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Internet Access Revolution: Starlink's Global Surge, Broadband Booms & Outages - Aug 30-31, 2025

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Internet Access Revolution: Starlink’s Global Surge, Broadband Booms & Outages – Aug 30–31, 2025

Key Facts Summary

  • Starlink scales globally: SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service surpassed 7 million users across 150+ countries as of August 2025 spaceflightnow.com. The company capped off the month with another Falcon 9 launch carrying 28 Starlink broadband satellites on Aug 30, marking its ninth Starlink mission of August spaceflightnow.com. New regions are coming online: Starlink announced official availability in Kazakhstan on Aug 13 (population ~20 million) after a government agreement satellitetoday.com, and Angola activated OneWeb-powered satellite internet nationwide via a new teleport hub in Luanda to connect remote communities africangambit.com. Industry experts hail these LEO satellite rollouts as “breaking down geographical barriers” to unlock economic potential in underserved areas africangambit.com.
  • Broadband infrastructure investments and policy shifts: In the U.S., West Virginia finalized a $1.2 billion broadband plan to extend high-speed internet statewide. However, fine print reclassified ~40,000 homes (100,000 people) as already “served” via fixed wireless – excluding them from new fiber buildouts cbsnews.com. This redefinition of “served” areas, following federal guidance, slashed WV’s count of unserved homes by one-third (114,000 down to 74,000) cbsnews.com, drawing criticism that slower wireless links are being treated as “good enough” despite their reliability issues cbsnews.com. “It’s like pulling a goal post toward you and claiming a touchdown,” said Evan Feinman, former head of the federal BEAD broadband program, on the state lowering its targets cbsnews.com. Meanwhile, telecom giants are pouring money into network capacity – AT&T is spending $23 billion to acquire nationwide 600 MHz and mid-band spectrum from EchoStar, boosting its 5G and fixed-wireless coverage across 400 markets wirelessestimator.com. Cable provider Comcast is also expanding rural fiber, bringing gigabit internet to 32,000 homes in Florida (double by 2026) through public-private partnerships rcrwireless.com.
  • Mobile internet advances in developed and developing regions: 5G and 5G-Advanced rollouts are accelerating worldwide. In the Middle East, Kuwait just completed a nationwide 5G-Advanced (5.5G) network with Huawei’s support – one of the first such upgrades – promising ultra-fast speeds, lower latency, and new smart city applications across the country rcrwireless.com. In South Asia, India’s carriers continue to expand 5G coverage; Vodafone Idea (Vi) launched 5G service in the city of Pune in late August as it races to catch up with rivals rcrwireless.com. Latin America saw a milestone as Paraguay awarded 5G spectrum licenses on Aug 26 – but notably barred Chinese vendors from its 5G infrastructure, aligning with similar policies in allied countries rcrwireless.com. And looking ahead, 6G spectrum policy is already on the radar: European regulators are grappling with how to allocate the crucial upper 6 GHz band between Wi-Fi and mobile networks, a decision seen as “critical to achieving the EU’s 2030 digital goals” and bridging the rural digital divide rcrwireless.com.
  • Public access programs target the digital divide: New data underscore the affordability crisis in internet access. A T-Mobile–commissioned survey found nearly 1 in 4 U.S. parents (24%) have cut back on essentials like food or utilities to afford home internet t-mobile.com. Furthermore, 30% of parents rated their home internet only “somewhat reliable,” and an overwhelming 85% agreed families shouldn’t face such trade-offs to stay connected t-mobile.com. To alleviate this, carriers and governments are ramping up public access initiatives. T-Mobile’s Project 10Million – which provides free Wi-Fi hotspots and data to students – has so far connected over 6.3 million student households and provided $7.3 billion in free devices and service since 2020 t-mobile.com. One beneficiary, Coral Almazan of Texas, said the free hotspot “powered her through the pandemic” and inspired her to pursue a policy career, highlighting how such programs can change lives t-mobile.com. Around the world, similar efforts are underway, from community Wi-Fi hubs to subsidized rural broadband, aiming to ensure that low-income and remote populations can get online.
  • Connectivity disruptions: outages and shutdowns: The weekend saw both unintended outages and intentional internet cuts. On Aug 30, Verizon suffered a widespread mobile network outage across parts of the U.S., especially the Northeast livenowfox.com. The carrier blamed a “software issue” and by evening reported progress restoring service livenowfox.com. “We know how much people rely on Verizon and apologize for any inconvenience,” the company said, as engineers raced to fix the disruption livenowfox.com. At the same time, authorities in Iraq’s Kurdistan region instituted brief internet shutdowns as a matter of policy: on the morning of Aug 30, service was suspended for about an hour (6:30–7:45 AM local) during school exams pulse.internetsociety.org. This was part of a scheduled series of exam-day shutdowns – a practice decried by digital rights groups but used in some countries to prevent cheating. Overall, these events highlight the fragility of internet access, whether from technical failure or government curbs, even as connectivity becomes ever more crucial for societies.

