Mateusz Kaczmarek, Author at TechStock²

Starlink’s Sky Grab: How SpaceX Is Quietly Rewiring the Global Internet Game

Starlink launched its first batch of 60 satellites in 2019, and by late 2024 the constellation numbered nearly 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit. In 2022 Starlink introduced laser inter-satellite links, enabling data to hop between satellites and extending coverage to oceans, polar regions, and remote locales. By mid-2023 Starlink declared global coverage aside from regulatory holdouts, with service reaching Arctic areas and mid-ocean shipping lanes. By early 2024 Starlink was legally available in about 70 countries. Starlink’s user base grew from 1 million by end-2022 to over 4.6 million by end-2024, with more than 5 million users expected by early

3 June 2025

Inside Burundi’s Digital Struggle: The Truth About Internet Access and the Satellite Solution

As of January 2025, Burundi had about 1.78 million internet users, roughly 12.5% of ~14 million people, leaving about 88–90% offline. About 99.6% of internet subscriptions are mobile broadband, while fixed broadband is virtually nonexistent with ~0.3% of homes wired and only about 3,000 fixed broadband subscriptions in 2023. 4G coverage reached about 32% of the population in 2023, 3G about 53%, while 2G covers around 97%, leaving many rural areas without true internet. The rural population accounts for about 84% of Burundians, and the government’s Universal Service Fund is rolling out 4G to 178 rural communities, aiming to reach

2 June 2025

Africa · Digital Access · Internet · Satellites · Technology

The Shocking Truth About Internet Access in Burkina Faso – From White Zones to Starlink Dreams

As of 2023, internet penetration in Burkina Faso is about 20%, with roughly 4.7 million active internet users in a 23 million population. By late 2023 there were about 17 million mobile internet subscriptions, offering ~77% potential coverage though many subscribers are not active. Fixed broadband remains extremely limited, with about 85,000 active fixed internet subscriptions in Q3 2023, up 140% from 2022. There is a pronounced urban–rural gap: 3G reaches about 64% of the country and 4G/LTE about 46%, 85% have basic mobile signal, 15% have no signal, 1,700 white zones were identified in 2022, of which only 183

2 June 2025

Burkina Faso · Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet · Starlink

Everything You Need to Know About Internet Access in Bulgaria (Even the Satellites!)

By 2021, about 65% of fixed broadband subscribers in Bulgaria were on fiber, with gigabit speeds available and Vivacom launching a 10 Gbps fiber service. 5G was launched commercially in 2020, with A1 Bulgaria and Vivacom turning on 5G in 2020 and by the end of 2022 around 70% of the population expected to have 5G coverage. Starlink entered Bulgaria in February 2022, and as of 2025 Neterra is an authorized Starlink reseller offering hardware and support, with typical speeds over 100 Mbps down and 40–60 ms latency at around €60 per month plus a €300 equipment kit. Vivacom holds

2 June 2025

Access · Bulgaria · Digital Divide · Internet · Satellites

You Won’t Believe Brunei’s Internet: 5G Everywhere, 100 Mbps for All – Even Satellites Are Joining

In 2019 Brunei created Unified National Networks (UNN), a wholesale network consolidating fixed, mobile, and submarine infrastructure for DST, imagine, and Progresif. In June 2023 Brunei officially launched nationwide 5G with about 90% of the population covered. A Fixed Broadband Uplift Program raised the baseline fixed broadband speed to 100 Mbps for all subscribers and tested 1 Gbps in a pilot. The three retail ISPs are Datastream Digital (DST), imagine, and Progresif, all reselling capacity via UNN. Brunei’s international connectivity is governed by three submarine cables—SEA-ME-WE3, the Asia-America Gateway (AAG), and the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable (SJC)—all under UNN. About 99%

2 June 2025

5G · Brunei · High Speed · Internet · Satellites

Botswana’s Digital Leap: How Satellites and Smartphones Are Redefining Internet Access in the Kalahari

As of early 2024, about 2.09 million Batswana were internet users, representing roughly 77.3% of the population. Cellular penetration is around 185%, with mobile internet subscriptions at 2.93 million and fixed-line subscriptions at 164,000. Orange Botswana launched Africa’s first 5G network in 2022, initially covering about 30% of the population. SpaceX’s Starlink entered Botswana in August 2024 after BOCRA approved the license in May 2024, with Paratus Botswana becoming the first authorized Starlink reseller. BoFiNet operates the national fiber backbone and buys capacity from submarine cables like WACS and EASSy, becoming the largest provider of Botswana’s international bandwidth; as of

