Rakuten Mobile and AST SpaceMobile partner on satellite wireless
MWC24 will be full of wireless news and announcements on what’s coming
Satellite-to-mobile wireless service is beginning. Now, Rakuten Mobile says they plan to offer this wireless service in Japan in 2026. In fact, we are seeing Low Earth Orbit, or LEO satellite and wireless base stations starting to converge. We are starting to see the wireless industry transform itself and show growth in several new ways, including satellite. Let’s see what this means for investors, customers and the entire wireless industry.Â
Expect this new satellite-to-mobile growth-wave to continue. Some of these new growth areas include FWA wireless broadband, private wireless and now satellite-to-mobile. Plus, I expect other new areas to be introduced going forward as well.
The wireless industry is the core technology which will empower growth in every other industry, plus so many new angles from the existing mobile space.
MWC24 will illustrate new thinking in wireless industry
Next week at MWC24 in Barcelona, I expect to be blown away. I expect it will show everything that is new in wireless, the direction things are heading with new technology, new partnerships and new ideas.
This is an ongoing part of my business, but I regularly get briefings from top, national and global, wireless companies, network services, smartphones and tablets, private wireless FWA wireless broadband and so much more.
And based on what I am seeing and hearing, I believe MWC2024 will be one helluva show this year!
Let us pull the camera back to get longer-term historical perspective
To better understand what is happening, let’s first pull-the-camera back and gain a longer-term, historical perspective at what we can expect from the wireless world going forward.
Rakuten Mobile has now entered this new area. They are a Japanese communications company working in partnership with AST SpaceMobile.
While this is amazing and new, it is not the first announcement.
We have already heard several wireless competitors make satellite-to-wireless announcements. While this is not the first, I do predict there will be more to follow from other companies as well.
Apple uses Globalstar for emergency connectivity over satellite
Apple started more than a year ago with their satellite feature. This is not used for voice or app communications. Not yet anyway.
Rather, this is used for emergency notification to call for help when you are not connected to network cell service. We don’t think about it, but many times users are not on network. Cell signal is not everywhere.
Apple is partnered with Globalstar, a satellite communications company. Globalstar is now run by Paul Jacobs. Paul is the son of Irwin Jacobs who create Qualcomm. Paul Jacobs ran Qualcomm for a while.
T-Mobile will use satellite-wireless using Starlink
Going forward, because satellite wireless is growing and competitors are moving in this same direction, I think we should expect Apple to expand their satellite connectivity to support voice and data as well as emergency service.
T-Mobile recently announced they will be offering a satellite-wireless service working with Starlink, which is run by CEO Elon Musk.
Blue Origin is another satellite competitor. This is Jeff Bezos company. Bezos also created and built Amazon since the early 1990s.
Blue Origin, Viasat, Telesat, Iridium, HughesNet, Lockheed Martin and more
While we haven’t heard of similar news with Blue Origin yet, I think we should expect them to be a player in this space because of Bezos and this new satellite growth opportunity.
Plus, there are many others including Viasat, HughesNet, Iridium, Lockheed Martin, OneWeb, Eutelsat, Kuiper, Amazon, Telesat, Astrocast and more.
The satellite world is rapidly growing. In fac, there seems to be a growing number of satellite players moving forward. In fact, you may not realize it, but the Earth is surrounded by countless satellite and the number is continually growing.
Satellite technology will continue to play a growing role in wireless
So, as you can see, satellites are increasingly playing an important role in the growth of wireless.
Rakuten Mobile says there is a growing need for satellite-wireless service. AST SpaceMobile uses Low Earth Orbit satellites over Japan. They say LEO satellite wireless will perform regardless of ground conditions, either nature or created by man.
There are other competitors entering this growing space as well to one level or another. These are companies including Huawei with China Telecom; Lynk Global; Google, Vodafone and a growing number of others.
LEO satellite and wireless base stations starting to converge
Even though investors, customers and workers don’t think about wireless and satellite in the same breath, it is important to recognize these two areas will continue to grow and continue to work more closely going forward.
Today, this market segment is small, but I predict it will continue to grow much larger as time goes by.
LEO satellite technology and wireless are still in the very early days. Expect this partnership to continue to develop their technologies, both separately and together.
At MWC24, I will take many additional briefings from companies who want to be seen and heard. That is important for them with investors, customers, workers and more.
I can’t wait to learn what is coming next.
So, enjoy Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona next week. This event should be full of good news about all the new directions wireless is heading. I can’t wait to learn more and tell you all about it. So, stay tuned.