Starlink’s Global Surge and the Satellite Internet Race

Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite internet continues its explosive growth, dramatically expanding global internet access. SpaceX Starlink, the largest LEO constellation, hit a new milestone in late August 2025 with over 7 million active subscribers worldwide spaceflightnow.com – up from 4 million a year prior – served by roughly 1,900 satellites launched just in 2025 so far spaceflightnow.com spaceflightnow.com. On August 30, SpaceX launched yet another Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink satellites, its 77th Starlink launch of the year spaceflightnow.com, underscoring the company’s unprecedented pace (SpaceX aims for 170 orbital launches in 2025, most devoted to Starlink) spaceflightnow.com. Starlink now operates in 150+ countries spaceflightnow.com, including many regions previously lacking reliable broadband. SpaceX recently announced crossing 7 million customers globally spaceflightnow.com after a surge in user uptake, and noted that Starlink satellites now make up about two-thirds of all active satellites in orbit spaceflightnow.com – a testament to how quickly LEO networks have scaled. Cornelia Rosu, SpaceX’s Starlink production director, said the company has learned to mass-produce satellites at “a 70 sats per week” rate, far faster than traditional aerospace timelines spaceflightnow.com.

New market rollouts:

  • Central Asia: Starlink officially launched service in Kazakhstan in mid-August, following a June agreement with the Kazakh government to allow market access satellitetoday.com. With IEC Telecom as a local distributor, Starlink had been tested in rural Kazakh schools over the past year – pilots that proved the technology’s readiness for wide adoption satellitetoday.com. This month’s commercial launch means even Kazakhstan’s most remote villages could get high-speed internet for the first time. Tariffs for Kazakh customers will be announced in fall 2025, and IEC Telecom noted that Starlink connectivity will support everything from e-learning and small business e-commerce in the steppes to cloud services for enterprises in oilfields satellitetoday.com. “The development of digitalization in Kazakhstan serves as an example not only for Central Asia but for other regions worldwide,” said Nabil Ben Soussia, IEC Telecom’s chief commercial officer, adding that his firm prepared special localized Starlink tariffs to help boost adoption satellitetoday.com.
  • Africa: In Angola, a major satellite broadband initiative went live in August. Internet Technologies Angola (ITA) activated a new OneWeb LEO satellite service, establishing a OneWeb teleport in Luanda as a regional gateway africangambit.com. This teleport links OneWeb’s satellites to local ground infrastructure, enabling low-latency broadband across Angola’s vast territory. “With the Eutelsat OneWeb service, we are breaking down geographical barriers and allowing the potential of Angolan companies to flourish to the full,” said ITA Director Francisco Pinto Leite, calling the launch transformative for businesses in previously cut-off areas africangambit.com. Paratus Group, ITA’s parent, described the project as “transformative” for clients: reliable connectivity can now reach rural communities that lacked any adequate internet, supporting applications like telemedicine, remote education, and even online gaming/gambling which the Angolan economy is expanding africangambit.com africangambit.com. This Angola OneWeb deployment positions the country as a connectivity hub for southern Africa, with the teleport able to serve neighboring countries in the future. It also reflects a wider trend of LEO partnerships in Africa – for example, telecom operator Orange is investing in OneWeb capacity to connect rural parts of West and Central Africa in tandem with its terrestrial fiber connectingafrica.com connectingafrica.com.
  • South Asia: In India, regulatory green lights are finally enabling LEO services. After a long wait, in May the government approved SpaceX Starlink’s license to operate in India, two years after the company had applied business-standard.com. This paves the way for Starlink to officially serve Indian consumers and enterprises, adding competition in a market eager for rural connectivity solutions. At the same time, OneWeb (now part of France’s Eutelsat) has been moving forward: Indian conglomerate Tata Group’s Nelco signed a deal with Eutelsat’s OneWeb in August to deliver OneWeb’s LEO satellite internet across India business-standard.com. Nelco will partner with OneWeb’s India division to offer secure, low-latency connectivity for government and enterprise clients, even in far-flung areas business-standard.com. “This partnership marks a significant step in enabling reliable, secure, high-speed communication solutions based on LEO services for critical sectors across land, sea, and air,” said Nelco CEO P.J. Nath, adding it will “strengthen India’s digital infrastructure… while ensuring reliable connectivity in underserved areas.” business-standard.com business-standard.com OneWeb’s merger with Eutelsat in 2023 made it the world’s second-largest satellite operator (669 satellites) after Starlink business-standard.com, and it’s now leveraging heavy local partnerships (like with Tata) and government backing (the UK government increased its investment in OneWeb/Eutelsat this summer) business-standard.com. Commercial OneWeb services in India are slated to begin as soon as the network and ground stations are ready business-standard.com, complementing the Starlink entry and giving India two LEO options to connect its rural population.

