Satellite telephony: Grounded reality

Service revenue trends confounded expectations to improve slightly in spite of an expected drag from changes to in-contract pricing.

VodafoneThree appears to be rethinking its speed-tiered pricing on both main brands, perhaps signalling clearer differentiation between them.

For the new government, planning law reform could make a real difference to the sector's investment profile, and hence, its growth ambitions.

European service revenue growth declined to -1.3% in Q4 as trouble in France weighed even more heavily.

In contrast to a couple of years ago, the Italian and Spanish markets have the most positive momentum.

Network sovereignty is driving satellite direct-to-device strategies, and may cause some regret about mobile tower sales, which are also proving more contentious than hoped.

Starlink has unveiled its plans for its next-generation satellites, boasting dramatically more capacity than was anticipated, as it aims to bring gigabit speeds to its broadband users.

This rapid growth in capacity poses the risk of a more commercially aggressive Starlink. While this will amplify its impact on the broadband market, it remains a somewhat niche consumer proposition but with additional B2B appeal.

Amazon's Kuiper is gearing up to begin launching its own satellites. While its target of introducing service later this year is likely to slip, Kuiper will bring an important peer competitor to Starlink, and will be the first time that Amazon's retail and marketing heft enters the UK connectivity market.