• SpaceX IPO documents lift the lid on Starlink  
• Telia launches sovereign IoT service
• Orange joins French AI gigafactory consortium

In today’s industry news roundup: SpaceX files an IPO prospectus document that unveils a number of details about Starlink’s satellite-enabled broadband and D2D service operations; Telia doubles down on its sovereign services plugs with an IoT service that is is contained within Sweden’s borders; Orange joins an AI gigafactory development consortium set up last year by a division of its domestic rival Iliad; and much more!

Elon Musk’s SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) has filed an IPO prospectus document with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that values the rocket, satellite and AI company at $1.25tn, with market watchers expecting the company’s shares to start trading on the Nasdaq exchange in June. The document didn’t disclose how many shares would be made available for public trading or at what price they would be offered. But it did show that SpaceX believes it has “identified the largest actionable total addressable market (TAM) in human history” of $28.5tn: Most of that – $26.5tn – is related to SpaceX’s xAI operation, but $1.6tn is related to SpaceX’s connectivity business via its low-earth orbit Starlink satellites, with SpaceX believing that the value of the addressable market for Starlink Broadband is $870bn, while the value of its satellite-enabled direct-to-device (D2D) operation, Starlink Mobile, is $740bn – quite extraordinary numbers (and that doesn’t even include China or Russia, which were left out of the TAM assessments). The document also revealed that Starlink ended March this year with 10.3 million broadband service customers (more than double the number a year earlier) in 164 countries, with each customer generating an average of $66 per month in revenue (which puts Starlink’s first-quarter 2026 revenues at around $2bn): Starlink’s operating profit for the first quarter of 2026 was almost $1.2bn, up by 5.3% year on year. Starlink ended March with about 9,000 broadband service satellites and 650 satellites for the delivery of Starlink Mobile D2D services, which are currently being delivered to 7.4 million devices in 30 countries. 

Scandinavian telco Telia has launched Telia IoT Connect, a “sovereign internet of things (IoT) service where connectivity and data are fully managed within Sweden’s borders.” According to the operator, “the service is developed for organisations that require secure and resilient IoT communication for business- and mission-critical use cases” and is “built on Telia’s nationwide 4G and 5G networks [that offer] a long-term and sustainable platform for implementing, streamlining and scaling IoT solutions, while reducing dependence on global suppliers. By consolidating connectivity, operations and data management in Telia’s network, customers gain increased security and national autonomy,” according to Telia. Björn Hansen, head of advanced mobility B2B at Telia Sweden, stated: “We see a clear shift towards customers wanting to know exactly where their IoT data is and to feel secure that connectivity will work regardless of circumstances. With Telia IoT Connect, we’re moving IoT delivery and data management to Sweden and creating a secure and stable foundation for both business- and socially critical services.” Telia is just one of the many telcos that feature in TelecomTV’s latest free-to-download editorial report, Digital Sovereignty: What It Means for Telcos. 

Orange is one of a number of major names from the French corporate world (including Ardian, Bull, Capgemini and the EDF Group) to have joined the AION consortium “to launch an ambitious bid for France under the European Union’s AI Gigafactories initiative”. AION was launched last year by Scaleway, the cloud services division of the Iliad Group, with the aim of bringing together public, private and academic partners to “support the development of sovereign, high-performance infrastructure for AI in Europe.” According to the AION partners, “In the coming years, the competitiveness of EU economies will directly depend on their ability to access massive computing power that is available, affordable and sovereign. The challenge is industrial, financial and strategic: Enabling European companies to train, deploy and operate their AI models under controlled conditions in terms of performance, cost and sovereignty.” They also believe that “France has unique strengths for hosting infrastructure of this magnitude. It has abundant, affordable, sovereign and low-carbon electricity thanks to its energy mix that is mainly made up of nuclear and hydraulic power, as well as robust digital infrastructure and recognised expertise across the whole value chain, particularly in datacentres, cloud services and high-performance computing,” while the country also has “one of the most dynamic AI ecosystems in Europe thanks to the quality of its research, the emergence of world-class tech players, and a dense pool of scientific and industrial talent… Hosting an AI gigafactory would enable France to offer all the conditions for strengthening European tech sovereignty, accelerating AI adoption by private companies and public-sector players, and driving competitiveness and innovation.” Orange CEO Christel Heydemann noted: “For Orange, joining the AION consortium reflects our strong conviction that Europe needs collective action to create a powerful, open and inclusive European AI to drive the continent’s competitiveness. With its sovereign cloud and trusted AI capabilities, Orange brings to this project what lies at the core of its identity: A trusted player that connects, secures and delivers sovereign digital services for companies, small businesses and individuals.” 

