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Starlink News 20 June 2025 - 8 July 2025

Namibia’s Digital Frontier: How Internet Access and Starlink Are Rewiring the Nation’s Future

Namibia’s Digital Frontier: How Internet Access and Starlink Are Rewiring the Nation’s Future

<li Namibia had about 1.6 million internet users by early 2024, roughly 62% of the population, up from 53% in early 2023. <li The 2012 landing of the West Africa Cable System (WACS) at Swakopmund dramatically expanded international capacity and reduced latency. <li Equiano landed in Namibia in 2022–2023, delivering up to 20 times more international bandwidth and adding redundancy beyond WACS. <li MTC launched the 081Every1 rural coverage project in 2017, helping mobile 4G reach roughly 88% of the population by 2024. <li Mobile subscriptions exceed the population at about 2.9 million, while fixed broadband subscriptions were only around
8 July 2025
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Fiber-Optic Odyssey: How Greece’s Internet Is Evolving from DSL to Starlink

Fiber-Optic Odyssey: How Greece’s Internet Is Evolving from DSL to Starlink

By mid-2023 FTTP availability was 38.4% of Greek households, with 0% rural fiber and over 60% of homes lacking fiber. By mid-2023 5G coverage reached 98.1% of the population, with about 59% of households having access to ultra-fast 5G mid-band (3.5 GHz) and just 6% of rural households covered by mid-band 5G. Starlink arrived in Greece in early 2022 and was fully available nationwide by March 2023, delivering typical speeds of 150–300 Mbps down and 20–40 Mbps up with latency about 30–50 ms. Starlink pricing fell from about €99/month to €60, then €40/month in late 2023, while hardware costs run
25 June 2025
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Starlink’s Sky‑High Cell Service—How T‑Mobile’s October Data Launch Could Obliterate Dead Zones and Rewrite Mobile Internet Forever

Starlink’s Sky‑High Cell Service—How T‑Mobile’s October Data Launch Could Obliterate Dead Zones and Rewrite Mobile Internet Forever

On 1 October 2025, T-Mobile and SpaceX will enable third‑party app data for a curated list of apps (WhatsApp, X, Google, Apple, AccuWeather, AllTrails) after the commercial SMS/MMS debut on 23 July 2025. SpaceX has placed more than 650 direct‑to‑cell satellites in orbit, with 657 currently operational forming the initial U.S. mesh. U.S. coverage now spans about 500,000 square miles, with capacity projected to double by 2026 as more satellites with 2 GHz payloads launch. The FCC approved the service in November 2024 as a “public‑interest benefit” and said it can support 911 access in remote areas while deferring higher
24 June 2025
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Shocking Showdown: How Iran Is Trying to Snuff Out Elon Musk’s Starlink—and Why Tens of Thousands of Dishes Keep Beaming Freedom Back

Shocking Showdown: How Iran Is Trying to Snuff Out Elon Musk’s Starlink—and Why Tens of Thousands of Dishes Keep Beaming Freedom Back

On 23 June 2025, Iran’s Ministry of Communications warned that owning or installing a Starlink terminal is a punishable offense and asked the ITU to compel SpaceX to deactivate unauthorized devices inside Iran. Following Israel’s Operation Rising Lion on 13 June, Iran’s internet blackout peaked with connectivity falling by 97 percent. In 2021 Iran filed its first Starlink complaint at the ITU, launching the dispute over SpaceX’s operation. In October 2023 the ITU Radio Regulations Board ruled in Iran’s favor and ordered Starlink to obey Iranian licensing laws. In March 2024 the ITU RRB reiterated the demand after objections from
24 June 2025
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Iran’s Internet Access Exposed: From Aging ADSL to an Underground Starlink Revolution

Iran’s Internet Access Exposed: From Aging ADSL to an Underground Starlink Revolution

Iran aims to connect 20 million premises with fiber by the end of 2025 under the National Fiber Optic Plan, but rollout is behind schedule. As of early 2024, Iran had 73.1 million internet users (81.7% penetration) and 146.5 million mobile connections, indicating widespread multi-SIM use. Median download speeds were about 15 Mbps on fixed broadband and 37 Mbps on mobile as of May 2024, with mobile often outperforming ADSL. Iran’s 4G coverage is broad (around 90% device coverage), while 5G is in its infancy (about 29% coverage in 2023) with up to 4,000 5G base stations projected by March
24 June 2025
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Starlink Goes Dark-Busting in Iran: How Elon Musk’s Satellite Beams Shattered Tehran’s Internet Blackout and Triggered a Global Free-Speech Showdown

Starlink Goes Dark-Busting in Iran: How Elon Musk’s Satellite Beams Shattered Tehran’s Internet Blackout and Triggered a Global Free-Speech Showdown

On 13–14 June 2025 Israeli strikes hit Iranian nuclear and missile sites, driving Iran’s internet speeds below 15% of normal per NetBlocks, and within about 24 hours SpaceX activated Starlink in Iran with Elon Musk posting “The beams are on.” Starlink operates 6,300-plus satellites at roughly 550 km altitude, making Iran unable to sever fiber backhaul or submarine cables to block the service. An estimated 20,000 dishes were already scattered across Iran before the crisis due to underground smuggling networks. Recent direct-to-device tests let ordinary phones send SOS messages through Starlink even without a dish. Iranian state media warned citizens
24 June 2025
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State of Internet Access in Palau: From Coral Reefs to Starlink

