The year opened with satellite connectivity dominating both the regulatory docket and the show floor. On January 9, the FCC authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional Gen2 Starlink satellites, doubling the approved constellation to 15,000 and granting access to new Ku, Ka, V, and W band frequencies. Days earlier at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, direct-to-device connectivity was everywhere, with Skylo named a CES Innovation Awards honoree for bringing two-way satellite emergency messaging to smartwatches, no phone required. Back in Washington, the FCC circulated a draft order on January 8 that would open the 6 GHz band to a new class of high-power geofenced unlicensed devices, a move with real consequences for Wi-Fi offload and IoT deployments.
August closed with the state flexing on the network stack from two directions. Brazil's Supreme Court ordered X suspended nationwide after Musk refused to appoint a legal representative — and reached for Starlink's assets to enforce it, entangling a satellite network in a social-media fight. In Washington, the FCC finalized the framework for its $9 billion 5G Fund, redirecting rural subsidy money toward mobile broadband in the places carriers won't build on their own. And Verizon quietly opened a new front in the satellite race, launching direct-to-device text messaging with Skylo — making satellite connectivity a live consumer feature on all three national carriers' roadmaps.