SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) and Intelsat have inked a collaboration agreement, which will result in the introduction of a single “ubiquitous network” that will allow users to stay connected wherever they go. Both companies will collaborate on the research and development of seamless 5G links between terrestrial mobile and satellite communications networks.
Telecommunications are critical in a culture where everyone and everything is becoming increasingly reliant on remaining connected, convenient, and always-on. However, despite the impending realization of autonomous mobility via automobiles, ships, drones, and other vehicles, many regions still lack ground-based mobile network coverage and require separate devices and accounts to connect to non-terrestrial networks.
With the ease of a single device and account, SoftBank and Intelsat hope to work together to create a hybrid communication solution that would enable customers to stay connected via accessible networks, whether terrestrial or satellite, wherever in the globe. The solution will help accelerate the commercial adoption of mobility solutions based on new 3GPP 5G standards for non-terrestrial networks. It will do this by building on the same standard architectures, interfaces, and processes that currently allow devices to roam between terrestrial cellular networks.
Hideyuki Tsukuda, Executive Vice President and CTO of SoftBank, said, “By using technology that switches between terrestrial mobile networks and satellite communication networks through roaming, we can integrate the two previously separate networks and utilize satellite communication as an extension of mobile communication. Through this joint research and development, SoftBank and Intelsat will aim to build a ubiquitous network where people and things around the world can be connected to communication anytime, anywhere.”
One of the collaboration’s primary goals is to create a universal device that will remain linked no matter where it moves in the world. For example, a future connected vehicle outfitted with such a gadget will be able to easily transition to a non-terrestrial satellite communication network when outside of terrestrial mobile network coverage. The proposed approach is intended to have widespread commercial applications, including land mobile, maritime, and catastrophe response and recovery.
Intelsat and SoftBank will design, develop, field test, and commercialize new hybrid network solutions in phases, in line with the development of the new 3GPP 5G non-terrestrial network standards. The resulting hybrid solutions will enable the use of existing satellite terminals in the short term, as well as the introduction of newer 5G-based terminals.
“Intelsat and SoftBank share a pioneering vision of ubiquitous networking and seamless interoperability between satellite and terrestrial networks,” said Bruno Fromont, Intelsat Chief Technology Officer. “Until now, the challenge was aligning standards that allowed the two different networks to connect. With recent progress on 5G-based standardization of non-terrestrial networks led by Intelsat at 3GPP and this strategic collaboration with SoftBank, we are ideally positioned to accelerate the design and practical implementation of commercial hybrid services that will allow devices to freely roam between satellite and terrestrial networks.”