Uzbekistan is exploring a satellite co-operation agreement with Viasat after the US-based satellite firm conducted the first demonstration of direct-to-device (D2D) satellite messaging services in the country. The talks between Uzbekistan’s minister of digital technologies, Sherzon Shermatov, and Viasat’s regional VP, Hilmi Tekinsoy, took place on the sidelines of the GSMA M360 Eurasia forum in Tashkent this week. During the meeting, the parties explored a potential partnership around satellite technologies, digital infrastructure and telecommunication services. Viasat also discussed supporting future sovereign satellite solutions for Uzbekistan, according to an announcement by the country’s telecoms ministry.

Telecom Italia’s international networks and services arm, Sparkle, has teamed with Entel to launch a new terrestrial fibre route linking Lima in Peru with Sao Paolo in Brazil via Bolivia. Sparkle signed a memorandum of understanding with Entel Bolivia to develop a route connecting the Pacific and Atlantic coasts through a terrestrial cable, offering an alternative to existing submarine routes. Under the memorandum of understanding, Sparkle and Entel Bolivia will jointly commercialise the 4,370 kilometre Bio-Oceanic Digital corridor, offering high-performance connectivity to gaming companies, ISPs, OTT platforms, digital service providers, and datacentres across the region between Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. This, the partners claim, could reduce latencies to below 60milliseconds (ms) compared with the 120ms offered on existing subsea cable routes that span more than 12,000km. It will leverage Entel’s terrestrial backbone, which consists of over 44,000km of fibre, and links Lurin in Peru with Puerto Quijarro in Bolivia. Sparkle will manage the onward segment to Sao Paolo.

Magor, UK-based Indigo Telecom Group has signed a heads of terms agreement with subsea cable firm Aqua Comms to explore a deal to acquire its Network Operations Centre (NOC) in Newcastle, UK. If a deal can be struck, it will see the Aqua Comms NOC integrated into Indigo’s global NOC portfolio, which includes sites in Denver, Colorado, and Magor, Monmouthshire (UK). Indigo provides infrastructure services for hyperscalers, subsea cable owners, carriers and other telcos. Subsea cable firm Aqua Comms, which owns and operates America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1), America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2), CeltixConnect-1 (CC-1) and CeltixConnect-2 (CC-2) subsea cables, as well as participating in the Amitié cable system (AEC-3) consortium, was acquired by Exa Infrastructure in a deal that was completed at the end of December.

Singtel is seeking an investor partner in Australia that would be willing to take a “meaningful” minority stake in Optus, the Australian telco currently wholly owned by Singtel Group that was at the centre of an emergency services outage scandal last year. In an announcement shared via the Singapore Exchange, Singtel noted it is “open to working with potential Australian partners that align with its objectives of ensuring that Optus continues to be a strong alternative operator in the industry, providing a reliable and trusted critical service to all Australians. Singtel contemplates a like-minded long-term local partner owning a meaningful minority stake in Optus.” The announcement came as Singtel Group reported its full financial year results and Optus issued a separate press release to share details of its own financial performance: The Australian operator reported full year operating revenues of AUS $8.35bn (US $5.95bn), up by 2.1%, and an operating profit of AUS $550m (US $392m), up by 23.1%. Optus ended March with 10.7 million mobile customers, for a market share of about 31% (second only to Telstra), and 1.3 million fixed broadband customers.  

– The staff, TelecomTV