The interest in cellular non-terrestrial network technology and the business opportunity is reflected in the amount of activity in the space in recent years, as 3GPP 5G standards work has built momentum toward convergence of satellite and cellular networks and raised the possibility of true, ubiquitous (and maybe eventually, high-speed) connectivity.
NTN was one of the major topics at this year’s Mobile World Congress Barcelona, and dominated discussions at the Satellite Show 2024 in Washington, D.C. just a few weeks later. Mobile network operators, handset makers and chipset companies are striking partnerships, developing products and in some cases have already begun to provide services, with more expected to emerge this year.
However, space is still expensive and technically challenging, and while there are plenty of incumbents on both sides, many of the players pushing on NTN are start-ups or relatively young or small companies—and even among established corporate denizens, there have already been NTN missteps.
Here is the second part of a run-down of major publicly known partnerships and services, deals and recent development progress—plus a few duds that have come along the way. (Read Part 1 here.)
-On the regulatory front, the Federal Communications Commission last month unanimously approved a new rules framework for satellite-based, cellular communications directly to end-user devices—or “supplemental coverage from space” (SCS), using terrestrial spectrum. The SCS framework enables satellite operators who are working with terrestrial service providers to ask for FCC authorization to operate space stations in spectrum that is currently allocated for wireless services—as long as they meet conditions like having a spectrum lease in place. Once they get authorization, the satellite operator can then serve that MNO’s customers within the specific geographic area, if they are out of terrestrial network coverage. However, there are some issues around 911 emergency calling that need to be addressed. For now, the FCC established that terrestrial MNOs have to route all 911 calls made through SCS to a public safety answering point (PSAP) using either location-based routing or an emergency call center, and the agency put out a further rulemaking asking for input on making sure that SCS calls get routed correctly.
-Lynk Global, which in February finalized a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is expected to help the company raise additional funds. As of January 3rd, the company had commercial cell towers in space including the world’s first 5G enabled payload, according to Congressional testimony from Margo Deckard, a co-founder and COO of Lynk. Deckard told a U.S. House subcommittee that Lynk has signed 26 commercial contracts to date, valued at over $2.5 billion, to provide coverage in 41 countries and that the company plan to begin international commercial service this month.
“Our initial service will be text messaging, but as we build out our constellation, we will support broadband services everywhere directly to standard phones,” she said.
Lynk expects the merger with the SPAC to close in the second half of 2024.
-Omnispace has struck a deal with MTN, which provides service in 19 African countries, under which Omnispace will develop a “next-generation standards-based mobile and IoT network designed to serve MTN markets.” In the meantime, MTN will test and prove out capabilities and use cases using Omnispace’s current In the interim, the companies will partner to test existing technology, prove capabilities, and use cases using Omnispace’s on-orbit satellites. Omnispace said in February that it now has market access to reach more than 735 million people across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. “Together with partners that have spectrum access in 3GPP 5G NTN bands, Omnispace is poised to deliver access in all major international markets as part of a next generation global 5G NGSO system,” the company said.
-In conjunction with the Satellite 2024 show, Gatehouse Satcom and cellular private network technology provider Druid Software signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at jointly developing a “fully integrated, out-of-the-box” NTN solution for satellite providers by combining Gatehouse Satcom’s satellite Radio Access Network with Druid’s core network platform, with the two “tailored to enable robust NTN services in line with the latest 3GPP Release 17 standards.”
Druid also recently joined the Mobile Satellite Services Association, or MSSA, launched in February 2024; the group, consisting mostly of Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum holders, wants to facilitate development of direct-to-device connectivity via that L- and S-band spectrum, which is already allocated and licensed for MSS.
-There was no shortage of NTN demonstration at this year’s Mobile World Congress Barcelona. At various booths on the show floor, Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets were on display, enabling 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks demonstrations of both the NB-IoT, 5G and 5G-Advanced variety, with additional news on 5G NTN chip development acceleration from the likes of Ceva and Arm. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency and GSMA Foundry announced a partnership that includes up to 15 million euros in funding for tech challenges related to NTN, lab access and a GSMA training course to familiarize people with both terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks and work around “ecosystem unification.” The show’s Satellite and NTN Summit was standing-room only (you can re-watch the broadcast here and read RCR’s coverage here.)
-In a slightly tangential recent development, the government of Canada last week announced that it was increasing its investment in a previously announced deal with Telesat to support Telesat’s LightSpeed LEO constellation, which is anticipated to provide broadband access to Canadians. While satellite has long provided mobile backhaul for cellular sites either in remote locations or as part of additional event capacity or disaster recovery, the supported bandwidth has also been limited. However, LEO constellations that can support higher speeds also offer new possibilities for extending 5G mobile or fixed broadband (Verizon mentioned interest in such an arrangement with Amazon’s Project Kuiper for high-speed cellular backhaul, back in 2021.)
In the case of LightSpeed, the LEO constellation may end up extending the reach of 5G by providing backhaul and trunking services in rural areas which are not served by fiber or backhaul resources sufficient to support 5G. Brazilian operator TIM tested LightSpeed for its suitability for 5G backhaul last year and concluded that the service levels provided by LightSpeed would be acceptable, in terms of latency and reliability, to support terrestrial 5G service.
-A satellite with a regenerative payload (one of the two NTN architectures laid out by 3GPP) is set to be launched this year by Lockheed Martin, as part of its 5G.MIL network solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense. In its final lab demonstration in October 2023, Lockheed showcased what it says is the “industry’s first fully regenerative Advanced 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Satellite Base Station.” In a live hardware-in-the-loop test environment, the NTN base station “performed high-speed data transfers connecting with prototype NTN user equipment,” according to Lockheed, which said that the satellite is “compliant with 3GPP Release 17 and was developed in anticipation of pre-Release 18 and 19 regenerative specifications.” The defense vendor added: “During a simulated satellite orbital pass, the Satellite Base Station, running on space-hardened flight hardware and the user equipment on the ground, successfully connected and transferred data, including live video streaming.”
Lockheed used Accelercom’s 5G NTN Layer 1 PHY solution and 5G NTN Layer 2/3 and 5G Standalone core software from Radisys. The company says that its Advanced 5G Satellite Base Station “is the lynch pin in Lockheed Martin’s vision to provide global 5G connectivity.” It has been investing in hybrid base stations for three years, and says that the satellite uses a full 5G NR RAN software stack, a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and 5G SA Core that run on space-qualified flight hardware that will fly on the TacSat; that it is reprogrammable on orbit using a software-defined satellite architecture; and that it can be structured with a split architecture with a Control Unit (CU) on the ground and Distributed Unit (DU) on the satellite.
“Our Satellite Base Station is real, operational hardware and we’re excited for the next step,” said Joe Rickers, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for Connectivity, Transport and Access. Lockheed is self-funding the launch of the regenerative payload to orbit during 2024 to bring “5G’s capabilities to the final frontier to prove its capability to connect the globe.”
Looking for more information and insights on NTN? Check out this recent RCR Wireless News editorial webinar on-demand.
