Access Providers

The Search for Net Neutrality

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, freely available version) examines the growing trend toward a two-tiered Internet, which upends the longstanding principle of network neutrality under which ISPs treat all data equally. I argue that the network neutrality principle has served ISPs, Internet companies, and Internet users well. It has enabled ISPs to plausibly argue that they function much like common carriers and that they should therefore be exempt from liability for the content that passes through their systems. ...Notwithstanding its benefits, in recent months ISPs have begun to chip away at the principle. more

When a Link Becomes a Border: The Quiet Geopolitics of Internet Access

A LinkedIn short-link anomaly in Iran reveals how sanctions, corporate compliance and geolocation controls can translate geopolitical boundaries into infrastructure-level restrictions, creating an Internet that remains globally connected while becoming functionally unequal. more

Digital Embassies: Could Africa Rethink Digital Sovereignty?

Estonia's data embassy model offers African governments a different approach to digital sovereignty, combining cross-border infrastructure, legal safeguards and geographic redundancy to keep critical state systems secure, recoverable and operational during major disruptions. more

The Missing Privacy Debate Around IPv6

IPv6 solves the Internet's address shortage and simplifies networking, but its technical elegance may carry a hidden cost: shifting privacy protections from architectural constraints toward policies controlled by Internet providers, corporations and governments. more

Wi-Fi 7 Adoption Is Accelerating

Wi-Fi 7 is spreading rapidly across America, promising faster speeds, greater capacity and fewer connectivity headaches. With big internet providers driving adoption, the technology is reshaping home broadband even as Wi-Fi 8 approaches.
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China’s Qianfan Emerges as a Satellite Internet Option for Cuba

China's Qianfan satellite constellation could bring high-speed internet to Cuba, where Starlink remains banned, deepening Beijing's digital influence while giving Havana a connectivity upgrade designed to preserve the government's control over online access. more

From 300 to 150,000+: What MTN Nigeria’s FTTH Journey Teaches Us About Scaling Connectivity

MTN Nigeria’s FTTH network has grown from barely 300 home connections to more than 150,000, showing how infrastructure, skilled people, vendor coordination and disciplined operating systems must evolve as connectivity moves from deployment to scale. more

Why Ghana Needs a Community Network Policy Framework: Connecting the Unconnected and Underserved

Ghana has expanded digital connectivity, but many rural communities remain underserved. Community networks could close the gap, provided policymakers create proportionate regulation, improve infrastructure access and build sustainable models that complement commercial operators. more

Community Networks: The Missing Piece in Africa’s Digital Transformation

Community networks can bridge Africa's persistent digital divide by shifting connectivity from infrastructure alone to community ownership, supported by strong governance, sustainable financing and enabling policies that make last-mile access resilient, inclusive and locally driven. more

SpaceX Wants to Handle the World’s Broadband - Here’s Why That’s Unlikely

SpaceX wants to expand Starlink to 100,000 satellites and eventually carry most of the world's internet traffic. Ambition is not the problem. Market competition, geopolitics and the resilience of fiber networks make that goal implausible. more

Community Networks Offer a Durable Route Across the Digital Divide

An ITU report finds that community-owned networks, backed by reliable technology, flexible financing and supportive regulation, can bring affordable, meaningful internet access to remote populations that traditional providers have struggled to reach at lasting scale. more

The Implementation Gap: Why Africa’s Digital Strategies Rarely Become Digital Reality

Africa has digital strategies in abundance, but weak institutions, inconsistent leadership, poor governance and limited execution keep ambitious policies from delivering trusted, interoperable public services and sustainable digital transformation across the continent in practice today. more

IPv4 Market in H1 2026: A Price Reset, Not a Market Collapse

IPv4 transfers accelerated in the first half of 2026, but surging activity masked a decisive pricing reset as average values fell, sellers accepted lower valuations, and the market settled into a more mature equilibrium overall. more

The Hidden Socio-Technical Issues Threatening Africa’s Digitalization Agenda

Africa's digital ambitions face threats beyond software and infrastructure. Lasting transformation depends on governance, trust, interoperability, political continuity, and user adoption, making socio-technical challenges as critical as the technologies themselves. more

The Internet, Beyond a Right: A Critical Infrastructure

As governments, economies and essential services become ever more dependent on connectivity, the internet can no longer be viewed solely as a right. It must be treated as critical infrastructure, protected, regulated and made resilient against disruption. more