Key Facts

• Undersea cable chaos: Two major submarine cables were severed near the Red Sea, crippling internet speeds across India, Pakistan, the Gulf and beyond ts2.tech. Microsoft warned Azure cloud users of rising latency as traffic rerouted around the Middle East reuters.com. Repairs could take weeks, underscoring the fragility of the global internet backbone ts2.tech.
• SpaceX’s spectrum splash: Elon Musk’s SpaceX agreed to buy $17 billion worth of wireless spectrum from EchoStar to fuel Starlink’s new direct-to-cell service reuters.com. The deal lets SpaceX launch upgraded satellites that it says will boost network capacity 100-fold and eliminate mobile dead zones worldwide reuters.com. SpaceX will even shoulder $2 billion of EchoStar’s debt, as regulators tout the partnership’s potential to expand connectivity reuters.com.
• Satellite internet heats up: SpaceX’s 113th launch of the year on Sept 6 lofted 24 more Starlink satellites, pushing over 2,000 Starlinks deployed in 2025 alone ts2.tech. Rival Amazon’s Project Kuiper now tops 100 satellites in orbit and is gearing up for a Sept 25 launch of 27 more ts2.tech, with plans to begin beta service by year’s end. OneWeb (now merged with Eutelsat) finished its first-gen fleet of ~650 satellites and is activating low-latency broadband across new markets from South Korea to India ts2.tech.
• Outages and crackdowns: A province-wide internet blackout in Balochistan, Pakistan – now stretching into its second month – keeps ~15 million people offline by government order ts2.tech. In Iraq, authorities imposed their annual exam-time shutdown, killing internet access nationwide for a few hours each morning ts2.tech. And in Turkey, social media bandwidth was throttled on Sept 7–8 to stifle anti-government protests ts2.tech, a tactic digital rights activists call “a predictable playbook” for quelling dissent ts2.tech.
• Bridging the digital divide: Connectivity initiatives rolled out worldwide. MTN South Africa is selling 4G smartphones for just $5 to 1.2 million low-income users to prevent them from being left behind as 2G/3G networks shut down ts2.tech. In the Philippines, Smart Communications launched plug-and-play 5G home WiFi kits to reach rural villages lacking fiber lines ts2.tech. And New York City kicked off a “Liberty Link” pilot to wire up 35 public housing complexes with free gigabit Wi-Fi for 2,200+ underserved households by year’s end ts2.tech.

Undersea Cable Cuts Cripple Asia–Middle East Internet

A sudden undersea communications crisis struck over the weekend as multiple fiber-optic cables were mysteriously cut in the Red Sea. On Sept 7, internet monitors reported that two critical subsea systems – the SEA-ME-WE 4 and IMEWE cables – were severed near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ts2.tech. The impact was felt across continents: connectivity slowed to a crawl or halted entirely in countries including India, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE ts2.tech. “Multiple countries including India and Pakistan have been affected” by the outage, confirmed NetBlocks, calling it a “series of subsea cable outages” hitting the region reuters.com ts2.tech. Major Gulf telecoms Etisalat and Du experienced nationwide slowdowns, prompting user complaints of sluggish speeds ts2.tech. Even Microsoft sounded the alarm – Azure cloud customers were told to expect higher latency after “multiple undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea” forced data to detour on longer paths reuters.com.

No culprit has been confirmed in the Red Sea cable cut – accidents like ship anchors or quakes are possible, but geopolitical sabotage is also feared. The cable route passes near conflict zones, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been suspected of past attacks on undersea lines (a charge they deny) gizmodo.com ts2.tech. This time, as the Houthis wage naval attacks amid the Gaza war, Yemen’s exiled government outright accused them of slicing the internet cables ts2.tech. “What is happening today in the Red Sea should serve as a wake-up call… to protect the digital infrastructure that serves as the lifeline of the modern world,” implored Yemen’s information minister Moammar al-Eryani ts2.tech. Still, Saudi officials pointedly declined public comment on the incident ts2.tech, and the true cause remains murky. The only certainty is the disruption: Kuwait confirmed its FALCON cable was also cut gizmodo.com, compounding the damage.

