Mobile World Live brings you our top three picks of the week as the Italian government eyed a mega SpaceX deal, Meta axed its third-party fact checking programme ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, and Nokia’s 4G network is poised for the Moon.
Meta Platforms to end fact checking programme
What happened: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a decision to retire third-party fact checkers amongst a string of modifications across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.
Why it matters: Meta will replace fact-checkers with a user-driven ‘community notes’ system similar to that used by Elon Musk’s X, while also reducing restrictions on discussions about contentious topics including gender and immigration across its social media platforms. In a video statement, Zuckerberg argued that while the changes might allow more harmful content, they will reduce errors and address “too much censorship”. The Meta-owner also acknowledged the latest US elections as a motivation for the decision, stating they “feel like a cultural tipping point, towards once again prioritising speech.”
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SpaceX in talks over €1.5B Italian job
What happened: Italy’s government is reportedly weighing up a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to supply phone and internet services to its employees and the military, including direct-to-device (D2D) satellite offerings in crisis situations.
Why it matters: According to Bloomberg, a deal such as this has been in consideration since 2023, with Musk’s entity likely to provide the government with highly encrypted communications services. However, the potential agreement has faced pushback from politicians over national security concerns and its impact on domestic operators. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed talks of the deal this week, stating that a resolution will be reached based on “national interest”.
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Nokia poised for Moon mobile mission take-off
What happened: Nokia announced its mobile network, Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS), is ready for deployment on the Moon with a launch targeted for late February from the NASA Kennedy Space Centre.
Why it matters: Nokia’s LSCS has been successfully integrated into the IM-2 mission lander, equipping it to establish LTE/4G connectivity on the Moon in an industry first. In a statement, president of Bell Labs Solutions Research, Thierry Klein, explained that the network will support sustained human presence on the Moon by enabling activities including voice and video communication, telemetry, biometric data exchange, and robotic control. The technologies developed in this project will enable further crewed and uncrewed space exploration and support reliable communication for Mars missions in the future.
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