Big tech entries: Not to be outdone, Amazon’s Project Kuiper is gearing up to join the satellite broadband fray by late 2025. Amazon conducted its first two test satellite launches in April and June pymnts.com, and plans to start commercial service by the end of 2025. Analysts project Kuiper could capture a significant share of the market; Bank of America estimates that if Amazon grabs ~30% of unserved consumers, it could see $7.1 billion in annual revenue by 2032 pymnts.com pymnts.com. Project Kuiper’s selling point will be integration with Amazon’s ecosystem (AWS cloud, IoT, drone deliveries) and aggressive cost reduction. The company is designing its own antennas and satellites to offer three service tiers – from a $100 Mbps “ultra-compact” terminal up to a high-end gigabit-speed dish – at more affordable prices pymnts.com pymnts.com. “Why aren’t rural areas connected? … If it were cost-effective, it would have been done by now. But it isn’t,” said Rajeev Badyal, head of Kuiper, emphasizing Amazon’s focus on driving down deployment costs to reach remote customers pymnts.com. With Starlink (SpaceX), OneWeb (Eutelsat/Bharti), and Kuiper (Amazon), plus regional players like China’s GuoWang constellation on the horizon, the race for the skies is in full swing. For consumers in unconnected areas, this competition means a new chance to get online via satellite where fiber or cell towers haven’t reached.

Broadband Infrastructure: Big Plans, New Policies, and Fiber vs. Wireless Debates

Ensuring terrestrial broadband access – through fiber, cable, or wireless towers – remains a top priority around the world, with governments and providers investing heavily. But recent developments show an evolving debate over “how” and “who” to connect, as technological alternatives emerge and policy choices determine who benefits from funding.

One emblematic case is West Virginia’s state broadband plan in the U.S. The Appalachian state, known for its rugged terrain and underserved communities, announced it has finalized a $1.2 billion plan to extend high-speed internet to homes and businesses statewide cbsnews.com. Governor Patrick Morrisey touted the effort: “We are excited about the opportunity to bring broadband to every corner of our state and help every West Virginian reach their full potential,” he said cbsnews.com. However, as reporters discovered, the fine print reveals tens of thousands of residents will not be slated for fiber upgrades under the current plan cbsnews.com. About 40,000 households (≈100,000 people) are now considered served by “fixed wireless” internet – signals from cell towers – and thus left out of the fiber buildout cbsnews.com. This reclassification stemmed from a decision by federal officials earlier in 2025: the NTIA now counts locations as “served” if a provider claims it could deliver the minimum broadband speed (25 Mbps down) via wireless, even if they don’t actually have service yet cbsnews.com. West Virginia followed that guidance, which dramatically cut its count of “unserved” homes by over one-third cbsnews.com, reducing those eligible for federal funds (through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment or BEAD program).

