Three items of subsea infrastructure going on this week, two within EMEA and one on the other side of the globe. … [visit site to read more]

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Interesting items from the data center, interconnection, and quantum realms. … [visit site to read more]

Indian space data company Pixxel says it is about to launch three of its six hyperspectral imaging satellites in a first for the private satellite market.

The satellites, part of the first network of its type in India’s private space sector, will take off aboard a SpaceX rocket from California today. The other three satellites are due to be deployed in the second quarter of 2025.

Reuters says that Pixxel’s founder and chief executive Awais Ahmed told the news service that it plans to add 18 more spacecraft to the six it has already developed.

Pixxel is a space data company, backed by Google, building a constellation of hyperspectral earth imaging satellites and the analytical tools to mine insights from that data. The constellation is designed to provide global coverage every 24 hours, with the aim of detecting, monitoring and predicting global phenomena. 

Pixxel aims to use hyperspectral imaging – a technology that captures highly detailed data across hundreds of light bands – to serve a number of industries.

Its satellites can apparently deliver insights to improve crop yields, track resources, and monitor oil spills and country borders in much better detail than current technology allows.

The satellite imaging market is projected to reach US$19 billion by 2029. Pixxel hopes hyperspectral imaging could claim US$500 million to US$1 billion of this, plus additional revenue from analysis.

The company can already boast about 65 clients, some of which are paying for data from its demonstration satellites. Contracts are also in place for future data from the Firefly constellation, as it is known.

The global commercial space market is a very competitive market already, and one in which India holds only a 2% share. The hope, however, is that private players can increase this share.

As Reuters points out, Pixxel hopes to overcome these challenges with its Firefly constellation, which boasts a five-metre resolution and a 40-kilometre swathe, more, apparently, than many competitors.

A new data center market, some longhaul fiber, and a bit of managed services M&A. … [visit site to read more]

Malaysian telco U Mobile is reportedly set to deploy between 5,000 and 7,000 5G sites across the country as it prepares to take on the role of the country’s second 5G operator, and is likely to collaborate with other telcos in the process.

U Mobile hasn’t yet officially revealed its roll-out plan, but according to a report from The Edge Malaysia on Friday, RHB Research – citing industry sources – said that U Mobile is planning to upgrade existing 4G sites and install new 5G sites to roll out its network.

RHB also said it expects U Mobile to team up with other operators and share infrastructure, which would not only speed up site deployments, but also save anywhere from RM3 billion (US$665.3 million) to RM4 billion in capex.

Before it received the nod from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) last November to become the country’s second 5G operator to take on Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), U Mobile signed a deal with rival telco CelcomDigi in February 2024 to share 100 multi-operator core network sites, as well as collaborate on developing use cases for 5G-Advanced (5G-A). In July 2024, U Mobile also established a strategic 5G backhaul partnership with Time dotCom.

U Mobile also spent July forming strategic partnerships with eight state-backed network facility provider companies (SBCs) from the PPIT Consortium to streamline the 5G rollout process. U Mobile also signed a similar deal with Axiata-owned Edotco that month.

RHB noted that U Mobile will likely fund all this via a mix of vendor financing, deferred payment options, and debt funding. U Mobile announced in late July last year that it has signed an MoU with AmBank Group, who will provide financing solutions to cover the cost of rolling out the second 5G network.

One of the controversies over awarding the second 5G network to U Mobile was how a relatively smaller telco would be able to cover the rollout cost. In November, according to a separate Edge Malaysia report, CIMB Securities said in a research note that U Mobile would need to invest up to MYR3 billion over 18–24 months to cover 80% of the population, and MYR1 billion a year after that, which is higher than U Mobile’s average capitalised capex of MYR500 million per annum between FY2014 to FY2023.

U Mobile responded that it has “robust financial backing from its shareholders, financial institutions such as UOB, CIMB and AmBank, as well as strategic vendor partners who enable the telco to continuously innovate to stay competitive and to meet network deployment targets.”

Two items from the UK, and two more from the Middle East: … [visit site to read more]

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Ohad Peled, Product Marketing Manager at Sony Semiconductor Israel

The global home medical equipment market is experiencing explosive growth. Smart devices are being used to monitor and treat patients suffering from diabetes, cardiac disorders, and other medical conditions without exposing those patients to the risk of hospital-acquired infections. Numerous organizations, including the World Health Organization and the National Council of Aging, are promoting self-health management to give patients better outcomes. … [visit site to read more]

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Indian telco Reliance Jio is reportedly moving to ramp up onboarding of new customers for its AirFiber 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) business over the next year in an apparent move to boost 5G ARPUs ahead of a planned IPO later this year.

According to a report from ETTelecom on Thursday, citing various analyst reports, Jio has been scaling up distribution and optimising the onboarding process for its AirFiber service to enable it to add at least 1 million new customers every 30 days.

Jio had over 2.8 million AirFiber connections at the end of September 2024, and was projected to add another 1.9 million home broadband users by the end of 2024, the report said.

In essence, Jio is banking on AirFiber to boost network traffic on its 5G network as well as its monthly 5G ARPU, which is three times higher for AirFiber than for Jio’s mobile 5G ARPU, the report said.

Despite having one of the largest 5G subscriber bases in the world, Jio has been struggling to monetise 5G after spending a reported US$25 billion (including spectrum costs) to roll out its nationwide network. Part of that has to do with initially promoting the service with unlimited data plans, as well as migrating low-value JioBharat phone users to 5G, which has kept ARPU relatively low. 

In July 2024, Jio raised the price of its mobile 5G packages to boost 5G revenue, but the impact on its finance sheets won’t appear until at least the fourth quarter of this year, according to analyst estimates.

As such, growing its AirFiber business by a million new customers a month could enable Jio to boost 5G ARPU faster. That in turn would make a potential IPO for Jio’s parent company, Jio Platforms Ltd, more attractive, the report said.

Earlier this week, Sanford C Bernstein reportedly valued Jio Platforms at US$98 billion. At that valuation under current rules, a Jio Platforms IPO could be worth around INR421 billion (US$490.1 million), which would make it the largest IPO in Indian history.

That said, ETTelecom also reports, a senior Jio official recently told the publication Jio Platforms isn’t in a hurry to launch an IPO, as its investors – which include Google, Silver Lake, and Mubadala Investment Co “are committed for the long-term”.