Getting these cables fixed won’t be quick. Specialized repair ships must locate and haul up the fiber from the seabed – a process that could take weeks for multiple breaks ts2.tech. In the meantime, millions of users from South Asia to the Middle East are stuck with spotty, bottlenecked internet as traffic congests alternate routes. Net traffic is still flowing (Microsoft noted that non-Middle East routes weren’t impacted reuters.com), but with noticeable delays. The episode lays bare the fragility of global connectivity. Just a few undersea arteries carry Asia–Europe data, so a single point of failure in a narrow chokepoint can send entire regions offline. “Even an errant anchor drop in the shallow Red Sea could sever vital links between continents,” one Middle East network operator told Reuters, underscoring how a moment of bad luck (or malice) can upend the internet ts2.tech. The incident has already spurred calls to bolster resiliency – from accelerating new cable routes to guarding existing ones. A senior FCC official warned that foreign adversaries have targeted submarine cables and stressed the need to secure these “critical arteries” against both tapping and cutting ts2.tech. U.S. regulators are now moving to ban untrusted Chinese components in new American-linked cables and to streamline permits for “trusted” cable builders ts2.tech. For now, though, engineers in the Red Sea are scrambling just to restore basic service. The undersea cut has vividly demonstrated that in 2025’s interconnected world, a few snips underwater can send shockwaves online.

Satellite Internet Race Intensifies

High above Earth, a space-based broadband showdown is accelerating as companies launch thousands of satellites to blanket the globe in connectivity. Over this past week, SpaceX, Amazon, and OneWeb all notched major moves signaling that the competition for internet-from-orbit is entering a decisive phase.

SpaceX grabbed headlines on Sept 8 by announcing a $17 billion deal to buy wireless spectrum from EchoStar – a blockbuster bet aimed at turbocharging Starlink’s nascent Direct-to-Cell service reuters.com. Elon Musk’s space firm will acquire coveted 2 GHz licenses (previously held for EchoStar’s mobile-satellite network) and integrate them into Starlink. The payoff? SpaceX gains exclusive airwaves to beam broadband directly to ordinary smartphones from its satellites, without any ground towers. “With exclusive spectrum, SpaceX will develop next-generation Starlink Direct-to-Cell satellites… a step change in performance to enhance coverage for customers wherever they are in the world,” said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, vowing the deal will help “end mobile dead zones around the world” reuters.com. As part of the pact, EchoStar’s Boost Mobile unit will in turn offer Starlink’s satellite-cell service to its subscribers, extending coverage to rural and remote areas outside terrestrial signal reuters.com. Regulators, including the FCC, applauded the tie-up as a creative way to expand wireless access – essentially marrying satellites with mobile networks to reach Americans off the grid reuters.com. Investors took notice too: EchoStar’s stock surged 19% on the news, while shares of traditional wireless carriers dipped on fear of new competition reuters.com. SpaceX will also shoulder about $2 billion of EchoStar’s debt interest as part of the transaction reuters.com, underscoring Musk’s confidence that Starlink’s global reach can justify a hefty price tag. The spectrum buyout is the boldest sign yet that SpaceX is dead serious about entering the cellular market, not just with hotspot devices but by beaming service straight to phones.

Meanwhile SpaceX’s core Starlink business keeps sprinting ahead. Over the weekend, SpaceX conducted its 113th launch of 2025, adding another 24 Starlink satellites to its low-Earth orbit megaconstellation ts2.tech. That single launch (from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept 6) pushed SpaceX to over 2,000 Starlink satellites deployed just this year ts2.tech – a blistering cadence of near-weekly launches. By some estimates Starlink now has well over 4,500 active satellites aloft out of 8,000+ launched to date, serving millions of customers in dozens of countries ts2.tech. From rural Alaska to ships at sea, previously disconnected users are snatching up Starlink dishes to get online at fiber-like speeds. This past week’s mission also marked a quiet milestone: SpaceX’s 500th rocket booster landing, a feat of reuse that has helped drive down launch costs ts2.tech. All this underpins SpaceX’s head start in the satellite broadband race – Musk’s team is leveraging its rocketry might to expand coverage faster than anyone. And they’ll need that lead, because rivals are close behind.

