Financial Times

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned European allies hesitant about working with Elon Musk’s satellite internet company that they needed to choose between US and Chinese technology.

Sky has reiterated its commitment to providing broadband services using CityFibre’s network, as the UK’s largest altnet races to secure £1.5 billion of fresh capital. Sky met with lenders to CityFibre, including NatWest and ING, to confirm it would be moving some of its customers to CityFibre’s network in 2025. Sky has 5.7 million broadband customers. Like many rivals, it does not have its own infrastructure but uses BT’s Openreach network. The partnership with CityFibre, which has its own independent broadband network, would allow it to diversify its customer base.

Elon Musk’s social media company X has asked the Supreme Court to shield its users from US law enforcement, intervening in a case that could force the federal government to produce a warrant to access private data. In a brief filed to the high court, X said it was concerned about “broad, suspicionless” requests, adding that platforms should “not be coerced into helping governments undermine their users’ privacy.” The supporting brief comes in a long-running case brought by James Harper, a user of crypto exchange Coinbase.

Europe is proposing to fund a homegrown alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink, following US threats to switch off the dominant satellite company’s broadband services in Ukraine. In a boost to the bloc’s struggling satellite operators, the European Commission’s defence white paper said that Brussels “should . . . fund Ukrainian [military] access to services that can be provided by EU-based commercial providers.” Miguel Ángel Panduro, chief executive of Spain’s Hispasat, said that Brussels had asked his company, Eutelsat, and SES to present an “inventory” of services for Ukraine.

Elon Musk’s Starlink is set to cement its dominance of the satellite internet market with a surge in revenues in 2025, but the world’s richest man’s ties to President Donald Trump are shifting from an asset to a hindrance in Starlink's global rollout. The billionaire’s SpaceX group is engaged in talks to rapidly bring the service to countries with 1 billion potential new users, including holding negotiations with Turkey, Morocco and Bangladesh, while making progress towards regulatory approval in other vast markets such as India.

The UK is on the road to having a truly competitive broadband market within six years as other providers dilute the influence of its largest player, the country’s telecommunications regulator has indicated.