Digital Divide News 18 June 2025

Internet Under Siege: Cable Chaos, Satellite Surges & Digital Divide Drama (Sept 9–10, 2025)

Sources: Global news reports and press releases from Sept 9–10, 2025 (Reuters, Al Jazeera, Times of India, StateScoop, TS2 Space, and others) were used in compiling this roundup timesofindia.indiatimes.com aljazeera.com space.com reuters.com reuters.com prescottenews.com prescottenews.com prnewswire.com statescoop.com, along with statements from officials and industry leaders aljazeera.com aljazeera.com. Each development reflects the rapidly evolving landscape of global internet access – from physical infrastructure challenges and cutting-edge satellite deployments to the ongoing battles over digital rights and inclusion. The 48 hours of news around September 9–10, 2025, make one thing clear: the push to connect the world’s population continues to face both

10 September 2025

Papua New Guinea’s Internet Access Crisis: Sky-High Costs, Bold Plans, and a Digital Divide

Key Facts Overview: A Nation Still Largely Offline Papua New Guinea (PNG) faces an uphill battle in bringing internet access to its population, which is dispersed across difficult terrain and hundreds of islands. General internet penetration remains very low – only about 24.1% of the population were internet users at the start of 2025 datareportal.com datareportal.com. In other words, roughly three out of every four Papua New Guineans have never been online. This rate is starkly below the global average and even lags behind many neighboring Pacific Island countries. The total number of internet users was estimated at 2.57 million

5 September 2025

Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet Access · Papua New Guinea · Technology Policy

Blackouts, Crackdowns & Broadband Booms: Internet Access News Roundup (Sept 3–4, 2025)

Infrastructure and Satellite Expansions Over the past 48 hours, major investments in physical internet infrastructure were unveiled worldwide. SpaceX capped a busy summer of launches with yet another batch of 24 Starlink broadband satellites lifted into orbit on August 29 ts2.tech. This marked SpaceX’s fourth Starlink launch in a month, expanding its constellation (now over 8,000 active satellites) and improving coverage in high-latitude regions like Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia ts2.tech. With this growth, Starlink continues to deliver high-speed internet to remote areas in dozens of countries. And it’s not alone – Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a rival low-Earth orbit satellite network, is

4 September 2025

Broadband · Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet Access · NASDAQ:AMZN · NASDAQ:META · NYSE:VZ · Tech Policy

Global Internet Access Shake-Up: Outages, Crackdowns, and a Race to Connect the Unconnected

Key Facts Infrastructure and Satellite Internet Developments Major investments in physical internet infrastructure were unveiled over the past 48 hours, spanning undersea cables and satellites. SpaceX completed its fourth Starlink launch from California in a month, lofting 24 satellites on August 29 to enhance coverage in polar regions. This bolsters SpaceX’s constellation of over 8,000 active satellites, which is already delivering broadband to dozens of countries. Rival project Kuiper – Amazon’s satellite internet network – is also accelerating: Amazon announced it expects to begin beta service by late 2025, after deploying its first 27 satellites in April and scheduling another launch

3 September 2025

Connectivity · Digital Divide · Global Issues · Internet · NASDAQ:AMZN · NASDAQ:META · NYSE:VZ · Technology

Uganda’s Internet Access Revolution: From Digital Divide to Digital Drive in 2025

Introduction Uganda’s internet landscape is a mix of rapid growth and persistent gaps. Over the past decade, the country has seen a boom in mobile phone usage and internet services, yet a majority of Ugandans remain offline due to infrastructure shortfalls, high costs, and socio-economic barriers. This report provides an in-depth look at the state of internet access in Uganda as of 2024–2025, covering penetration rates, service types (mobile, broadband, satellite), key providers, infrastructure developments, government policies, inclusion challenges, and the future outlook. All statistics are the most recent available – many from 2024 or early 2025 – to give

28 August 2025

Africa · Digital Divide · Internet · Technology · Uganda

From Sand to Signal: The Shocking Reality of Internet Access in the Sahara

The Sahara spans about 9 million square kilometers (3.6 million square miles) across North Africa and covers ten countries: Algeria, Mali, Niger, Chad, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. A Trans-Saharan Fiber Backbone is under development to connect Algeria, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Tunisia along the Trans-Saharan Highway, tying inland towns to multiple submarine cable gateways, with Chad’s 559 km link from N’Djamena toward the Niger border nearly finished by late 2024. Chad obtained its first international fiber link in 2012 and today still has no nationwide fiber backbone connecting its towns. Only about 10–12% of Chadians have

18 August 2025

Africa · Digital Divide · Infrastructure · Internet · NYSE:ORAN · Technology

Inside Lesotho’s Digital Divide: The Truth About Internet Access and Satellite Connectivity