Local broadband advocates are worried this paper exercise masks the real gap. For families, the reclassification doesn’t mean better service, an AP analysis noted – it “only [means] slower, less reliable connections are being treated as good enough” for rural residents cbsnews.com. Those fixed wireless links (from 4G/5G antennas or unlicensed WISPs) often top out at 25–50 Mbps with high latency, far below fiber’s gigabit speeds cbsnews.com. The new WV plan has also abandoned a fiber-first preference and will take a “technology neutral” approach – meaning providers can get funds for fixed wireless or even satellite solutions like Starlink in some cases cbsnews.com. Bill Bissett, chairman of the state’s Broadband Enhancement Council, cautioned that fiber is still the “better long-term solution” in West Virginia’s mountainous terrain cbsnews.com, but acknowledged the compromise: “The good news is that we’re moving forward, though further delays only drive up costs.” cbsnews.com The plan earmarks just 1% of funds to SpaceX’s Starlink for the most remote spots, after Starlink lobbied states not to leave satellite providers out of BEAD funding cbsnews.com cbsnews.com. Critics like Evan Feinman, who ran the BEAD program nationally, argue West Virginia lowered its ambitions. “It’s like pulling a goal post toward you and claiming a touchdown,” Feinman said of counting marginal wireless service as a victory cbsnews.com. The controversy highlights a broader policy tension: stretch limited dollars to cover everyone with “good enough” internet now, or spend more to future-proof networks (fiber) even if fewer get connected in the short term.

West Virginia is not alone. Across the U.S. and elsewhere, governments are making tough calls on how to spend unprecedented broadband subsidies. All 50 U.S. states are currently submitting plans for their share of $42 billion in BEAD grants, balancing fiber projects against cheaper fixed wireless in some cases cbsnews.com. States like Virginia and Louisiana faced pushback (including legal threats from SpaceX) for initially excluding satellite providers from funds cbsnews.com. Meanwhile, states like Texas and Missouri have explicitly prioritized fiber builds, arguing it’s a once-in-a-generation chance to lay lasting infrastructure. The debate is global: in the EU, policymakers are eyeing the 6 GHz spectrum band (currently used for Wi-Fi) as a potential new frontier for 5G/6G mobile services to deliver rural broadband via wireless. The European Commission is “grappling with competing demands” over this band, which experts call “critical to achieving the EU’s 2030 Digital Decade goals and narrowing the digital divide.” rcrwireless.com A decision on EU 6 GHz allocation (Wi-Fi vs licensed 5G use) is expected by 2025, illustrating how spectrum policy can influence broadband rollout strategies.

Private sector investments: On the industry side, telecom companies are spending heavily to expand capacity and reach. AT&T’s blockbuster $23 billion spectrum deal – announced Aug 26 – will give the company a nationwide swath of new frequencies to enhance both mobile 5G and fixed wireless home internet offerings wirelessestimator.com wirelessestimator.com. The purchase from EchoStar/Dish includes ~30 MHz of mid-band (3.45 GHz) and 20 MHz of low-band (600 MHz) covering virtually every U.S. market wirelessestimator.com. AT&T’s CEO John Stankey said this “bolsters and expands our spectrum portfolio while enhancing customers’ 5G wireless and home internet experience in even more markets”, adding ~50 MHz on average to AT&T’s spectrum depth nationwide wirelessestimator.com wirelessestimator.com. The company plans to deploy the new airwaves quickly to improve rural 5G coverage and to offer fixed-wireless broadband in areas awaiting fiber wirelessestimator.com. It’s a strategic bet that wireless + fiber convergence is the future: new spectrum will help transition DSL/copper customers onto 5G-based home internet while fiber builds continue elsewhere wirelessestimator.com. AT&T’s move follows Verizon and T-Mobile which both acquired large C-band and 3.45 GHz licenses last year; now AT&T is catching up with its own mid-band boost.

Cable operators are also joining public efforts to reach the underserved. For instance, Comcast announced it is extending fiber-to-the-home lines to 32,000 additional rural homes and businesses in Florida rcrwireless.com, funded via a state broadband program and its own capital. It plans to double that reach by 2026 rcrwireless.com. Similar public-private broadband builds are underway in states like Illinois, Michigan, and Virginia where cable/fiber providers won grants to wire up thousands of rural addresses. These projects often prioritize gigabit fiber, but some include fixed wireless components or leverage existing cable plant upgrades.

