Pikoro shares a report from Futurism: With over 500 Starlink broadband-beaming satellites already in orbit, SpaceX is looking to move ahead with rolling out its internet service. The Elon Musk-led company is now seeking beta users to test it out. The service’s website now invites users to apply to become early adopters of the service. “Get updates on Starlink news and…
Tag: Broadband
Can SpaceX’s Starlink Broadband System Deliver Less Than 100ms Latency?
Proudrooster writes: Can SpaceX’s Starlink deliver less than 100ms latency? That is the $16 billion dollar question as the FCC looks to pump more money into rural broadband (PDF). Will rural America ever get broadboand? What will America get for giving billions of dollars to incumbent providers? Is this all just FUD or a publicity stunt by the FCC to stop…
Cox Readies a Re-entry Into Mobile
Mike Dano, reporting for Light Reading: Cox Communications — one of the nation’s largest cable providers — is preparing to launch a mobile service, according to several sources familiar with the company’s plans. However, the details of Cox’s mobile strategy, including when it might launch and which wireless network provider it might partner with, are still unclear. AT&T executives have publicly…
5G Obliterates Your Phone Battery, But a Power-Saving Fix Is Coming
It’s no secret that 5G networks drain battery. “To rectify that grim side effect, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France have developed a new radio-frequency switch they say is 50 times more energy efficient than the current solid-state switches,” reports Popular Mechanics. From the report: The solution is actually rooted right in…
IPv6 Adoption Hits 32%. Will Stats Show How Many Returned to the Office?
Long-time Slashdot reader Tim the Gecko writes: Google’s IPv6 connectivity stats topped 32% last Saturday for the first time. But the main story has been the midweek stats. Most mobile phone networks and a good chunk of residential broadband have migrated to IPv6, but the typical corporate network where people used to spend their 9 to 5 is largely IPv4-only. There…
In $16 Billion Push To Expand Broadband, America Is Flying Through a Fog
Spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, federal policy makers are pushing to spend billions of dollars to close gaps in America’s high-speed internet network. From a report: There is one big obstacle: Government officials say they don’t have a clear picture of where service gaps exist, meaning parts of the country will be left out when it is time to distribute the…
What We Need Now is ‘Universal Basic Internet’
Yes, economist Tyler Cowen and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov (now the chairman of the nonprofit Renew Democracy Initiative) co-authored an opinion piece this week arguing that Covid-19 “is illustrating that some aspects of a Universal Basic Income may be more necessary and more workable than previously thought. But there is one big piece missing: The economic output required to…
SpaceX describes exactly how they’re planning to make Starlink satellites less visible from Earth
In 2015, Elon Musk announced that his company, SpaceX, would be deploying satellites to orbit that would provide high-speed broadband internet access to the entire world. Known as Starlink, SpaceX began deploying this constellation in May of 2019 with the launch of the first 60 satellites. As of April 22, a total of 422 satellites have been added to the Starlink…
The Average Household Will Surpass ISP’s 1TB Data Caps Within 3 Years, Study Finds
According to an analysis from Decision Data, the average broadband-connected U.S. household will surpass current 1TB ISP data caps before 2024. What this could translate to is more overage fees for customers, unless ISPs like Comcast and CenturyLink abandon data caps or continue to waive fees, like some are doing due to the pandemic. From the report: As we reported this…
6GHz Wi-Fi Access Could Boost Speeds and Generate $183 Billion By 2025, Study Says
The move to expand unlicensed Wi-Fi use into the much wider 6GHz band has the potential to generate more than $180 billion in U.S. revenue over the next 5 years, according to a new new industry-funded study, which comes 10 days before the FCC votes on the proposal. CNET reports: Released Monday, the report was funded by WifiForward, an industry advocacy…