Lesotho’s internet use shows a stark urban–rural divide: about 77% of urban residents use the internet compared with 43% of rural residents, while roughly 31% of the population lives in urban areas and 69% in rural areas. Mobile broadband is the backbone of connectivity, with Vodacom Lesotho and Econet Telecom Lesotho (ETL) delivering 3G coverage to about 95–100% of the population and 4G coverage to about 85% (land 66.6%), while 2G covers about 98%. As of early 2025, Lesotho had 2.07 million active mobile subscriptions (roughly 88% of the population) and about 1.13 million internet users (48% penetration). Starlink arrived

12 August 2025

Digital Divide · Internet Access · Lesotho · Satellite Connectivity · Technology

Internet Access in Georgia (Country) vs Georgia (U.S. State): Infrastructure, Coverage, Providers & Digital Divide

By December 2019, fiber connections in Georgia (country) totaled 758,680, with DSL at 41,345 and FTTH accounting for over 82% of fixed broadband. Georgia’s national backbone lands at the Black Sea port of Poti and runs along rail lines to Tbilisi, interconnecting Armenia and Azerbaijan. Starlink became available in Georgia in November 2023 after mid-2022 ComCom authorization, with service priced around 160 GEL per month and a one-time equipment cost of 1,780 GEL. MagtiCom and Silknet dominate Georgia’s fixed broadband market, together accounting for about 78% of subscriptions in May 2023 (MagtiCom ~47.7%, Silknet ~30.9%). Open Net, a nonprofit fiber

31 July 2025

Digital Divide · Georgia · Infrastructure · Internet · NASDAQ:WIN · NYSE:T · Providers

America’s Internet Divide Exposed: The Truth About Access, Speed, and the Satellite Revolution

The BEAD program provides $42.45 billion in federal broadband funding administered by the NTIA to states to extend high-speed internet, with a 2025 policy shift to technology-neutral approaches that allow satellite solutions. The Affordable Connectivity Program provides a $30 per month subsidy and had about 18 million enrolled by 2023, with renewal funding uncertain in 2024–2025. As of May 2025, 95% of locations have 100/20 Mbps service available, leaving roughly 5% unserved. Fiber-to-the-home infrastructure was available in about 43–46% of U.S. areas in 2025, contributing to a national median download speed of about 242 Mbps by early 2024 (6th-fastest in

14 July 2025

Digital Divide · Internet · Satellite · Technology · United States

Turkey’s Digital Divide: Inside the State of Internet Access and Satellite Connectivity in 2025

Turkey’s fiber backbone length grew from about 425,000 km in 2020 to over 605,000 km by 2024. Fiber broadband subscribers reached around 8.1 million by 2024, and fiber accounted for about 39.4% of fixed broadband subscriptions at end-2024. Turkey’s 4.5G network, launched in 2016, provides nationwide coverage and had over 87 million 4.5G users by 2024. Commercial 5G has not launched as of 2025; a spectrum tender is planned for August 2025 with initial 5G service targeted to begin in 2026. Turkcell is the largest mobile operator with about 40.2% of mobile subscribers in Q1 2024 and about 45% of

10 July 2025

Connectivity · Digital Divide · Internet Access · NYSE:VOD · Technology · Turkey

Internet Access in Malawi: Infrastructure, Penetration, and Future Outlook

The national fiber-optic backbone, about 1,300 km long, was completed in 2018 by Huawei to connect major cities and border links in Malawi. In July 2023, ESCOM linked Malawi to Tanzania’s national broadband backbone, a move expected to lower international bandwidth costs and extend connectivity to rural areas. In 2023, Liquid Intelligent Technologies launched a new fiber route between Zambia and Malawi to provide faster, more direct access to backbones and data centers. As of early 2025, Malawi had 13.2 million active mobile cellular connections, representing about 60.3% of the population, with more than 90% on 3G or 4G networks.

27 June 2025

Digital Divide · Infrastructure · Internet Access · Malawi · Technology

State of Internet Access in Guatemala: From City Wi-Fi to Satellite Lifelines

4G LTE coverage is extensive, reaching about 91% of the population in 2024, while 3G coverage reaches about 95%. In 2023, SIT held spectrum auctions that raised about $176 million in total: 126 MHz in the 2.5 GHz band brought in about $49 million (with Tigo $32 million and Claro $17 million) and a later 700 MHz tender raised about $127 million. Starlink officially launched in Guatemala in June 2024 with the Starlink Mini kit priced around Q1,600 ($200) and monthly plans of Q510–560 ($65–72), delivering speeds of 100–200 Mbps with latency of 20–50 ms. As of early 2024, about

18 June 2025

Connectivity · Digital Divide · Guatemala · Internet Access · NASDAQ:SATS · NASDAQ:VSAT · NYSE:AMX · Technology

Digital Divide News 18 June 2025 - 10 September 2025