5G News 11 March 2025 - 13 June 2025

Hungary’s Digital Lifeline: How Fiber, 5G, and Satellites Are Rewiring the Nation

As of late 2023, more than 97% of Hungarian households have access to wired fixed broadband networks, including FTTH and upgraded cable. Thanks to the Superfast Internet Programme (SZIP), by 2020 at least 30 Mbps service reached over 95% of households in underserved areas. By 2022, gigabit-speed networks pass about two-thirds of households, and Very High Capacity Network coverage rose from 72% in 2021 to 80% in 2022, well above the EU average of about 72%. Pure fiber (FTTP) coverage reached 70% of households by 2022, up from roughly 50% two years earlier. Mobile networks provide nearly universal 4G coverage

13 June 2025

5G From Space: How Satellite Internet is Revolutionizing Global Connectivity

Starlink has over 6,700 satellites in orbit as of early 2025 and surpassed 4 million subscribers by late 2024 across 100+ countries. Starlink satellites orbit at about 550 km altitude and deliver typical download speeds of 50–200 Mbps with latency around 20–40 ms. Starlink Gen2 introduces inter-satellite laser links to route data between satellites, reducing reliance on ground gateways. SpaceX began testing Direct-to-Cell satellites in 2023–2024 to text ordinary phones using T-Mobile spectrum, with voice and data services planned for 2025. OneWeb’s first-generation constellation targets 648 satellites, with about 632 operational by late 2024, and it merged with Eutelsat to

13 June 2025

5G · Global Connectivity · Innovation · NASDAQ:AMZN · NASDAQ:ASTS · NYSE:VZ · Satellite Internet · Technology

Côte d’Ivoire’s Internet Revolution: Fiber Optics, 5G Dreams, and Satellite Solutions

As of 2024, about 53.4% of Ivorians live in urban areas, while urban internet usage is roughly 50% compared with 22% in rural areas. Côte d’Ivoire has laid over 5,200 km of fiber under the RNHD backbone, targeting nearly 7,000 km by September 2025. The country is connected to the ACE and WACS submarine cables, and the 2Africa mega-cable is expected to land in 2023–2024, adding about 180 Tbps design capacity. By 2023, about 92% of Ivorians had access to at least one 4G network. MTN Côte d’Ivoire began 5G trials in 2021 and launched first 5G sites in late

8 June 2025

5G · Côte d’Ivoire · Fiber Optics · Internet · NASDAQ:META · Satellite Solutions

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

Inside Ethiopia’s Internet Boom: Fiber Optics, 5G Dreams, and Starlink Skies

As of early 2025, about 28.6 million Ethiopians were internet users, roughly 21.3% of the population. Ethio Telecom owned about 23,000 km of fiber-optic cable across Ethiopia as of 2023, forming the national backbone and linking to neighboring undersea cables via Djibouti. In late 2024, Ethio Telecom signed a Horizon Fiber corridor deal with Djibouti Telecom and Sudatel to create a multi-terabit cross-border link between Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Sudan. Ethio Telecom launched commercial 5G in Addis Ababa in October 2022, with 145 sites active in the capital by September 2023 and expansion to additional cities planned. Safaricom Ethiopia launched commercial

29 May 2025

5G · Ethiopia · Fiber Optics · Internet Boom · Starlink

State of Internet Access in Argentina: Fiber, 5G, and Satellite in 2025

Argentina had about 40.6 million internet users and an internet penetration of 88% in early 2024, according to DataReportal. Fixed broadband subscriptions reached 11.9 million by end-2024, including about 4.8 million fiber subscriptions, up roughly 1 million that year. Fiber grew to represent about 41% of fixed broadband lines nationwide by late 2024, up from roughly 34% at end-2023. In October 2023, a 3.5 GHz mid-band spectrum auction allocated 250 MHz to Claro, Movistar, and Personal, enabling broader 5G deployment. In February 2024, Argentina authorized low Earth orbit satellite providers Starlink, OneWeb, and Kuiper to operate nationwide. Starlink began accepting

29 May 2025

5G · Argentina · Fiber · Internet · NASDAQ:AMZN · NYSE:AMX · NYSE:TEF · Satellite

Maldives’ Internet Revolution: From Remote Atolls to a 5G-Powered Paradise

Dhiraagu (Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun) was established in 1988 as the Maldives’ first telecom operator and former state monopoly. By 2000, basic telephone service had reached all inhabited islands and dial-up internet was available nationwide. In 2003 Focus Infocom received a second ISP license, and in 2005 Wataniya (Ooredoo Maldives) entered mobile service, ending Dhiraagu’s 17‑year monopoly. The Maldives’ telecom market is a duopoly dominated by Dhiraagu and Ooredoo, with Dhiraagu posting about MVR 2.8 billion revenue in 2019 and Ooredoo about MVR 2.03 billion, and Dhiraagu is 52% owned by Batelco and roughly 42% by the Maldivian government. 2G service

16 April 2025

5G · Digital Divide · Internet · Maldives · Technology

Thailand’s High-Speed Internet Revolution: 5G, Fiber, and the Battle to Bridge the Digital Divide

Thailand connected to the international Internet in the late 1980s and moved to full TCP/IP by 1992. In 2004, unmetered flat-rate broadband plans were introduced, spurring rapid broadband growth from 2005 onward. The Net Pracharat Village Broadband Internet project extends high-speed internet to over 75,000 villages. Thailand’s fixed broadband ranking rose from 34th in 2018 to 11th fastest globally by January 2024. By 2022, about 21.3 million households in Thailand had fixed broadband, nearly doubling from 2016. In late 2023 AIS acquired fixed ISP 3BB and its fiber assets, becoming the largest fixed broadband provider with about 4.7 million subscribers

12 April 2025

5G · Digital Divide · Internet · Technology · Thailand

Egypt’s Internet Revolution: Fiber Frenzy, 5G Dreams, and a Satellite Showdown

WE Data leads fixed broadband with about 80% of subscriptions. Vodafone Egypt is the largest mobile operator with about 42% market share. Orange Egypt holds about 26% and Etisalat by e& about 22% of the mobile market. Fixed broadband median speed reached 76.7 Mbps by early 2025, while mobile data speed median via 3G/4G is around 24.2 Mbps. The regulator auctioned the 2600 MHz band in late 2020 for 5G, but full licenses were not immediately issued, and Telecom Egypt secured the first 5G spectrum license in 2024 for $150 million. The Haya Karima rural development initiative aims to connect

15 March 2025

5G · Egypt · Fiber · Internet Access · Satellite

Saudi Arabia’s High-Speed Internet Revolution: Fiber Booms, 5G Soars, and Satellites Race to Connect the Kingdom

Saudi Telecom Company (stc) accounted for about 67% of Saudi Arabia’s telecom market by revenue in Q3 2022, and held roughly 50–55% of mobile subscribers, with Mobily at 20–25% and Zain at 10–15%. The Saudi Open Access agreement in 2020 allows all six major network operators—stc, Mobily, Zain, Salam, Dawiyat, and GO Telecom—to share towers and fiber networks to boost coverage. By 2022, internet penetration reached about 98–99% of the population, and around 3.7 million households had access to high-speed fiber. Fiber broadband accounted for about 64% of fixed subscriptions by the end of 2023, signaling a fiber-led broadband transition.

11 March 2025

5G · Fiber · High-Speed Internet · Satellites · Saudi Arabia