Connecting the Dots | The next connectivity frontier: A universal 5G broadband terminal
- by SpaceNews
- Oct 18, 2024
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SoftBank and Intelsat plan to jointly develop a hybrid communication solution that allows users to stay connected via available networks, whether terrestrial or satellite, anywhere in the world. Credit: Intelsat
Efforts to standardize satellite and terrestrial communications are moving beyond narrowband capabilities toward a universal broadband terminal for seamless, global connectivity.
Geostationary operator Intelsat recently partnered with Softbank, a Japanese internet conglomerate, to essentially integrate satellites with the roaming agreements cellular companies use to keep subscribers connected from country to country.
The partnership is one of the first practical steps Intelsat has taken toward 5G following years of rhetoric about the revolutionary capabilities on the horizon for truly global hybrid connectivity.
It comes a few months after 3GPP, a mobile industry consortium, approved plans to work Ku-band satellite spectrum into a future update for the 5G standards used by smartphones and other mass-market devices.
The standardization work builds upon the integration of space-based narrowband connectivity with 5G, which satellite operators such as Viasat are leveraging to provide basic messaging services to certain smartphones coming out later this year.
Since 2022, Globalstar’s satellites have enabled similar services on the latest iPhones through a closed, proprietary strategy with Apple.
Super Mobility
Meanwhile, SpaceX and others are developing constellations that would borrow cellular spectrum to bring connectivity from space to smartphones already in circulation — if they can get permission from each country where they hope to deploy direct-to-device services.
Telcos that have partnered with these direct-to-device satellite operators hope to use the technology to keep their customers connected beyond cell tower coverage.
However, concerns over the interference the services could cause other cellular providers operating in the same country threaten to hold this strategy back.
Ken Takagi, Intelsat’s director of business development, said using pre-approved satellite spectrum means its strategy would not require regulatory permission on a country-by-country basis.
And although the universal broadband terminal Intelsat envisages would be slightly bigger than a smartphone, Takagi said it would be professional-grade while still using standardized and mass-produced, off-the-shelf parts.
The device would also enable “broadband connectivity anywhere you go,” he added, compared with narrowband direct-to-device pioneers.
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