Networking

A trail of a group of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites passing over Uruguay 
Image: Getty Images
Elon Musk has announced that his SpaceX Starlink project, which aims to deliver global broadband service through a satellite constellation, has shipped 100,000 terminals to customers.Shipping the terminals to customers brings the company a step closer to achieving its goal of delivering broadband connectivity to locations where access is unreliable or completely unavailable. Each Starlink Kit comes with a Starlink terminal, Wi-Fi router, power supply, cables, and mounting tripod. Under the project, beta services are currently operating in 11 different countries. SpaceX outlined as part of beta services that users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mbps to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms in “most locations over the next several months” while the Starlink system continues to be enhanced. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all, the company added. Musk, however, noted licence approval to be able to provide telco services remained pending in “many more countries”. “Hoping to serve Earth soon,” he wrote in a tweet.The delivery of the terminals come as the SpaceX said it plans to go-live in September with its low-Earth orbit Starlink satellite broadband. In June, SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell confirmed the company had already deployed 1,800 satellites into orbit.

Elsewhere, Virgin Orbit is set to become a publicly-traded company on Nasdaq after entering into merger agreement with special purpose acquisition company NextGen. The company confirmed the deal would be valued at $3.2 billion and provide the combined company up to $483 million in cash, including up to $383 million of cash held in the trust of NextGen and a $100 million private investment in public equity (PIPE). The combined company will retain the Virgin Orbit name and trade under the ticker symbol VORB when it’s listed on the Nasdaq.Virgin Orbit said it expects to use the funds from the business combination and PIPE transaction to further scale its rocket manufacturing and growth in its space solutions business. “I’m very excited we are taking Virgin Orbit public, with the support of our partners at NextGen and our other wonderful investors. It’s another milestone for empowering all of those working today to build space technology that will positively change the world,” Virgin Orbit founder Richard Branson said.Subject to approval by NextGen’s shareholders, the proposed business combination is expected to be completed by Q4 2021. “The space economy is developing rapidly and Virgin Orbit is well positioned to benefit through its ability to competitively launch at any time, from any place on Earth, to any orbit and inclination,” NextGen co-founders George Mattson and Greg Summe said.”We look forward to leveraging our industry and financial experience, along with our public company leadership and governance experience to help Virgin Orbit deliver the next chapter of its exciting journey as a public company.”Related Coverage More

Brazil’s connected population relies mostly on smartphones to access the Internet as PC penetration remains low within financially vulnerable citizens, a new study has found. Some 58% of Brazilians only access the web through their phones, according to the TIC Domicílios study, carried out by the research arm of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee. The research is one of the main indicators of the use of information and communication technologies among the Brazilian population and has been carried out since 2005.The study considers Brazil’s current base of 164 million Internet users, the equivalent to 87% of the population above 10 years old. This includes 12 million users who do not have full Internet access, and only use mobile applications such as WhatsApp under zero-rating offers, whereby operators provide access to previously determined content and applications to the user, without incurring in extra cost.

Considering the country’s socioeconomic class system – which ranges from the elite (class A), the upper-middle class (class B), the lower middle class (class C), the working-class poor (class D) and the extremely poor and unemployed (class E) – the study noted that Brazilians from classes C, D and E don’t tend to have PCs at home and most use smartphones as their only means to carry out activities online. The research also noted a stark difference in PC ownership according to socioeconomic status: while computers are present in almost 100% of elite households, PCs can be found in only 13% of homes within classes D and E. The study has also found there has been a boost in activities such as Internet-based courses within the lower middle class population, but Class C Brazilians study online way less than the elite.According to the survey, there was an increase in uptake of digital channels for online public services in 2020, of about 40% in relation to the prior year, due to the restrictions of the the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, there has been a boost in usage of digital channels to perform financial transactions – 43% in 2020 versus 33% in 2029. However, this increase was driven primarily by users based in urban areas, with more education and belonging to the top of the socioeconomic pyramid. Another study, also carried out by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, has found that more than 20 million households in the country, predominantly those within poorer segments of society, are digitally excluded. Separate research published earlier this year suggests that less than 20% of financially vulnerable Brazilians have been able to work remotely through the pandemic. More

Wi-Fi 6 was finalized in 2019, and products have finally come to market. It is supposed to be faster, which you might notice if you have a Wi-Fi 6 file server. 