Amazon’s long-anticipated Project Kuiper is finally lifting off. The tech giant confirmed it now has just over 100 Kuiper satellites in orbit after launching prototypes in late 2023 and early 2024 ts2.tech. The coming milestone: on September 25, Amazon will send up the next 27 Kuiper satellites via a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket ts2.tech. If all goes well, Amazon aims to begin beta-testing its satellite internet service by the end of 2025, en route to a full commercial launch in 2026 ts2.tech. And Amazon isn’t shy about flexing its deep pockets to catch SpaceX. This week it scored a high-profile customer: JetBlue Airways inked a deal to use Kuiper for free in-flight Wi-Fi on at least 200 airplanes, starting in 2027 ts2.tech. JetBlue will equip its fleet with Kuiper terminals, letting passengers enjoy fast, free internet beamed from space. “Staying connected is part of everyday life, even when you’re 35,000 feet in the air – and we’re pumped to bring that to life with JetBlue,” said Panos Panay, Amazon’s Devices & Services SVP, as the partnership was announced ts2.tech. It’s a strategic win for Kuiper, giving Amazon a showcase client to prove its tech (and a future revenue stream to help recoup the many billions Amazon is investing in its 3,200-satellite constellation). Industry analysts note that airlines, cruise ships and governments are all being courted by LEO satellite providers, who see these big customers as key to making the numbers work ts2.tech.

Not to be overlooked, OneWeb – now a subsidiary of France’s Eutelsat – is also expanding its reach after completing its first-generation network. With nearly 650 low-Earth satellites in orbit, OneWeb has focused on serving governments, enterprises, aviation and maritime clients rather than individual consumers. But it, too, hit new markets in early September. In South Korea, officials confirmed OneWeb is installing ground stations and expects to launch commercial LEO internet service by the end of September (in partnership with local firms Hanwha Systems and KT SAT) ts2.tech. And on Sept 1, OneWeb/Eutelsat struck a major joint venture in India: teaming up with the Tata Group’s satellite arm Nelco to create “OneWeb India,” which will deliver secure low-latency broadband across India’s remote regions and strategic sectors ts2.tech. “This new service will strengthen India’s digital infrastructure and national security, while ensuring reliable connectivity in underserved areas,” said Neha Idnani, Eutelsat’s APAC VP, about the tie-up with Tata ts2.tech. Notably, India’s Bharti Enterprises – a key OneWeb shareholder – is hedging its bets by also partnering with SpaceX Starlink to market Starlink service once it’s approved locally ts2.tech. As one Bharti executive put it, “The Indian market is vast, offering ample space for both Starlink and OneWeb to grow” ts2.tech. This reflects a broader trend: telecom operators around the world are striking alliances with satellite broadband firms to reach the unconnected. For example, Airtel Africa (operating in 14 countries) signed a deal with SpaceX to roll out Starlink service to rural communities, schools and clinics across its footprint ts2.tech. Starlink is already licensed in 9 African nations and seeking approval in more ts2.tech. “Through this partnership we’ll enhance connectivity for enterprises and socio-economic communities like schools and health centres,” said Airtel Africa’s CEO, highlighting a shared mission with SpaceX on digital inclusion ts2.tech. OneWeb, for its part, just opened a new ground station in Angola and is working with pan-African providers to extend coverage ts2.tech. The upshot is that from Alaska to Zambia, LEO constellations are racing neck-and-neck – and sometimes teaming up with local carriers – to beam broadband everywhere. With Starlink’s blitz of launches, Kuiper’s deep coffers, and OneWeb’s strategic partnerships, the satellite internet “space race” is entering a pivotal chapter where coverage is expanding fast, but so is competition.

Connectivity Outages and Censorship Clampdowns

It’s not only undersea cuts that knocked people offline – the past 48 hours saw intentional shutdowns and cyber outages hit millions of users in different parts of the world. In some cases, authorities themselves pulled the plug in the name of security or exam discipline; in others, technical failures briefly crashed widely-used services. Taken together, it’s been a chaotic period for internet access in several regions.

In Pakistan, a digital blackout of unprecedented scale is ongoing. The entire province of Balochistan – an area of 15 million residents – has had its mobile data service shut off for over a month by government order ts2.tech. Initially imposed in early August amid military operations against separatist insurgents, the mobile internet ban was recently extended past its August 31 deadline, leaving the province cut off indefinitely amnesty.org. Officials claim militants rely on cell networks to coordinate, necessitating the blackout ts2.tech. But critics say the policy punishes ordinary citizens and pushes Balochistan into isolation under the pretext of security ts2.tech. Human rights groups warn of severe impacts on education, healthcare, and the economy as millions remain disconnected. “The Pakistani government shut down the internet. I couldn’t even work or pay bills,” one Baloch resident told Amnesty International, which has urged an end to the collective punishment amnesty.org. So far, Islamabad shows no sign of restoring service, making this one of the world’s most extensive ongoing blackouts.

