MWC
Any ‘smartphone’ will be able to browse the internet without having to have antennas nearby, which will help connect rural, maritime or remote mountain areas
The first mobile broadband service to be connected by satellite directly to any standard telephone in Spain is very close to being a reality. Vodafone announced this Sunday in the framework of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) that this summer it will start a pilot project to test satellite internet services with AST SpaceMobile.
The satellite connection will allow users in rural, maritime or remote mountain areas to surf the Internet in the same way as they do when connected to traditional network antennas. “The speed and latency will be the same as what the user is used to today,” explained Yago Tenorio, Vodafone’s director of Network Strategy, at an event in Barcelona hours before the MWC begins this Monday.
AST SpaceMobile is a technology in which Vodafone is one of the main investors and which uses the BlueWalker 3 (BW3) test satellite so that companies, public administrations and citizens can connect in this way. This satellite was launched last September and will allow the construction of “the first and only satellite mobile broadband mobile network for unmodified mobile phones,” said Scott Wisniewski, Head of Strategy at AST SpaceMobile, who explained that it is a system of “hybrid technology that seamlessly connects the mobile to the existing network.
And that is its main advantage. The mobiles of any user will be able to connect to the satellite without the need to introduce any new technology, it will be connected via satellite with standard commercial mobile phones. “This is the big difference with the rest of the companies that are innovating and developing this technology, up to now they all require modifying the terminal or an external fixed unit that provides connectivity,” said Tenorio.
Step by Step
The terms are not very long. Testing of the satellite will begin in the summer using the commercial infrastructure of mobile network operators Nokia and Rakuten. At the end of 2023, the launch of another five commercial satellites will take place and an initial Internet of Things (IoT) service will begin to be provided with which devices can be connected. In 2024, “dozens of satellites” will be launched that will allow an “almost continuous” service, said the AST representative, who indicated that it will be necessary to study “country by country”, but confirmed that Spain is a “priority” for the company.
In this sense, Vodafone -which has had exclusive rights to this technology for five years in Europe- assured that it is already in contact with the administration and its regulatory bodies at a Spanish and European level to collaborate in the implementation of these solutions.
Emergency situations
Satellite connectivity is expected to provide voice calls, messaging, emergency services, broadband internet connection, and IoT services. This network architecture is designed to allow mobile devices to switch between space and terrestrial networks automatically for the end user, “eliminating coverage gaps, which is a competitive advantage for the operator,” Vodafone said.
This service will not only help the connection of citizens who live in areas with little coverage, but will also make it possible to communicate cases of emergencies in the mountains or at sea, natural or humanitarian disasters, said Julia Velasco, Network Director of Vodafone Spain.
Work centers in Spain
AST will deploy a satellite control center in Spain, which is being deployed in Madrid, as confirmed by Vodafone. In addition, Vodafone Spain is going to be the one that coordinates traffic in the Mediterranean, although they are still defining where they will locate this center, without ruling out the ‘hub’ that the operator has in Malaga.
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