Internationally, developing countries are tapping multilateral funds and telecom PPPs to lay fiber backbones. In Africa, for example, Chad’s government just ordered all mobile operators to connect to a new national fiber network by the end of August connectingafrica.com, aiming to lower internet prices and end dependency on costly satellite backhaul. And in Asia, organizations like the Asian Development Bank are financing fiber-optic cables to rural and island communities. The message is clear: whether through fiber trenches, spectrum auctions, or LEO satellites, 2025’s broadband push is in full swing – but getting “Internet for All” requires navigating technical, financial, and political hurdles.

5G, 6G and Mobile Internet: New Milestones from the US to Asia

While wires and satellites grab headlines, the world’s mobile networks are also rapidly evolving, with significant news in 5G deployment, next-generation upgrades, and wireless policy:

  • 5G goes mainstream (and beyond): Five years since initial launches, 5G is now expanding deep into new territories and industries. Latin America saw a pivotal step as Paraguay held its first 5G spectrum auction in late August. Major operators including Claro and Tigo obtained licenses, and the government pointedly restricted the use of Chinese telecom vendors in building 5G infrastructure rcrwireless.com, aligning with U.S. security concerns. This means Paraguayan 5G networks will use European, Korean, or U.S. equipment as they roll out service in 2024. Argentina likewise opened new spectrum (2.3 GHz band) for private 4G/5G networks on Aug 28 to drive industry 4.0 applications rcrwireless.com. In India, 5G has reached an inflection point – Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have deployed 5G in dozens of cities over the past year, and now the smaller Vodafone Idea finally joined the fray by launching 5G in Pune on Aug 25 rcrwireless.com. Vi partnered with Ericsson for energy-efficient radio gear and is using AI-powered network optimization to improve performance as it expands 5G coverage rcrwireless.com. India’s government is also pressuring Vi to roll out 5G to meet its license obligations, even as the carrier seeks new funding. By end of 2025, 5G should be live in all major Indian cities and many rural districts, supporting the country’s massive user base.
  • 5.5G / 5G-Advanced debuts: Kuwait just became one of the first countries to implement 5G-Advanced (also called 5.5G) on a nationwide scale. In an announcement on Aug 25, Kuwait’s telecom regulator confirmed that all three mobile operators, working with Huawei and local partner Knetco, have upgraded to 5G-A on their networks rcrwireless.com. 5G-Advanced is an evolution of 5G (3GPP Release 18) that delivers even faster speeds, “ultra-low” latency, and greater capacity by using technologies like carrier aggregation, mmWave, and improved MIMO. The upgrade will enable advanced use cases such as smart city services, autonomous industry systems, and immersive AR/VR applications across Kuwait rcrwireless.com. Huawei touted Kuwait’s rollout as proof that 5G-A can be deployed at scale, and noted it prepares the path toward eventual 6G. The Gulf region often leads in mobile tech adoption (the UAE and Qatar were early 5G adopters); now Kuwait’s leap to 5.5G might spur others to follow. Similarly, Zain, a major Mideast operator, launched 5G-Advanced in neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain earlier this year. These enhanced networks provide a test bed for what fully realized 5G can do when spectrum and investment are abundant.
  • Toward 6G: While 5G rollout continues, research on 6G is ramping up in labs and standards bodies. Though 6G (targeted ~2030) is still conceptual, August saw growing discourse: an IEEE conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, and an analyst report (by ABI Research) debated whether 6G will be an evolutionary step or a revolutionary paradigm shift rcrwireless.com. Early visions of 6G include terahertz frequency use, AI-native network management, and truly ubiquitous connectivity including non-terrestrial networks. Governments in China, South Korea, Europe, and the US have all funded initial 6G R&D programs. A notable development in late August – the EU announced a €130 million investment into 6G research projects under the Horizon program, focusing on technologies like smart radio surfaces and network energy efficiency. These long-term initiatives won’t bear fruit for years but underscore that the race to 6G is already underway behind the scenes, even as consumers are just getting accustomed to 5G.
  • Wireless core and business use cases: New 5G features are also rolling out for enterprise and core network applications. In the United States, T-Mobile launched 5G network slicing for enterprise customers on Aug 27 rcrwireless.com – one of the first carriers globally to offer slicing on a live 5G Standalone network. This allows business apps (like AR/VR training or remote drone control) to get their own guaranteed slice of network bandwidth and latency, a key promised feature of 5G. Early adopters include Delta Air Lines, which is testing a slice for aircraft maintenance data, and a field services company using slices for real-time analytics at job sites rcrwireless.com. The 5G core market is surging as operators upgrade to standalone 5G: a Dell’Oro report noted global 5G core revenues jumped 31% year-on-year in Q2 2025, driven by demand for private 5G and edge computing, and predicted even faster growth as more carriers adopt 5G Standalone mode rcrwireless.com. Regions like Europe and Middle East saw especially strong growth in mobile core investment, offsetting slower trends in some Asian markets rcrwireless.com.

