SoftBank and Intelsat signed a collaboration agreement that they say will lead to the launch of a single “Ubiquitous Network”. The two will jointly lead research and development of seamless 5G connections between terrestrial mobile networks and satellite communications networks. Through the new collaboration, 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 with the convenience of one device and one account.
The solution will build on the same standard architectures, interfaces and processes that enable roaming of devices between terrestrial cellular networks today and will help make the commercial adoption of mobility solutions based on new 3GPP 5G standards for non-terrestrial networks a reality much sooner.
One of the key goals of the collaboration is to develop a universal device that will always stay connected regardless of where in the world it goes. For example, a future connected vehicle equipped with such a device will be able to seamlessly switch to a non-terrestrial satellite communication network when outside of terrestrial mobile network coverage. The targeted solution is expected to have wide commercial applicability, including in land mobile, maritime, and disaster response and recovery.
Greenerwave terminals
Design, development, field testing and commercialisation of new hybrid network products between Intelsat and SoftBank will be conducted in phases, aligned with the development of the new 3GPP 5G non-terrestrial network standards. The resulting hybrid solutions will allow for existing satellite terminals to be used in the near term and newer 5G-based terminals as they become available. Intelsat recently invested in French terminal startup Greenerwave as part of a strategy to offer multi-orbit solutions for all of its business units by the first half of 2025.
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