It’s been a year and a half since I published my July 2024 paper (Mobile Infrastructure Capex: Permanent Weakening or Short-Term Decline) explaining why the telecom capex downturn would run deeper and longer than previous cycles. This piece aims to capture a current market snapshot by examining the most notable bankruptcies and market exits since… Read More »
The LEO satellite sector keeps moving at a fast pace. If you want the latest market outlook, you can download our Insight Note below. I wanted to add a bit more context here, especially since a new development for SpaceX emerged after we released the Note. SpaceX just received FCC authorization to scale its Gen2… Read More »
In the final days of 2025, talk of a 6G race suddenly exploded after the White House issued a presidential memoranda on December 19 titled “Winning the 6G Race.” It immediately brought back memories of the 5G race, which faded into obscurity once 5G rolled out and failed to deliver on its promise. Here are… Read More »
While investments in access telecom networks continue to stagnate (see here), the subsea fiber market is bucking the trend. Growth in connectivity infrastructure for cloud services has kept activity strong, and the buildout of AI infrastructure and data center interconnects is adding new momentum. In fact, this is the most significant wave of subsea investment… Read More »
In these final days of 2025, markets are hitting record highs on the strength of AI-driven valuations. Yet the conversation around an emerging AI correction risk has intensified as investors weigh stretched multiples and rising capital costs. The year began with a jolt when DeepSeek briefly rattled the market in January, raising fears of a… Read More »
With 2025 drawing to a close, we (Xona Partners) recap key highlights in digital infrastructure across data centers and telecom assets, including wireless, fiber, satellite, and submarine systems, while looking ahead to developments in 2026 (download below). We titled the preface Digital Infrastructure: Momentum in 2025, Validation in 2026 to reflect our view that 2026… Read More »
Earlier last week, on October 28, Nvidia held its GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in Washington, DC, where it made a number of announcements. One of these was a $1 Billion investment in Nokia, which sparked excitement across the telecom sector. This post takes a deeper look at that investment. For context, I would note the… Read More »
Using optical links for communications between space and Earth sits at the frontier of technology and presents significant challenges. While optical inter-satellite links (ISLs) have surpassed RF ISLs in deployments and applicability, RF remains the primary mode for feeder links connecting satellites to ground stations. Still, interest in optical feeder link (OFL) technologies persists and… Read More »
Strategic interest in Ground Stations as a Service (GSaaS) is rising, driven by two counteracting trends in the satellite industry. The rapid proliferation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites is fueling demand for flexible, distributed ground station networks that can support dynamic, high-throughput connectivity. At the same time, financial pressures on geostationary orbit (GEO) operators… Read More »
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations providing direct to device (D2D) services rely on terrestrial mobile spectrum to operate. This is only possible through an agreement with a mobile network operator, as regulated by national frameworks governing such services. This was the case until recently, when AST SpaceMobile and SpaceX acquired Mobile Satellite Spectrum (MSS)… Read More »
Networking is undergoing its most explosive transformation since the dotcom era, driven by the growing demands of AI infrastructure. This shift is happening quietly, without the fanfare that surrounds AI applications or GPUs, yet its impact is just as profound. Connectivity at every level—device, server, rack, and data center—is being fundamentally reengineered to support the… Read More »
The $23 billion deal announced today between AT&T and EchoStar to transfer EchoStar’s 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz spectrum is far more than just a spectrum transaction. It has several strategic consequences related to market structure that will unfold over the next few months. I’m listing some thoughts here upon announcing this deal today. The… Read More »
On August 7, 2025, the FCC adopted new rules governing subsea cable landing licenses, marking the first major update in over two decades. This move reflects a broader shift in U.S. policy that treats economic security as national security, with implications for infrastructure deployment, investment strategy, and global data flows. The new framework introduces formal… Read More »
Are terrestrial spectrum-sharing frameworks like the FCC’s SCS and ISED’s SMCS failing to provide viable bandwidth, pushing Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) operators to aggressively pursue Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum for greater independence and scalability? Recent developments suggest that the spectrum battle is shifting from terrestrial networks to orbital assets. There are growing indications that terrestrial… Read More »
High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) have gained increasing attention as a tactical tool in the defense sector; however, their adoption as a communication solution has lagged, with several attempts failing due to high costs. With a new generation of active startups and projects in this area, we outline some of the critical hurdles that HAPS—as… Read More »