelerate growth while keeping costs extremely low.

Why did you establish the business?
We launched RunFibre to help bridge the digital divide in our region. We have a passion for connecting the people and properties that have been left out by other providers.

What does the future hold for your business?
We will be expanding our rural rollout in rural South Gloucestershire & Wiltshire, where we will help more rural hamlets access help from DCMS’s Rural Voucher Scheme.

HEADQUARTERS: South Gloucestershire
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 8
LAST FUNDING TYPE: Privately funded
WEBSITE: www.runfibre.co.uk
FOUNDERS:
David Swanston – Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer 
Curtis Barnett – Chief technology Officer 
Michael Swanston

You can meet RunFibre in the Startup Village at Connected Britain – Book Here