Neighboring Iraq has been going dark on a schedule – for exams. This week the Iraqi government enforced its annual tradition of nationwide internet curfews during school testing ts2.tech. From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on exam days, virtually all internet (fixed and mobile) was shut off across Iraq to prevent students from cheating on high school exams ts2.tech. The practice, repeated yearly, is hugely controversial: critics say it amounts to collective punishment and cripples daily life for millions. “School exams are no reason to block internet access,” digital rights advocates argue, noting Iraq is one of the few countries that literally pulls the plug on the entire internet to curb leaks ts2.tech. The morning blackouts disrupted not only students, but also businesses, media, and anyone trying to communicate during those hours. Though service resumed after each exam period, Iraq’s routine shutdowns highlight the extreme steps some states still take – sacrificing national connectivity for a modicum of exam control.

In Turkey, authorities deployed a more selective clampdown. On the night of Sept 7, as opposition groups planned anti-government rallies, Turkish internet users suddenly found social media sites throttled to a crawl. Network data showed that multiple Turkish ISPs drastically slowed down access to X (Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and WhatsApp ts2.tech. The intentional slowdown – effectively a form of censorship via bandwidth choke – lasted into Monday Sept 8, just as the opposition protests were set to occur ts2.tech. By rendering popular social apps almost unusable, officials hamstrung protesters’ ability to organize or live-stream the events. It’s a playbook Turkey has used before: during political unrest or terrorist incidents, social platforms often get restricted. “It’s become a predictable playbook – when unrest brews, they strangle the internet,” one digital rights activist in Istanbul said of the episode ts2.tech. The throttling drew condemnation from free expression advocates, but in Ankara’s view it successfully quieted the online coordination of dissent. Once the protests died down, social media speeds reportedly returned to normal. Still, the incident is a stark reminder that even without an outright blackout, governments can silence online speech by simply squeezing bandwidth in real time.

Even Big Tech wasn’t immune to outages: in an unrelated hiccup, a major Google services disruption on Sept 4 affected users across parts of Europe and Turkey ts2.tech. For about an hour, Google’s search, Gmail and YouTube went down for many, sparking a flurry of complaints – and a swift response from Turkey’s IT regulator demanding Google explain the downtime ts2.tech. Although service was quickly restored and Google hasn’t detailed the cause, the brief crash showed that even the most advanced platforms can suffer unforeseen crashes, compounding the general sense of instability after days of purposeful shutdowns and slowdowns. (Coincidentally, on Sept 8 Google’s Meet videoconferencing also had a notable outage, according to tech media, adding to users’ frustrations gizmodo.com.) While these corporate outages were short-lived blips compared to the state-imposed blackouts, they affected millions and served as a reminder: whether due to human error or malicious intent, connectivity is never guaranteed. In early September 2025, many people around the world experienced life on the wrong side of the internet’s divide – some cut off by politics, others by cables cut under the sea, and still others by plain old network failures.

Bridging the Digital Divide: Connectivity Initiatives Bloom

Amid the setbacks and showdowns, there was plenty of good news on the internet access front. Around the globe, governments, telcos, and communities launched innovative projects aimed at connecting the unconnected – or cutting costs for those who struggle to afford service. From ultra-cheap smartphones in Africa to DIY Wi-Fi in American public housing, these efforts show how the digital divide is being tackled one region at a time.

In South Africa, telecom giant MTN rolled out a groundbreaking plan to migrate its poorest customers onto modern networks. MTN announced it will offer 4G smartphones for just 99 rand (≈$5) to 1.2 million of its prepaid subscribers stuck using 2G/3G phones ts2.tech. The initiative – staged in phases through 2026 – targets low-income users so they’re not left offline when old 2G and 3G signals are turned off in coming years reuters.com reuters.com. Phase 1 has already begun in Gauteng province, where 5,000 carefully selected customers are receiving subsidized 4G handsets reuters.com. Subsequent phases will scale up nationwide, ultimately reaching over a million people. MTN South Africa’s CEO Charles Molapisi said the company is “going the extra mile to ensure that no one is left behind in the digital era.” As the country transitions to 4G/5G, “it is vital we take proactive steps to connect as many South Africans as possible,” Molapisi emphasized reuters.com. At ~40 million mobile users, MTN knows that keeping people connected is not just altruism – it also prevents churn and revenue loss when legacy networks shut. But the social impact is real: the $5 phone program directly addresses the affordability barrier that often exacerbates the digital divide in developing countries. For a South African earning minimum wage, a new smartphone can cost a month’s salary; MTN is slashing that to the price of a loaf of bread. Digital inclusion advocates have applauded the move, urging other carriers to follow suit as 2G/3G sunsets approach across Africa.

