OpenFalklands

The 17th September edition of Penguin News provides a little more information about the telecommunications paper ExCo considered in August.

A recent post examined the continued use of 2G for mobile voice calls in the Falklands.

Something significant happened in St Helena today that deserves close attention in the Falkland Islands.

On the 27th August 2026 Sure announced on FaceBook: “𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧.

The report on Executive Council meetings held on 12 and 25 August 2026 included this statement: “Future of Telecommunications – Closed paper: Executive Council agreed the next stage of planning to secure robust telecommunications provisions for the Falkla…

This post has been triggered by a reader’s comment on last week’s post on Facebook: “Amazing the number of people that think the copper-based POTS system will be around forever.

This post draws on excellent articles by TelecomsTV and a newsletter from Ookla.

Two weeks ago, the Connected Falklands Group (CFG) published its full correspondence with Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) about its request for a Select Committee to fully scrutinise the post-2027 telecommunications framework to be proposed at…

Over the past few weeks, OpenFalklands has published a series of posts examining the financial cost of delay, the negotiating culture behind it, the historical pattern stretching back to 2005, and the case for a Select Committee.

Headline points for busy readers: Sure has upgraded its mobile network twice in ten weeks, increasing maximum download speeds to 50Mbit/s.

Back in June 2026, “Sure’s 30 Mbit/s Mobile Upgrade: The Numbers Speak for Themselves” examined Sure Falkland Islands’ announcement of a headline speed increase from 12 Mbit/s to 30 Mbit/s on its mobile network.

Following the Connected Falklands Group letter published in the 17th July 2026 issue of the Falkland Islands’ Penguin News, several people have asked what a telecommunications Select Committee would actually do.

Please note that this is an AI-generated image!

Please note that this is an AI-generated image.

Please note that this is an AI-generated image.

PDF version of the six posts – The case for a Telecommunications Select Committee The headline numbers to remember for busy readers: While Sure South Atlantic’s (Sure) exclusive licence remains active, the Falkland Islands Government (FIG) pays the company

PDF version of the six posts – The case for a Telecommunications Select Committee On Tuesday, 22nd June 2026, Traighana Smith, Editor of Falklands Radio, interviewed MLA Roger Spink and asked him about the current status of FIG’s telecommunications strate…

Everything written so far on telecommunications in OpenFalklands has been grounded in publicly available facts and documented statements, except for my recent speculative post on the Google undersea cable.

I wrote about the major change in telecommunications on Ascension Island back in January 2026 – Ascension’s Telecoms Turning Point and What It May Signal for the Falklands.

In yesterday’s OpenFalklands post, I speculated on what the MV Fugro Supporter surveying vessel was doing while visiting the Falkland Islands – Could the South Atlantic Be The Next Cable Frontier?

8th June update: AIS Data Offers Clues to the MV Fugro Supporter’s Activities in the Falklands Original Post I’ve never indulged in speculation on OpenFalklands before, but I couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

Image Credit: Sure Falkland Islands graphic used when the 4G service was launched in 2018 I would like to thank several islanders who told me about this issue.

While much of the public discussion about the future of telecommunications in the Falkland Islands on OpenFalklands has focused on the expiry of Sure’s exclusive licence in December 2027, a potentially significant new development has emerged that deserves…

The two previous OpenFalklands posts examined the importance of the 2-year notice period for ending the existing exclusive telecommunications licence and the potential impact of delaying such notice.

The subject of the previous OpenFalklands post was – Falklands Telecommunications: Why the Two-Year Notice Matters, while this post examines the potential consequences of delaying notice.

Telecommunications in the Falkland Islands, particularly the exclusive licence held by Sure International (Sure), continues to attract attention.

I would like to thank FIRS and FITV for letting me have recordings of the public meeting held by Alistair Beak, the CEO of Sure South Atlantic, on Wednesday, 22nd April 2026.

Executive summary The arrival of Starlink in the Falkland Islands has rapidly reshaped the connectivity landscape, introducing faster speeds, lower costs, and, for the first time in years, meaningful consumer choice.

Executive Overview The Communications Regulator’s latest attempt to establish a broadband speed KPI for Sure Falkland Islands, based on newly installed network probes, risks repeating the shortcomings of earlier efforts.

To avoid any confusion at the outset, the CMC report has NOT been made public and is unlikely to be released by FIG any time soon, but it will go to EXCO in the near future.

In recent OpenFalklands posts, we discussed the Chris Doyle, 2006 telecommunications report, the 2016 Cartesian telecommunications report and the resultant 2017 Communications Ordinance.

In the previous two OpenFalklands posts, we looked at two telecommunications consultants’ reports published in 2005 and 2015.

Sure’s Earth Station in 2015 In the previous OpenFalklands post, we focused on Chris Doyle’s 2005 review of Falkland Islands telecommunications.

In 2004, the Falkland Islands Government (FIG) commissioned an independent review of telecommunications to assess proposals from Cable and Wireless (C&W) to upgrade the Camp communications system and to consider the sector’s future direction.