Additionally, private 5G networks continue to gain traction for industry. August saw Norway’s Tampnet (an offshore network operator) deploy the world’s first 5G network on an oil drilling rig in the North Sea, using a mix of private 5G and LEO satellite links for backhaul rcrwireless.com. And in the U.S., CBRS spectrum (3.5 GHz band for private use) is being used for neutral-host networks: though interestingly, T-Mobile just scaled back support for some neutral-host 5G initiatives on CBRS as of Aug 26 rcrwireless.com, indicating that business models in this space are still evolving.

  • Device connectivity and public Wi-Fi: Not all wireless progress is cellular. The Wireless Broadband Alliance reported that 81% of industry stakeholders plan to implement Wi-Fi OpenRoaming (a seamless roaming standard for Wi-Fi) according to its 2025 industry report rcrwireless.com. This points to more ubiquitous public Wi-Fi where users can automatically connect across networks. Also, the FCC in the U.S. opened a new “fast lane” in satellite spectrum for direct-to-cell phone communication in late August, approving multiple companies’ plans to use satellites to connect regular mobile phones (when terrestrial signal is absent) pymnts.com. This emerging cellular-satellite convergence could, in a few years, mean your phone gets a signal anywhere on the planet – a concept Apple and T-Mobile have already demoed for basic messaging, with fuller services expected by 2024–25.

In summary, the mobile internet landscape at the end of August 2025 is one of expansion and innovation: 5G reaching new corners of the globe, early 5.5G implementations unlocking more potential, and groundwork being laid for 6G and satellite-enabled connectivity. These advancements promise huge benefits in capacity and coverage, though they come with geopolitical and competitive undercurrents (as seen in vendor restrictions and spectrum battles). For users, the continued rollout of advanced mobile networks means faster and more reliable connections – whether in a city center or on a remote farm – are steadily becoming the new normal.

Closing the Digital Divide: Affordability and Public Access Initiatives

Even as technology races ahead, affordability and accessibility remain pressing challenges. Recent news highlights the human side of the internet access equation – families struggling to pay for service, and efforts by both government and industry to ensure connectivity for all.

A striking data point emerged on Aug 28 from T-Mobile’s new survey on internet affordability: 24% of U.S. parents reported they have cut back on essential expenses (like groceries or utility bills) to afford internet service at home t-mobile.com. In the survey of 5,000 households, another 30% said their home internet is only somewhat reliable, and many worry their kids will fall behind if they can’t maintain a good connection t-mobile.com. “Families shouldn’t have to make that kind of trade-off,” agreed 85% of respondents, reflecting a broad consensus that internet is now a necessity, not a luxury t-mobile.com. This aligns with FCC data showing the average U.S. broadband bill around $60–$70, which for low-income families can compete with food or rent in the monthly budget. The situation is often worse in rural areas or developing countries where available plans can be even more expensive relative to income.

In response, telecom carriers and governments are bolstering subsidy and free access programs:

