In today's world, connectivity is critical, especially as technologies like autonomous vehicles and drones continue to evolve. However, significant areas still lack terrestrial mobile network coverage, requiring different devices and accounts for satellite connections.
The SoftBank-Intelsat partnership seeks to develop a hybrid communication system that enables seamless switching between terrestrial and satellite networks using just one device and account. This solution will be based on existing standards, allowing devices to roam between terrestrial networks in a manner similar to current mobile roaming.
A core goal of the collaboration is the creation of a universal device capable of maintaining connectivity regardless of location. For instance, a vehicle equipped with such technology will be able to automatically switch to satellite networks when moving beyond terrestrial coverage. This innovation could be used across land, maritime, and disaster recovery scenarios.
The development, testing, and eventual commercialization of these hybrid solutions will take place in phases, aligning with ongoing work on 5G non-terrestrial network standards. Initial hybrid solutions will support current satellite terminals, with newer 5G-based terminals to follow.
"Intelsat and SoftBank share a pioneering vision of Ubiquitous Networking and seamless interoperability between satellite and terrestrial networks," commented Bruno Fromont, Intelsat's 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."
Hideyuki Tsukuda, Executive Vice President and CTO of SoftBank, added, "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."
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