A confluence of factors drives the race to build sovereign AI infrastructure—Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), escalating geopolitical and national security concerns, and NVIDIA’s aggressive expansion into the data center market with its powerful GPU hardware and software stack that fuels the next generation of neoclouds. As a result, “AI Factories” have emerged… Read More »
Last month, the official effort to define 6G began with a workshop in Korea, attended by wireless industry stakeholders including service providers, equipment and device vendors, and industry associations. These participants presented their visions and requirements for 6G, and from these discussions, several key developments have emerged to shape the context for its future. This… Read More »
Service providers, vendors, cloud service providers, and other stakeholders gathered to define the vision, high-level requirements, and considerations for 6G networks during the 3GPP Workshop on 6G in Incheon, South Korea, from March 10–11, 2025. This Insight Note focuses on the most critical requirements voiced by service providers. While the views of other stakeholders are… Read More »
Our Xona Partners team collaborated to write this Insight Note following Mobile World Congress 2025 to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the current state of the telecom industry. In this paper, we analyze critical trends—such as the rise of AI-driven network intelligence and the convergence of non-terrestrial networks (NTN) with mobile connectivity. We also look… Read More »
This brief post aims to share a couple of data points on enterprise private wireless networks (PWN). The first is from Nokia, which reported 820 PWN customers in its 2024 earnings report. Nokia has been reporting the number of PWN clients since 2019, showing a trend of steady growth. The second data point is from… Read More »
I wanted to share a few thoughts as Starlink approaches 5 million subscribers—a milestone achieved in just over 4 years since launching its beta service in November 2020. This growth is particularly impressive when compared to the performance of traditional satellite service providers. Destruction in the GEO broadband market A significant portion of Starlink’s growth… Read More »
Rising geopolitical tensions and recent suspected sabotage events have put the resiliency of subsea fiber optic cables under renewed scrutiny. The heightened interest in subsea cable resiliency has led leading regulatory bodies, international organizations, and governments to propose initiatives and measures to enhance the security and resiliency of subsea cables. In our recent Insight Note,… Read More »
During 2019 and 2020, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile acquired 73% of the millimeter wave (mmWave) licenses offered in three FCC auctions. Their combined gross bids of $9 billion accounted for 88% of the total. Just a few years earlier, these incumbent operators had begun building their mmWave portfolios through acquisitions in the secondary market. That… Read More »
The direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communication market is emerging as a highly competitive field, exemplified by the ongoing debates around out-of-band (OOB) power flux density (PFD) regulations. Satellite operators using terrestrial mobile spectrum as a secondary application must adhere to strict PFD limits, which impacts the performance capabilities of D2D services, with significant commercial implications for… Read More »
Direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communications present significant challenges, both financial and technological, that are closely interconnected. Addressing one set of challenges often increases the risk in the other. Different D2D constellations have adopted various strategies to balance commercial and technological risks. In our latest Insight Note, which you can download below, we highlight some of the… Read More »
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has introduced in 2021 a regulatory framework for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Canada, ostensibly aimed at fostering competition. However, while these regulations appear to address some issues, they also introduce significant challenges that may undermine their effectiveness and limit the potential benefits for consumers. Download our… Read More »
During a period of two years, three catastrophic telecommunications network outages drew the ire of customers and scrutiny of regulators who initiated probes to understand the incidents and prevent future occurrences. The outages at Rogers (Canada), Optus (Australia), and AT&T (US) underscored the critical dependency of modern economies on telecommunications networks. Network outages impact more… Read More »
The satellite industry has adopted two primary approaches to connecting smartphones to satellites using 5G. The first approach utilizes MSS (Mobile Satellite Service) spectrum, as seen with the Globalstar-Apple collaboration. The second approach employs low-band terrestrial spectrum, such as the PCS band, which is being implemented by SpaceX and planned by startups like Lynk Global… Read More »
Mobile infrastructure capex has declined significantly since the second quarter of 2023, following a wave of spending on 5G, with no recovery yet in sight (see here and here). While the mobile industry has faced such declines in the past, signs suggest that the current weakness could be longer and deeper than previous downturns. The… Read More »
The wireless industry celebrated the FCC’s decision to relax certain restrictions within the CBRS band. This milestone, informally dubbed “CBRS 2.0,” promises to increase the availability of channels over a larger footprint along coastal lines and Federal facilities, and reduce restriction times. The industry views this as a significant advancement. However, how much of an… Read More »