Wi-Fi 6 ‘s major benefit is that it more gracefully supports many devices. At my house, there are 3 Roku TVs, 4 Macs, 4 iPads, 3 Apple Watches, 3 HomePods, 3 iPhones, and 2 Apple TVs, all fed by 150Mb/sec cable. Only two of those devices support Wi-Fi 6 today, but that number will at least triple over the next year. Then there are the devices, usually more iPhones and iPads, that friends bring over.Even though the single modem/router from the cable company offered what systems showed to be sufficient Wi-Fi signal strength throughout a 3000 sq. ft. home, installation of the TP-Link M4 mesh made a huge difference. Drop-outs, niggling delays, streaming stutters, and other annoying first-world problems pretty much ceased. So did the $10/month bill for the inadequate modem/router after I bought a compatible modem.Then I added the newer X60. It is compatible with the M4 – you can continue using M4 nodes for non-Wi-Fi 6 coverage, and life got a little better. Rebooting the cable modem and the M4 mesh was a monthly occurrence. Since adding the X60, we go for months without that bit of cruft clearance.I liked the TP-Link so much I began recommending it to friends. So now I’ve installed three mesh systems.

What I’ve learned

Amazon

Installs take about half an hour, much of which is taken up with adding devices to the network. I have little patience with fiddly tech, and I found the install process straightforward. The biggest change since my first mesh is that TP-Link removed the irksome requirement for cellphone coverage to install their routers. Not a big city problem, but here in rural Arizona, cell coverage — like vaccinations — cannot be assumed. Since my friends are not techies, I’ve also sampled TP-Link’s remote management capabilities. The handiest is remote firmware updates, but a number of other features can be managed, such as beamforming, port forwarding, and DHCP settings. 

The takeOne important thing has changed since I last reviewed the TP-Link mesh routers: the competitive landscape. The prices of competing mesh systems from Google, Amazon, and others have come down, and it appears that TP-Link has raised some of their prices. Still, you can get into a TP-Link mesh for less than than the others, but the gap isn’t as large as it was.If you want Wi-Fi 6, though, prices start at about $250 for a two or three node mesh. That’s better than most of the competition.

But do you want Wi-Fi 6 NOW? Unless you’ve upgraded to Wi-Fi 6 systems, probably not. But, if, like me, more Wi-Fi 6 systems are in the offing, why wait? I make a practice of staying away from devices and services offered by firms that package my info and sell it. As near as I can tell, TP-Link doesn’t vacuum up user data for resale. So even though the pricing is a tad less competitive than it was, I still prefer the TP-Link business model.Looking for a cost-effective Wi-Fi 6 mesh? Consider the TP-Link Deco X20 or X60 systems. They’ve worked well for me.Comments welcome: What would you recommend?

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Western Australia is preparing to launch its first locally designed and built space satellite.Developed by students and engineers at Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre, the Binar-1 CubeSat has been designed to locate and produce high resolution digital mapping of resources on the Moon’s surface.The Binar-1 is scheduled to take-off from Cape Canaveral, United States on August 28, as part of the SpaceX CRS-23 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. Following its launch, the spacecraft will then be deployed into low-earth orbit from the International Space Station.According to Curtin University, the objective of Binar-1 is to test all the critical spacecraft systems, while the two cameras on board will aim to capture images of the Western Australia coastline and relay them back to Earth.  “Our novel design allows us to make spacecraft affordable, and space accessible for WA innovators,” Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne said.”We will be able to control and command our missions from Perth through Fugro’s Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC), which will use Binar CubeSats to test remote operation protocols on a spacecraft in orbit.”Our ultimate goal is to have a WA-built spacecraft at the Moon by 2025. Space missions like that don’t just inspire, they also drive innovation. The launch of Binar-1 is our first real step towards that goal. Being able to build spacecraft affordably means that we can rapidly iterate technology, which is a key element in developing advanced systems for exploration, that then also benefit other industry sectors.”  

