The Distillery: Tesla's Roadster Takes Flight, & our Telco Innovation Awards Close Tomorrow

October 2026

Emerging Technology

Juniper Research

Analyst House

In this edition:

• Tesla unveils Roadster: The car is being dubbed as a 'flying car', but it might not live up to the name
  
• Future Digital Awards: Our Telco Innovation awards close tomorrow, on Friday 23rd October
  
• Verizon and Ericsson's 6G venture: The companies conducted a successful outdoor field trial
  
• The Netherlands' new digital identity wallet: A joint venture by major Dutch banks and businesses

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

Tesla’s Roadster Goes Airborne, but Investors Stay Grounded

On 15th October 2026, Tesla unveiled its long-awaited second-generation Roadster at SpaceX’s rocket test site in McGregor, Texas; almost nine years after the car was first shown. During a livestreamed demonstration, the Roadster drove upside down along a curved ramp, launched itself into the air, rolled mid-flight, and landed back on its wheels. It then used SpaceX-developed thrusters to leap over a row of Tesla vehicles. Tesla shares rose almost 5% in pre-market trading the following day, before giving up those gains as investor attention turned to the company’s Q3 results, due on 21st October.

In practice, the Roadster is not a true ‘flying car’. Its ‘flight’ consists of short bursts from cold-gas thrusters fed by tanks of rechargeable compressed air. This is in addition to a finite air supply that must be refilled between uses which makes the feature better suited to a test track than to everyday driving. CEO Elon Musk also conceded that “this is not necessarily a safety-optimised car”, and the flying version is not approved for public roads. Production is not expected to begin until 2028. That raises the question of what the launch was really for.

Distilled…

🟣 The Roadster is a halo product, designed to showcase Tesla’s engineering ambitions more than to make a meaningful contribution to its bottom line. It is expected to be produced in low volumes at a price point aimed at the very top of the market, so its revenue will be small compared with Tesla’s mass-market vehicle business. This likely contributed to the reversal in Tesla’s share price, as investors recognised that the company’s fundamentals were broadly unchanged heading into earnings.

🟣 The more consequential signal is the venue. The launch was hosted at a SpaceX facility, with SpaceX-developed propulsion, pressure vessels, and control hardware integrated into a Tesla product. This fed into long-running speculation that the two companies could eventually merge. Read in this light, the Roadster doubles as a proof of concept for a shared engineering platform; giving investors a reason to start pricing in a potential merger. 

🟣 The flying car is not road legal. Owners will not be able to drive the flying Roadster, called Rocket, on public roads – only the base Performance model is described as road-ready, with the thruster-equipped Thrust version pitched as race-ready. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US government agency that regulates civil aviation, has also said the vehicle does not meet its definition of an aircraft. The Rocket therefore falls between the two regimes; approved neither as a road car nor as an aircraft, and its flying capabilities are likely to be confined to private tracks and controlled settings.

MORE FINTECH INSIGHTS

📡 SpaceX’s Spectrum Ambitions and Starlink Expansion [Blog]

🛰️ VLEO Satellites: Global Investment to Near $10 Billion by 2031; Driven by Falling Launch Costs [Research]

🔐 Vibe Coding: The Fastest-growing Threat to Application Security Today [Whitepaper]  

FUTURE DIGITAL AWARDS

Nominations for Telco Innovation Awards Close Tomorrow

Our Telco Innovation Awards recognise the most forward-thinking companies and leaders in roaming, messaging, networks, and fraud prevention.

So, don't miss out on your last chance to secure analyst-validated recognition to take your profile to the next level with customers, partners, and investors.

Submit your free entry by Friday 23rd October for the chance to be recognised as a leader in your field. Register now!

