To understand the commercial reality of cellular connectivity, in this case 5G, it’s important to understand the standardization work that set the stage for real-world deployments. So before we look into what’s coming from 3GPP in Releases 18, 19 and beyond, it’s important to...
Spirent Communications is in the process of being acquired by Keysight Technologies
Spirent Communications said that it has been seeing an "uptick" in its performance during the third quarter of the year, compared to the same time last year.
In a trading update, the company...
AST SpaceMobile's five recently launched BlueBird satellites have been successfully unfurled in orbit, the company said in an update, and its preparations for commercial service are underway.
The five BlueBirds were launched in mid-September, and the unfolding of their large communications arrays happened ahead of...
The direct-to-cellular service is pre-commercial, but it has been activated in parts of North Carolina to help the hurricane recovery effort
The Federal Communications Commission has given permission for T-Mobile US and Elon Musk's Starlink LEO satellite service to offer direct-to-cellular service to T-Mobile US...
The test was conducted at KT SAT’s Geumsan Satellite Center in collaboration with Rohde & Schwarz Korea and Viavi Solutions Korea
South Korea's KT and its satellite subsidiary KT SAT announced the successful integration of KOREASAT 6 with a terrestrial 5G network, utilizing the 5G non-terrestrial...
Barcelona-based satellite IoT provider Sateliot has raised €10 million from venture capital group Global Portfolio Investments as part of a continuing €30 million Series-B funding round, as covered here, which has also seen interest from IT and defense firm Indra Sistemas, telecoms tower company...
Network equipment vendor Ericsson has joined the new Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN)-focused industry advocacy group, MSSA, that is focused on the use of satellite spectrum for direct-to-cellular device and IoT communications.
There are two broad approaches to NTN direct-to-cellular (D2C, sometimes also direct-to-device or D2D),...
Softbank and Intelsat are developing a universal device capable of maintaining a network connection worldwide
Softbank and Intelsat have announced a joint effort to establish “seamless 5G connections” between mobile and satellite networks. The pair said the hybrid network will be “ubiquitous,” providing connectivity worldwide.
As...
Swiss IoT module maker u-blox has launched its first combined terrestrial and non-terrestrial network (NTN; satellite) IoT module, the so-called SARA-S528NM10. It uses the firm’s UBX-S52 dual-mode chipset, offering connectivity via LTE-M and NB-IoT on terrestrial cellular networks and NB-IoT on geostationary orbit (GEO)...
Satellite direct-to-cellular company AST SpaceMobile has confirmed a target launch date of September 12 for its first five BlueBird satellites, destined for low Earth orbit, which will provide the basis for initial commercial non-terrestrial network (NTN) services for carriers including AT&T and Verizon.
The...
SoftBank said that it will offer eight service plans for businesses and government agencies
Japanese telecom operator SoftBank has struck a deal with Eutelsat Group to offer satellite connectivity services. The carrier said that it plans to launch those services this December, leveraging Eutelsat OneWeb's...
Alex Rodriguez' SPAC, called SLAM, is being delisted ahead of its merger with Lynk for failure to complete the combination within the required timeframe
Baseball player and entrepreneur Alex Rodriguez's special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), called Slam, is being de-listed from trading on the Nasdaq...
African fibre broadband and satellite connectivity provider Liquid Intelligent Technologies has signed an exclusive deal with Globalstar to sell the US satellite firm’s private 5G products in Africa and the Middle East. The collaboration will potentially expand on a non-exclusive basis to also cover...
If only to remind us that, despite all the hullabaloo, non-terrestrial network (NTN; satellite) IoT technology remains a putative proposition, Barcelona-based satellite IoT provider Sateliot has issued a press notice to declare the launch of four new low-Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellites on a SpaceX...
AST SpaceMobile provided a business update this week, as it preps for the launch of its first five satellites to support a commercial direct-to-cellular service. That long-anticipated launch is expected in the first half of September.
"We stand at a pivotal moment for AST...
Over the last two decades, the world has experienced widespread innovation in wireless technologies. We have seen breakthroughs in Wi-Fi connectivity, cellular, and significant growth in connected devices. However patchy coverage, dropped calls, and inconsistent data speeds continue to challenge 4G and 5G networks,...
Pixel 9 devices are the first with Google's Satellite SOS, supported by Skylo
Satellite direct-to-cellular provider Skylo announced that its Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) connectivity is integrated into the new Google Pixel 9 smartphone series, to support emergency communications when a terrestrial cellular network is not...
The GSMA said it expects mobile traffic in the APAC region to quadruple between 2023 and 2030
The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA)'s most recent Asia Pacific (APAC) mobility report demonstrates how critical mobile technologies and services are for this region, which documented...
KDDI-owned cellular IoT provider Soracom is offering satellite NB-IoT in a phased and controlled commercial launch to key enterprise customers. The move follows integration with US-based non-terrestrial network (NTN) service operator Skylo Technologies, which lets terrestrial Release 17-level 3GPP-based NB-IoT hardware connect via its...
GSMA Intelligence begins tracking NTN developments as satellite and telecom converge
In a sign of the increasing convergence of telecom and satellite, GSMA Intelligence has put out its first quarterly tracker focused on satellite and Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN).
The report identified 91 telecommunications operators...
Anritsu and fellow test equipment company ETS-Lindgren have collaborated on a new Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) testing solution, which combines Anritsu’s MT8821C Radio Communication Analyzer with ETS-Lindgren’s EMQuest antenna measurement software and supports narrowband IoT NTN testing.
The MT8821C has a wide dynamic range, supports cellular technologies and...
Amazon's Project Kuiper expects to start service demonstrations with Vrio and others later this year
Satellite TV operator Vrio has announced that it plans to use Amazon's Project Kuiper Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide broadband internet service across seven countries in South America.
Those...
13 new satellites support its direct-to-cellular service with T-Mobile US
On the 14th anniversary of its Falcon 9 rocket's first launch, Starlink put up 20 new satellites, 13 of which have direct-to-cellular capabilities.
The launch brings the number of D2C-capable satellites that Starlink has in space...
Verizon makes a $100 million commitment to AST
AST SpaceMobile has followed up a commercialization announcement with AT&T with the news today that the satellite company has struck a deal with Verizon to provide direct-to-cellular service to the carrier's customers and leverage Verizon's 850 MHz...