2 June 2025

Botswana · Internet · Kalahari · NYSE:ORAN · Satellites · Smartphones

Bosnia’s Internet in 2025: Surprising Growth Amid Shocking Gaps in Connectivity

As of 2025, about 83% of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s population uses the Internet. 4G/LTE networks reach roughly 94% of the population, served by BH Telecom (BH Mobile), M:tel, and HT Eronet. 5G is not commercially deployed in 2025, with authorities predicting spectrum auctions may occur in 2025–2026 after regulatory delays. Fixed broadband shares (2023) are DSL around 50.1%, Cable about 29.8%, Fiber (FTTx) about 12.6%, Fixed Wireless about 7.2%, and Leased lines about 0.2%. FTTH fiber coverage reaches less than 10% of households, one of the lowest fiber coverage rates in Europe. Starlink is set to enter Bosnia in 2025,

2 June 2025

Bosnia · Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet · Technology

The Internet Frontier: How Bolivia Is Connecting from the Peaks to the Stars

TKSat-1, launched in 2013 as a $300 million geostationary satellite with China’s help, enabled rural internet, backhaul for mobile towers, and community telecenters with latency around 600 ms. Plans for Túpac Katari 2 with substantially higher throughput were discussed, but a second satellite had not materialized by 2025. In August 2024 Bolivia banned unlicensed Starlink terminals, yet by early 2025 an estimated 10,000 Starlink kits were in use on the gray market, often roaming from Peru, with about $50/month and $500 equipment. The El Alto national data center opened in February 2025, a $52 million Tier III facility owned by

1 June 2025

Bolivia · Connectivity · Innovation · Internet · Technology

Internet Access in Bhutan: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Outlook

Starlink officially launched in Bhutan in December 2024 and was operational by February 2025, with Residential Lite at Nu 3,000 per month (about 23–100 Mbps) and Standard at Nu 4,200 per month (about 25–110 Mbps), plus a one-time Nu 33,000 dish kit. Bhutan began 5G rollout with a soft launch in late 2021, and by 2023 5G coverage reached 18 of 20 dzongkhags, with BT reporting about 756 active 5G users and TashiCell over 500, and there is no extra tariff for 5G. A national fiber backbone connects all 20 dzongkhags, and by 2016 fiber links reached 196 of 205

1 June 2025

Bhutan · Digital Challenges · Future · Internet · Technology

Benin’s Internet Revolution: How a Small Nation Is Bridging the Digital Divide with Fiber and Starlink

A 2,000 km national fiber optic backbone begun in 2016 was completed by mid-2021 and is being extended to all municipalities by 2025 under a CFA207 billion (~$330 million) plan to reach 3,300 km. Benin sits on multiple landing undersea cables such as ACE and MainOne for international bandwidth, but it still has only 1 Internet Exchange Point and 1 data center, with roughly 5% of popular web content cached domestically. Mobile networks dominate access, with 4G LTE coverage reaching about 90–93% of the population in 2023, 2G at 98%, 3G around 90%, and fewer than 1% of people having

1 June 2025

Benin · Digital Divide · Innovation · Internet · NYSE:ORAN · Technologie

Belize’s Internet Access Exposed: The Untold Story of 2025’s Digital Boom and Hidden Hurdles

Belize had about 304,000 online residents in 2025, representing 72.4% of the population. There were 345,000 active mobile connections in early 2025, about 82% of the population, with many users owning multiple SIMs. Approximately 84.5% of mobile subscriptions are broadband (3G/4G/LTE capable). In urban Belize, the median home broadband speed reached about 48 Mbps as of January 2025, up roughly 8% from the prior year. About 47% of the population lives in urban areas, while 53% is rural, with rural regions still lagging in high-speed access. Digi (BTL) provides a nationwide fiber-to-the-home network with speeds from 20 Mbps to 150

1 June 2025

2025 · Belize · Digital Divide · Internet · NASDAQ:VSAT · Technology

Belgium’s Broadband Boom: The Surprising Truth About Internet Access in 2025

As of early 2025, fiber coverage reached about 43% of Belgian homes, with Proximus aiming for 50% by end-2025, 70% by 2028, and 95% by 2032. Proximus FTTH/B offers symmetric speeds up to 8.5 Gbps in some areas as part of its fibre expansion. Proximus formed joint ventures Fiberklaar (Flanders) and Unifiber (Wallonia) to accelerate FTTH rollout, targeting 1.5 million and 0.6 million connections respectively by 2028. Cable broadband uses DOCSIS 3.1, with about 95.6% of households passed and 95.4% already on DOCSIS 3.1 gigabit networks, and Telenet offering up to 1 Gbps down. 5G rollout had 75% population coverage

1 June 2025

2025 · Belgium · Broadband · Internet · NYSE:ORAN · Technology