ENTER NOW

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & CONNECTIVITY

Verizon and Ericsson Advance 6G Testing with Outdoor 7GHz Trial

Last week, Verizon and Ericsson conducted a successful outdoor 6G field trial using pre-standard 7GHz spectrum; marking a further step towards developing the next generation of mobile networks. The test moves beyond laboratory demonstrations to assess how early 6G technology performs under real-world conditions; helping establish whether the spectrum could support future commercial deployments. The 7GHz band is attracting interest as it could offer substantial bandwidth; allowing mobile networks to carry more data simultaneously. This could help operators address growing demand from data-intensive applications, connected devices, and future AI-powered services. However, higher-frequency spectrum can be more challenging to deploy than lower-frequency bands, particularly when signals need to travel long distances or penetrate buildings for example.

The trial therefore has significance beyond demonstrating a new technology. It provides an opportunity to assess how 7GHz performs outdoors, and what challenges operators may face when incorporating it into future networks. These findings could inform decisions about radio equipment, network coverage, and the infrastructure investment required to make 6G commercially viable. Nevertheless, the technology remains at an early stage. Pre-standard testing does not mean that 6G specifications have been finalised, that the spectrum has been allocated for widespread mobile use, or that commercial services are imminent. Further testing and industry standardisation will be required before operators can determine the band’s long-term role.

For Verizon, the trial offers early experience of potential 6G deployment options, while Ericsson gains practical insight into developing next-generation network equipment. More broadly, it highlights how the telecoms industry is beginning to test the spectrum and technologies that could underpin the transition beyond 5G.

Distilled…

🟣 Spectrum strategy will shape 6G competitiveness. The trial strengthens the case for exploring 7GHz as a future mobile band, but regulatory approval and evidence of reliable coverage will determine its commercial value. 

🟣 Network investment requirements could increase. Although wider spectrum channels could boost capacity, operators may need denser infrastructure to overcome signal-propagation limitations. The cost of delivering coverage will be as important as headline performance.

🟣 Early testing gives vendors and operators a strategic advantage. Ericsson and Verizon can use practical experience to inform equipment development and future network planning. However, commercial success will depend on standardisation, deployment economics, and demand for 6G services, rather than early testing alone.

GET THE WHITEPAPER

 

MORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INSIGHTS

📡 Will Sovereign AI Become a New Revenue Stream for Operators? [Blog] 

📶 Retail Roaming Revenue to Fall $4 Billion By 2031, as Regulatory Restrictions and Competition Bite [Research]  

🛜 How Private Cellular Networks Are Unlocking Industry 4.0 [Whitepaper]

FINTECH & PAYMENTS

Dutch Coalition Developing a Digital Identity Wallet to Rival Tech Giants

A coalition of major Dutch banks and businesses have announced that they are developing a digital wallet called MyCheck. The businesses involved include ABN AMRO, Achmea, ASN Bank, Deloitte, KPN, and Rabobank. They have offered to work with the Netherlands government to offer the wallet at no extra cost to users or the government. 

This will allow users to manage their digital identity; securely storing personal information on their phone to share with authorised third parties. People will be able to retain control of their information, and if they are asked to verify their age they can use the MyCheck app to share that they are over 18 without having to provide other details such as their full date of birth, name, or address. It also allows users to view and digitally sign documents such as rental agreements or employment contracts from within the app, with the same legal value as a handwritten signature.

This comes as the EU Digital Services Act places an obligation on providers of online services to take measures to prevent underage users from accessing age-restricted content, such as gambling platforms or social media sites. To do this, the European Commission is encouraging the development of user-friendly, privacy-preserving solutions that allow users to remain in control of their own data.

Distilled…

🟣 Increased sovereignty: By providing its own national version of a digital ID wallet, the Netherlands ensures that data remains protected within its national borders.

🟣 Digital identity initiatives are mounting across the EU: This week, Germany approved legislation establishing a legal framework for digital ID; moving it a step closer to launching its own version of the EU Digital Identity Wallet. As the 2027 deadline looms, other countries will likely follow suit.

🟣 Streamlined logins: As online services and logins become increasingly fragmented, having one centralised method of verifying identity can resolve issues with authenticating logins. MyCheck app verification could replace SMS codes or passwords in multi-factor authentication checks.

GET THE WHITEPAPER

 

THE LAST DROP

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