Big Carriers Get Selective: Lessons from the $3.57 Billion AWS-3 Auction 113

By | June 28, 2026
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FCC Auction 113 offered the remaining AWS-3 inventory, largely the former EchoStar holdings. What unfolded was not a broad land grab but a disciplined portfolio exercise. Verizon, T Mobile, and AT&T shaped the auction’s trajectory, driving $3.57 billion in proceeds over 72 rounds. Large markets cleared early; smaller markets carried the auction into its later… Read More: Big Carriers Get Selective: Lessons from the $3.57 Billion AWS-3… »

Canadian Telecom Restructuring and the Quiet Collapse of Pricing Power

By | May 15, 2026
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Following the update on the U.S. telecom market, I wanted to take a snapshot of how the Canadian telecom restructuring is unfolding in 2026. At the macro level, the themes are familiar. The 5G deployment cycle is winding down and operators are focused on debt reduction through lower capex and selective divestments. Yet the Canadian… Read More: Canadian Telecom Restructuring and the Quiet Collapse of Pricing Power »

Towers to Trenches: Re-digging Telco’s Strategic Moat in a Convergence-First Era

By | May 11, 2026
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Following Xona Partners’ annual market update, I wanted to share a clearer view of the U.S. telecom market as I see it today. The industry has entered a structural reset. Operators are consolidating around fiber as the strategic asset, convergence as the competitive lever and disciplined capital allocation as the operating reality. Strategic acquisitions and… Read More: Towers to Trenches: Re-digging Telco’s Strategic Moat in a Convergence-First… »

Orbital Data Centers: Is Space the Escape Hatch for AI Compute?

By | April 27, 2026
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Orbital Data Centers (ODCs) surged into the spotlight after SpaceX filed for a constellation of 1 million satellites and StarCloud spoke of a 5 GW orbital data center powered by a 4×4 km solar array. Processing data in space is not new. Satellites already run GPU class compute to filter and compress data before downlink.… Read More: Orbital Data Centers: Is Space the Escape Hatch for AI… »

The Amazon Globalstar Acquisition: Decoding the Strategy for D2D Dominance

By | April 16, 2026
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The Amazon Globalstar acquisition, valued at $11.57 billion, centers on the strategic value of MSS spectrum. However, there are several additional elements worth noting. I will drill into these aspects to provide a more rounded view of the deal and its market impact. Strategic Assets and Operational Synergy MSS spectrum is one of the most… Read More: The Amazon Globalstar Acquisition: Decoding the Strategy for D2D Dominance »

Beyond the Pipes: Navigating the Intelligence-First Era of Digital Infrastructure

By | April 10, 2026
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The 2026 trade show season, which spanned PTC in Honolulu, MWC in Barcelona, and Satellite 2026 in Washington, made it abundantly clear that the telecom industry revolves around AI as both a user and an infrastructure enabler. Current investment patterns reveal a fundamental re-orientation. Terrestrial infrastructure increasingly gears itself toward servicing AI workloads, while traditional… Read More: Beyond the Pipes: Navigating the Intelligence-First Era of Digital Infrastructure »

The Second Great Telecom Reckoning: Endurance in the Age of AI Dominance

By | January 30, 2026
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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 Second Great Telecom Reckoning: Endurance in the Age of… »

The New LEO Landscape: The Quest for Mobile Dominance

By | January 10, 2026
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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: The New LEO Landscape: The Quest for Mobile Dominance »

The Mirage of a 6G Race

By | December 31, 2025
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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: The Mirage of a 6G Race »

Subsea Fiber Market Update: A Transformational Build Cycle Anchored in AI, Hyperscalers, and Geopolitics

By | December 30, 2025
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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: Subsea Fiber Market Update: A Transformational Build Cycle Anchored in… »

AI Infrastructure: Momentum, Mismatch, and the Emerging Correction Risk

By | December 24, 2025
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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: AI Infrastructure: Momentum, Mismatch, and the Emerging Correction Risk »

Digital Infrastructure: Momentum in 2025, Validation in 2026

By | December 15, 2025
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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: Digital Infrastructure: Momentum in 2025, Validation in 2026 »

Nvidia and Nokia: A Strategic Bet on Edge AI RAN

By | November 3, 2025
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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: Nvidia and Nokia: A Strategic Bet on Edge AI RAN »

Optical Feeder Links: Unlocking the Next Frontier in Space Communications

By | October 16, 2025
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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: Optical Feeder Links: Unlocking the Next Frontier in Space Communications »

Orbiting on Demand: How GSaaS is Rewiring the Satellite Industry’s Ground Game

By | October 13, 2025
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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: Orbiting on Demand: How GSaaS is Rewiring the Satellite Industry’s… »