The Binar-1 CubSat will be the first of seven Binar CubSat launches planned for this year and next. “Western Australia is about to make history with the State’s first space mission,” WA Premier Mark McGowan said. “I am immensely proud of the students and engineers who have developed this amazing technology which opens so many doors for future missions and collaboration with the public and private sectors.”Similar satellite projects are underway in other states across Australia, including New South Wales, which is set to launch a “ride-share” satellite into orbit to test and prove its functionality. The satellite is being delivered under Project Waratah Seed.South Australian government, meanwhile, announced earlier this year a AU$6.5 million SASAT1 space mission that will see the state launch its own small satellite into low orbit in 2022.Also on Monday, Optus announced it is teaming up with Raytheon Australia and Thales Australia to jointly bid for the JP9102 Australia Defence Communication System program, focused on delivering satellite technology to the Australian Defence Force.”As sector pioneers and the leading investor in the Australian space industry, our solution will leverage our long track record of delivering for Australia’s Defence agencies, supporting Australian industry capabilities, and our unwavering commitment to deliver a sovereign solution that enhances Australia’s security,” Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said. “The bid team, Team AUSSAT, has a unique proposition being the only team with an unrivalled history of owning and operating satellites in Australia, by Australians, for Australians – drawing synergies from two partner companies with their exceptional pedigrees in building and delivering world-class Defence capabilities.” Optus currently flies seven satellites, including NBN’s two Sky Muster satellites. The telco giant recently announced plans to deploy software-defined satellite Optus 11 in 2023. Optus touted the Ku-band satellite as software-defined, which would allow it to be “fully configurable” once launched.Related Coverage More

COVID-19 headwinds and growing networking competition saw Chorus earn less in FY21 compared to the year prior, with the broadband wholesaler posting NZ$47 million in net profit after tax (NPAT). The NPAT figure is a NZ$5 million drop from FY20. Operating revenue also saw a dip, going from NZ$959 million to NZ$954 million year-on-year. Chorus CEO JB Rousselot attributed the performance decline to softer market conditions, which arose from COVID-19 along with increased competition in the fibre and wireless networks space.The dip was slightly offset by lower expenses however, with Chorus’s annual expenditure totalling NZ$298 million, which was NZ$13 million less when compared to FY20.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) remained steady at NZ$649 million.In response to the COVID-19 headwinds, Chorus also had a recruitment freeze for non-critical roles for much of FY21, which saw its total employee count reduce by 53 to 817.”This reduction was driven by changes in our operating model as the fibre rollout winds down and we transition to a more operational and adaptive organisation,” Chorus said.While Chorus acknowledged the dip, the company said it saw more customers shift onto fibre networks in New Zealand. Over the year, Chorus fibre uptake grew from 60% to 65%, with 120,000 new fibre connections from around 100 broadband retailers.

Chorus’ gigabit connections also saw growth, increasing by 3% to now comprise 19% of the broadband wholesaler’s total fibre connections.The shift to fibre also saw Chorus’ amount of fixed line connections decrease by 75,000 year-on-year to 1.34 million connections.The company added that its fibre network — the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network — was now 95% complete and the UFB2 rollout was ahead of schedule. By December 2022, Chorus will only need to pass 53,000 more premises for UFB to be complete, the company said.During the financial year, fibre was added to Fox Glacier, National Park, and Mokau.Looking at data usage of Chorus’ customers, the monthly average household data usage — over copper and fibre and including both downloads and uploads — grew from 350GB to 432GB across the year. Fibre customers, meanwhile, averaged 500GB in June, up from 436GB the year before.Rousselot also touched on the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s draft decision regarding the valuation of Chrous’ fibre network when explaining the company’s financial results, saying that he was concerned with two aspects of the decision. “Two aspects of the recent draft price-quality decision that Chorus is concerned about are proposed capital and operating expenditure cuts, and the obligation of an additional, complex approval process for offering retailer incentives to promote fibre,” Rousselot said.”We wrote to the Commission to express our concern that this approach and their draft cuts to our expenditure proposals do not adequately reflect our market context.”Taken together, with the low WACC settings and our proposed initial asset valuation of NZ$5.5 billion, there is a genuine risk that the new regulatory framework could discourage anything but essential investment for the next three years.”Under the Telecommunications Act, ComCom is required to establish the value of Chorus’ fibre network, which includes the assets Chorus uses to provide fibre broadband services, as well as a financial loss asset to compensate Chorus for losses it incurred when rolling out the network ahead of demand.The official valuation, which must be officially set by the start of 2022, determines the maximum revenue a regulated provider like Chorus can earn from its fibre network for the next three years. Due to this, the valuation of the network is a “key building block” for determining how much revenues Chorus will be able to earn until 2025, ComCom said as part of its draft decision. Giving an outlook for FY22, Rousselot said the company’s guidance remained the same with a projected EBITDA in the NZ$640 million to NZ$660million range and projected expenditure range of NZ$550 to NZ$590 million.He also noted FY22 would be a “crossroads years”, despite the guidance not changing, as the amount it will invest in network capacity will depend largely on ComCom’s valuation of Chorus’ fibre network.RELATED COVERAGE More