  • Project 10Million (USA): T-Mobile’s flagship corporate social responsibility program, launched in 2020, aims to provide 10 million low-income student households with free internet connectivity. As of the end of 2024, the initiative had reached 6.3 million students with free Wi-Fi hotspots and 100 GB/year data plans, along with nearly $7.3 billion worth of free devices and services donated (including laptops/tablets) t-mobile.com. One beneficiary, Coral Almazan, was highlighted in T-Mobile’s story: as a high schooler during COVID-19 remote schooling, she had no reliable home internet and feared falling behind t-mobile.com t-mobile.com. Her school district gave her a T-Mobile hotspot through Project 10Million, which she says “changed everything” t-mobile.com – she could attend classes and do homework, and went on to be the first in her family to attend college, now studying criminal justice. “Helping each other out should be everybody’s motivation,” Almazan says, crediting the program for inspiring her career path in public policy t-mobile.com. Her story illustrates the impact that closing the connectivity gap can have on real lives. Beyond T-Mobile, other U.S. carriers have similar efforts (AT&T’s low-cost Access plans, Verizon’s discounts, etc.), and the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) currently provides $30/month subsidies to over 21 million low-income broadband subscribers. However, ACP funding may run out in 2024 unless Congress renews it, which could put programs like Project 10Million in even greater demand as families seek alternatives.
  • Community Wi-Fi and public networks: Cities and NGOs worldwide are tackling access gaps with free or cheap public internet. For example, New York City’s LinkNYC kiosks and Los Angeles’s Angeleno Connect initiative provide Wi-Fi in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In Kenya, Microsoft and local ISPs have a “Mawingu” Super Wi-Fi project using TV white-space signals to deliver affordable internet to rural villages. And just this weekend, in the Philippines, telecom PLDT announced it is rolling out 24 new free Wi-Fi hotspot zones in provincial areas from August 30 onward, under a government partnership to connect community centers. These public access points are lifelines for those who can’t afford a monthly plan – enabling them to check job listings, do school research, or communicate with relatives abroad.
  • School connectivity drives: Many countries are zeroing in on connecting all schools. Indonesia (with one of the world’s largest student populations) reported on Aug 30 that it has connected 95% of schools to the internet, up from 80% five years ago, thanks to a mix of satellite and fiber backhaul to remote islands. The remaining schools are slated to get satellite broadband via Starlink or Indonesia’s upcoming multifuction satellite by 2026. Similarly, Mexico’s government announced a program on Aug 31 to equip 5,000 rural public schools with internet by year’s end, subsidizing satellite dishes where needed. These efforts recognize that without internet, students face a significant disadvantage in modern education – a lesson underscored globally by the pandemic.
  • Innovative funding models: Public-private alliances are emerging to fund digital inclusion. The World Bank and UN launched an initiative in Africa (the MADE – Mobilizing Access to Digital Economy – alliance) earlier in August to coordinate grants and investments for internet infrastructure in low-income nations worldbank.org. Meanwhile, some countries are considering industry levies to fund rural broadband; for instance, the EU is debating a proposal to have Big Tech companies contribute to telecom network costs, which could indirectly support expansion to underserved areas. Those debates are contentious (tech firms oppose “internet taxes”), but highlight the search for sustainable financing to reach the last 10% of the population still offline.

Despite progress, the digital divide persists. The ITU estimates around 2.6–2.7 billion people remain offline worldwide – roughly a third of humanity. Christine Qiang, the World Bank’s digital development director, warned recently of a “widening divide” as digital services advance faster in connected areas, leaving the unconnected even further behind mobileworldlive.com. Affordability is a key barrier: even where networks exist, the cost of data or devices can be prohibitive. This is why programs focusing on low-cost access (like $0.50 smartphone data packs in India, or free community internet hubs in South Africa) are as critical as the network builds themselves.

In sum, the end of August 2025 finds a mixed picture on digital inclusion. On one hand, initiatives like Project 10Million, government subsidies, and community Wi-Fi are making a real dent in access inequalities, enabling millions more students and families to log on. On the other hand, there is evidence of continued hardship – families sacrificing basic needs for connectivity, and entire regions that will need creative solutions (satellite, subsidies, or both) to get online. The global resolve to treat internet access as a fundamental necessity appears stronger than ever, as evidenced by high-profile commitments at summits and in corporate boardrooms. But maintaining that momentum – and funding – will be essential to ensure that the rapid tech advances of 5G, satellites, and beyond truly benefit everyone, not just the affluent or urban. As one rural school principal put it in a recent report, “Access to the internet now is access to opportunity – we can’t leave any child disconnected.”

Outages and Shutdowns: Reminders of Vulnerability

Even as we expand and improve the internet’s reach, events over the past two days served as a reminder that connectivity is not guaranteed – it can be disrupted by technical failures, disasters, or deliberate government action. Here are the major internet disruptions that occurred around August 30–31, 2025:

  • Verizon’s Nationwide Outage (U.S.): On Saturday, Aug 30, customers of Verizon – one of the largest U.S. mobile carriers – experienced a widespread service outage. The disruption began in the early afternoon and peaked by late afternoon, affecting users across large swaths of the country (reports concentrated in the Northeast corridor, but also some West Coast cities) livenowfox.com. Subscribers could not make calls or use mobile data reliably, essentially losing internet access on their phones. According to outage tracker Downdetector, tens of thousands of outage reports came in, indicating a significant impact livenowfox.com. Verizon quickly acknowledged the issue and, in a statement to press, attributed it to a software failure in its network livenowfox.com. “We are aware of a software issue impacting wireless service for some customers,” the company said, “Our engineers are engaged and working quickly to identify and solve the issue.” livenowfox.com Later in the evening, Verizon issued an update that service was being restored in many areas as engineers implemented fixes livenowfox.com. By Saturday night, most affected users saw their signals return, though some pockets still reported issues into Sunday. Verizon apologized for the disruption and directed customers to a network status webpage for updates livenowfox.com. While cell outages aren’t uncommon locally (due to storms or fiber cuts), a national-scale outage of a top carrier is rare. This incident, reportedly Verizon’s largest outage in several years, will likely prompt a root-cause analysis (the “software issue” could range from a botched network update to a core router failure). It underscores how crucial resilient network design is, now that so many Americans rely on mobile networks as their primary internet. Even a few hours offline can disrupt businesses, emergency communications, and daily life – a point not lost on Verizon, which noted “we know how much people rely on Verizon” in its apology livenowfox.com.
  • Internet Shutdowns during Exams (Iraq): In a very different type of disruption, parts of Iraq experienced intentional internet shutdowns this week as authorities enforced policies to prevent cheating on national exams. On Aug 30, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq ordered all internet services suspended for 1 hour from 6:30 AM to 7:45 AM local time pulse.internetsociety.org. This regional shutdown affected the Kurdish region’s main ISPs – KNET, Newroz, IQ, and Korek – which together serve the majority of users in Kurdistan (about 20% of Iraq’s total internet users) pulse.internetsociety.org. The blackout was part of a series: the Iraqi central government also imposed nationwide shutdowns on Aug 28 and planned additional ones on subsequent exam days pulse.internetsociety.org. In fact, an alternating pattern was in place: Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays would see nationwide outages for a couple hours, while Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays had regional outages in Kurdistan – corresponding to different exam schedules pulse.internetsociety.org. These drastic measures – literally turning off the internet for students to take tests – have unfortunately been common in Iraq and some other countries (like Sudan, Syria, India) in recent years. Officials claim it curbs the leaking of exam questions and online cheating. However, digital rights organizations like Access Now and Internet Society’s Pulse project argue this collective punishment is disproportionate, disrupting economies and public life. By Pulse’s count, there have been 105 internet shutdown incidents in various countries since August 2024 pulse.internetsociety.org, often around elections or exams. For Kurdistan’s tech entrepreneurs and ordinary users, Saturday’s outage meant an hour of frustration – no mobile banking, no email, even no morning YouTube for some – all due to an exam many of them weren’t even aware of. It exemplifies how internet access can be politicized or security-restricted, and raises the question of whether alternative anti-cheating methods could be used that don’t plunge entire regions offline.
  • Other notable disruptions: Elsewhere, Hurricane Franklin grazing Bermuda caused some undersea cable havoc on Aug 31, leading to slowed internet on the island (with redundancy preventing a total blackout). In Ethiopia, residents reported mobile internet outages in parts of the Amhara region over the weekend amid military tensions – part of an ongoing pattern of government-imposed outages during conflict, though not officially confirmed in this instance. And on the cybersecurity front, a 0-day exploit hit FreePBX VoIP servers globally on Aug 30, with security experts urging admins to disable internet access to those systems until patched gbhackers.com. While not a consumer-facing outage, this highlights the constant threats to internet infrastructure from hackers – in this case, to critical telecom software.

These incidents, ranging from technical glitches to state-ordered blackouts, highlight the fragility and criticality of internet connectivity in modern life. A single software error at a telecom can cut off millions, and government decisions can intentionally leave populations in digital darkness. They serve as a reminder that even as we celebrate new connectivity milestones, resilience and internet freedom need to be part of the progress. As networks become more software-defined (see: Verizon’s outage) and as some regimes continue to view “internet killswitches” as policy tools, building redundancy, transparency, and accountability in our networks will be vital. The events of August 30–31 show that the world is indeed increasingly interconnected – and interdependent – on the internet, making its uninterrupted function a matter of global importance.

Sources:

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