Over in the Philippines, a new product is bringing broadband to villages that lack cables. This week, Smart Communications (one of the country’s top mobile operators) introduced Smart 5G Home WiFi kits – essentially plug-and-play wireless routers that provide high-speed home internet without any fiber hookup or contracts ts2.tech. Launched on Sept 4, the 5G Max Home WiFi device is being sold at half-price (₱2,495, about $44) and comes bundled with 15 days of unlimited data to get households started backendnews.net. Users can simply plug in the router and connect to Smart’s 5G network – no technician needed. It’s a flexible prepaid model: families top up data as needed, avoiding monthly bills or long commitments backendnews.net. The offering is aimed squarely at areas where fiber-optic internet is unavailable – whether remote rural towns or underserved urban neighborhoods. By using the existing 5G mobile signal, Smart’s solution can deliver broadband-like service (up to hundreds of Mbps) to multiple devices in a home. Students can attend online classes, parents can work remotely, and small businesses can run digital operations, all through a simple wireless box backendnews.net backendnews.net. Filipino telecoms have been racing to expand fiber coverage, but geography – thousands of islands, mountainous interiors – makes universal fiber a challenge. These fixed–wireless kits therefore fill an important gap. The launch comes as Globe Telecom, Smart’s rival, is also pushing “broadband-on-the-go” gadgets and even testing a 5G satellite hybrid device called “The Loop” for far-flung areas business.inquirer.net. For users, the message is: affordable home internet can now arrive over the air, not just through a cable in the ground.

In the United States, local authorities are stepping up to ensure connectivity for disadvantaged communities. In New York City, officials this week highlighted progress on a new pilot called “Liberty Link” that aims to bring free or ultra-low-cost internet to public housing residents. Announced this summer by Mayor Eric Adams, Liberty Link is installing free gigabit Wi-Fi networks in 35 affordable housing buildings across the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, ultimately covering about 2,200 households govtech.com. The pilot leverages $3.25 million in city funding and partnerships with libraries and internet providers to light up high-speed service in housing complexes that have historically been offline. By the end of 2025, thousands of people in these developments should have home Wi-Fi at no charge (or in some cases a nominal fee for higher tiers) cbsnews.com. “We are addressing the digital divide head-on,” said the city’s Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser at the launch, noting that connectivity is a “basic necessity” for education and opportunity in modern life. NYC’s effort follows other municipal broadband pushes – from Los Angeles County’s $50 million community broadband initiative to Oakland’s plan for a city-run fiber network targeting 2,500 unserved households broadbandbreakfast.com broadbandbreakfast.com. The common goal is to reach low-income and marginalized populations that the market has failed to connect. Even the U.S. federal government is supporting these moves: the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) offers $30/month internet subsidies for needy families (though its long-term funding is in doubt), and billions in stimulus funds are flowing to states to expand broadband access. All these endeavors share a recognition that closing the digital divide requires public action alongside private-sector innovation.

From community Wi-Fi in New York to cut-rate smartphones in Africa, these initiatives show a different side of the global internet story – one of progress and inclusion. They indicate that even as new technologies like 6G and satellite mega-constellations grab headlines, on the ground it often takes creative, locally tailored solutions to get people online. Whether it’s a $5 phone, a no-contract wireless router, or city-built fiber, the past few days offered plenty of evidence that the fight for universal internet access is alive and accelerating. “While broadband infrastructure is growing in both scope and diversity, huge challenges remain – about one-third of humanity still lacks internet access,” the UN’s International Telecommunication Union recently warned ts2.tech. Reaching that last one-third by 2030 may require an estimated $2.6–2.8 trillion investment globally ts2.tech. The developments of September 8–9, 2025, show both the obstacles and the optimism on the road to that goal: cables can be cut and networks shut down, yet innovators and communities worldwide are working tirelessly to knit a more connected planet, one link at a time.