satellite broadband

New Zealand operator 2degrees inked a contract to bring Lynk Global’s satellite-to-phone service to customers in rural areas, with plans to launch commercial service later this year.

Philippines-based operator Now Telecom’s parent company teamed with OneWeb to deliver satellite-based mobile broadband services to the enterprise sector at a time when demand for space communications in the country is heating up.

KDDI commenced operation of its first base station using SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network to deliver backhaul for its au high-speed service in the island of Hatsushima, its first step to boost coverage by deploying 12,000 sites nationwide.

Satellite player AST SpaceMobile claimed to have deployed the largest commercial communications array in low Earth orbit (LEO), ahead of testing a satellite-to-phone service with mobile operators over the coming months.

Sony Group established a new company in the US to build compact optical communications devices that allow satellites to link in real time using lasers, as the Japanese company moves into the red-hot space-based mobile broadband sector.

Telstra signed a ten-year service agreement with OneWeb to build and maintain three teleports in Australia to deliver ground support for the satellite operator’s expanding fleet of low Earth orbit (LEO) birds in the Southern Hemisphere.

A joint venture between Bharti Airtel and Hughes Network Systems to deliver satellite internet services in India was approved by local authorities, clearing it to join an increasingly competitive rural broadband segment. The venture was announced in May 2019.