High above Earth, in the crowded expanse of geosynchronous orbit (GEO) some 22,300 miles up, a set of American satellites quietly keeps watch. These are the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites – often dubbed “neighborhood watch” satellites – and they form a covert but crucial line of defense in space. Born in secrecy…
Read more
Canada’s vast geography and diverse communities present unique challenges and opportunities for internet connectivity. In recent years, significant progress has been made to bring high-speed internet to Canadians nationwide, yet stark disparities remain between densely populated cities and sparsely populated rural or remote regions. As of early 2025, approximately 93.5% of Canadian households have access…
Read more
Disasters – whether natural or man-made – often wreak havoc on local communication infrastructure. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and conflicts can topple cell towers, sever fiber-optic cables, and leave entire regions cut off. For instance, Hurricane Maria in 2017 damaged 95% of cell towers in Puerto Rico, leaving the island largely without phone service freepress.net. In such…
Read more
When hurricanes flatten cell towers and earthquakes sever landlines, staying connected becomes a lifeline. In such dire scenarios, satellite phones emerge as critical tools to maintain communication when the grid goes dark. Unlike regular cell phones tied to terrestrial networks, satellite phones link directly to satellites orbiting above, enabling calls and messages from virtually anywhere…
Read more
Overview of Cambodia’s Internet Infrastructure Cambodia’s internet landscape has transformed rapidly over the past decade, heavily favoring wireless over wired connectivity. Mobile broadband is the primary backbone of internet access, with over 22 million cellular subscriptions in a country of ~17 million people datareportal.com – a penetration of 131.5% (many users own multiple SIMs). Major…
Read more
Imagine sending a text from the middle of the ocean or deep in the mountains with no cell tower in sight. That’s the promise of Starlink’s new Direct-to-Cell technology – a “cell tower in space” that lets ordinary phones connect via satellite when terrestrial coverage is absent. In recent trials, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites have successfully…
Read more
Introduction Satellite phones (or satphones) are mobile telephones that connect directly to orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell towers. They provide voice calling, SMS text messaging, and low-speed data by relaying signals through satellites to reach the conventional telephone network en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org. In practical terms, when you make a call on a satellite phone, your handset…
Read more
Brunei Darussalam, a small but wealthy nation on Borneo, is undergoing an internet revolution that defies its size. With nearly 99% of its people online datareportal.com and a nationwide rollout of 5G mobile and fiber broadband, Brunei’s digital landscape has leapt ahead in recent years. This report dives into Brunei’s surprisingly advanced internet infrastructure, the…
Read more
Bhutan – a small Himalayan kingdom known for its Gross National Happiness philosophy – was a late adopter of modern communications, introducing television and the internet only in 1999 freiheit.org. In the two decades since, Bhutan has rapidly embraced the digital age. Today, internet connectivity reaches all 20 districts and even every school in the…
Read more
Benin has witnessed a quiet but striking internet revolution over the past decade. In the early 2010s, internet use was in the single digits of the population; today roughly one-third of Beninese are online datareportal.com pulse.internetsociety.org. This rapid growth has been driven by improvements in infrastructure and aggressive government initiatives, yet significant challenges remain. The…
Read more
