Vodafone. Photo: Rama Knight Photographer, via Vodafone Flickr

Vodafone is expanding its work with Intelsat to bring on-the-move satellite communication to organizations operating in hard-to-reach areas or disaster zones.

Vodafone and Intelsat announced Monday that Vodafone is adding Intelsat’s Flex portfolio to its satellite connectivity product range. This includes communications-on-the-move (COTM) with a vehicle-mounted antenna, and communications-on-the-pause (COTP) with a compact satellite terminal. Flex operates on Intelsat’s Geostationary Orbit (GEO) network. 

This expanded connectivity will support businesses, governments and charities, including the telco’s charitable arm, Vodafone Foundation, with health and education initiatives in Europe and Africa. 

Vodafone cited use cases for this connectivity including tracking cargo, connecting new or temporary sites, providing additional resilience and responding to emergency situations.

“Vodafone’s agreement with Intelsat adds depth and breadth to our global network,” commented Marika Auramo, CEO of Vodafone Business. “With these new services, we can provide additional connectivity and resilience to customers in some of the hardest to reach places, whether they’re on the move, or need to quickly establish communications following an environmental or humanitarian disaster.”

Vodafone said this work with Intelsat “complements its pioneering work on direct-to-smartphone connectivity using Low-Earth Orbit [LEO] satellite technology.” Vodafone has an agreement with AST SpaceMobile for this type of service, and is also working with Amazon for Project Kuiper LEO connectivity for 4G and 5G services in Europe and Africa.