Focus: Telecom

Lynk Global has teamed up with telecommunications company BICS in a partnership that it hopes will enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to expand mobile coverage to people in remote areas around the world. The two companies announced the collaboration, Sept. 6. Lynk Global is a satellite-direct-to-phone company and BICS is a communications platform company with solutions...

The relationship between telcos and satellite players could be changing. A number of factors are leading to a perfect storm, giving satellite a larger opportunity to serve telcos. One recent example is SpaceX’s new partnership with T-Mobile to provide satellite-to-cell connectivity through Starlink in the future. As the world moves toward a 5G ecosystem, satellite technology,...

Vodafone PNG, based in Papua New Guinea, has committed to purchase wholesale bandwidth from Kacific Broadband Satellites Group‘s Ka-band satellite Kacific1 for mobile backhaul use. The bandwidth will primarily be used for voice and data, and will serve both residential and enterprise end-users, the companies announced Aug. 23.  Papua New Guinea is an island nation...

SpaceX and T-Mobile are collaborating to enable satellite direct-to-cell connectivity with the second generation of Starlink satellites. Such a service would close gaps in cellular networks in rural and remote areas and allow T-Mobile customers to send messages via Starlink satellites.  SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO and President Mike Sievert announced the...

Speedcast recently signed deals with aviation services provider Bristow Group and Algerian satellite services provider Algérie Télécom Satellite (ATS).  Bristow Group signed a multi-year contract to upgrade more than 40 onshore energy and search and rescue office bases with Speedcast’s Unified Global Platform (UGP) and software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution, which is multi-path and...

Omnispace inked a partnership with Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), a wireless subsidiary of Philippine telco PLDT. The partnership announced Wednesday will see the companies demonstrate the capabilities of space-based 5G using Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. Omnispace launched two satellites — Spark-1 and Spark-2 in April and May — and recently deployed its Omnispace Spark program, the...

Axess Networks signed a multi multi-year, multi-million agreement to serve its mining sector users with SES’s smart mining service via O3b mPOWER.  SES’s smart mining service — Onshore Energy & Mining mPOWERED — is designed to provide high-throughput, carrier-grade networks to customers even in remote locations. The agreement builds on long standing partnership with SES,...

AST SpaceMobile has signed a five-year 5G deal with Nokia to jointly work to expand universal coverage with AST SpaceMobile connectivity and Nokia hardware. The companies have been collaborating for about two years, AST SpaceMobile announced Thursday. Nokia plans to use its AirScale Single RAN equipment to expand connectivity with AST SpaceMobile. This includes connecting...

Sitting on the stage of a crowded Denver Convention Center conference room, Dan Dooley, CCO of Washington D.C. metro-area based mobile connectivity company Lynk, tries to explain that the cell phone he’s holding in his hand will be able to connect directly to a satellite. The audience seems to collectively tilt their heads at this...

Telefónica is collaborating with Sateliot to develop a dual 5G NB-IoT connectivity service, the companies announced July 20.  The Spanish telecommunications company is collaborating with satellite IoT company Sateliot, also based in Spain, through its Telefónica Tech and Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS) divisions. The companies are working to integrate Sateliot’s satellite network with Telefónica Tech’s...