Subverse is a quasi-dimension coterminus with reality, through which only radio- and microwaves appear able to travel. Not only that, but these signals appear able to travel much faster and farther than normal. The cause of this is unknown but theories go around that subverse is either relatively empty, or somehow doesn't follow the same physical laws that restricts electromagnetic waves in reality.
Shortly after its discovery, subverse became an important medium for galactic communication. A device capable of subverse communication usually has a range of roughly 100 lightyears, that can be expanded through the use of stationary beacons that's pick up its signal and forward it. Civilizations utilized networks of these beacons to create sector-wide communication grids.
Since the technology was vastly cheaper, and the range and speed was superior, it near entirely replaced more dated means such as regular postal services, personal couriers, and the use of memelets. These services still exist in some places today, but aside some special use cases are considered more of a novelty than anything else.
Radio & Media Use
Later on, subverse communication through messaging and calls in turn was largerly replaced by the meshverse in all but the poorest regions of space. Due to the neglible cost to do so, many systems still utilize their subverse networks for serving radio and video programs - often in conjunction with also sending them over the meshverse.
This includes non-critical public media such as news, sports, entertainment and educational programs relevant to the locals. They're usually short-reach, at most sent across a sector but most commonly contained within a single planetary system. If a local would like to listen to or see media from outside their home system they'd have to do so through meshverse channels instead.
Communication Use
Live calls through subverse has always been restrictive, due to only really being usable within it's 100ly range. As soon as a signal have to bounce off a beacon, signal lag and delay is simply too great to make it feasible.
It's better used for sending messages across the galaxy via subverse by letting it bounce across multiple subverse networks. It comes with the offset that messages could be delayed by hours or days as they are routed through different networks, which makes the meshverse still the better option if available.
Another shortcoming of using subverse for long-range communication is that networks could also hold their own unique communication protocols which meant a risk of a message to be corrupted or lost. For this reason, if utilization of the meshverse was too expensive, it was considered way more reliable to send important messages by couriers.
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