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Articles for Category Tag - Satellite

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Ofcom Propose to Auction Upper 1.4GHz Band for UK 4G and 5G Mobile UPDATE

4th February, 2025 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to auction off a 25MHz (spectrum frequency) slice of the 1.4GHz band (i.e. the “upper block” of 1492 to 1517MHz) to mobile operators (EE, O2, Vodafone / Three UK), which will be able to use it for their 4G and 5G based mobile broadband services.

satellite_broadband_LEO_MEO_constellation_uk_space by 123rf

Government Invests £16m to Help Develop LEO Broadband Satellite Tech

3rd February, 2025 (1 Comment)

The government has today released a further £16m of public funding from the UK Space Agency’s £160m Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, which will be used to develop new satellite technologies that can enhance global connectivity by providing “high-speed internet access” (broadband) to remote and underserved areas etc.

Ofcom Grant UK Licence for Amazon’s Project Kuiper Broadband Satellites

3rd February, 2025 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has today grant Amazon’s Project Kuiper a UK Earth Station Network Licence (ESNL), which will support their effort to launch a global mega-constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to deliver affordable ultrafast broadband and mobile (4G, 5G) services. The UK telecoms regulator also made more spectrum available in the 28GHz and 32GHz bands.

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Roughly 4 to 5 Starlink LEO Broadband Satellites Now Burning Up Per Day

3rd February, 2025 (18 Comments)

Data released by an independent researcher has revealed that SpaceX appears to now be “retiring and incinerating” about 4 or 5 Starlink broadband satellites from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every day, which is up sharply from before May 2024, when the average was closer to just one per day. But the exact reason for this seeming mass retirement surge remains unclear.

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Vodafone UK Beat Starlink with First Mobile to Mobile Video Call via Satellite

29th January, 2025 (12 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone UK today claims to have “beaten Elon Musk in the space race” by making the first mobile-to-mobile video call using a normal (unmodified) Smartphone and special satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) from partner AST SpaceMobile. This is essentially a space-based 4G and 5G mobile broadband service.

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O2 UK Use Starlink to Bring 4G Mobile to Rural Village of Craster UPDATE

28th January, 2025 (18 Comments)

Mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) has harnessed a Starlink based LEO satellite broadband connection for backhaul capacity in order to successfully expand their 4G mobile coverage across the remote rural Northumberland (England) village of Craster, which they say “previously had no coverage from any mobile operator“; 5G and fibre will follow.

Starlink Mini Dish on a field next to laptop

Starlink 2024 Report Details 1Tbps Speed LEO v3 Broadband Satellites

4th January, 2025 (28 Comments)

SpaceX’s Starlink service, which offers ultrafast broadband speeds to the UK and globally via a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has published an annual 2024 Progress Report that summarises their recent upgrades and reveals how their future V3 (GEN3) satellite will be able to handle 1Tbps (Terabits per second) of capacity.

OneWeb LEO Broadband Satellites Suffer Major Outage Due to Silly Fault

2nd January, 2025 (12 Comments)

European satellite operator Eutelsat has confirmed that their OneWeb network, which is the global constellation of broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) that is still partly supported by the UK government, suffered a “temporary, 48-hour outage” over the New Year period that started on 31st December 2024.

Starlink’s Satellite Broadband Hits Capacity Limit in South East England

31st December, 2024 (71 Comments)

Customers in the South East of England who may be looking to sign-up with SpaceX’s popular Starlink service, which offers ultrafast broadband connectivity via a global mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), may have to wait a bit longer as the network in that area is now “at capacity“.

Broadband UK speed meter multiple colours by 123rf

Top Fastest UK Mobile and Home Broadband ISPs for H2 2024

27th December, 2024 (1 Comment)

Once again, as we reach the end of 2024, it’s time for ISPreview to take our usual biannual look back to see how the broadband download and upload speeds have changed across the fastest nationally available UK fixed line ISPs, mobile network operators and Starlink (satellite) services. But this time around we’ve made a few changes.

North Yorkshire UK Seeks Faster Broadband Fix for 11,000 Premises

24th December, 2024 (3 Comments)

The North Yorkshire Council (NYC) has called on the UK government to help it find funding and solutions for the remaining 11,000 properties in the county that, once existing roll-outs of gigabit-capable broadband ISP networks have completed, will likely still be left without access to “decent internet connections“.

Trial Seeks to Improve Broadband on Public Transport in Swansea Bay Area

20th December, 2024 (6 Comments)

The Welsh Government (WG) and a consortium of partners have today kicked off the StarBws project, which will trial a mix of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite and 4G mobile (wireless) technologies from Starlink, Peplink and wavemobile in order to improve broadband for passengers travelling on public transportation in rural parts of the Swansea Bay area.

OneWeb First Generation Satellite in Orbit

Eutelsat Tap Airbus to Build Next Gen OneWeb Broadband Satellites

18th December, 2024 (0 Comments)

European satellite operator Eutelsat has announced that they’ve selected Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) to build the first batch of 100 next generation (GEN2) broadband satellites for their global OneWeb network in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is a constellation that has been partly supported by the UK government. Expect various upgrades, such as 5G mobile support.

Viasat Demos Working Direct-to-Device Messaging from its Satellites

11th December, 2024 (0 Comments)

Satellite communications firm Viasat appears to be following Starlink and AST SpaceMobile by successfully demonstrating their own Direct-to-Device (D2D) connectivity, which could allow their broadband satellites to connect with “everyday devices“, like 4G/5G mobile phones, industrial machinery or transport operators.

AST SpaceMobile BlueWalker 3 Satellite with Earth

AST Space Mobile and Vodafone Sign Long Term 5G Satellite Deal

9th December, 2024 (0 Comments)

Satellite operator AST SpaceMobile has today signed a “definitive” long-term commercial agreement that will allow Vodafone to harness their new network of cellular broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) until 2034. This is essentially a space-based 2G, 4G and 5G mobile broadband service that can connect with regular handsets around the world.

Opensignal 2024 Study Ranks UK Broadband ISPs by Quality and Speed

5th December, 2024 (9 Comments)

Internet benchmarking firm Opensignal has today published their “definitive” 2024 Fixed Broadband Experience report, which gauges the performance of various internet service providers across the UK and then separately across 12 of its regions (inc. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Overall, Virgin Media came top in the national scores, but the regional results are different.

5G DRIVE and O2 Project Bring Mobile Signals to 31 Rural UK Notspots

28th November, 2024 (1 Comment)

Mobile giant O2 (Virgin Media) has announced that, while working alongside the government-backed 5G DRIVE project, they’ve been able to deliver reliable mobile network coverage to 31 “iconic tourist destinations” that were previously “not spots” for mobile signals (i.e. 21 in Wales, 5 in England, and 5 in Scotland).