One of Rheinmetall’s autonomous vehicles.
Image: Rheinmetall
The Australian government announced on Sunday it was helping fund 19 5G projects around Australia to the tune of AU$20 million. Rheinmetall Defence Australia led the way, gaining almost AU$1.5 million for a 5G remote-controlled firefighting tank. “Rheinmetall is developing an autonomous/remote control ‘Firefighting Tank’ (called the Fire Tank), which is a purpose-built firefighting vehicle capable of traversing extremely dangerous terrains to support rescue, path clearing and firefighting missions,” the government described.”This project will investigate using low-band 5G to support long-range remote control of these vehicles. The project is focused on investigating the feasibility of this technology and development of a drone-based 5G range extension capability.” Walking away with AU$2 million was Qube for the Moorebank Logistics Park intermodal rail terminal, which will involve moving containers from Port Botany to warehouses. “This project will install 5G communications to link automated vehicles to the central fleet management and safety system with the low latency and high reliability of 5G used to create safe, reliable operations. The project will evaluate the performance and benefits of 5G and automated transport systems,” the government said. Nokia, meanwhile, has gained AU$1.9 million to build a National 5G Industrial Incubation Lab with the South Australian government, and will focus on using big data, cameras, and analytics applied rail corridor safety, using HoloLens and camera for airport safety, and “power over-voltage management in a power network via distributed edge compute via 5G connectivity”.

Working alongside Endeavour Energy and AWS, Optus gained AU$650,000 to use drones to monitor electrical transmission infrastructure. TPG Telecom was awarded AU$1.45 million for a project to count sheep at the Bendigo Regional Livestock Exchange. “The project will use 5G to enable multiple high quality 4K video streams to count sheep at a regional livestock exchange, automating the process and removing human error,” the government said. “A supporting 5G edge network will process the counting on site and relay the data in real time back to farmers on a tablet or mobile device.” In a similar vein, Australian Meat Processor Corporation will use 5G, machine learning, and cameras to augment human inspection of meat. “This is a critical technology and these projects will help Australians realise the benefits of 5G sooner,” Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher said.Related Coverage More

Image: ACCC
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has said it is pleased that users are jumping up NBN speed tiers thanks to NBN promotions such as “Focus on Fast”. In its latest Wholesale Market Indictors report, the ACCC said the number of connections on 12/1Mbps plans dropped by 47,500 to be back under 1 million at 968,600, a quarter of a million connections left 25/5Mbps tier to sit at 1,067,000, while 50/20Mbps gained 314,000 connections to now have 4.59 million lines. At the higher end of the market, an extra 23,200 lines joined the 100/20Mbps tier to take it to 373,000, almost 19,000 dropped off 100/40Mbps tier leaving it on 634,000, and over 72,000 lines in aggregate took up the 250/25Mbps speed. “Most broadband customers are now using higher speed tiers and that is a result of more retail providers and NBN promoting higher speed plans,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said. “Retailers may revert to standard pricing for premium services once a promotion ends, and we urge customers to monitor their usage to make sure that their service meets their ongoing needs.” For average capacity on the network, the ACCC said acquired CVC was averaging out at 2.74Mbps per customer, which represented a 9.2% increase. “We are pleased that retail providers are acquiring additional capacity to support network demand and keep consumers connected,” Ms Brakey said.

