SpaceX is reportedly discussing access to as many as 80,000 US mobile towers, with Crown Castle among the companies named in Bloomberg reporting covered by Fierce Network. That could give Starlink Mobile a substantial ground network alongside its satellites. Analysts caution that the talks might also help SpaceX negotiate wholesale access from an existing operator. No completed tower deal is established by these reports. Apparently, even a business famous for escaping Earth's gravity may find the mobile industry's most useful assets firmly bolted to it.
Portsmouth Water plans to use Openreach fibre and Lightsonic sensing technology to locate underground water leaks, with deployment due in December. The system measures vibrations along existing cables and identifies patterns associated with escaping water, potentially narrowing the search to around 10 metres. Lightsonic says the approach can improve leak-finding productivity, although Portsmouth's results still lie ahead. It's an appealing extra job for infrastructure already in the ground: helping fix the pipes instead of merely carrying complaints about them.
Herotel says it will deliver connections of up to 500Mbps at four remote camps for the seven-day Nedbank Gravel Burn, which starts on 25 October. The Karoo race needs dependable links for medical coordination, timing and officials as well as riders. This year the provider is taking a bigger role in building and running the event network. Some infrastructure may remain for nearby farms and businesses afterwards, although that isn't a firm rollout commitment. Getting race results online is useful; leaving rural communities connected would be the better souvenir.
Vodacom's 30-day summer bundles offer a welcome discount, but half the headline data allowance works only between midnight and 5am. The R529 package contains 150GB of anytime data plus 150GB of Night Owl data, putting the usable daytime portion at about R3.53/GB. At the other end, R129 buys 7.5GB anytime and another 7.5GB overnight. Better value deserves credit. Just compare the data you'll actually use, rather than letting the marketing department count your sleeping hours as a consumer benefit.
MyBroadband's third-quarter testing puts Vodacom ahead on Gauteng 5G download speeds, averaging 223.36Mbps against Telkom's 179.31Mbps and MTN's 166.94Mbps. Telkom took the latency honours at 18ms, compared with Vodacom's 25ms and MTN's 27ms. The measurements cover July to September and describe participating users' tests, rather than a guarantee at your address. Still, the split is useful: the fastest download badge doesn't automatically make an operator the best choice for every gamer, household or inconveniently positioned lounge.
T-Mobile's US T-Mix plans arrive in November with one, two or three 'Picks' that customers can allocate to streaming, gaming, satellite connectivity or device promotions. Partner benefits can generally be remixed during quarterly windows, while some wireless benefits can change anytime. Device deals hold Picks for the promotion period, so flexibility has limits. Choosing benefits you actually use is a sensible improvement over bundled clutter. Comparing a phone contract now apparently requires both a coverage map and a subscription spreadsheet.
O2 and Nokia say a live trial at London's Paddington Giga Site improved spectral efficiency by up to approximately 20%. Predictive software adjusted radio resources as traffic and network conditions changed, helping the site carry more data on existing spectrum. Customers remained on the live network during the test. That's a useful application of AI beyond writing another executive's conference speech. It's a result from one site, however, rather than evidence that everyone's O2 connection just became 20% faster.
Verizon added 314,000 broadband connections in the third quarter, split between 159,000 fixed-wireless and 155,000 fibre additions. Its results put the total broadband base at 17.4 million connections, with more than half of new fibre customers choosing gigabit-or-faster downloads. The operator also raised its full-year outlook after strong mobile subscriber growth. Wireless and fibre are both finding customers, which is healthier competition than arguing endlessly over which technology deserves to exist. Actual value still depends on the bill and the address.
Ofcom's newly released April-to-June figures put BT, EE, TalkTalk and Vodafone among Britain's most complained-about broadband providers, while Plusnet, Sky and Virgin Media generated the fewest complaints. Plusnet fared much worse on landlines, topping that complaints table, with customers particularly unhappy about complaint handling. Overall complaints fell because of fewer pay-TV grievances; broadband, landline and mobile complaints stayed level. These are complaints reaching the regulator, not every unhappy customer. Needing to complain about how your complaint was handled remains impressively circular customer service.
Oman's MBSat has selected ST Engineering iDirect to supply ground-system technology for its planned satellite network. The partners say the Intuition platform will provide gateway infrastructure, service provisioning and network management, supporting capacity from the MB Sat-1 MicroGEO satellite. Service launch is planned for 2027, so this is a step towards connectivity rather than a service customers can order today. Satellites attract the glamorous pictures, but the decidedly earthbound equipment still has to make the whole thing work.
Ericsson, Play and Asseco have demonstrated a layered drone-detection system in Krakow, combining radio sensing, acoustic detection and Play's network for carrying the data. The companies say the approach could help protect airports, ports and other sensitive infrastructure. Integrated Sensing and Communication uses reflected radio signals to detect movement and position, making the network useful for more than carrying calls. This remains a demonstration, rather than a nationwide defence shield. Even so, it's a more interesting network upgrade than another logo on a billboard.
