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…
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Key Facts: Infrastructure and Connectivity Projects Satellite broadband saw major gains. SpaceX’s August 29 launch of 24 Starlink satellites into polar orbit—its fourth California launch that month—aims to blanket high-latitude regions (Alaska, Scandinavia, Antarctica) with low-latency internet. As Spaceflight Now reported, “SpaceX launched 24 Starlink broadband satellites… as it rolls out the service to more…
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Regulatory Approvals & Clinical Milestones Pharma & Biotech Industry Moves Startups & Innovation Highlights Medical Research & Innovation Public Health & Policy Developments Sources: Ionis HAE drug approval pharmexec.com biopharmadive.com; BioPharmaDive on Dawnzera pricing and positioning biopharmadive.com biopharmadive.com; AbbVie Rinvoq AA trial via FiercePharma fiercepharma.com; Lancet Neurology SAPPHIRE trial results neurologylive.com neurologylive.com; Reuters – Kite/Gilead’s…
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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…
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Iridium 9575 Extreme, launched in 2011, is Iridium’s rugged flagship with MIL-STD-810F shock/vibration and IP65 protection plus built-in GPS and a one-touch SOS button. The 9575 measures about 14 × 6 × 2.7 cm and weighs roughly 247 g, and is described as smaller and lighter than the Iridium 9555. Battery life for the 9575…
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Madagascar is connected to four major submarine cables—EASSy, LION/LION2, METISS, and 2Africa—with the 2Africa landing at Mahajanga in February 2023 and becoming operational in late 2023. Fixed broadband penetration is extremely low, at about 0.11 per 100 people in 2023, forcing most of the population to rely on mobile networks. Market shares are Telma about…
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Amazon Prime Air introduced its MK30 drone in late 2024, a BVLOS-capable hexagonal aircraft that carries up to 5 lbs and operates from Tolleson, Arizona, delivering eligible items within a 4-mile radius in under an hour. Alphabet’s Wing has completed over 350,000 deliveries across 10 locations on 3 continents, using hybrid fixed-wing drones with a…
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By early 2025, Starlink was available in over 100 countries across every inhabited continent. In the past year, Starlink launched in 42 new countries and territories and surpassed 6 million active customers worldwide. In the United States, the standard Starlink plan costs about $90 per month with a $599 equipment kit. SpaceX added about 2,300…
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The global drone market is projected to grow from about $42 billion in 2025 to nearly $90 billion by 2030, a CAGR of roughly 13–14%. The Drone Industry Insights forecast excludes passenger eVTOLs and estimates the overall drone market at $57.8 billion by 2030, up from about $40.6 billion in 2025. DaaS (Drones-as-a-Service) is projected…
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As of December 2023, ZICTA reported about 12.6 million internet subscriptions, representing 64.1% penetration. DataReportal’s Digital 2024 estimate puts Zambia at 6.51 million internet users, about 31.2% of the population, due to multiple SIM ownership inflating subscription counts. Over 99% of internet users rely on mobile broadband, while roughly 99,000 fixed-line subscriptions existed nationwide in…
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