“The ACCC will continue to monitor CVC to see what effect the end of the ‘Focus on Fast’ promotion has on it.” In terms of retailers, Telstra experienced the biggest shift, with 12,000 fewer 12Mbps connections and almost 253,000 25 lines shifting away, while gaining an extra 276,000 50 connections at the end of June. The 100Mbps tier experienced a reduction of 28,500 connections, and the 250Mbps gained an extra 38,000 lines. Last quarter, TPG shifted customers around in response to NBN promotions. The telco said it was purchasing more wholesale 250Mbps and 1Gbps access, and gifting speed increases to users on 50Mbps and 100Mbps plans. Speaking after the telco posted its first-half results earlier on Friday, TPG CEO Iñaki Berroeta said the telco was targeting its 12Mbps customers with its 4G fixed wireless product, which makes the telco more money. Departing CFO Stephen Banfield said the company does not unilaterally switch users onto its more profitable on-net services. “We are reaching out to our customers with very compelling offers to invite them to move across to fixed wireless,” Benfield said. Related Coverage More

In statutory terms, TPG Telecom was able to report a bumper set of numbers, however this was only due to its 2020 merger with Vodafone accounting for four days. Using a set of pro forma simulated numbers, TPG was slightly down on its headline numbers. Revenue dropped 3% to AU$2.6 billion, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by the same percentage to AU$886 million, and net profit fell 6% to AU$132 million. Looking at its consumer and corporate segments, consumer service revenue fell AU$119 million to AU$1.76 billion, while handset revenue increased AU$39 million to AU$387 million, giving consumer EBITDA of AU$638 million, a drop of AU$28 million. It was a similar trend in the corporate segment, with service revenue down AU$32 million to AU$438 million and handset revenue more than doubled from AU$19 million to AU$48 million, resulting in a AU$10 million drop in EBITDA to AU$236 million. For subscribers, TPG saw a decline of 28,000 in postpaid subscriptions to 3.19 million, prepaid experienced the same drop in customers to 1.9 million, and a drop of 8,000 wholesale customers to 15,000. Overall the company has 5.1 million mobile subscribers.In its fixed network, TPG now has 1.95 million customers on the NBN, 154,000 on-net cable and fibre-to-the-basement (FttB) customers, and saw a 42,000 reduction in ADSL customers leaving 73,000 remaining on the technology. Overall, its fixed network total increased by 23,000 to 2.195 million. Average revenue per user continued to drop across postpaid mobile, NBN, and on-net customers, while prepaid mobile saw a $2 increase compared to this time last year to AU$18.90. TPG said it was conducting a strategic review of its tower assets, and of its total network of 5,800 rooftops and towers for its mobile network, the company owns passive infrastructure for 1,200 of those sites, as well as over 400 small cells. The company said it was seeking a preliminary assessment and had not made a decision on how to proceed.

“The group’s EBITDA result is pleasing and demonstrates a solid underlying performance achieved through the realisation of AU$38 million in merger cost synergies and strong commercial management,” CEO Iñaki Berroeta said. “In an environment with continued headwinds from COVID-19, NBN margin erosion and the new RBS levy, and residual challenges from the merger delay and 5G vendor restrictions, we are performing well. “We are seeing rapid early growth in NBN alternatives with our 4G home wireless customer base more than tripling in the first six months of the year, and we will build on this following the launch of our 5G home wireless in June.” On Thursday, TPG announced it had signed up Uniti to be a wholesaler on its FttB network that covers 240,000 premises in apartment buildings and offers speeds up to 100Mbps. “Our FttB network is a high-speed, simple, lower-cost NBN alternative and our new wholesale pricing offers a CVC-free alternative,” TPG wholesale group executive Dan Lloyd said. Related Coverage More