State of Internet Access in Palau: From Coral Reefs to Starlink

Until 2017 Palau relied entirely on satellite internet, with only about 25% of the population online. In 2017 Palau lit its first fiber link by connecting a spur into the trans-Pacific SEA-US cable, known as Palau Cable 1, near Guam, financed by a $25 million Asian Development Bank loan. Palau Cable 2 is under construction as part of the Echo transoceanic cable, linking Palau to the Google/Meta-led Echo network; activation is now expected in Q1 2025 with a landing station in Ngardmau State and funding from a Japan–Australia–United States trilateral partnership. Mid-2023 Palau experienced a week-long outage of its lone
23 June 2025
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Tanzania’s Internet Revolution: From 2G Villages to Starlink Skies

Tanzania’s Internet Revolution: From 2G Villages to Starlink Skies

As of January 2024, 21.82 million Tanzanians used the internet, a penetration rate of 31.9% of the population. By end-2024, active internet subscriptions reached 48 million, up 16% from the previous quarter, driven by multi-device data use. By December 2024, there were 25.6 million mobile broadband subscriptions (3G/4G/5G), while over 22 million users remained on 2G-only services. 4G coverage reached 88% of the population by late 2024, 3G coverage about 91%, and 2G signal was nearly universal at around 98%. Vodacom Tanzania launched the first 5G network in September 2022 in Dar es Salaam, and by end-2024 5G signals covered
23 June 2025
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Space‑Laser Shockwave: Inside China’s 2‑Watt Orbital Beam That Claims to Outgun Starlink and Reshape the Security Balance in Space

Space‑Laser Shockwave: Inside China’s 2‑Watt Orbital Beam That Claims to Outgun Starlink and Reshape the Security Balance in Space

In June 2025, Wu Jian of Peking University of Posts & Telecom and Liu Chao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences directed a 2-watt laser from 36,000 km in geostationary orbit to a ground station, achieving 1 Gbps. The test claimed the 1 Gbps downlink is five times faster than Starlink downlinks, per the South China Morning Post. The AO-MDR scheme combines adaptive optics and mode-diversity, routing eight spatial modes through a 1.8 m telescope and real-time selecting the three cleanest channels. Usable signal quality rose from 72% to 91% despite atmospheric turbulence thanks to AO-MDR. Starlink consumer downlinks typically
22 June 2025
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Elon Musk’s Starlink vs. Iran’s Blackout: Fact-Checking the 20,000 Secret Dishes Reconnecting a Nation

Elon Musk’s Starlink vs. Iran’s Blackout: Fact-Checking the 20,000 Secret Dishes Reconnecting a Nation

On June 14, 2025, after Israeli strikes, Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout, and Elon Musk tweeted that Starlink was “The beams are on,” effectively activating Starlink over Iran. The activation made Starlink connectivity available only to users with Starlink terminals, not to the entire Iranian population. Estimates by late 2024 placed roughly 10,000 to 20,000 clandestine Starlink terminals operating inside Iran. Reuters reported in December 2022 that nearly 100 Starlink terminals were active in Iran as SpaceX began enabling Starlink there. By January 2025, Iran International reported up to 100,000 Iranian users benefiting from satellite internet, with official figures
21 June 2025
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India Grants License to Starlink: A New Era for Satellite Internet Connectivity

India Grants License to Starlink: A New Era for Satellite Internet Connectivity

In mid-June 2025, India’s Department of Telecommunications granted Starlink a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) license, publicly confirmed by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Starlink becomes the third GMPCS licensee in India after Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s satellite venture. Starlink operates a Low-Earth Orbit constellation at about 550 km altitude, and globally has deployed nearly 7,000 satellites by early 2025, with about 4.6 million subscribers in 2024. The DoT license will be followed by spectrum allocation, with TRAI recommendations in May 2025 for a renewable 5-year license and 4% of AGR annual spectrum fee, plus a minimum ₹3,500
21 June 2025
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Track Satellites in Real Time – The Ultimate Guide to Satellite Trackers, Apps, and Imagery (ISS, Starlink & More)

Track Satellites in Real Time – The Ultimate Guide to Satellite Trackers, Apps, and Imagery (ISS, Starlink & More)

NASA released the Spot The Station mobile app in November 2023 to extend ISS flyover tracking beyond the website. FindStarlink.com provides Starlink sighting predictions with visibility labels (bright, average, dim) and a live map, plus free iOS/Android companion apps; it is ad-free and donations are optional. Orbitrack offers offline access to thousands of satellites, is a one-time purchase around $4.99, features 3D orbit visualizations and an AR Sky View, and has a Mac version for about $9.99. ISS Detector is a popular free Android and iOS app that can unlock a larger satellite catalog with a paid upgrade, sends alerts
20 June 2025
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