Weekly Brief – 26th June 2026

Our weekly news brief covers things that didn’t make it into our news this week.

ITS Technology announces network expansion to 13 locations

Altnet ITS Technology Group has announced the next phase of its network build, which will allow more businesses to connect. The company is focusing on its business network, delivering Ethernet over FTTP. The areas are to go live later this month: Coventry, Huddersfield and Loughborough. Aberdeen, Bath, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Chester, Edinburgh, Exeter, Plymouth, Southampton, and Swansea are planned to be live in phases between July and October. 

AST SpaceMobile says next three satellites to launch in August

The joint venture partner of Satellite Connect Europe, alongside Vodafone, AST SpaceMobile, has announced that the next three satellites to launch as part of its low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network to offer mobile connectivity direct-to-device will be launched in the first half of August. BlueBird satellites 11, 12, and 13 are planned to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The company is working on the production and assembly of satellites through to BlueBird 37 currently.

SpaceX plans to launch a Starlink Mobile service in the US

Starlink plans to launch a new Starlink Mobile service to consumers in the US, SpaceX has advised investors. The company’s COO, Gwynne Shotwell, explained that the group was considering launching a direct retail product, and it may build its own terrestrial US mobile network. The FT points out that the company only holds about 65 MHz of radio spectrum used for mobile networks, compared with a total of 1,020 MHz, which the big three US networks, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T have access to. There’s a possibility that it’s a negotiation point to improve revenue-sharing deals with mobile networks that provide satellite coverage using Starlink, similar to O2 Satellite, but it could present a large threat to mobile networks if they look to do similar in the UK.

Fibre to the Home Council Europe expands remit

The Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council Europe has announced that it is going to expand its remit. The not-for-profit industry association promotes the rollout and adoption of full-fibre broadband across Europe and works as an industry lobbying and policy body. The new areas that will be included through new committees include Data Centre Interconnection, HFC-to-fibre migration (hybrid fibre-coaxial) and Passive Optical LAN.